Coffee/Tea/Water Rituals

[stand@desk]

On the Warrior diet, coffee tastes amazing in the morning. I love drinking it black on an emptier stomach. After drinking coffee on my days off, I like drinking a weak pot of green tea (a couple of hours later) en route to lunchtime. It's like my tastebuds feel elevated and my mindset is more geared to enjoy the tea compared to if I were drinking it on a full stomach. On my work days after having my morning coffee (730am), I like having a cup of hot water around 930am and it makes my stomach feel warm and comforted. The last few hours getting to a 1PM lunch feel purposeful and interesting.

I prefer to drink cold water throughout the day after I have used the washroom to replace what fluids have been lost or if exercising I'll have the cold bottle of water ready and also before bed I'll have a good pull of cold water right out of the bottle from the fridge and it really hits the spot.

I'd be interested to hear others beverage intake rituals while on or not on the Warrior diet. Perhaps there are a few good ideas out there I am not aware of and I could incorporate into my lifestyle. Thanks!

[Dave]

My routine is similar to yours. I start my day with black coffee or green tea around 6:45. I do not have a set routine, but I will have another 1-2 cups of coffee or tea up until noon, and then for sleeping reasons I will not anymore caffeine. I normally mix a few cups of (preferably ice) water in throughout the morning, and a lot more during the afternoon!

[GandK]

I love black coffee, but I rarely drink it now. I get migraines, and if I have too much caffeine, a headache is sure to follow.

Now I drink refrigerated tap water all day, with the occasional cup of herbal tea or hot cocoa if I'm craving a hot beverage.

[DSKla]

Part of my expense cutting was to stop buying coffee from shops and make it at home. Right now I use a pourover, which takes ages but tastes very good and can't be hurt by a power outage. I have a french press as well, but I found it made my stomach sick if I used it every day due to slurping down so many grounds.

I only drink it black.

If anyone knows any great bean sources for cheap, I'm all ears. Coffee bean direct seems to have bulk beans for a little over $8/lb. I'd love to get closer to $6.

[slimicy]

I brew a pot of coffee every other morning. On the mornings that I brew I drink half the pot hot and black, and put the other half in a carafe in the fridge, which I'll drink the next morning cold and black. Rinse repeat. This reduced my $40+/month Dunkin Donuts coffee habit down to $10/month on beans.

At night and with meals I use a SodaStream to make lightly flavored seltzer water. I'll make a full container of plain seltzer and then mix in 1-2oz of juice or extracts. Makes for a nice all natural soda replacement with 20-30 calories. This SodaStream (which was a gift) replaces my seltzer buying habits, which were also in the realm of $30-40/month before.

[Dragline]

Most days its coffee (black) early, segueing to assorted teas by mid-day and ending the day with herbal teas. Unless DW tricks me into drinking wine by opening a bottle.

Water when I want something cold.

[vexed87]

Once I decided to start my ERE lifestyle I kicked my £60/month diet coke habit to the gutter, it took some serious discipline as I was an addict, at my worst I was drinking 2L a day. I have always enjoyed cold water, but I enjoyed cola more.

Now, I will opt for just two cups of black coffee, once in the morning after arriving in the office, or with breakfast on the weekend and again in the afternoon. Sometimes if I am out visiting family I will have a third cup, but this is rare as I know more than two cups is excessive.

[stand@desk]

I made a pot of tea this afternoon and parked myself on the couch with a view out the window..allowed my thoughts to come and go (I dwelled on some and others I let go) and just enjoyed my green tea. I felt happy doing, it changed my mood for the better, and it felt like time well spent. A simple ERE activity but a very pleasurable one.

[C40]

I like drinking tea because it can be a good exercise in heightening my sensations and awareness. To really appreciate (what I consider) good tea, you have to focus on the experience. You have to let the tea move around in your mouth, on your tongue. You have to focus specifically on tasting it well.

Preparation is also important. Little variables like the water quality, or how much that water has been boiled can have an impact on how the tea turns out. Then there are other things - the temperature of the water, how consistent the temperature is while steeping the tea, how long you steep it, what temperature it is while you drink it. (And then there are many variables with the tea itself: freshness, leaf size, plant quality, processing quality, pesticide use, the climate that was present while these leaves were forming, soil details, etc.. There are all these little things that have an impact on how the tea tastes, and to really experience what tea has to offer, you need to focus your attention on tasting and enjoying it.

One of my favorite kinds of tea is one that seems (and I believe is) a bit inconsistent. I can have it one day and it is like magic.. Then a few weeks later it's nowhere near as good. This does depend on all the little things that I mentioned above, but it also depends very heavily on how focused I am while drinking it. When I am well-focused, I the tea can be worlds better. I can pick up on enjoyable subtleties that are completely missed if I drink it quickly or if my thoughts are monopolized by something else.

This practice in focus is beneficial for me because happiness/enjoyment levels are heavily impacted by:
1 - Input levels - stimulation type and amount
2 - Sensitivity - how focused on these inputs you are.

When I drink tea, I practice increasing my sensitivity.



As an example, picture:
A - A billionaire Columbian drug lord of incredible power sitting on a couch, watching the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight, smoking the finest Cuban cigar, and getting a blowjob from two Parisian supermodels, and talking on his phone with one of his coke suppliers debating pricing discounts at different order volumes.

B - A twenty year old virgin getting his first blowjob from the hot and deviant 24 year old girl that lives down the street.