Recently I noticed that office coffee was making my stomach hurt all the way until an evening derby practice. Even after a good work-out, I would often reach for a cup of coffee but it has only made me jittery. I’m anxious enough, so although I love the taste of coffee it was starting to seem counter-productive to how good I was feeling from working out. With my very first home bout coming up on June 9th, I want to skate well and be calm about it.
In my case even a ½ cup of caffeinated coffee turns up my anxiety. So instead of cutting down I just went right for the true decaf, herbal coffee. Here are the results from my taste test experiment.
Ayurvedic Roast
http://ayurvedicroast.com/
I really wanted to like this one the best since it had the lowest sodium of the three per serving, 1 mg sodium and no sugar. Even if I left it brewing longer than usual, with more roast, it never got dark enough and tasted very woody. I tried this a few times but still couldn’t get past the blandness.
Dandy Blend
http://www.dandyblend.com/
This can be like an espresso if you make it strong, and it is closer to an instant coffee taste than the others. You don’t need a filter since it will dissolve in water. If you don’t mind instant or the taste of blander office coffee, then this is a good substitute having 3 mg sodium and no sugar.
Teeccino
http://teeccino.com/
What I like about this one is that it isn’t trying to replace the exact taste of coffee. It does well in mimicking the ritualistic experience that makes regular coffee hard to give up. I tried the sampler pack to get an idea of the various flavors available. To my surprise I liked the sweeter varieties like java, chocolate and chocolate mint. The chocolate flavors seemed to be the creamiest like coffee. Unfortunately this brand has the most sodium of the three at 10-20 mg with many of the flavors containing 1-2 mg of sugar.
I’ll be honest. It takes discipline, especially when you work in an office and can smell Starbucks brewing. And the withdrawal symptoms are nothing to laugh about. I felt like I had the flu at one point and could barely keep my eyes open at work. The good news is that this doesn’t last long if you stay on track. Within a week, maybe sooner, I felt like I had more energy when I woke up in the morning and had never felt so clear-minded. I got myself off the caffeine loop and didn’t even think I was drinking that much. It might take some practice to keep this up, but roller derby helps me stay motivated.
