I gave up coffee some years ago, after overdosing on double espresso after I bought Pete a Krups Orgasmo^H^H Orchestro bean-to-cup machine; it started giving me the most dreadful headaches. Every now and again the smell would tempt me, but I decided that the results weren’t worth the taste.
Weekend before last, I met Pete in the Ferens Art Gallery cafe for a cuppa after we’d been shopping separately. For some reason, when I got to the counter, the words “a cup of black coffee” came out of my mouth – I have no idea why. But I had it, and it was the first coffee I’d ever had without sugar, and I really enjoyed it. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I had another one later that afternoon in Level, when we stopped for lunch. I have no idea whether there were ill effects from them, because I drank too much red wine (that was a first in years too) in the pub, and woke up with a viral infection and a hangover next day, so hard to distinguish one from ‘tother 🙂
Having been ill for a week, I’d gone off caffeine completely, and was drinking Twinings lemon and ginger “tea”, which is really nice if you’re a bit poorly. But for some reason, on Saturday I fancied a coffee. So we rummaged about and found the cafetiere, and some rather elderly coffee, and made a pot. We drank it accompanied by a medicinal Jura, and 1/4 each of a bar of Green and Blacks almond choccy.
Um. Spent what felt like the entire night awake, with a pounding heart and a distinct buzz in the brain. Not good, and made Sunday rather zombie like.
Nothing daunted, while in Sainsburys yesterday foraging for bread flour (in case the apocalypse comes to pass, you see), we picked up an own brand filter machine for 15 quid (aside: haven’t small appliances got cheap?). We made a pot once we’d found somewhere to put it on our rather crowded kitchen (yes, we did buy some coffee too), and I drank one mugful at 6. No ill effects, and I didn’t have any chocolate, or more caffeine, or alcohol (apart from the glass of elderflower which was left over from the bottling earlier).
No ill effects, slept like a log. So I shall proceed with caution.
In other news, for whisk(e)y lovers, Makro are doing Jura single malt for £15.99 plus VAT, and Sainsburys yesterday had Bushmills single malt at £17.99 (we bought two, as it is an essential medicine in our house).