A Nice Cuppa

I have an addiction.

They say that the first step to overcoming any addiction is admitting the problem. So here it is. I???m addicted to that ferocious black brew, that stimulating beverage ??? the one, the only, the irreplaceable, coffee.

Now you are probably thinking that this is hardly any grand abnormality; that millions could claim the same so-called addiction, and do. But I suppose I???ve been thinking of it because recently I was deprived of my daily cup. And boy, did it send me into withdrawal.

During the last week of March and the first week of April, as Spring made its percolating entrance of bright, warm days amidst persistent chilly ones, I battled a fierce cold. Always happens this time of year. And in homage to my better judgment I forewent my morning coffee each day for an herbal tea. While my throat was appreciative, my sleepy brain was nothing less than irritated. Without the jumpstart of my daily coffee, I somehow felt marooned and only half as lucid in the first couple hours of the morning.

This consequence got me to thinking about the root of my addiction ??? is it to the caffeine, that molecular wonder, or is it a conditioned response to a familiar ritual?

I am a creature of habit. On weekday mornings, I patronize a local bagel shop and buy my brew, rich and heady in a Styrofoam cup. I set it in my cup-holder and its aroma fills the car as I drive to work, perking me up and giving me the confidence to say, ???Today is going to be a good day.??? Perhaps it???s simply the combination of the smell, the comforting warmth of the drink and the security of the habit that assures me I can get the day started and kick a little butt before 9:00am. But eliminate my Styrofoam cup of routine and I feel like the cartoon character who runs over the edge of a cliff and suddenly realizes there’s no ground below - one look down, feet cycling furiously in the air, and a comic plummet to the bottom. Coffee is the adrenaline rush ??? whether psychological or not ??? that helps me leap off the cliff and over the ravine of a groggy, sleep-deprived morning. So much so that now I???ve grown to require it even when I???m not sleep-deprived.

According to the book Mind Hack: Tips & Tools for Using Your Brain, by Tom Stafford and Matt Webb, ???ÄmakingÅ the caffeine habit taste good??? is a way that we can program our brain to enjoy and respond to the consumption of caffeine (i.e. through a cup of tasty coffee), such that simply knowing that the coffee is coming, simply smelling it???s distinctive perfume, is enough to remind us of the mental and physical perking up that is to follow from drinking it ??? and that on its own can be enough to perk us up. And conversely, taking away the distinctive smell, as well as everything else that is part of our daily cup, makes us feel that we???ve lost out on that wake-up call.

I???ve seen this principle in action not only in my own habits but in those of my brother. For years he avoided coffee, never a fan of its bitter taste, and stuck to the benign drinking of juice in the morning instead. That is, until a few months ago, when a new job forced him into a rather erratic sleeping schedule and suddenly he found himself with the need to be up and out some mornings during the twilight hours. He knew well of the effects of coffee on others. Like everyone else, he???d been exposed to the ubiquitous notion that coffee gets people going in the morning; that, in fact, people need it to get going in the morning. He attested that in some ways, this class of coffee drinkers had a leg up on all the non-coffee drinkers, merely because of their beverage preference. And so, in a decided effort to gain the same stimulating benefits, he himself began drinking coffee in the morning, building up a tolerance by measures of cream and sugar. He now relies on it on the days he has to be on the alert. Interestingly enough, he used to drink Mountain Dew ??? similarly caffeinated ??? but it somehow didn???t seem to have the same effect.

Caffeine has been proven in various studies to have a measurable stimulating effect on the brain. Yet I find that there is something more potent to the caffeine that comes in a cup and smells like java. I know this because tea never has the same effect on me, though I enjoy an Earl Grey from time to time. Soda doesn???t do the trick either; and while I am most certainly a fan of chocolate, I don???t feel the same caffeinated burst of energy from the cocoa bean as I do from the coffee bean. I need the same taste and same smell each morning, dressed in a Styrofoam cup that I can tote around like a security blanket.

Thankfully, caffeine is widely considered a mild and innocent dependence, and there are certainly worse things I could harbor addictions to. What I gain from it is largely psychosomatic, and I???ve made peace with that.
As for tomorrow morning???s cup? I can smell it already.

REFERENCES:
Stafford, T. and Webb, M. (2004). Mind Hacks: Tips & Tools for Using Your Brain. Cambridge, MA: O???Reilly