Coffee Jangles

During my early college years I learned that coffee was a no-go. It took a ruined stomach to convince me to drink decaf. I was working summers and school holidays at the Polar Corporation in Worcester, Massachusetts. Early on it became clear that sugar and caffeine don't work well for me, so I switched to coffee during breaks.

While I bottled soda, I couldn't bear to drink it. Everything is perfectly clean, antiseptic even, but the ingredient listing was not lost on me. And this was just as corn syrup was being introduced in place of sugar. To this day, soda pop holds no temptation for me. But I loved coffee, and drank it in place of sweet drinks and milk.

Until I wrecked my stomach. The diet wouldn't allow caffeine, and soon I realized that I was--quite--sensitive to the stuff. All well and good, right? Wrong. Decaf made a worse mess of my gut.

Of course today we know that decaffeinated coffee is largely junk. Because the process requires huge amounts of natural coffee, the manufacturers use the worst grade of coffee that they dare to use. I was ruining my stomach with very poor stuff that resulted from processing huge amounts of bad stuff to start. And compound that with instant decaf, it's a wonder I could convince myself I was drinking coffee.

What to do? Trust me on this one:

I buy the very best decaf I can afford. After all, I am the only one who uses it; it lasts forever. And it's definitely worth the extra money. Hands down.

Right now there is Folgers Classic Decaf in my cupboard, both regular grind and instant. I have not carefully gone over the local stores for better, but I will when it comes time to restock. That may be months in the future.

When I'm out and about, Dunkin Donuts seems the best cheapie chain, but almost any of the Big Name coffee house companies that charge all outdoors will top DD. Finally, if you readers are ever in Elmira, New York, I recommend Kountry Krullers. Their fresh doughnuts and bagels put DD to shame. And their decaf coffee is always excellent. And everything they have is Kosher; they are the top supplier of rolls and bagels to our local restaurants, kosher or not.

Am I the only MSer who is sensitive to caffeine, or is it a regular part of the nervous syndrome?

pb
Little Pond