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Tea, other than green teas, has as much or more caffeine as coffee. If you need to beat up coffee for caffeine then best glove-up and take down tea as well.
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Keep breaking those chains, whenever they become chains.
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Best way I have found. Grind your own? I do. Had to experiment with the grind and Steep time to get it dialed in and on target, but I’ve got it.
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Totally… I love the whole process of making it… and getting the cup. After all that… it’s like… I’m not going through that whole process for a second cup 
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I’m not beating up coffee. I love coffee. Coffee and the morning crossword was my wakeup routine for many years. I was just interested in seeing how others in our terrific community felt about the addictive nature of caffeine, whatever the delivery method ~ coffee, tea, Red Bull, Coca-Cola, etc. I love being free of all mind-altering addictive substances. Sugar is my current active quit. : )
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This is an excellent question. It can certainly be used as a drug… caffeine CAN be addictive for some people. The withdraw headaches are the worst! However, literally ANYTHING can be a drug! So, if coffee is something you feel yourself addicted to… apply the same 12-steps that you would for alcohol.
I personally think coffee is overhyped.
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Very very valid point. Majority of tea I drink is non caffeinated.
To all, I would rather have caffeinated beverages than booze any day of the week.
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Ahhhh coffee is my last vice… Nooooooooooo
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Honestly, I love this post because you bring up so many good points. BUT… coffee is my entire life lol. 2 cups in the morning… it makes me feel so warm and happy. The caffeine in coffee doesnt even effect me anymore. I just love the taste. It’s my favorite part of my mornings!
I am addicted to caffeine, though. I am a teacher and caffeine is the only reason im surviving this disastrous year haha! Caffeine is a mean substance to be addicted to… the headaches I get without it are crazyyyy!! I honestly dont see myself ever fully giving it up:)
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Interesting points. I think there is a scale, and coffee is right at the “creates fewest problems, easiest to control” (at least for me). I would say I am physically reliant on coffee, if I don’t drink it I get a headache. I don’t turn into a murderous bitch, those memes are just for effect, I think. But, if I drink too much alcohol there are major consequences, if I binge eat there are significant consequences, if I drink too much coffee, I pee a lot, and my teeth get stained, I guess. Also if I have one drink or some trigger food, I instantly want another one. I get coffee, and I think, lovely, and don’t want another for several hours. It is human nature to want pleasure, and that is what coffee provides I guess. The physical lift, of course, but also the emotional lift of getting a coffee from a favourite shop, listening to the sounds of the coffee maker, etc.
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I love this! Yes 100% to all of it!!
Or an idol, which is just as bad.
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Love this thread.
I’m not ready to quit coffee. I’m down to two cups first thing, and at that level, I feel ok about it.
But of course it’s an addiction. I have read that studies show sugar is not physically addictive, though of course psychologically it is. Caffeine is very addictive. I’m struck by how different the language is for caffeine than other drugs. People on here are saying, Balance in all things. But if I was considering going back to two beers a day (I’m not, but if), I don’t think people would say the same. Maybe the difference is in types of danger. Caffeine can seriously affect anxiety and heart problems. But it’s not going to limit your ability to drive. So you’re less likely to kill someone on caffeine. Idk. Many people quit drinking but not smoking, for similar reasons, and then die of lung cancer.
I think the question gets at: is sobriety about quitting all addictive substances and compulsive behaviors? Or just the ones we have the worst issues with?
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On sugar : https://www.outsideonline.com/2410282/sugar-addiction-fake
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327512
These are interesting to read together. Sugar doesn’t meet all the definitions of addictive substance, but it can alter your brain fast so you crave it. Plus, sugar is all tied up with the disordered food culture of modernity.
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It’s an extremely interesting subject as for me it touches on the core of my believes regarding addiction. And I ain’t done thinking about it by a long shot as it challenge the beliefs I have and that have driven my sobriety for the last 20 odd months.
I’m a black and white thinking guy on a lot of subjects. Has to do with my type of personality. This way of thinking hampered me a lot in my life but in dealing with addiction it has helped me a lot. I either use or I do not. No grey area. No negotiations.I shall not use any mind altering substances. Not one puff, gulp, swallow, shot, inhalation or snort ever. Makes handling my addictions manageable. Keeps things straight and simple.
So far I’ve let coffee out of this equation, both consciously and unconsciously. But if I’m really that black and white thinking I should’ve quit having it at the same moment as I quit the rest. I didn’t. This thread has made me think about why. I can tell you all and myself about how much I like the stuff, especially (like @Dazercat) how I love the smell of freshly ground beans, how I afford myself to buy (like @Yoda-Stevie) premium coffee, how I love to try different brands, roasts, beans, blends, countries of origin. But that’s beside the point. I liked wine and whiskey that way too, I didn’t drink just to get drunk, at least for a long time I didn’t.
I drink quite a lot of the stuff. It’s probably a good idea to limit my intake a bit. Which I would never consider with alcohol or weed or any other mind altering drug. I like it too much and it doesn’t influence my life that much. I think. I know when on rare occasions I run out and I forget to get some I’m not desperate. I’ll get up with a cup of non-caffeine herbal tea and I am able to function normally. Without craving coffee. Still, there goes my belief of no mind altering substances in my system ever.
Then again, like @ICanAndWill says, all and everything can be made into an addiction. Both substances and behaviours. And I can add that all and everything is mind altering. The food we eat and the activities we undertake. Literally everything influences our brains, our neurotransmitters and our hormones. Just an example: should I refrain from cycling long distances because sometimes it’ll give me a huge endorphin rush? Feels better than whatever drugs I ever did. I don’t think so. Still it’s interesting to think about why I do ride this long ones. if it was just to get this rush I probably shouldn’t do it. Luckily I don’t.
So for now I just have to accept that it’s not all as black and white as I thought and believed. I’ll stay black and white towards alcohol, to weed, to coke, to speed, to xtc, to opiates, to everything I know I might get addicted to or already am. And I’m done experimenting with new designer of herbal drugs too. But I’m not quitting coffee. At least not for now. Thanks for the subject @Cigfreed. Good stuff to think about.
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This has been a really interesting read, so I had to give my take on it. Plus, it’s my first opportunity to quote Aunt Lydia. 
So, as dear Lydia once said, ‘There are two types of freedom. Freedom from … and freedom to …’ I guess most of us here are lucky to live in a society where people can fill in their own dots. Me, for example, I’m nearly two months free from the devil’s juice and the not fairy dust. At the same time, I’m free to decide if my other vices are problematic. And right now, I love both my french pressed morning coffee and my vape pen.
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Good stuff right there 
Thanks Aunt Lydia
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