[HN Gopher] The world is facing a coffee deficit
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       The world is facing a coffee deficit
        
       Author : benryon
       Score  : 91 points
       Date   : 2021-03-24 18:26 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.bloombergquint.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.bloombergquint.com)
        
       | cletus wrote:
       | So cue the US telling developing countries "hey you can grow
       | coffee instead of coca/opium and make a good living", a large
       | number of farmers growing coffee, the supply gets flooded, prices
       | drop and the farmers switch back to the coca/opium harvests that
       | no doubt made them much more money anyway.
       | 
       | The circle of life.
        
         | bregma wrote:
         | There's a shortage of shipping containers for the cocaine and
         | opium, too.
        
           | p1necone wrote:
           | How often are those shipped in containers as opposed to DIY
           | submarines?
        
             | angry_octet wrote:
             | Oh all the time. But global freight is so huge, only a tiny
             | portion can be checked. It has to make its way to a
             | shipping source before it can enter the legitimate supply
             | chain though.
             | 
             | Although 3D x-rays are used extensively for scanning
             | freight, it it still easy to smuggle high value product.
        
         | jeffbee wrote:
         | I would have thought that artificial opioids like fentanyl
         | would have wrecked the poppy market already.
        
           | tehjoker wrote:
           | I recall reading it's several orders of magnitude more potent
           | and its typical use is elephant tranquilizer. Far higher
           | potency means it's easy for a small mistake in measurement to
           | result in a really high dose. I would imagine that seems
           | risky even to people accustomed to heroin.
        
             | jeffreyrogers wrote:
             | I don't think heroin users get a choice. My understanding
             | is a lot of the street supply is already cut with fentanyl.
        
               | Applejinx wrote:
               | Recovering addict here, couple decades clean: yes, that's
               | been true for years. If you are in touch with the using-
               | addict population, for instance you're in recovery and
               | participate in meetings, you'd be certain of this.
               | 
               | It's weird when maybe a double-digit percentage of the
               | people you know, wind up dead (and this is before covid).
               | When you include people you know, upset because people
               | THEY know have overdosed and died, then yeah: the effects
               | of fentanyl are pretty damn apparent. People will not be
               | addicts cautiously. Even if they think that's what
               | they're being, they're mistaken.
        
             | [deleted]
        
         | mikestew wrote:
         | According to TFA, sourcing _coffee_ isn't the problem. It was
         | in the first paragraph in case you missed it on your first
         | reading.
        
           | throwaway823882 wrote:
           | Doesn't matter. If they can't export/ship/sell it, then they
           | don't make money, so they go back to growing drugs.
        
           | wobbly_bush wrote:
           | > Marex Spectron this month increased its estimate for a
           | global coffee deficit to 10.7 million bags in 2021-22,
           | compared with its previous projection of 8 million bags,
           | citing lower Brazilian arabica output after adverse weather
           | damaged crops. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a report that
           | if production in Central America doesn't improve in coming
           | years, the market will enter a structural deficit given the
           | rebound in demand
        
       | cgb223 wrote:
       | I wish the article would actually go into _what_ is causing the
       | container shortage
       | 
       | Are they not manufacturing them? Prioritizing them elsewhere? Is
       | it political?
       | 
       | Anyone know what's going on?
        
         | makomk wrote:
         | For a start, a whole bunch of containers ended up stuck in
         | locations where they wouldn't normally be and there's not
         | enough return goods, and for some reason shipping companies
         | aren't interested in carrying empty containers back on their
         | return trips?
        
         | ogre_codes wrote:
         | Well for starters, there are lines of cargo ships outside of
         | LA, 20-30 off the coast of LA right now. Typically it would be
         | 1-2. That's something like 100,000 sitting idle right there.
         | Then many of the storage facilities are also jam packed with
         | containers too.
         | 
         | Apparently we've all gone on a spending spree during COVID so
         | more containers are simply out there filled with crap we've
         | ordered and waiting for shipment, unloading, and return to the
         | ports.
        
       | poletopole wrote:
       | Am I the only "lucky apple user" where I was randomly redirected
       | to a cheezy malware site from 20 years ago?
        
         | mint2 wrote:
         | Nope, I also got some sort of browser hijacking redirect from
         | their ad network. It's been a while since I've seen those.
        
       | Kluny wrote:
       | Oh no
        
       | BrandoElFollito wrote:
       | The graphs are horrible. By showing changes between 5.5 and 7.5M
       | you have a rollercoaster. When you show the same graph between 0
       | and 7.5M, it gets flatter and the huge changes maybe do not mean
       | that much.
       | 
       | This would get a 10/20 mark at my lecture.
        
         | baron_harkonnen wrote:
         | By the same logic we should print charts of heart rates and
         | body temperature from starting from 0. Regional temperature
         | over time plots should always start from 0 kelvin, Google's
         | stock price should displayed from 0 to 3000, etc.
         | 
         | I don't know about you but I would be annoyed if my smart watch
         | app displayed BPM starting at 0 making my changing heart rate
         | an ignoreable fuzz.
         | 
         | The idea that "charts should start at 0" is an absurd dogma
         | that is immediately recognizable as such by anyone that has
         | ever worked with data visualization to make decisions.
         | 
         | A better guideline is to display a reasonable range that lets
         | you see historically what has been possible with a bit of
         | buffer. For relatively Guassian changes a few standard
         | deviations is good.
         | 
         | In general your limits should not be outside of the bounds of
         | what is reasonably possible. Coffee trade is not going to 0
         | anytime soon, and suggesting that visually is dishonest.
        
           | BrandoElFollito wrote:
           | > By the same logic we should print charts of heart rates and
           | body temperature from starting from 0
           | 
           | No. We do not want to prove anything here. The trend can be
           | only within a range so that range should be used.
           | 
           | > Regional temperature over time plots should always start
           | from 0 kelvin
           | 
           | If you discuss how wide the changes are - yes. But thi si not
           | what you are looking at - you are looking at temperatures
           | between -50C and +50C (taking the extremes) and this is also
           | the reason why thermometers are scaled like that.
           | 
           | > The idea that "charts should start at 0" is an absurd dogma
           | that is immediately recognizable as such by anyone that has
           | ever worked with data visualization to make decisions.
           | 
           | Certainly. I believe that physicists and engineers who did
           | actual research on actual data can be dismissed.
           | 
           | > A better guideline is to display a reasonable range that
           | lets you see historically what has been possible with a bit
           | of buffer.
           | 
           | It depends on what you want to show. If you want to show
           | relative changes then plot relative changes. If you want to
           | discuss absolute changes (which in the article do not make
           | any sense) then you have to address the whole range. We are
           | talking about millions of something, and that something can
           | drop to zero.
           | 
           | > For relatively Gaussian changes a few standard deviations
           | is good.
           | 
           | On what basis do you assume that you have a gaussian
           | distribution? (I assume - of changes, form your comment)
           | 
           | > In general your limits should not be outside of the bounds
           | of what is reasonably possible
           | 
           | A data scientist making a real analysis will look at what is
           | reasonably possible, but possible full stop. This sets the
           | ranges of observation. To take your first example, the only
           | possible temperatures when dealing with a live body in
           | ambient temperature is from, say, 17C to about 44C. Thi is
           | the range that should be used when discussing "wild changes
           | in temperature. And not a graph that goes from 36.5 to 37 and
           | showing valleys and mountains and drawing conclusions from
           | there.
           | 
           | > Coffee trade is not going to 0 anytime soon, and suggesting
           | that visually is dishonest
           | 
           | What is visually dishonest is to show absolute changes and
           | make any kind of comments on how important they are by not
           | taking the possible values, especially when talking about
           | values going down.
        
       | IG_Semmelweiss wrote:
       | Coffee is not very different than other commodities. Much of it
       | is in trouble at the moment.
       | 
       | Supply chains continue to be disrupted due to myriad of reasons.
       | Its not only missing containers, you can argue they are still
       | somewhat misplaces but its not just that - changing rules
       | (COVID), changing borders (UK) , unstable financing (try to get
       | money from any factor or revolver that is not a bank, good luck
       | now), changing market tastes , changes even related to humans
       | (unemployed disruptions along the supply chain workflow).
       | 
       | There has been many unsung heroes from the pandemic but at least
       | as far as USA is concerned, I am still amazed we can still buy
       | stuff from amazon with 2 day delivery.
       | 
       | (To wit - amazon also is not helping by limiting FBA inbound
       | capacity to sellers)
       | 
       | Spot prices are all over the place. It will be like this for a
       | while.
        
         | sombremesa wrote:
         | `To wit` is more of an `id est` rather than an `albeit`, which
         | is how it has incorrectly been used here.
         | 
         | (I'm writing this for the benefit of the ESL folks, not so much
         | as an admonishment)
        
           | dr_dshiv wrote:
           | So "to wit" ="namely" = "viz" but "ie"(id est) is appropriate
           | when giving a simple example (vs a primary example) or an
           | alternative wording? Albeit= nevertheless=however=on the
           | other hand?
           | 
           | Sorry, these shouldn't be equal signs-- no words are truly
           | equal.
        
             | graywh wrote:
             | "i.e." is for giving clarification, not examples
             | 
             | e.g. is for giving examples
             | 
             | there are plenty of resources on the Internet to further
             | explain this
        
         | HPsquared wrote:
         | There's probably a lot of money to be made solving these
         | problems.
        
         | dv_dt wrote:
         | Also I think climate change will be a increasing player in
         | events with global disruptions in food, commodities, and
         | industrial goods. Global capitalism has relentlessly optimized
         | for lowest cost, but with minimal to no margin for risks or
         | resiliency.
        
           | Retric wrote:
           | Having a vast surplus is a very useful form of resiliency.
           | For commodities surplus is equivalent to low prices.
        
             | dv_dt wrote:
             | How so? Low prices drive alternate suppliers out of
             | business as well as cutting margin for players in the
             | market from having buffers to deal with mitigations
             | possibly needing capital cost investments to keep bringing
             | commodities to market. e.g. if you have a temporary
             | drought, does the farmer have enough profit such that they
             | have savings or capital lines to buy temporary water supply
             | to get your crop through the dry period, or money to access
             | getting your customs setup for new markets that have had a
             | shortage in the regular markets. Or access to buy or rent
             | new containers in this case possibly.
        
         | logshipper wrote:
         | For anyone looking to read more on the container shortage
         | problem, NYT recently published a great piece on it:
         | 
         | https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/06/business/global-shipping....
        
       | throwaway5752 wrote:
       | For those that can't be bothered to read beyond the headline.
       | 
       |  _" global shortage of shipping containers that's upended the
       | food trade."_
       | 
       | Shipping container shortage.
        
         | derefr wrote:
         | This confuses me, as shipping containers seem... _really_ easy
         | to produce. They 're not CPUs; you don't need a special fab.
         | They're corrugated boxes made of welded cold-rolled steel.
         | Pretty much every country -- every industry _in_ every country!
         | -- should be able to scrape together the natural resources to
         | make their own shipping containers. There should never be a
         | shortage of supply of shipping containers, any more than there
         | could have been a shortage in supply of, say, the hemp sacks
         | used in bulk shipping in the 1700s. You need one? You make one!
         | 
         | From the article:
         | 
         | > Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, the world's largest
         | shipping company, said containers _and charter vessels_ are
         | temporarily unavailable for purchase or lease
         | 
         | I have a feeling it's more about the ships. Shipbuilding is a
         | pretty CapEx-intensive pursuit. Container production, not so
         | much.
        
           | mrguyorama wrote:
           | It could be the same reason why toilet paper struggled so
           | much.
           | 
           | Sure it's super easy to produce, but do you want to be on the
           | hook for whatever you spent ramping up production when the
           | shortage disappears between 1 month and 1 year from now?
        
           | danaliv wrote:
           | Ports are congested too, which leaves ships (and their
           | containers) stuck out at anchorages waiting to get in. Port
           | of LA, for instance, has been bottlenecked for months.
           | 
           | https://www.marketplace.org/2021/01/29/record-port-
           | backups-h...
           | 
           | https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/05/retailers-pay-more-to-fly-
           | bi...
        
           | post_break wrote:
           | That feeling is the same thing with railcar shortages. They
           | are super easy to produce. But no one wants to be stuck with
           | them if there is a glut, only a few manufacturers of railcars
           | and they don't scale like servers. They make a normal amount
           | of railcars, and when they need more they can make what
           | 10-20% more? And then since they are "easy" to produce they
           | still might take weeks to months to finish because of parts
           | they rely on all being strained as well.
        
             | derefr wrote:
             | > And then since they are "easy" to produce they still
             | might take weeks to months to finish because of parts they
             | rely on all being strained as well.
             | 
             | I feel like a container factory would be a sensible thing
             | to be vertically integrated: raw steel (or iron and
             | carbon!) in; containers out; screws and bolts and any other
             | needed stuff getting made during the process out of the
             | same raw inputs. A lot like how IKEA's operation works
             | (i.e. basically a vertically-integrated sawmill), but with
             | metals.
             | 
             | That approach doesn't _vertically_ scale very well, but the
             | _techniques_ from it could be _horizontally_ scaled pretty
             | easily across a number of industries if well-known. This is
             | what I was on about with the hemp sacks: every industry
             | _did_ used to make their own hemp sacks. It was easy, and
             | the techniques and requirements were well-known, so every
             | business that needed sacks just did what was necessary to
             | make them, comparative advantage be damned. (Sort of like
             | how every large factory today has its own machine shop, or
             | how every modern building has its own internal water-
             | treatment+recycling system.)
        
               | rzzzt wrote:
               | What do they ship raw steel in?
        
         | hardtke wrote:
         | There is not so much a shortage but instead the empty
         | containers are in the wrong place. With the US stimulus coupled
         | with the lack of ability of American consumers to consume
         | services like travel, imports to the US have surged. They've
         | started adding an extra layer of containers on ships coming
         | from China and a bunch of them have fallen off. In the past we
         | would fill some of the containers going back to China with
         | agricultural goods, but now empty containers are essentially
         | more valuable than filled containers. Here's a marketplace
         | article on the situation:
         | https://www.marketplace.org/2021/03/17/inflation-shipping-co...
        
         | m463 wrote:
         | they've known of this for a long time. The logistics folks have
         | data for very accurate predictions:
         | 
         | https://www.freightwaves.com/news/inside-californias-colossa...
         | 
         | (from a few months ago)
        
         | curmudgeon22 wrote:
         | Plus crop problems in Brazil:
         | 
         | Arabica-coffee futures in New York have risen about 24% since
         | the end of October following the damage to Brazilian groves.
        
       | wobbly_bush wrote:
       | >In the facilities of Dinamo, one of Brazil's largest coffee
       | warehouses operators, there's a lot of product stuck waiting for
       | containers
       | 
       | Can anyone comment on the cost difference to ship something from
       | Brazil to US in containers vs as air cargo? Also, isn't shipping
       | via trucks or trains an option?
        
         | oetnxkdrlgcexu wrote:
         | Shipping efficiency generally: Boats > trains > trucks > planes
         | 
         | Aircraft are only used in time-sensitive situations. The
         | standardized cargo container improved shipping efficiency, but
         | in its absence boats are still the best method of
         | transportation.
         | 
         | The fact that they're waiting for the cargo containers means
         | that it's costing them less to wait than other options. I
         | imagine if they were desperate they could hire out some cruise
         | liners and stuff them with coffee. They'd have to be loaded and
         | unloaded by dockworkers though, not sure if any port would
         | support that anymore...
        
         | vinceguidry wrote:
         | Others have commented on the Darien Gap, but generally
         | speaking, maritime shipping is roughly 1/3 the cost of overland
         | by rail.
         | 
         | https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/comparing-mari...
        
         | circumvent123 wrote:
         | The Darien gap might be an issue there.
        
           | Anarch157a wrote:
           | Brazilian here. Most of the coffee production is in the south
           | and south-east (Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Parana). To get the
           | coffee in bulk to where it can cross the gap, it has to
           | travel thru shitty roads that have more craters than the far
           | side of the Moon and some that aren't paved at all.
           | 
           | Then it gets to the Amazonas river. It's so wide, some
           | Portuguese navigator tought it was a fresh water Sea. There's
           | only one bridge conencting the city os Manaus in the north
           | bank to south and sone ferries scattered all over.
           | 
           | Then you have to cross half the Amazon jungle to get to a
           | port in Colombia (Venezuela is not an option for obvious
           | reasons).
           | 
           | Tl;dr, the Darian Gap is the least of your problems if you
           | want to move coffee by land from here to the US.
        
             | cesarb wrote:
             | Also Brazilian here, wouldn't an alternative path be to go
             | even further southwest, leave the country, and only then
             | move north more or less following the Pacific coast? That
             | would both avoid all these shitty roads and remove the need
             | to cross the Amazonas.
        
               | oetnxkdrlgcexu wrote:
               | Looking at google maps, it sort of looks like it goes
               | from the jungle to the Andes to the Atacama dessert.
               | 
               | I'm genuinely surprised at how impassible this all seems.
               | especially the Andes.
        
         | RandallBrown wrote:
         | You can't really ship from Brazil to the US (or vice versa) by
         | train or truck because there isn't a continuous land route
         | between the Americas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darien_Gap
        
           | Gravityloss wrote:
           | In this age of remakes, this calls for a movie about the
           | dangerous overland trip taken to deliver coffee through the
           | Darien Gap, in the style of Sorcerer (1977):
           | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076740/ (which is already a
           | third remake or so.)
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | jgalt212 wrote:
       | too much cash, not enough stuff.
       | 
       | inflation is coming.
        
         | ClumsyPilot wrote:
         | Uh no people dont doubke their coffee consumption because they
         | have more money
        
           | jgalt212 wrote:
           | I'm not talking about coffee, I'm talking about the missing
           | pieces in the supply chain. There's too much cash, i.e.
           | Bitcoin the moon, and not enough stuff (i.e. we are short the
           | needed shipping containers to reboot the post COVID economy).
           | It's gonna be like the years immediately after WW2. Everyone
           | wants a car, but the factories have not fully moved back to
           | making consumer goods.
        
           | neckardt wrote:
           | But if people have more money, wouldn't that mean producers
           | could raise their prices and people would still be willing to
           | pay it?
        
             | gruez wrote:
             | Only if they coordinate and act like a cartel. Otherwise
             | it's a prisoner's dilemma situation where the party that
             | doesn't raise prices gains market share.
        
               | xoa wrote:
               | No coordination needed in a supply limited scenario with
               | sufficiently inelastic demand. That's not a prisoner's
               | dilemma. In that case every single bag has multiple
               | potential interested buyers, which means each supplier
               | can individually have buyers bid against each other and
               | see the sale price go up. Organization of course might
               | let them do even better, but it's not necessary. There is
               | no market share to be gained from the supplier point of
               | view (though as the article says, those higher up the
               | chain may have different motives and margins) because
               | supply just can't be ramped up instantly with a good like
               | coffee. It doesn't matter if a farmer would in principle
               | like to have 10x as much to sell, they have what they
               | grew, and could only respond to demand by increasing
               | supply slowly (and there is the risk of overshoot). If
               | they don't raise prices they're just leaving money on the
               | table, since every bag will get bought.
        
               | nostrademons wrote:
               | That's where the supply shortage comes in. If lots of
               | people have money but there's excess capacity in the
               | market, nobody will raise prices because the firm that
               | doesn't ramps up capacity and captures the excess market
               | share. If lots of people have money but there's a supply
               | shortage, the firm that refuses to raise prices lacks the
               | excess capacity to capitalize on their consumer demand,
               | and fails to gain market share.
        
         | sdenton4 wrote:
         | too much cash, not enough stuff.
         | 
         | jobs are coming.
        
       | luthfur wrote:
       | I have been wondering what the root cause if this sudden
       | container shortage. Found this blog post with an explanation:
       | https://www.hillebrand.com/media/publication/where-are-all-t...
        
       | mint2 wrote:
       | This website's ad network is delivering browser hijacking ads. I
       | haven't seen one of those for a long time.
        
       | baxtr wrote:
       | To give some hope to some of you: I stopped drinking coffee back
       | in December. I was a heavy drinker before. I stopped because my
       | stomach wouldn't stop being upset permanently, and I had a sore
       | throat all the time. And no, I didn't drink cheap shit coffee,
       | quite the opposite.
       | 
       | It all vanished after I stopped drinking coffee. The first day
       | was brutal, the second a bit better. A week later, I was fine.
       | Now I drink green tea all day and feel quite good from a stomach
       | perspective.
       | 
       | And, I truly hope green tea is not transported on the same ships
       | as coffee!
        
         | zeku wrote:
         | To give another perspective... I drink about 3 cups of coffee a
         | day.
         | 
         | When I quit cold turkey I have a headache so bad I can't do
         | anything at all for 3 days or so, and on day 2 I am bedridden
         | with flu like symptoms(ive tried quitting multiple times).
         | 
         | My reaction to stopping is so severe, but I notice no issues
         | while regularly consuming coffee other than I _need_ it 1 or so
         | hours max after I wake or I will have a headache all day.
         | 
         | I also feel low energy for weeks after stopping coffee.
        
           | anonporridge wrote:
           | I feel like people are slowly waking up to how insane our
           | collective addiction to (and glorification of) caffeine
           | actually is.
        
             | Afton wrote:
             | I feel that addictions are only a problem if they are a
             | problem. As far as we can tell, non-crazy-quantity coffee
             | drinking isn't bad for you, might be helpful for some
             | things, and tastes delicious.
             | 
             | The only downside is that I have to be slightly prepared if
             | I am not going to be able to easily consume my regular
             | doses of caffeine. And if I want to cut/stop, it takes
             | about a week or so to do so comfortably.
             | 
             | As for the glorification, I think it's really a
             | glorification of workaholics, and 'needing coffee to get
             | through yet another pile of TPS Reports' is more a badge of
             | honor than anything else.
        
               | anonporridge wrote:
               | I think that many addictions can be ok, so long as you
               | understand how much power they have over you and keep a
               | wary eye on them.
               | 
               | An addiction can work well in some environment but
               | completely destroy you if your environment changes.
               | 
               | Also, I'm not convinced that caffeine addiction is
               | completely overcome in the week or so it takes for the
               | physical withdrawal. Even for myself when I decide to go
               | through long periods of decaffeination, I find that my
               | energy and motivation is significantly deteriorated from
               | when I regularly caffeinate. Sometimes I wonder if my
               | regular use as a college student permanently altered my
               | brain chemistry. On the flip side, maybe this use set me
               | up for the early career success that I might not
               | otherwise have achieved.
        
               | wyre wrote:
               | Caffeine is a drug that generally increases energy and
               | motivation so it makes sense that those levels wouldn't
               | be as high without consuming it.
        
             | [deleted]
        
           | rootusrootus wrote:
           | I don't understand why people have to go cold turkey. That's
           | brutal. When I need to wean off caffeine, I keep Excedrin
           | handy. Yes, it has caffeine. That's the point. I take it when
           | the headache cranks up, it knocks it down, I don't take it
           | again until the next headache. I never get a truly bad
           | headache that way, and it only takes a few days to be
           | completely weaned.
        
             | drivers99 wrote:
             | I tapered off of energy drinks at the beginning of the
             | pandemic (I didn't want to be dependent on them, just in
             | case). I simply drank 1 fluid ounce (about 28g by weight)
             | less per day until it was 0. I'm sure I could have cut down
             | faster, but I didn't need to and it was easy enough that
             | way.
             | 
             | Speaking of Excedrin, I chatted with a doctor online once,
             | and he said he knew of people who were addicted to Excedrin
             | and it was dangerous (presumably because of the
             | acetaminophen, which can kill you if overdone) and people
             | should throw it away. I can see his point since that
             | medicine combines an addictive drug (caffeine) with a
             | dangerous one. Probably a fringe opinion, but thought that
             | was interesting.
        
               | rootusrootus wrote:
               | That is interesting, I've never heard of anyone becoming
               | addicted to it. It is hands-down the most effective
               | headache pill for me (even though I have been completely
               | off caffeine for years now). I would hate it if they
               | outlawed it; though reconstructing an equivalent would be
               | pretty straightforward.
        
           | maxerickson wrote:
           | People clear caffeine at different rates, which has some
           | impact on quitting stories.
           | 
           | I drink like 50 fluid ounces of strong black coffee a day and
           | don't really have a problem on days I drink a lot less. One
           | thing I do is avoid consuming significant amounts of caffeine
           | after noon. That way it's a normal thing for my body to have
           | cleared most of the caffeine.
           | 
           | Do you drink the 3 cups throughout the day?
        
             | zeku wrote:
             | Yeah I normally drink two in the morning and one in the
             | afternoon
        
           | bondarchuk wrote:
           | Of course, don't go cold turkey, that's just stupid. You're
           | taking a vasoconstrictor (something that makes blood vessels
           | narrower), which results in a widening of the blood vessels
           | as a compensation. If the vasoconstriction disappears
           | suddenly then your vessels become too wide suddenly (this is
           | what causes the headaches as far as I understand it). If you
           | ease off slowly the compensation will also reduce slowly.
        
         | YinglingLight wrote:
         | I find it ironic that the demographic that purchases expensive
         | coffee machines/workflows is the demographic most likely to
         | quit entirely.
        
         | ianai wrote:
         | Matcha. Smooth constant rush of caffeine and theanine as your
         | body digests the powder. Pu-erh is another favorite though.
        
           | cyberpunk wrote:
           | Ph-erg really is the path of righteousness; it's not for
           | everyone though and there is such minutia involved in this
           | type of tea that it's very easy to get a bit.. obsessive..
           | 
           | I mean, it's normal to have separate yixing teapots depending
           | on the age of your sheng right? ;)
        
         | glenmorangie_14 wrote:
         | I am quite addicted to coffee, but I've given it up multiple
         | times for 1-2 months. What I've found is that I can get off of
         | coffee easily by substituting tea for coffee and then ween
         | myself off tea. I can skip coffee or other forms of caffeine,
         | but I'll get headaches on day 2.
         | 
         | What always brings me back to coffee is that I find myself in a
         | generally mild depressive state when I'm not drinking it.
         | Coffee makes me feel happy.
        
           | robotnikman wrote:
           | I feel the same way with coffee. As far as caffeinated
           | beverages go, coffee is probably the least worrisome.
        
           | spookybones wrote:
           | Mild depression w/o it for me too. The other reason I tend to
           | get back on it is if I'm hungover. But, I don't drink alcohol
           | often. Tea doesn't seem to help with hangovers.
           | 
           | I've considered experimenting more with matcha and yerba
           | mate.
        
           | bpodgursky wrote:
           | I dropped coffee about two weeks ago, but still drink about a
           | pot of (flavored) decaf a day. Maybe you could get the same
           | mental benefits from the warmth + taste?
        
           | dr_dshiv wrote:
           | Hmm, tea isn't strong enough for me. Perhaps I could replace
           | coffee with methamphetamine, if it comes down to it. Sticking
           | with coffee -- for now.
        
             | murrkeys wrote:
             | I drink Yerba Mate tea as a substitute. It contains more
             | caffeine than other teas, plus you can drink it out of a
             | cool gourd. Might be worth giving a try!
        
             | Dumblydorr wrote:
             | Tea has fractions of the mg caffeine that coffee does. It
             | makes sense pharmacologically that you have a higher
             | tolerance than only tea drinkers. I wouldn't recommend
             | using methamphetamine, it is a prescription for ADHD,
             | taking it lightly is not advisable. You can use tea as a
             | tolerance reducer instead, take it on off days instead of
             | coffee.
        
           | skillpass wrote:
           | I recently noticed the same thing about depression and coffee
           | after trying to quit several times over the past several
           | years. Even months after the headaches ceased, I generally
           | felt more depressive. Upon resumption of drinking, I started
           | feeling more elevated in mood.
        
         | yellow_lead wrote:
         | My stomach also stopped tolerating coffee. Decaf is fine for me
         | so I think it's the caffeine. However, I can tolerate a
         | caffeinated cup every now and then, just not daily or twice
         | daily as I had been before.
         | 
         | Would be curious if anyone has ever been able to regain their
         | tolerance. I really loved coffee.
        
         | tayo42 wrote:
         | I went to a doctor for this, he told me that caffeine slows
         | down how fast a part of your esophagus responds that is
         | responsible for keeping the acid in your stomach.
        
           | amelius wrote:
           | Interesting. Did you find a remedy?
        
         | robocat wrote:
         | Buy caffiene pills (Caffiene only nodoz or equivalent) and wean
         | yourself off by lowering your dosage down over a few weeks
         | ("titrate yourself off"). Breaking the pills into smaller
         | amounts during the last week is annoying, but the technique
         | prevents headaches and other symptoms.
         | 
         | And beware that some bags of coffee beans have residual amounts
         | of pesticides/fungicides etcetera which is possibly a cause of
         | your problem. I sometimes get a mild allergic reaction to a
         | coffee supplier, so I have to change suppliers until I find one
         | I am not allergic to. I am pretty sure it is pesticides or
         | another treatment... I am a fairly scientific person who
         | loathes unscientific hypochondriacs: I have reasons to believe
         | it is something in the beans and prior experiences suggest a
         | treatment product.
        
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