If you enjoyed this episode could you do us a massive favour and HIT that like button on the video! Helps us a lot 🙏 share your favourite part of the convo below 👇🏾
Try check out “The Truth about Caffeine” by Marina Kushner, if you like to look into the negatives effects of coffee. Thank you for an amazing podcast❤
Thanks for the invitation to have this conversation together! I enjoyed chatting and hope it'll encourage people to explore coffee a bit more and hopefully enjoy it more too.
Thanks James for your common sense approach. Certain people these days have an agenda or are trying to push something. It's always good to discuss things freely and with a level head. If only we could take this approach with so many other things in life. All the best, from Australia 🇦🇺
As someone that has spent years in the coffee industry and a considerable amount of time just hanging out in coffee shops, you seem like the absolute worst kind of barista. Frankly, the way you act is an embarrassment to the rest of the high end coffee world.
Another of those weird coffee persons from OZ dropping a quick "thanks mate" to you Hames J. for your continued entertainment and enlightenment of all things coffee-related. I really enjoyed the broadcast and I hope to have a great day! 👍☕
When I was growing up in Ethiopia, my neighbor had a coffee tree. I used to pick the cherries and eat them. My neighbor made her coffee by picking the cherries, removing the beans, roasting them, grinding them and making the coffee all in an hour or so. That's as fresh as it comes.
@@avm9647 I was surprised to learn that 95% of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is exported to Japan, and the other 5% is for Jamaicans themselves and the rest of the world. This helps explain why it's so hard to find and expensive. I think it's the best tasting coffee I've had.
i love how this guy is literally so deeply into coffee, but still would give it all up if it interferred with his sleep. This man has his priorities straight & I love that.
I like James voice haircut and glasses. He’s definitely got the sexy geek mojo thing goin on.❤ oh and the coffee information is good too. Drink it every day.
Im a guy and love his hair cut and glasses. . I'm defo straight . He is very articulate and well spoken.. they both are..I wish everyone speaks like these guys as so many people are harsh speakers..
I just listened more than 1 hour of coffee talk and it feel like no time passed, passionate people got that magical abilities to be interresting no matter what the subjet is.
I'm a coffee professional who started the same year as James Hoffmann. He succinctly, precisely, concisely encapsulates the learning and passion of our industry. I wholly endorse him as our messenger to the world-at-large. Keep up the amazing work, James!
He inspires me so dedicated to his passion. I live and work in Asia and coffee is Omnipresent it's one of the few things that is a constant in many countries Vietnam Northern Thailand, Lao, Cambodia, Indonesia.
i was drinking coffee 3 times a day. When I listened to a podcast with Steven about the importance of sleep, i changed to one cup of coffee a day and 1 cup of decaf a day. Sleeping better than I have done in years. Also doing intermittent fasting and exercise 5 times a week. Thanks Steven for your podcast. Best thing I have stumbled upon on the internet
I know why coffee drinkers live longer. We always look so forward to that first cup of coffee in the morning we have a reason to live ( no matter what else is going on).
It's nice how much James smiles when he's asked a question, after such a busy life giving talks about coffee, living his life around his TH-cam channel and coffee related content, he's still so excited and happy when he get's an opportunity to talk about his passion, which is so heart warming.
He’s amazing! So articulate. I would’ve given up on the video ~5min if not for James. The host is all over the place, and frankly doesn’t seem very bright. He managed to ask a few good questions despite himself. James held the entire conversation together lol
@@ofthenearfutureagreed lol host seems… not very “with it” to me. Asked a couple good questions despite himself. Does this guy have a following? If so, why and how??
What a delightful, charming guest is James Hoffman! I want to be his friend! I have smiled throughout this podcast. Throwing out my old stale, mediocre coffee and going back to what I like. Life is too short for mediocrity. I love you both and wish you well!
When i quit caffine my life changed for the better in many ways, including anxiety, which over time completely disappeared. I am a far better person without it. I also quit alcohol and that was key too.
I found James in the middle of the first lockdown and I'm glad I did. His videos on how to brew coffee properly changed my entire perception of the coffee industry but not only that, the enjoyment that comes from brewing coffee. Getting up 15 minutes earlier isn't a chore as I get to spend 15 minutes making delicious coffee in the morning, it's 15 minutes away from everything.
James Hoffman is such a delightful speaker and guest! He is interesting way beyond coffee. His comments about life, quality of life and sleep are gold!
"Ultimately anything in this world that interrupt your sleep, perhaps with the exception of kids, is probably to be avoided" I think I will add this up to my list of sentences to live up to.
Came here because of James but found myself exceptionally impressed with your interview style, Steven. You intelligently, calmly led the conversation through very interesting topics and demonstrated a key skill: listening to your interviewee. Well done, sir.
I had no intention of sitting through an hour and twenty two minute video. But when it's James Hoffman, the time just flies by. Watched the whole thing, start to finish, and it was more enjoyable than a feature length film.
1h24:))) yes, ytube has ruined all the fun with their 3 hour or more podcast algorithm, no one will stay so long frequently. I've lost my appetite even for huberman and unfortunately they've all converged on what ytube is asking for. Also, you can't watch anything here unless you pay premium, the ads kill you. On my most wanted criminals list ytube CEO is definitely number 1>)))
Tea coexists with coffee in my consumption habits. Tea offers flexibility. You can have tea that tastes floral, tea that tastes smokey, and tea that tastes green. There are also things like barley tea that you can drink without worrying about caffeine (or could substitute an alcoholic beverage).
I stopped drinking all caffeine for about a year. I eased off it slowly, so didn't feel intense side effects when I quit. I did feel like my energy level was better, more stable throughout the day. There was no afternoon crash. I would very rarely drink a cup socially and would feel incredible afterward, much better than when it's drunk as a habit. I missed the ritual of coffee but could see how weird it was that everyone was so obsessed with the drink. I started again during a very difficult family situation during covid times, when walking to the neighborhood Starbucks became a daily ritual where I could relax. Now I drink a lot again and I do crash in the afternoons. But now I have a toddler and have no energy or willpower to quit. Still love the taste and ritual of it though.
This is eerily familiar to me (down to the Starbucks and everything). I hope things are either better in your family now, or will be soon. Some seasons of suffering seem impossible to get through. Keep going, friend.
I haven't watched the vid yet, could decaf help? Apparently those who drink decaf are the connoisseurs of coffee drinking because they do so for the taste not the kick.
I've seen a lot of information stating that if you wait to have your first cup an hour, or an hour and a half after first waking it, it all but eliminates the afternoon crash. Maybe that would help!
the thing is, there is never a good time to quit a bad habbit. i also have a 1 year old and struggle with the same thing, busy job and little sleep. 'Cant quit now right in this hectic time'. Lets be honest there will never be a good moment.
On the discussion of coffee having more health benefits than negatives. I regularly approach coffee consumption with common saying “ too much of a good thing can be bad “. I used to drink coffee 2-4 cups of coffee everyday, and at some point I stoped feeling great after drinking. I stoped for at least a month before I drank again, and it felt great. Now I only limit to 1-2 cups per day and I dont drink past noon.
Yeah, i used to drink 5+ cups a day and had a ton of issues sleeping. Now I pnly drink a flat white for breakfast and a cappuccino with most lunches, and the improvement is massive. I'm also finding it helps with my diet, not because of the coffee cut back itself, but because 5 milky espresso drink are actually 5 cups of milk per day. That was a lot of milk that I wasn't really thinking about at all in my diet.
I only drink coffee on the days I'm off work the next day. Because I found that in the past years the coffein kicks in at different times sometime, it gets very fast in my blood stream other times it hits so late that I've trouble falling asleep because of it. I still haven't found out the cause, I think it might have to do with the brand or the machine used, or what I've eaten before, I don't know.
Needing a cup everyday is not good either. 1 cup a day for 365 days is not good either. Times that by 10yrs and a whopping 3650 cups. It's no wonder people get tired, moody, grumpy, anxious and panicky when they miss their cup of Joe.
I’ve worked professionally as a barista and coffee roaster for 9 years and James Hoffman has taught me so much! Thanks for having him on! Also, long live decaf!
It is heartwarming to watch James speak about coffee with such love and enthusiasm. As someone who's French and grinds and makes his coffee in a French press I couldn't resist but feel a little proud haha!
On the very rare occasion that I do make or drink coffee, I grind my own beans and use my ALESSI French press (designed by Michael Graves). I quite enjoy using it. I like making coffee. It smell’s wonderful and tastes great, I just don’t like the effects of the caffeine afterwards.
Coffee is life to me. I grind it at home with a good grinder, I have an espresso machine and for me, making my coffee fresh every day is a ritual and a pleasure. I drink only two cups a day, sometimes but really not often 3 and never after 3 in the afternoon. Loved watching this. Thank you.
Had never heard of James Hoffmann before, and I was totally hooked to this! After listening to this, I am officially a fan! Such a pleasant personality as well.
I worked in third wave coffee shop as a Barista for five years during my Uni days and found myself in love with decaf coffee. Many of my co-Baristas picked fun at it (and me by default) but honestly, especially in this day and age where roasters are taking decaf to new heights? Getting the taste of coffee without the caffeine, for me at least, is an incredibly enjoyable experience.
I'm genuinely curious that there is a 100% decaff bean/drink? Please enlighten me. I was a barista for 3 years and all I ever know is that decaf beans still contain caffeine but less.
Decaf still contains some caffeine! Look it up. I switched to decaf coffee with some occasional small amounts of caffeine through tea and when I went 100% off ANY of it, I still went through withdrawals starting a few days later and lasting about 10 days to 2 weeks- mostly tiredness, brief spurt of insomnia (luckily faded quick for me), weirdly stuffy/clogged nose (legit a withdrawal effect!). Decaf espresso can contain 3-15mg caffeine per shot and given that many folks have beverages with 2-3 shots (I usually preferred 16oz drinks which most shops do 2-3 shots in that size) it's possibly to have similar caffeine content to green or black tea from decaf coffee. Drip has 12-13mg per 16oz.
@@OhyeahstarBoyUnfortunately there isn’t anything that is 100% but just lower over all. It also depends on how you’re going to prepare it. For me, caffeine was never (and remains to not be) an issue for me. I drink coffee because I enjoy the flavor profiles produced by some regions and what roasters can pull out. However, I do still drink regular caffeinated coffee with respect to flavor again. I’ve never really grown addicted to caffeine despite having worked in coffee and still play around at home. But to be honest I’ve given up coffee for a year without withdrawal. It depends on the person.
@@starleopardFor the most part; as we know in science there is never a 100% of anything. I primarily drink decaf because I enjoy the flavor of whatever decaf coffee I have at the time. For me coffee has always been a journey of flavor and textures. If I could have it with a lower amount then I’m up for it. However, I acknowledge that some beans such as Liberica and Robusta have no decaf alternatives so for those I will still drink them as intended.
@@KTOWNK1D dude I mean you said “without the caffeine” from your initial reply so I was curious if there is such thing as “caffeine-free” coffee or bean. I was curious because back when I studied coffee and all then eventually became coffee master, did not encounter or read anything that such coffee exist.
I hesitated to open this video because I thought it was going to be something bad about coffee, and I would have to quit to preserve my health. There is just so much bad news out there about things that are bad for you. I didn’t know whether I could take another one or not. Imagine my relief when I discovered, it’s all the good things about coffee. I am free to live again!! One of the many things that make life worth living!
I love James Hoffman. I think it wouldn't matter what he decided to dedicate himself to, he would bring the same authenticity, warmth and enthusiasm. The fact that I am coffee obsessed, and so is James, is serendipitous.
My earliest memory of coffee happened during weekend drives in the California redwoods (I was just a kid). I always got car sick and barfed up in the empty Folgers coffee can. That smell of stale coffee always made me even more sick. Fast forward... I left home in 1976 at the age of 17, traveled on a freight train to Seattle where I found a furnished apartment next to the very first Starbucks at Pike Place Market (the one and only Starbucks). That area of Seattle was quite a slum back then and the cost of my apartment was just $50 a week. I never went inside Starbucks since I hated the smell of coffee! In 1977 I was hitchhiking across the USA when I caught a ride with a delivery driver in Montana. He brewed some coffee from freshly ground coffee beans, he offered me a cup. I instantly fell in love with coffee! There you have it, my life (in a nut shell) has never been the same since.
I love your story! I also left home in 1976, I was 18. I grew up drinking tea at home, then I gained a taste for coffee living in the nurse's home while I was training. Loved coffee ever since! 😊
As a person who hails from Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, I am well aware of and deeply appreciate a good cup of coffee. Therefore, I am grateful that you have taken the time to clarify any misunderstandings and misconceptions surrounding this beloved beverage. Thank you for that.
Fresh ground coffee is one of my most favorite smells in the world. My most favorite job was at a coffee shop, I had to wake up at 4 am to get to work by 5 so we could start preparing for the morning rush, but I did not mind it, people were always so grateful when they started to come in at 6 am to have that freshly ground gourmet coffee that was made well.
Been a follower of James for a long time now. A few years ago, after a video of his flagged concerns over my coffee consuption habbits, i through trial and error created rules tonhow i drink coffee. They're pretty simple: 1. No coffee until being awake for at least 2hrs 2. No coffee on an empty stomach 3. No coffee after 2:30 4. No big chain coffee 5. Max 3 cups a day I probability average two coffees a day, one in the morning and one post lunch. My sleep and health has felt so much better for it
Yep. For me, 1 x black coffee (normal size cup) at 10am or so (after waking at 0630-0650). On the odd day, I treat myself to another coffee at around 1300/1400. That's it. I stay away from chain coffees as much as possible.
I have a decaff coffee before 2 hrs it clears out my sinuses in the morning, then a caffeinated coffee after 2hrs when all the adenosine levels in system have dropped.
Agree with all five points, except #3. As an intermittent faster, I frequently have black coffee during the typical 20-hour fast... Also, I've been a James follower for a long time, brilliant!
One simply must love James. His voice and way of speaking and talking about complexities in a more simplistic way is impressive, and his voice is basically ASMR. But it doesn't take away anything from that he is a great pedagogue and manage, in his ever so calm way, keep once focus and interest up. He's so engaged/passionate in what he's talking about. I've learned a lot from him when it comes to tricks and general knowledge around making good coffee at home. Very good interview/talk, taking in so many aspects around both coffee and life. Well done!
I gave up coffee and caffeinated tea for almost 4 months now. i have stopped taking sugar in unnecessary things and it has helped me dramatically. I havent gotten sick and i feel more awake and less tired. i did stop because i suffer with insomnia so i felt i needed to to get back into my daily routine.
I love coffee, I've been a barista for almost 3 years, my manager lets me be creative, and I'm always watching TH-cam videos and going on Pinterest to learn more, I even worked at Starbucks for 4 months to learn more. James Hoffman is one of my favorite baristas. I love his videos.
I had been off coffee for 26 years and then my husband bought an espresso bar and I started drinking it. Similar to my experience with chocolate, i didnt like cheap chocolate but expensive or bean to bar chocolate was something I did enjoy. I really do like specialty coffees and we had some of our beans come from a local Coffee Lab where I went and created blends for our café. Now I drink coffee almost everyday. And I enjoy it immensely.
Fascinating, especially about the home set up. Thank you both. When I was younger, I used to work in the theatre, come home after midnight, have a strong espresso and jump into bed.I stopped drinking coffee gor four years. Now, if I have a coffee after 3pm, Im buzzing until 4 in the morning. Thank god for decaf ❤
This was my favorite video you’ve done! The funny thing is that people are over simplifying caffeine consumption by immediately villainizing coffee. But no one talks about the real culprit which is caffeine supplements, ENERGY DRINKS, and soft drinks. Not just coffee. The problem isn’t the coffee. The problem is our reckless abuse of consumption. Combine this consumption with stress and poor mental health and you have where we are today. Coffee isn’t the issue. Our over consumption of caffeine is the problem.
It always freaks me out when I see parents purchasing those sweet coffee drinks for their children... and then they are diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. The sugar is bad enough but coffee(or energy drinks) aren't good for growing bodies.
As an Ethiopian, coffee holds significant cultural importance throughout our lives. Despite this, we may lack a clear understanding of its health benefits. Thank you for enlightening me on this matter, sir!
I love that James doesn’t once promote his roasting company (Square Mile Coffee Roasters) or his coffee shop (Prufrock). He’s clearly very passionate about the speciality industry and wants to share that with the world.
Mad respect to both of you for discussing coffee (essentially the impact of caffeine) on on us. I am neurodivergent (autistic) & I do have chronic anxiety so it's been a concern to me. I drink a blend of decaf coffee & tea each morning with collagen in it because it doesn't make me shaky & won't trigger anxiety/panic. Coffee is acidic and can bother my stomach so I blend it with tea to make it less acidic to keep my stomach happy. I absolutely love what James said, "... despite the fact that decaf drinkers are the ones who are drinking it just for the taste. They are the purest coffee consumer, actually, because they just want the flavor. They don't even want the caffeine; just the flavor." Amen, sir. I love the flavor & warmth in the summer/coldness of frozen coffee or iced in the summer. 😋🥰
Drinking coffee makes your stomach less acidic than it is. Tea and coffee have near enough the same PH levels (4.85-5.5) as to make no perceivable difference (an acidic Ph of 0.05 stronger in coffee) in a stomach filled with Hydrochloric Acid with a Ph level of 1.5-3.5. Any relief you feel due to mixing tea and coffee is not due to reduction in acidity. Collagen has a PH of 9, so that WILL (momentarily) reduce the acidity, but the effect is temporary.
Try cold brew. It’s less acidic than hot coffee and taste better imo. Not cold coffee but cold brew (some confuses the two) The ph level however is more or less comparable.
ND here as well but I drink coffee as if it's water. Most days I probably don't drink anything else.... but I don't consider myself an addict. I sleep better than my wife who doesn't like coffee but I also have zero problems going without. I like hot drinks in general, I like the taste of coffee (non-deca) but not having access to coffee, even for weeks, has never posed a problem to me. I'll happily replace it with another (hot) drink. I do know about addictions. I smoke and my mother-in-law is a coffee addict who does get headaches etc from withdrawal, but caffeine just doesn't have that effect on me. I mean, just like anyone I get the jitters when drinking too much caffeine but it does wear off in 30-60 minutes and I can go right to bed and have a very satisfying sleep after.
I was born and raised in East Java, Indonesia and my mom said I had my first coffee when I was 9 months old. I feel really lucky to live here because good quality coffee is affordable and we have wide range of options from each island, from Sumatra to Papua we have so much options and they all taste different. I know coffee was started by the Dutch occupation which is our dark history but now we cherish it so much and it helps to run the economy.
Every human on the planet has a dark history of one sort or another, it’s good to realise that if we never meet challenge we never develop, and would any of us want to still be living in the world of a thousand years ago? So many things have come to us through the course of dark pasts. I’m pretty sure that my ancestors were not happy to be loaded on to those leaky sailing prisons and shipped to the other side of the known world and worked like dogs while wearing irons and eating starvation rations of mouldy bread, but they survived and generations later I’m happy to be alive and am sitting in a comfy bed with time to chat with people from all over the world with my magical communication device that works with magical electricity. I’m very grateful for this life and the dark past that got me here.
@@Sneakyhorse12 Well said! I often try to think of history the same way. My family went through many wars and I feel like I wouldn't change a thing because it gave me so much awareness, knowledge, consciousness and even creativity! There is a great saying that says "Life happens for me, not to me". It's very empowering when we look at it this way. Thank you for your magical words through the magical device!
I have quit for around 2 weeks and I keep getting these feelings of random happiness. Coffee was depressing me big time bro. Since quitting I feel born again
I almost passed over this video when I saw the hour and a half length, but being a fan of James I decided to watch. It was well worth my time. Both informative and validating in my coffee experiance. Both of these men are very good communicators and this made the length of the video seem shorter than this short attention spand older gent bareable. Thank you both for an enjoyable hour and a half.
As a decaf drinker working as a barista in a speciality shop thank you!! I feel so sad when decaf is made fun of or not focused on enough, I had to switch because of my anxiety disorder and other health problems and I wish more places put the same care into regular caffeinated coffee into decaf
Yes, cafe bustelo was given to me as a kid growing up. Going to school I was so alert that I found most of my teacher and classmates boring! The withdrawal would kick in when doing homework, so the fix was more coffee! Going to sleep was easy , I was depleted of energy! My dreams were so vivid I woke up like I was living another life. School day, same routine!
Good interview. My anger issues have all but gone away since I quit drinking coffee. My waist line slimmed as well, changed nothing else in my diet, in fact been eating more since I quit. I was a 3 cups a day + drinker and drank it dark and heavy caffeinated, due to my 30+years drinking it daily, and sometimes at night too. I feel sooooo much better now, and no more cortisol issues.
I can't say I know anything about your entire health and food/drug intake you've been exposed to, but going out on a limb here I can say that your hyper excessive caffeine intake is the issue, not the Coffee itself. If you didn't overdo it, and drank happy plant, well brewed coffee you would not have issues stemming from it. All in moderation.
The urge to drink coffee when I quit went on much longer than the urge to smoke and drink alcohol when I quit those. Back on coffee now after about 18 months. Still off the smokes and booze 6 years later.
When I quit the darts the thing I really struggled with was not having a smoke with a coffee. Thankfully I managed to ditch the smoking 10 years ago, but my coffee addiction is still going strong 😆
I was a light drinker and only for a year or so, but started noticing that the amount I drank was increasing, so quit it. Took about 2 weeks to feel OK again.
As someone who drank coffee at 4pm also, after one of the earlier podcast, i look forward to my cup before 10am. Really enjoy that coffee and not drink after that time. And my sleep and energy are so much better now.
Communication skills are difficult to come by if all one does is text. It takes practice to build the confidence to become an effective communicator. And empathy with an audience is likely one of the most difficult skills to acquire, but I also feel some people are more intuitive in that regard. James is an EXCELLENT communicator and thinks carefully with almost every word he speaks - he is empathetic to diverse audiences and is measured when he has negative opinions on topics.
I did that 2 years ago and my anxiety reduced and sleep got better. I was drinking 4+ coffees a day. Over the last 3 months I've started reintroducing coffee. Every other day, max 2 coffees and before noon. This way I can enjoy coffee and it's benefits (taste, alertness etc), without the negative health impact and sleep issues. You might want to try that as an in between.
I never really drank coffee. But the days i did i could feel the spike and crash way too much. I discovered different teas and dont have that problem. Tea allows me to have a low/no calorie drink that tastes really good. Havent had the negatives of coffee.
I think it's also really important to differentiate the sugar / corn syrup from caffeine. I feel a lot of people who experience a "buzz," from something like a Starbucks drink attribute the buzz to caffeine, when really most of the buzz in that case is from sugar.
@@richardkovacs2006 I mean their super sweet fraps and macchiatos are, but a plain americano with no sugar is fine. Personally, it's way too expensive for me to regularly buy coffee there but if someone enjoys the base espresso drinks or even the pike place coffee it should be fine.
@@sonuclear7994 at a biochemistry level, simple carbs typically create a burst of energy followed by a crash, which presents as hyperness or nervousness followed by both a mood and energy crash. This is the findings of the research you refer to, as well as biochemists and dieticians. Caffeine, on the other hand, does not provide any energy whatsoever. Caffeine has the affect of blocking the receptors in the brain that make one feel tired, which has the sensation of energy without any actual energy, by definition. When it wears off, the gradual crash that the person feels comes from the person again becoming able to realize their physical fatigue or tiredness. But caffeine does not deliver any actual energy, where CHO's, like sugar, do.
@@sonuclear7994 so the amount of affect felt by caffeine will be quite dependent on how well rested and otherwise balanced a person already is, since caffeine adds no energy to the system. Whereas, with CHO's like sugar and high fructose corn syrup, one will experience physical affects whether they are rested or not.
I just want to pause for a moment to point out the intro. Hands down, one of the BEST intros I have seen... ,on any kind of video, in a very long time. Utterly amazing.
As 1:1 interviews go, this has to be pretty close to the top of the charts in recent times. Am a keen follower of James' coffee exploits , but Steven does very well to get him to open up a bit. Kudos.
The best coffee / espresso I have ever enjoyed is in Italy. You can NOT get a bad cup of coffee, variety, freshness, taste than in Italy, heck even in the highway, excellent coffee! The Italians really have a heads up on coffee for hundreds of years and still do!
For me personally I experience a net negative effect of coffee. Over the years, I’ve gone through periods of drinking up to 10 cups a day to months of total abstinence. I’ve noticed a recurring pattern in my coffee drinking habit. It starts with drinking one or two cups a day. In the morning around 10AM I start with a vague sense of craving. This constitutes a mix of still feeling a bit ‘off’ because of starting the day early combined with a certain positive attitude of getting yourself ready to get your work done (wether that’s at home doing the laundry or being at my professional job). The idea of drinking your first cup is like opening a fresh pack of cookies. This gives a big boost in overall’ happiness’ during the first days of starting this habit. Then it starts wearing. I need a third cup in the late morning or early afternoon to get another ‘fix’. I start noticing my mood is significantly better in the morning than in the afternoon. After a week of drinking 1-3 cups a day, I notice some physical symptoms: mild stomach pains, reflux and my sleeping gets less re-energising. At first there is some ignorance to the fact that this might be the fault of the coffee drinking. Weirdly enough, this somehow triggers me to drink more at certain days, especially when there is a busy day at work, or when having a free day after a busy day at work. I suddenly realised coffee has become some kind of ’reward’ system to the brain. Sacrificing the health effects to the body to boost the ’up’ feeling of the mind. Meanwhile, even on low quantities (1-3 cups) the symptoms of heartburn, sleeplessness and excessive sweating (with strong smell) are getting worse. My state of mind gets less ‘sober’, not noticeable when drinking coffee, but you only realise you were ‘high’ after some ‘clean’ days; a certain vague feeling of not being totally ‘there’. I even notice worse performance in decision making because you tend to ‘extinguish’ the bad feeling of making difficult decisions with having a cup of coffee. I took less initiatives, because somehow taking a cup of coffee felt more rewarding than improving my life. Last but not least: I experienced throat soars and bad breath that hindered my social life. It also promoted sugar eating because coffee + cakes = double the ‘high’. There is also a deeper pattern that I notice that’s even more significant to one’s mental health. It is something the ‘lazy brain’ really tries to push into your subconscious. That is that my coffee drinking habit was worth twofold to prevent myself of feeling more happy. Firstly it surpassed certain long-standing issues of entering my consciousness thoughts. For example: my work is not as fulfilling as I want it to be. During days in which I really hate my job I tend to drink more coffee to get through the day. So it basically acts as a suppressor of bad feeling get into your brain. That sounds nice, but it also prevents you from looking critically to your life and asking yourself if you are on the right path! Secondly because of the negative effects on my body and mind, it weirdly stimulates me to drink even more coffee, just to get rid of the nasty feeling the coffee gave me in the first place. Slowly recognising this pattern I realised: for me, coffee is a drug that gives me short term highs with long-term misery in stead of (true long lasting) joy. So currently I try to see my coffee craving as a signal. That signal is telling me: “Why are you currently craving for coffee? What is missing in you ur life? Is lack of enjoyment of your work? Missing social interaction? Having anxieties for a specific reason? Do I need to do something mindful such as a forest walk, or yoga?” In this way, I try to bend coffee craving habits into a mind-tool that acts as a driver of mental-health. Still on this path, as for two weeks ago I drank 2-3 cups of coffee during a terrible busy shift. Regretted it immediately the day after (stomach pains, bad sleep). Now it’s time to use the ‘coffee-craving-mind-tool’ to find a job that really inspires me, as well as progressing in some other life issues. I sometimes do wonder: all those people who claim that coffee is not hurting them: are they just ignorant of the negative effect? Maybe they would only feel the difference after quitting.
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Really Liked your Long Description thank you I think you really notice it when you quit and then you have to decide if you want it in your life I am now quitting the third time or fourth And i have to say that it really feels like an addiction and like the impact on life is really really strong I feel very inspired and positive with coffee But i Like Actually to be more Balanced and conscious Coffee feels Like Running all the time I think it helps me or Supports My mind to Flow or let Go often Even just to Go Crazy and do maybe too much Yeah I will decide to Not Need anything I want to be free
I grew up in a Mexican family that made a pot of coffee after dinner. We love to enjoy a cup of bean water with a sweet treat, sometimes even as late as 8pm. Now that I am older and more conscious about what I put into my body, I simply cannot continue the habit. I also noticed how caffeine effects my mind and body the week prior to menstruation. Women should really look into caffeine's effect on estrogen and progesterone levels.
Speaking on personal experience concerning caffeine and anxiety/mental health, I have found a link for myself. I have anxiety related gut issues, and over time with experiencing increased levels of anxiety, I would continue to have increasingly bad gut problems after drinking coffee. I have cut out all caffeine and just drink decaf coffee now and I do not have any gut issues with the decaf. And it’s great to have the decaf option because I love making and drinking espresso coffee, so I get to keep the ritual, and taste.
@@AQBPlays I guess it depends what you get and how it’s processed, but I don’t think they can guarantee that they got all the caffeine out so they’ll say up to 3% on the pack just to cover themselves because no process is 100%. I’m pretty sure that’s how it works, still low enough that it doesn’t affect me
I used to get acid reflux from coffee and issues with my bladder so I quit. Feel so much better now and the smell of coffee is somehow that much better when you don't drink it at all.
This is a rare outstanding interview about the full aspects of coffee drinks. And I think that I am now convinced that James is an enlightened person who just happens to be a coffee drink expert. Such an awakened view on everything.
My son-in-law has an organic coffee roasting business in his garage. His business is mostly online geared towards Veterans. He roasts the beans,mails them the same day, and the customer gets it within a day or two. There is nothing better than organic freshly roasted coffee. He has taught me all I know about making coffee properly. Lucky me!
What do you mean by "organic"? organic means anything that can or will grow. Dirt soaked in motor oil is still somewhat organic. It says nothing about purity or lack of pesticides
I was a Butlins red Coat at 17 years old for a season, I learnt so much in that time on dealing with people on all levels of communications. A real on the job learning, that can not be taught any other way, that set me up for life!
This is a phenomenally informative and passionate chat. Thanks to both the host for asking the correct questions and knowing when to listen, and the guest for answering evocatively and engagingly.
One thing I really like about this channel is all the great book recommendations I end up getting. Keep doing what you are doing Steven! You are changing this world, for the better
Growing up in Ireland in the 1980s, virtually no one drank coffee - everyone drank tea! Today, on the other hand, major coffee culture has developed across Ireland. We still drink tea too.
I am America and I don’t drink coffee but I love all types of tea. What’s messed up is people here will almost shame you for not drinking coffee here. They think people can’t possibly get through their day without it. Some are so addicted I don’t understand it.
Was having quite a bit of anxiety, saw the title of this episode and for the first time in 20 years stopped drinking. One week later watching this happier than ever, no more coffee for me. Thanks. :)
Hi, I've been listening to your podcast about 2 weeks now as I worked, I truly appreciate your contents, they are educational and enjoyable, never boring!. Thank you for keeping it clean as well. I have stopped listening to podcast before because of the sudden and unexpected moments of explicits., so it's good to find a Podcaster whose contents are clean , educational, and fantastic. Keep it up, the world we live in is void of good morals and clean conversations. May your programs get better with blessings. BTW, I am from guyana but livung and lstening from beautiful Barbados. All the best!!
This is so interesting! I’m a huge coffee lover but now have only one good mug in the morning, preferably from my favourite barista. I gave up coffee during my pregnancies. My first coffee each time back after about an 18month break, gave me the shakes and couldn’t sleep until 4am!
This video made me smile over and over. Two highly intelligent people discussing a subject I’m super interested in. Every question and answer was fascinating and kept me wired in the whole time! ☕️🧠
@@bestopinion9257🙉🙈 shhhhh that’s not supposed to be a possibility. Even though there exists that’s research. But justifying a vice is a popular position.
I so absolutely loved this entire journey... I have been in the coffee industry for about 7 years. Been so embedded in the culture around coffee for that time. Tried a little bit of everything - Home Roasting, filter coffee, espresso. I can honestly say that filter coffee making is the highlight of my morning. It allows me to slowly just process my day and produce that cup of delight that enables me to be productive and provides me with such tasty aromas and flavours. This is truly probably my two favourite content creators and hobbies have married each other in this moment - Getting better/improving my life and coffee. Thank you Steven for this! Thank you James for the fascinating videos through your channel. Would love to see more of this!
James brought up a very good point on selling price, the use of your competition as a guide of pricing. This is one of the reason we have inflation to the level we do, the days of doing a proper costing and developing your price on costs and mark up percentage. I know companies who actually don’t know their real costs. The would make a good article.
As a long time coffee drinker who has recently found the benefits of decaf is so great to hear James Hoffman saying positive things about decaf. I really do hope there is a bit of a decaf revolution in the makes. I used to be a Barista too, death before decaf was a slogan I often said. I switched to decaf since I got diagnosed with ADHD because you have to be extra careful with caffeine on the drugs. I discovered that is was mostly for the taste I drank coffee anyway, and whilst I do still enjoy 1 caffeinated coffee a day, any others are decaf and purely for the enjoyment of flavour and comfort.
there is a study from Journal of Natural Medicine NZ where coffee is shown to depleat essential minerals like zinc and magnesium. It leads to paranoia, fear, and schitzo. The focus and energy of coffee comes with crashes, chronic fatigue, and liver damage.
And assuming decaf shows a far lower incidence of adverse effects, if the study is legit in the first place... any notes on that side? @@nichj487 @reikiom2680
Giving up caffeine 10 years ago reduced my anxiety by 90%. About 3 years in someone accidentally gave me a full caff filtered coffee, half hour later i thought i was having some kind of episode or stroke. Thats all i needed, once i found out it was caffeine, to never go back to caffeine (apart from a Coke after mile 25 of ultra races when i need a boost )
I really enjoyed this despite the fact that I'm not a coffee drinker.... I think coffee has absolutely one of the most rich, warm, comforting, sensational aromas of any scent I've ever smelled which far supercedes the taste... I don't care where it was grown or how it is brewed coffee has always been a let down for me because the taste does not live up to the aroma... But I can appreciate that most people appreciate it!!
32:00 interesting fact I learned at a perfume factory : you don't need coffee beans to reset your smell, you only need to smell something you are *familiar* with. So, actually, the best thing to do when you want to reset is... smell your own skin !
"Cognitive benefits decline with habitual use regardless of increased intake"... helpfully validated. James is so delightfully relativistic and reasonable. There IS a cost to everything. Learning one's balance is key. Each body mind composition is different. Finding Ayurveda at age 14 it has been interesting to look at modern society through that lens. These days, in the past 2years, there seems to be more interest in holistic thinking on health, lifestyle and its key components: digestion, sleep, exercise, spiritual practice (which regulates and uplifts mental-emotional health.) The details discussed in the interview are quite easy to understand and are 5000 years holistically tested using Ayurveda (and Chinese medicine, similar model.)
I've enjoyed many of your guest but truly appreciated this guest with my love for home roasting coffee for over 15 years. I specifically hope that others gathered the most important statement revealed that the grinder is the more important investment for making great coffee at home. Thank you for the consistently intriguing guests.
Normally when people ask me subscribe I don’t.. 🤷🏽♂️.. but if I really think about it, I human being is asking me to do something that has zero negative affects on me and takes seconds.. and I do enjoy your show 🤷🏽♂️
James has completely influenced my coffee enjoyment. I have learned so much and have advanced a step above muggle. Mostly, I am having fun!! Thank you both Gentlemen.
Former shift worker here. There is so much going on between coffee culture, sleep, and American work culture. I know in my case, part of my need for caffiene stems from a "self medicating" instead of using Ritalin for my ADHD (please see your doc before messing with this). But since I've been away from shift work for about 2 months now, I've seen my need for caffiene drop from about 600-800mg/day (RDA per FDA is do not exceed 400mg) to about 200mg. I was working a 12 hour rotating swing. If you aren't familiar with this, my schedule was 6am to 6pm for 2 days, off 2 days, then 6pm to 6am for 2 days, then 2 days off. Lather, rinse, repeat. So many people in my area work in factories that do this schedule or similar. In this system, coffee becomes no longer sufficient to keep the body moving. The way we work is so incredibly broken. The shift work creates circadian rythem disorders. In this system, you can't just fix one side of the triangle. You can address the caffiene, but then you can't work. You can't fix the sleep until you fix the job. And you can be so tired that you can't job hunt. I honestly don't know where I was going with this any more. But I don't think coffee drinking is "the problem". I think it's us not treating caffiene like the drug it is. I think I would liken it to tobacco, if you look at pipe tobacco or a cigar vs highly processed cigarette. It's still nicotine, but maybe it's the processing that makes it to where we overconsume. So an energy drink is a highly processed way to consume caffiene vs coffee which is a much less processed and you get other benefits of the plant. So I guess the big question is, how do we as a culture fix our dependence on highly processed types of caffiene?
Not invalidating your experience, but there have been some suggestions from the outcomes of adjacent studies (needs to be tested fully) that medicating on ritalin and other stimulants lead to better long term outcomes and lower rates of all cause mortality compared to not medicating, on the whole. This is because unmedicated people tend to self medicate with really bad habits like excess coffee consumption, smoking, not sleeping, uncontrolled eating and increased impulsivity leading to things like increased exposure to STIs. Also worth looking into non-stimulant medications such as atomoxetine and treatments such as transcranial magnetic stimulation.
We find a way to diminish shift work , in an ideal wrld scenario.. I get it for nurses doctors etc (which the occurence is still excesive in my opinion) but factory work? Hopefully AI and technological advancement will come to the rescue I felt you through this comment mate Best of luck with what you do
I live in a place with a lot of high tech manufacturing. It is assumed that cleanroom workers will be so burnt out after a few years that they will no longer be able to do the job. The people involved are highly skilled. That can't be an efficient use of human resources. A broader assessment of this cultural trend would ask: -How many patients have been killed by the use of 36 hour shifts in hospitals? -Is it really good that $2 billion US navy destroyers have tend to ram freighters because their crews are so sleep deprived they can't see straight?
I LOVE decaf! I’m so glad he touched on how delicious is can be. It MUST be a dark roast decaf if you’re going to enjoy it! Italian roast and French roast are great options! Swiss water process is my choice for purity and end quality.
Great to hear James getting behind decaf drinkers, one of the hardest day to day knock-on effects of having a heart condition is being forced to go caffeine free...really tough for a dyed in the wool coffee drinker. Most decaf brands are currently terrible, hopefully with experts like James talking about the topic more consideration will be given to the quality available.
I am just getting into research of decaf and fully intend to consume decaf for a majority I just love the taste of coffee! But in sweden ive found several small decaf producers
Followed James for a long time as a long time coffee lover. I love thinking of all the amazing farmers whose lives have been improved because of his work and passion in the industry.
Years ago, I started realizing that my morning cup of coffee was giving me insane anxiety. I started mixing decaf with my cup and now enjoy 2/3's decaf to 1/3 caffeinated. No more anxiety. If I crave the comfort of coffee in the afternoon, I strictly have only decaf. Once in awhile, if I'm offered full caffeinated in the afternoon - it will put me to sleep!
Try different caffeinated coffees. I was using a specific brand for 2 years and ran out. I drink water-decaffienated all day with 1 cup of regular at midday sometime. I bought a small bag of regular from a very good local roaster and was really distraught by how anxious and jittery, but not more awake, I felt for hours. I had forgotten how bad coffee could make me feel. Taste around.
This was a compressive interview of James Hoffman! Steven asks all the best targeted questions Great info via buildup breakdown and foundational career aspirations Finally, enhancement and fulfillment of chosen career field
Love James so much. His care for other people above his own interests is amazing! For someone whose life and income revolves around coffee, to then be able to admit the negatives of coffee is amazing to see. Also if you watch his videos, even with all his knowledge, he doesn’t proclaim or insist that his way is best or must be done, to me everything is much like “this is how I would do it, this is what I think, but if you prefer what you do - then enjoy your coffee that way”. Would love to see Steven and James do a tasting much like he did with Tom Scott ❤
I used to have withdrawal symptoms from stopping coffee, but now I am much more picky about the kind of coffee I drink (only certain organic coffees that do not make me jittery, which is a rare few), and I no longer get withdrawal symtpoms if I skip a day or two. Now, sadly I was always depressed before I discovered coffee, and coffee took a lot of my depression away. I did not realize this until I stopped drinking it for a year (I was pregnant and could not STAND coffee). I had postpartum, but the day I started drinking coffee again it was like a miracle. I felt good again finally. And I realized I was depressed without the coffee. So, weirdly it is an antidepressant for me. I only drink one maybe two cups a day because I don't actually handle much of it well. However, taking just enough has proven very good for me.
The depression note is why it's a complicated topic. Some studies find a correlation between depression and coffee, while pthers have found coffee to be beneficial in treating depression, and there are plenty of anecdotal experiences on both sides. I thonk it just depends on the person, and would suggest andyone suffering from depression should try toggling coffee consumption in either direction to see if it helps.
Very interesting. I feel so happy after I drink coffee, and like you I feel depressed when I don’t. However the annoying this is, after a while of drinking it daily I start to get anxious, and stressed more easily, and overthink etc. weird.
I loved! coffee and drank a fair amount, but reaching my 40s the negatives outweighed the positives so decided to try giving it up and it was the best decision. I now have the same energy all day, no ups and downs and when giving it up there was no headache or any other negative effects. I lost weight, saved some money, and feel better for it . That was my experience.
This guy is really well-spoken and easy to listen to. I can understand why he became so successful. Well done! 👏 As an American, I had never-ever heard of Pret before. Now, I feel I must seek them out.
I've travelled the world I think Colombia has the best coffee. When I stayed in Cartagena I found a lovely coffee shop and one man that worked in there would have coffee ready for me every morning and every evening, for the 3 weeks I stayed there.
who's we? As far as I know, people drink mostly "tinto". Unfortunately, many Colombians drink way too much coffee. Wish I could get Matiz here in the States. I hate Sello Rojo.
I just have to say I just received a delivery for my 'happy tamper' while watching this video. For those who don't know happy tamper is made to level your coffee beans in your puck for your espresso machine, and it is expensive.. My favorite local coffee shop has one and I bought it for my home.. I am reading James' new book and I love his videos. I love coffee as a hobby and I have also worked as a barista and I currently work in a cafe in the kitchen. I have dreams of opening my own business one day in this industry. Thanks to James for his videos and fuelling my coffee passion!
When James said he’d love to travel to visit independents and see their expression of coffee 🫶 When Covid hit, I quit my job and built and lived in an RV. I then started an ORGANIC + PLANT BASED coffee trailer and towed it around doing markets and festivals. I’ve stopped and closed it down now but that was a fantastic adventure ☕️💗
Coffee is an essential in my life as music and humor for making life worth living. I can get through any life trial so long as I add music - humor and coffee - brilliant episode - Thank You 💫
If you enjoyed this episode could you do us a massive favour and HIT that like button on the video! Helps us a lot 🙏 share your favourite part of the convo below 👇🏾
HEY IS ME ARNOLD WHAT ABOUT WINE
Try check out “The Truth about Caffeine” by Marina Kushner, if you like to look into the negatives effects of coffee.
Thank you for an amazing podcast❤
Dr Amen says coffee shrinks your brain overtime. Can you have him on your show?
I never wanted decaf because of the chemicals they use to wash out the caffeine, and why stain your teeth for no caffeine?
@@MarcellaSmithVeganhe (Dr. Amen - I am a huge fan) also says, moderation is the key.
Thanks for the invitation to have this conversation together! I enjoyed chatting and hope it'll encourage people to explore coffee a bit more and hopefully enjoy it more too.
Thanks James for your common sense approach. Certain people these days have an agenda or are trying to push something. It's always good to discuss things freely and with a level head. If only we could take this approach with so many other things in life.
All the best, from Australia 🇦🇺
As someone that has spent years in the coffee industry and a considerable amount of time just hanging out in coffee shops, you seem like the absolute worst kind of barista. Frankly, the way you act is an embarrassment to the rest of the high end coffee world.
Another of those weird coffee persons from OZ dropping a quick "thanks mate" to you Hames J. for your continued entertainment and enlightenment of all things coffee-related. I really enjoyed the broadcast and I hope to have a great day! 👍☕
Thanks for your time! Bravo Sir. Fascinating! UK ❤️ 🇬🇧
James, I've been looking for you for years! Will check out your channel asap and thanks for all the info you put out.
When I was growing up in Ethiopia, my neighbor had a coffee tree. I used to pick the cherries and eat them. My neighbor made her coffee by picking the cherries, removing the beans, roasting them, grinding them and making the coffee all in an hour or so. That's as fresh as it comes.
That's awesome. 😊
When I visited Kenya I walked through some coffee plantations and it was beautiful.
Coffee from Africa 🌍 is delicious 😋
Holy crap that's an experience less than 1% of the population will experience ❤
Also blue mountains in Jamaica
@@avm9647 I was surprised to learn that 95% of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is exported to Japan, and the other 5% is for Jamaicans themselves and the rest of the world. This helps explain why it's so hard to find and expensive. I think it's the best tasting coffee I've had.
@@SonicWizKid_Kates Thanks for the info! I am off to Japan in a couple of weeks and always buy their coffee to bring home, that must be why!
i love how this guy is literally so deeply into coffee, but still would give it all up if it interferred with his sleep. This man has his priorities straight & I love that.
He has a healthy relationship with his passion instead of an obsession/addiction
I respect this coffee lover!
I live in Italy. These people drink espresso after dinner and still fell asleep. It depends on the quality of coffee and how is processed.
I can’t even drink green tea bc of caffeine, I can’t fall asleep at all bc of caffeine 😢
@@mariapayes7171That's good thou.. What foods do you eat..I'm guessing you don't eat fast food or drink soda?
This guy is so crisp, i like that he doesnt sugar coat his words and gets straight to the point and says it as it is.
A huge thing about James is how well spoken he is. I just love listening to the man.
I like his haircut.
@@jim-se5xc you are alone on that one pal
I like James voice haircut and glasses. He’s definitely got the sexy geek mojo thing goin on.❤ oh and the coffee information is good too. Drink it every day.
Im a guy and love his hair cut and glasses. . I'm defo straight . He is very articulate and well spoken.. they both are..I wish everyone speaks like these guys as so many people are harsh speakers..
@@MayankJairajdamn the amount of wrong you are is wild.
I just listened more than 1 hour of coffee talk and it feel like no time passed, passionate people got that magical abilities to be interresting no matter what the subjet is.
Agree 😊
I'm a coffee professional who started the same year as James Hoffmann. He succinctly, precisely, concisely encapsulates the learning and passion of our industry. I wholly endorse him as our messenger to the world-at-large. Keep up the amazing work, James!
Nice one, get the kettle on pal.
Hey James
He is ok but definitely not my favorite.
He inspires me so dedicated to his passion. I live and work in Asia and coffee is Omnipresent it's one of the few things that is a constant in many countries Vietnam Northern Thailand, Lao, Cambodia, Indonesia.
@@CtrlZ2024pop p
i was drinking coffee 3 times a day. When I listened to a podcast with Steven about the importance of sleep, i changed to one cup of coffee a day and 1 cup of decaf a day. Sleeping better than I have done in years. Also doing intermittent fasting and exercise 5 times a week. Thanks Steven for your podcast. Best thing I have stumbled upon on the internet
th-cam.com/video/_n5VJ2MkYZY/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared
Decaf is toxic.
I had insomnia for years. Slept 1-2h. Started drinking coffee after i healed my insomnia. Still sleep 8h a day.
I know why coffee drinkers live longer. We always look so forward to that first cup of coffee in the morning we have a reason to live ( no matter what else is going on).
Preach. Coffee is my one 'vice', something to look forward to, a treat. We all need something like that in our lives.
Once I got off caffeine I felt so much better. So no more reliance on it feels great more energy than I had before.
You just wanna get to the caffeine before the headache hits lol
@@matthewsoules7064 or push the the headaches and get off that crap. Lol
@@quigon6349 💯.
It's nice how much James smiles when he's asked a question, after such a busy life giving talks about coffee, living his life around his TH-cam channel and coffee related content, he's still so excited and happy when he get's an opportunity to talk about his passion, which is so heart warming.
Especially when asked leading/insulting/dumb/unanswerable questions
Busy talking about coffee... Do you even listen to yourself.
I agree @CG Music 🎶.
He's a delightful man to listen to. 😊
He’s amazing! So articulate. I would’ve given up on the video ~5min if not for James. The host is all over the place, and frankly doesn’t seem very bright. He managed to ask a few good questions despite himself. James held the entire conversation together lol
@@ofthenearfutureagreed lol host seems… not very “with it” to me. Asked a couple good questions despite himself. Does this guy have a following? If so, why and how??
What a delightful, charming guest is James Hoffman! I want to be his friend! I have smiled throughout this podcast. Throwing out my old stale, mediocre coffee and going back to what I like. Life is too short for mediocrity. I love you both and wish you well!
.....looks like he's done his job well 😊
It's always worth giving ourselves quality product.
We are worth it! ❤😊🌿🙆🏻♀️👍🏾
When i quit caffine my life changed for the better in many ways, including anxiety, which over time completely disappeared. I am a far better person without it. I also quit alcohol and that was key too.
Awesome! Coffee is one of my last dragons to slay.
Good for you! I love coffee, but my body is very caffeine sensitive.
@@shahid8545 yeah like howwww
@@energyflowswhereattentiongoes sheer will.
Quite the opposite effect for me.
I found James in the middle of the first lockdown and I'm glad I did.
His videos on how to brew coffee properly changed my entire perception of the coffee industry but not only that, the enjoyment that comes from brewing coffee.
Getting up 15 minutes earlier isn't a chore as I get to spend 15 minutes making delicious coffee in the morning, it's 15 minutes away from everything.
James Hoffman is such a delightful speaker and guest! He is interesting way beyond coffee. His comments about life, quality of life and sleep are gold!
"Ultimately anything in this world that interrupt your sleep, perhaps with the exception of kids, is probably to be avoided"
I think I will add this up to my list of sentences to live up to.
Have it no later than 3pm and you’ll be good 👍 Some don’t go past 12 🤷♀️
@@uncoiledfish2561 I drink coffee an hour or two before bed and sleep like a log
kids are the biggest disrupters of sleep even when they get to 32 and still haven't moved out!!!
i could eat once daily with no problem but i need 12-14hrs a day sleeping and gazing or else i could not function
@@DTPandemoniumbut you are a rare one, maybe lucky. Built differently. Most folks can't do that.
Came here because of James but found myself exceptionally impressed with your interview style, Steven. You intelligently, calmly led the conversation through very interesting topics and demonstrated a key skill: listening to your interviewee. Well done, sir.
I had no intention of sitting through an hour and twenty two minute video. But when it's James Hoffman, the time just flies by. Watched the whole thing, start to finish, and it was more enjoyable than a feature length film.
Same here. I was surprised to see the end of the video. Wasn't gonna stay for more than a few minutes.
He is very interesting to listen too.. I once saw his TH-cam channel and knew he would be an interesting guest 😊
1h24:))) yes, ytube has ruined all the fun with their 3 hour or more podcast algorithm, no one will stay so long frequently. I've lost my appetite even for huberman and unfortunately they've all converged on what ytube is asking for. Also, you can't watch anything here unless you pay premium, the ads kill you. On my most wanted criminals list ytube CEO is definitely number 1>)))
The coffee guy is just the nicest guy. He's just so pleasant!! ☕️ 😊
I had to give up coffee altogether. Started giving me digestive issues and elevated my Anxiety drastically. Now I’m in love with green tea.
Looks like you found your caffeine strength tolerance
Same here. Matcha rules
Wish I could acquire taste for tea!
Tea coexists with coffee in my consumption habits. Tea offers flexibility. You can have tea that tastes floral, tea that tastes smokey, and tea that tastes green. There are also things like barley tea that you can drink without worrying about caffeine (or could substitute an alcoholic beverage).
Were you drinking instant coffee?
I stopped drinking all caffeine for about a year. I eased off it slowly, so didn't feel intense side effects when I quit. I did feel like my energy level was better, more stable throughout the day. There was no afternoon crash. I would very rarely drink a cup socially and would feel incredible afterward, much better than when it's drunk as a habit. I missed the ritual of coffee but could see how weird it was that everyone was so obsessed with the drink. I started again during a very difficult family situation during covid times, when walking to the neighborhood Starbucks became a daily ritual where I could relax. Now I drink a lot again and I do crash in the afternoons. But now I have a toddler and have no energy or willpower to quit. Still love the taste and ritual of it though.
This is eerily familiar to me (down to the Starbucks and everything). I hope things are either better in your family now, or will be soon. Some seasons of suffering seem impossible to get through. Keep going, friend.
I haven't watched the vid yet, could decaf help? Apparently those who drink decaf are the connoisseurs of coffee drinking because they do so for the taste not the kick.
I've seen a lot of information stating that if you wait to have your first cup an hour, or an hour and a half after first waking it, it all but eliminates the afternoon crash. Maybe that would help!
the thing is, there is never a good time to quit a bad habbit. i also have a 1 year old and struggle with the same thing, busy job and little sleep. 'Cant quit now right in this hectic time'. Lets be honest there will never be a good moment.
What bad habbit 😂😂? We're talking about coffee.
Diagnosis is called orthorexia, I suppose
On the discussion of coffee having more health benefits than negatives. I regularly approach coffee consumption with common saying “ too much of a good thing can be bad “. I used to drink coffee 2-4 cups of coffee everyday, and at some point I stoped feeling great after drinking. I stoped for at least a month before I drank again, and it felt great. Now I only limit to 1-2 cups per day and I dont drink past noon.
Yeah, i used to drink 5+ cups a day and had a ton of issues sleeping. Now I pnly drink a flat white for breakfast and a cappuccino with most lunches, and the improvement is massive. I'm also finding it helps with my diet, not because of the coffee cut back itself, but because 5 milky espresso drink are actually 5 cups of milk per day. That was a lot of milk that I wasn't really thinking about at all in my diet.
I only drink coffee on the days I'm off work the next day. Because I found that in the past years the coffein kicks in at different times sometime, it gets very fast in my blood stream other times it hits so late that I've trouble falling asleep because of it. I still haven't found out the cause, I think it might have to do with the brand or the machine used, or what I've eaten before, I don't know.
Needing a cup everyday is not good either. 1 cup a day for 365 days is not good either. Times that by 10yrs and a whopping 3650 cups. It's no wonder people get tired, moody, grumpy, anxious and panicky when they miss their cup of Joe.
Yeah if i had another cup in the early afternoon i wouldn’t sleep but if i drank a second cup lets say at 4pm i would sleep ok.
Mindful Moderation i'm with thee
I’ve worked professionally as a barista and coffee roaster for 9 years and James Hoffman has taught me so much! Thanks for having him on! Also, long live decaf!
Damn, you are so dedicated to study about coffee for 9y! Whoa :)
🤣🤣
I LOVE decaf. People give me shit but…I feel seen here- finally.
Decaf = bean water. Change my mind!
Love a good Swiss water decaf. A local roaster where I live makes a great organic Mexican Swiss water decaf.
It is heartwarming to watch James speak about coffee with such love and enthusiasm. As someone who's French and grinds and makes his coffee in a French press I couldn't resist but feel a little proud haha!
Proud of what?
@@altnarrativegottem 🇫🇷
On the very rare occasion that I do make or drink coffee, I grind my own beans and use my ALESSI French press (designed by Michael Graves). I quite enjoy using it. I like making coffee. It smell’s wonderful and tastes great, I just don’t like the effects of the caffeine afterwards.
Coffee is life to me. I grind it at home with a good grinder, I have an espresso machine and for me, making my coffee fresh every day is a ritual and a pleasure. I drink only two cups a day, sometimes but really not often 3 and never after 3 in the afternoon. Loved watching this. Thank you.
The ritual and the time taken to perfect and brew is as much a part of the pleasure of drinking it imho
@@hunkhkcoffee hug wonder...i gotta get me a grinder
The smell is so delightful
Nothing beats the joy of tasting the improvements you make every time.
Had never heard of James Hoffmann before, and I was totally hooked to this! After listening to this, I am officially a fan! Such a pleasant personality as well.
I'm MAJORLY anti coffee and all things addictive, but James is clearly a great guy with an enjoyable personality.
Coffee is his niche.
@@rudymalizia479Be careful, one can get addicted to James 😅
I worked in third wave coffee shop as a Barista for five years during my Uni days and found myself in love with decaf coffee. Many of my co-Baristas picked fun at it (and me by default) but honestly, especially in this day and age where roasters are taking decaf to new heights? Getting the taste of coffee without the caffeine, for me at least, is an incredibly enjoyable experience.
I'm genuinely curious that there is a 100% decaff bean/drink? Please enlighten me. I was a barista for 3 years and all I ever know is that decaf beans still contain caffeine but less.
Decaf still contains some caffeine! Look it up. I switched to decaf coffee with some occasional small amounts of caffeine through tea and when I went 100% off ANY of it, I still went through withdrawals starting a few days later and lasting about 10 days to 2 weeks- mostly tiredness, brief spurt of insomnia (luckily faded quick for me), weirdly stuffy/clogged nose (legit a withdrawal effect!).
Decaf espresso can contain 3-15mg caffeine per shot and given that many folks have beverages with 2-3 shots (I usually preferred 16oz drinks which most shops do 2-3 shots in that size) it's possibly to have similar caffeine content to green or black tea from decaf coffee. Drip has 12-13mg per 16oz.
@@OhyeahstarBoyUnfortunately there isn’t anything that is 100% but just lower over all. It also depends on how you’re going to prepare it. For me, caffeine was never (and remains to not be) an issue for me. I drink coffee because I enjoy the flavor profiles produced by some regions and what roasters can pull out. However, I do still drink regular caffeinated coffee with respect to flavor again. I’ve never really grown addicted to caffeine despite having worked in coffee and still play around at home. But to be honest I’ve given up coffee for a year without withdrawal. It depends on the person.
@@starleopardFor the most part; as we know in science there is never a 100% of anything. I primarily drink decaf because I enjoy the flavor of whatever decaf coffee I have at the time. For me coffee has always been a journey of flavor and textures. If I could have it with a lower amount then I’m up for it. However, I acknowledge that some beans such as Liberica and Robusta have no decaf alternatives so for those I will still drink them as intended.
@@KTOWNK1D dude I mean you said “without the caffeine” from your initial reply so I was curious if there is such thing as “caffeine-free” coffee or bean. I was curious because back when I studied coffee and all then eventually became coffee master, did not encounter or read anything that such coffee exist.
I hesitated to open this video because I thought it was going to be something bad about coffee, and I would have to quit to preserve my health. There is just so much bad news out there about things that are bad for you. I didn’t know whether I could take another one or not.
Imagine my relief when I discovered, it’s all the good things about coffee. I am free to live again!! One of the many things that make life worth living!
I love James Hoffman. I think it wouldn't matter what he decided to dedicate himself to, he would bring the same authenticity, warmth and enthusiasm. The fact that I am coffee obsessed, and so is James, is serendipitous.
My earliest memory of coffee happened during weekend drives in the California redwoods (I was just a kid). I always got car sick and barfed up in the empty Folgers coffee can. That smell of stale coffee always made me even more sick. Fast forward... I left home in 1976 at the age of 17, traveled on a freight train to Seattle where I found a furnished apartment next to the very first Starbucks at Pike Place Market (the one and only Starbucks). That area of Seattle was quite a slum back then and the cost of my apartment was just $50 a week. I never went inside Starbucks since I hated the smell of coffee! In 1977 I was hitchhiking across the USA when I caught a ride with a delivery driver in Montana. He brewed some coffee from freshly ground coffee beans, he offered me a cup. I instantly fell in love with coffee! There you have it, my life (in a nut shell) has never been the same since.
I love your story!
I also left home in 1976, I was 18.
I grew up drinking tea at home, then I gained a taste for coffee living in the nurse's home while I was training.
Loved coffee ever since! 😊
C😢q see😮 d
I also hate the smell of coffee . Reminds of cat pee .
😃 Funny and nice story .
Shows the vast differences in coffee experiences . 👍
@@PSA3377 🤣 sometimes !
As a person who hails from Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, I am well aware of and deeply appreciate a good cup of coffee. Therefore, I am grateful that you have taken the time to clarify any misunderstandings and misconceptions surrounding this beloved beverage. Thank you for that.
Ethiopia Yirgachef is the best tasting coffee I've had.
Birthplace? LOL
@@irielion3748He is not wrong though.
I didn’t know that but what I do know is that Ethiopian coffee is the most delicious coffee I’ve ever had
@@irielion3748 He is not wrong on that. Coffee's origin is based in Ethiopia
Fresh ground coffee is one of my most favorite smells in the world. My most favorite job was at a coffee shop, I had to wake up at 4 am to get to work by 5 so we could start preparing for the morning rush, but I did not mind it, people were always so grateful when they started to come in at 6 am to have that freshly ground gourmet coffee that was made well.
Been a follower of James for a long time now. A few years ago, after a video of his flagged concerns over my coffee consuption habbits, i through trial and error created rules tonhow i drink coffee. They're pretty simple:
1. No coffee until being awake for at least 2hrs
2. No coffee on an empty stomach
3. No coffee after 2:30
4. No big chain coffee
5. Max 3 cups a day
I probability average two coffees a day, one in the morning and one post lunch. My sleep and health has felt so much better for it
Agree! I do exactly the same except for the two hours after waking.
Yep. For me, 1 x black coffee (normal size cup) at 10am or so (after waking at 0630-0650). On the odd day, I treat myself to another coffee at around 1300/1400. That's it. I stay away from chain coffees as much as possible.
I have a decaff coffee before 2 hrs it clears out my sinuses in the morning, then a caffeinated coffee after 2hrs when all the adenosine levels in system have dropped.
I am absolutely with you on this. I've done this mostly every day for almost a decade now and it's spot on
Agree with all five points, except #3. As an intermittent faster, I frequently have black coffee during the typical 20-hour fast... Also, I've been a James follower for a long time, brilliant!
One simply must love James. His voice and way of speaking and talking about complexities in a more simplistic way is impressive, and his voice is basically ASMR. But it doesn't take away anything from that he is a great pedagogue and manage, in his ever so calm way, keep once focus and interest up. He's so engaged/passionate in what he's talking about. I've learned a lot from him when it comes to tricks and general knowledge around making good coffee at home.
Very good interview/talk, taking in so many aspects around both coffee and life. Well done!
Hate all ASMRs but love James's voice.
@@Axel_Andersen Same!
I gave up coffee and caffeinated tea for almost 4 months now. i have stopped taking sugar in unnecessary things and it has helped me dramatically. I havent gotten sick and i feel more awake and less tired. i did stop because i suffer with insomnia so i felt i needed to to get back into my daily routine.
Yeah, I'm with you. I don't respond well to caffeine.
I love coffee, I've been a barista for almost 3 years, my manager lets me be creative, and I'm always watching TH-cam videos and going on Pinterest to learn more, I even worked at Starbucks for 4 months to learn more. James Hoffman is one of my favorite baristas. I love his videos.
I had been off coffee for 26 years and then my husband bought an espresso bar and I started drinking it. Similar to my experience with chocolate, i didnt like cheap chocolate but expensive or bean to bar chocolate was something I did enjoy.
I really do like specialty coffees and we had some of our beans come from a local Coffee Lab where I went and created blends for our café. Now I drink coffee almost everyday. And I enjoy it immensely.
Yes, yes! Good coffee and chocolate quality make a difference.
Fascinating, especially about the home set up. Thank you both. When I was younger, I used to work in the theatre, come home after midnight, have a strong espresso and jump into bed.I stopped drinking coffee gor four years. Now, if I have a coffee after 3pm, Im buzzing until 4 in the morning.
Thank god for decaf ❤
This was my favorite video you’ve done! The funny thing is that people are over simplifying caffeine consumption by immediately villainizing coffee. But no one talks about the real culprit which is caffeine supplements, ENERGY DRINKS, and soft drinks. Not just coffee. The problem isn’t the coffee. The problem is our reckless abuse of consumption. Combine this consumption with stress and poor mental health and you have where we are today. Coffee isn’t the issue. Our over consumption of caffeine is the problem.
Not to mention the damage Energy drinks do to teeth.
i think its just the nature of a capitalist society that people need vices or chemical intervention to function
paired with our shit diet
It always freaks me out when I see parents purchasing those sweet coffee drinks for their children... and then they are diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. The sugar is bad enough but coffee(or energy drinks) aren't good for growing bodies.
@@RC-eb5hq adhd is real stfu
As an Ethiopian, coffee holds significant cultural importance throughout our lives. Despite this, we may lack a clear understanding of its health benefits. Thank you for enlightening me on this matter, sir!
I love that James doesn’t once promote his roasting company (Square Mile Coffee Roasters) or his coffee shop (Prufrock). He’s clearly very passionate about the speciality industry and wants to share that with the world.
I think it would have been nice that he was asked a bit about this.
So you do this for him😊
James that you? 😆
@@axiomic 😂
Yep he just hires someone else named Drew to do it instead lol
Mad respect to both of you for discussing coffee (essentially the impact of caffeine) on on us. I am neurodivergent (autistic) & I do have chronic anxiety so it's been a concern to me. I drink a blend of decaf coffee & tea each morning with collagen in it because it doesn't make me shaky & won't trigger anxiety/panic. Coffee is acidic and can bother my stomach so I blend it with tea to make it less acidic to keep my stomach happy. I absolutely love what James said, "... despite the fact that decaf drinkers are the ones who are drinking it just for the taste. They are the purest coffee consumer, actually, because they just want the flavor. They don't even want the caffeine; just the flavor." Amen, sir. I love the flavor & warmth in the summer/coldness of frozen coffee or iced in the summer. 😋🥰
Same…..I drink decaff and for the taste only 😊
Drinking coffee makes your stomach less acidic than it is. Tea and coffee have near enough the same PH levels (4.85-5.5) as to make no perceivable difference (an acidic Ph of 0.05 stronger in coffee) in a stomach filled with Hydrochloric Acid with a Ph level of 1.5-3.5. Any relief you feel due to mixing tea and coffee is not due to reduction in acidity. Collagen has a PH of 9, so that WILL (momentarily) reduce the acidity, but the effect is temporary.
Try cold brew. It’s less acidic than hot coffee and taste better imo. Not cold coffee but cold brew (some confuses the two) The ph level however is more or less comparable.
ND here as well but I drink coffee as if it's water. Most days I probably don't drink anything else.... but I don't consider myself an addict. I sleep better than my wife who doesn't like coffee but I also have zero problems going without. I like hot drinks in general, I like the taste of coffee (non-deca) but not having access to coffee, even for weeks, has never posed a problem to me. I'll happily replace it with another (hot) drink.
I do know about addictions. I smoke and my mother-in-law is a coffee addict who does get headaches etc from withdrawal, but caffeine just doesn't have that effect on me. I mean, just like anyone I get the jitters when drinking too much caffeine but it does wear off in 30-60 minutes and I can go right to bed and have a very satisfying sleep after.
@@jakke1975 isn’t your pee strong & illuminous??! I actually feel dry and yuk after proper coffee😳
I was born and raised in East Java, Indonesia and my mom said I had my first coffee when I was 9 months old. I feel really lucky to live here because good quality coffee is affordable and we have wide range of options from each island, from Sumatra to Papua we have so much options and they all taste different. I know coffee was started by the Dutch occupation which is our dark history but now we cherish it so much and it helps to run the economy.
Every human on the planet has a dark history of one sort or another, it’s good to realise that if we never meet challenge we never develop, and would any of us want to still be living in the world of a thousand years ago? So many things have come to us through the course of dark pasts. I’m pretty sure that my ancestors were not happy to be loaded on to those leaky sailing prisons and shipped to the other side of the known world and worked like dogs while wearing irons and eating starvation rations of mouldy bread, but they survived and generations later I’m happy to be alive and am sitting in a comfy bed with time to chat with people from all over the world with my magical communication device that works with magical electricity. I’m very grateful for this life and the dark past that got me here.
@@Sneakyhorse12loved this reply. I wish more people saw history and life this way, there would be much more happiness.
@@Sneakyhorse12 Well said! I often try to think of history the same way. My family went through many wars and I feel like I wouldn't change a thing because it gave me so much awareness, knowledge, consciousness and even creativity! There is a great saying that says "Life happens for me, not to me". It's very empowering when we look at it this way. Thank you for your magical words through the magical device!
@@JAP1994 especially when they're angry about something that never happened to them. we can be aware of the past without living in it
Really bad parents you have of they let you drink coffee at 9 months young 🤦♂️
I have quit for around 2 weeks and I keep getting these feelings of random happiness. Coffee was depressing me big time bro. Since quitting I feel born again
James Hoffman on the Diary of the CEO! What have we done to deserve such amazing content! 😍
I almost passed over this video when I saw the hour and a half length, but being a fan of James I decided to watch. It was well worth my time. Both informative and validating in my coffee experiance. Both of these men are very good communicators and this made the length of the video seem shorter than this short attention spand older gent bareable. Thank you both for an enjoyable hour and a half.
As a decaf drinker working as a barista in a speciality shop thank you!! I feel so sad when decaf is made fun of or not focused on enough, I had to switch because of my anxiety disorder and other health problems and I wish more places put the same care into regular caffeinated coffee into decaf
Can you recommend a good decaf?
@@moon-waterlatte6709 thanks :-)
@@EtherealSunsetLavazza and Vittoria Italian coffees make decaf, it’s very good 👍🏻
I love my decaf. It definitely took my anxiety way way down
A great decaf should be indistinguishable from regular coffee. Fortunately these days most places are making really great decaf coffee.
Yes, cafe bustelo was given to me as a kid growing up. Going to school I was so alert that I found most of my teacher and classmates boring! The withdrawal would kick in when doing homework, so the fix was more coffee! Going to sleep was easy , I was depleted of energy! My dreams were so vivid I woke up like I was living another life. School day, same routine!
Interesting, what age did you begin drinking coffee? Today, do you drink less coffee & sleep well with less? Cheers. 😊
I believe if you need coffee to be alert there are other issues that need to be addressed.
Bustelo sucks
Good interview. My anger issues have all but gone away since I quit drinking coffee. My waist line slimmed as well, changed nothing else in my diet, in fact been eating more since I quit. I was a 3 cups a day + drinker and drank it dark and heavy caffeinated, due to my 30+years drinking it daily, and sometimes at night too. I feel sooooo much better now, and no more cortisol issues.
I'm about to try a coffee-less existence. Hope it helps.
I can't say I know anything about your entire health and food/drug intake you've been exposed to, but going out on a limb here I can say that your hyper excessive caffeine intake is the issue, not the Coffee itself. If you didn't overdo it, and drank happy plant, well brewed coffee you would not have issues stemming from it. All in moderation.
Yes! Anger issues! and digestive issues for me.
What a fantastic conversation between two intelligent and empathetic people. It is much more than coffee and business, it is about being human.
The urge to drink coffee when I quit went on much longer than the urge to smoke and drink alcohol when I quit those. Back on coffee now after about 18 months. Still off the smokes and booze 6 years later.
Keep up the good work.
When I quit the darts the thing I really struggled with was not having a smoke with a coffee.
Thankfully I managed to ditch the smoking 10 years ago, but my coffee addiction is still going strong 😆
I was a light drinker and only for a year or so, but started noticing that the amount I drank was increasing, so quit it. Took about 2 weeks to feel OK again.
I can def relate!
As someone who drank coffee at 4pm also, after one of the earlier podcast, i look forward to my cup before 10am. Really enjoy that coffee and not drink after that time. And my sleep and energy are so much better now.
Communication skills are difficult to come by if all one does is text. It takes practice to build the confidence to become an effective communicator. And empathy with an audience is likely one of the most difficult skills to acquire, but I also feel some people are more intuitive in that regard. James is an EXCELLENT communicator and thinks carefully with almost every word he speaks - he is empathetic to diverse audiences and is measured when he has negative opinions on topics.
I dropped my daily cup of coffee 2 months ago and the benefits have been amazing. I feel so much more calmer and get the best sleep ever.
I did that 2 years ago and my anxiety reduced and sleep got better. I was drinking 4+ coffees a day. Over the last 3 months I've started reintroducing coffee. Every other day, max 2 coffees and before noon. This way I can enjoy coffee and it's benefits (taste, alertness etc), without the negative health impact and sleep issues. You might want to try that as an in between.
Me as well
@@matthewzammitthats what works for now before you know it your drinking it every day again
I never really drank coffee. But the days i did i could feel the spike and crash way too much. I discovered different teas and dont have that problem. Tea allows me to have a low/no calorie drink that tastes really good. Havent had the negatives of coffee.
I think it's also really important to differentiate the sugar / corn syrup from caffeine. I feel a lot of people who experience a "buzz," from something like a Starbucks drink attribute the buzz to caffeine, when really most of the buzz in that case is from sugar.
Yess. Whatever starbucks sells it's not coffee. It's dessert.
@@richardkovacs2006 I mean their super sweet fraps and macchiatos are, but a plain americano with no sugar is fine. Personally, it's way too expensive for me to regularly buy coffee there but if someone enjoys the base espresso drinks or even the pike place coffee it should be fine.
The idea of a sugar rush has been disproven many times over a multitude of different studies.
@@sonuclear7994 at a biochemistry level, simple carbs typically create a burst of energy followed by a crash, which presents as hyperness or nervousness followed by both a mood and energy crash. This is the findings of the research you refer to, as well as biochemists and dieticians.
Caffeine, on the other hand, does not provide any energy whatsoever. Caffeine has the affect of blocking the receptors in the brain that make one feel tired, which has the sensation of energy without any actual energy, by definition. When it wears off, the gradual crash that the person feels comes from the person again becoming able to realize their physical fatigue or tiredness. But caffeine does not deliver any actual energy, where CHO's, like sugar, do.
@@sonuclear7994 so the amount of affect felt by caffeine will be quite dependent on how well rested and otherwise balanced a person already is, since caffeine adds no energy to the system. Whereas, with CHO's
like sugar and high fructose corn syrup, one will experience physical affects whether they are rested or not.
I just want to pause for a moment to point out the intro. Hands down, one of the BEST intros I have seen... ,on any kind of video, in a very long time. Utterly amazing.
As 1:1 interviews go, this has to be pretty close to the top of the charts in recent times. Am a keen follower of James' coffee exploits , but Steven does very well to get him to open up a bit. Kudos.
The best coffee / espresso I have ever enjoyed is in Italy. You can NOT get a bad cup of coffee, variety, freshness, taste than in Italy, heck even in the highway, excellent coffee! The Italians really have a heads up on coffee for hundreds of years and still do!
For me personally I experience a net negative effect of coffee. Over the years, I’ve gone through periods of drinking up to 10 cups a day to months of total abstinence. I’ve noticed a recurring pattern in my coffee drinking habit. It starts with drinking one or two cups a day. In the morning around 10AM I start with a vague sense of craving. This constitutes a mix of still feeling a bit ‘off’ because of starting the day early combined with a certain positive attitude of getting yourself ready to get your work done (wether that’s at home doing the laundry or being at my professional job). The idea of drinking your first cup is like opening a fresh pack of cookies. This gives a big boost in overall’ happiness’ during the first days of starting this habit. Then it starts wearing. I need a third cup in the late morning or early afternoon to get another ‘fix’. I start noticing my mood is significantly better in the morning than in the afternoon. After a week of drinking 1-3 cups a day, I notice some physical symptoms: mild stomach pains, reflux and my sleeping gets less re-energising. At first there is some ignorance to the fact that this might be the fault of the coffee drinking. Weirdly enough, this somehow triggers me to drink more at certain days, especially when there is a busy day at work, or when having a free day after a busy day at work. I suddenly realised coffee has become some kind of ’reward’ system to the brain. Sacrificing the health effects to the body to boost the ’up’ feeling of the mind. Meanwhile, even on low quantities (1-3 cups) the symptoms of heartburn, sleeplessness and excessive sweating (with strong smell) are getting worse. My state of mind gets less ‘sober’, not noticeable when drinking coffee, but you only realise you were ‘high’ after some ‘clean’ days; a certain vague feeling of not being totally ‘there’. I even notice worse performance in decision making because you tend to ‘extinguish’ the bad feeling of making difficult decisions with having a cup of coffee. I took less initiatives, because somehow taking a cup of coffee felt more rewarding than improving my life. Last but not least: I experienced throat soars and bad breath that hindered my social life. It also promoted sugar eating because coffee + cakes = double the ‘high’. There is also a deeper pattern that I notice that’s even more significant to one’s mental health. It is something the ‘lazy brain’ really tries to push into your subconscious. That is that my coffee drinking habit was worth twofold to prevent myself of feeling more happy. Firstly it surpassed certain long-standing issues of entering my consciousness thoughts. For example: my work is not as fulfilling as I want it to be. During days in which I really hate my job I tend to drink more coffee to get through the day. So it basically acts as a suppressor of bad feeling get into your brain. That sounds nice, but it also prevents you from looking critically to your life and asking yourself if you are on the right path! Secondly because of the negative effects on my body and mind, it weirdly stimulates me to drink even more coffee, just to get rid of the nasty feeling the coffee gave me in the first place. Slowly recognising this pattern I realised: for me, coffee is a drug that gives me short term highs with long-term misery in stead of (true long lasting) joy. So currently I try to see my coffee craving as a signal. That signal is telling me: “Why are you currently craving for coffee? What is missing in you ur life? Is lack of enjoyment of your work? Missing social interaction? Having anxieties for a specific reason? Do I need to do something mindful such as a forest walk, or yoga?” In this way, I try to bend coffee craving habits into a mind-tool that acts as a driver of mental-health. Still on this path, as for two weeks ago I drank 2-3 cups of coffee during a terrible busy shift. Regretted it immediately the day after (stomach pains, bad sleep). Now it’s time to use the ‘coffee-craving-mind-tool’ to find a job that really inspires me, as well as progressing in some other life issues. I sometimes do wonder: all those people who claim that coffee is not hurting them: are they just ignorant of the negative effect? Maybe they would only feel the difference after quitting.
Really Liked your Long Description thank you
I think you really notice it when you quit and then you have to decide if you want it in your life
I am now quitting the third time or fourth
And i have to say that it really feels like an addiction and like the impact on life is really really strong
I feel very inspired and positive with coffee
But i Like Actually to be more Balanced and conscious
Coffee feels Like Running all the time
I think it helps me or Supports My mind to Flow or let Go often Even just to Go Crazy and do maybe too much
Yeah I will decide to Not Need anything
I want to be free
Two intelligent, articulate, and passionate individuals having an amazing conversation. An exceptional and rewarding podcast.
I grew up in a Mexican family that made a pot of coffee after dinner. We love to enjoy a cup of bean water with a sweet treat, sometimes even as late as 8pm. Now that I am older and more conscious about what I put into my body, I simply cannot continue the habit. I also noticed how caffeine effects my mind and body the week prior to menstruation. Women should really look into caffeine's effect on estrogen and progesterone levels.
There doesn’t seem to be conclusive research on this yet. Not surprising. Women’s health research is still decades behind men’s.
Yes. A doctor told me years ago and I read that it can create/exacerbate cysts in the breasts.
Speaking on personal experience concerning caffeine and anxiety/mental health, I have found a link for myself. I have anxiety related gut issues, and over time with experiencing increased levels of anxiety, I would continue to have increasingly bad gut problems after drinking coffee. I have cut out all caffeine and just drink decaf coffee now and I do not have any gut issues with the decaf. And it’s great to have the decaf option because I love making and drinking espresso coffee, so I get to keep the ritual, and taste.
Decaf is about 3% caffeine right?
@@AQBPlays I guess it depends what you get and how it’s processed, but I don’t think they can guarantee that they got all the caffeine out so they’ll say up to 3% on the pack just to cover themselves because no process is 100%. I’m pretty sure that’s how it works, still low enough that it doesn’t affect me
I used to get acid reflux from coffee and issues with my bladder so I quit. Feel so much better now and the smell of coffee is somehow that much better when you don't drink it at all.
I alternate Decaf and Caffeinated to give my gut a break as well. I buy Organic Decaf Beans from The Kicking Horse brand and it's very good!
buy coffee that has been decaffeinated with water not chemicals
This is a rare outstanding interview about the full aspects of coffee drinks. And I think that I am now convinced that James is an enlightened person who just happens to be a coffee drink expert. Such an awakened view on everything.
My son-in-law has an organic coffee roasting business in his garage. His business is mostly online geared towards Veterans. He roasts the beans,mails them the same day, and the customer gets it within a day or two. There is nothing better than organic freshly roasted coffee. He has taught me all I know about making coffee properly. Lucky me!
What's his business?
What do you mean by "organic"? organic means anything that can or will grow. Dirt soaked in motor oil is still somewhat organic. It says nothing about purity or lack of pesticides
@richiebricker have you been waiting for someone to make a comment about organic so that you could make that rehearsed response?
There a “ coffee roasting business” on every street these days.
Why the gearing towards veterans, what I missing?
I was a Butlins red Coat at 17 years old for a season, I learnt so much in that time on dealing with people on all levels of communications. A real on the job learning, that can not be taught any other way, that set me up for life!
This is a phenomenally informative and passionate chat. Thanks to both the host for asking the correct questions and knowing when to listen, and the guest for answering evocatively and engagingly.
One thing I really like about this channel is all the great book recommendations I end up getting.
Keep doing what you are doing Steven! You are changing this world, for the better
Growing up in Ireland in the 1980s, virtually no one drank coffee - everyone drank tea! Today, on the other hand, major coffee culture has developed across Ireland. We still drink tea too.
I used to live in Dublin and Malahide an I have to agree. Though, you took over a lo of stuff from your ex supressor UK...
I am America and I don’t drink coffee but I love all types of tea. What’s messed up is people here will almost shame you for not drinking coffee here. They think people can’t possibly get through their day without it. Some are so addicted I don’t understand it.
Tea, Father?
Is the consumption of the other Irish black stuff going down? And is that a good or bad thing?
I hope not. I love the Irish Black stuff. Long may it carry on. It has great ingredients
Was having quite a bit of anxiety, saw the title of this episode and for the first time in 20 years stopped drinking. One week later watching this happier than ever, no more coffee for me. Thanks. :)
Hi, I've been listening to your podcast about 2 weeks now as I worked, I truly appreciate your contents, they are educational and enjoyable, never boring!. Thank you for keeping it clean as well. I have stopped listening to podcast before because of the sudden and unexpected moments of explicits., so it's good to find a Podcaster whose contents are clean , educational, and fantastic. Keep it up, the world we live in is void of good morals and clean conversations. May your programs get better with blessings.
BTW, I am from guyana but livung and lstening from beautiful Barbados. All the best!!
This is so interesting! I’m a huge coffee lover but now have only one good mug in the morning, preferably from my favourite barista. I gave up coffee during my pregnancies. My first coffee each time back after about an 18month break, gave me the shakes and couldn’t sleep until 4am!
This video made me smile over and over. Two highly intelligent people discussing a subject I’m super interested in. Every question and answer was fascinating and kept me wired in the whole time! ☕️🧠
And what if this is all wrong?
@@bestopinion9257🙉🙈 shhhhh that’s not supposed to be a possibility. Even though there exists that’s research. But justifying a vice is a popular position.
So are they right or wrong????
I so absolutely loved this entire journey...
I have been in the coffee industry for about 7 years. Been so embedded in the culture around coffee for that time. Tried a little bit of everything - Home Roasting, filter coffee, espresso. I can honestly say that filter coffee making is the highlight of my morning. It allows me to slowly just process my day and produce that cup of delight that enables me to be productive and provides me with such tasty aromas and flavours.
This is truly probably my two favourite content creators and hobbies have married each other in this moment - Getting better/improving my life and coffee.
Thank you Steven for this! Thank you James for the fascinating videos through your channel. Would love to see more of this!
James brought up a very good point on selling price, the use of your competition as a guide of pricing. This is one of the reason we have inflation to the level we do, the days of doing a proper costing and developing your price on costs and mark up percentage. I know companies who actually don’t know their real costs. The would make a good article.
As a long time coffee drinker who has recently found the benefits of decaf is so great to hear James Hoffman saying positive things about decaf. I really do hope there is a bit of a decaf revolution in the makes.
I used to be a Barista too, death before decaf was a slogan I often said.
I switched to decaf since I got diagnosed with ADHD because you have to be extra careful with caffeine on the drugs. I discovered that is was mostly for the taste I drank coffee anyway, and whilst I do still enjoy 1 caffeinated coffee a day, any others are decaf and purely for the enjoyment of flavour and comfort.
there is a study from Journal of Natural Medicine NZ where coffee is shown to depleat essential minerals like zinc and magnesium. It leads to paranoia, fear, and schitzo. The focus and energy of coffee comes with crashes, chronic fatigue, and liver damage.
@@reikiom2680 Coffee is said to be good for the liver.
@@reikiom2680I’m sorry.. you’re saying that coffee consumption leads to Schizophrenia? I would love to read whatever study is claiming this.
And assuming decaf shows a far lower incidence of adverse effects, if the study is legit in the first place... any notes on that side? @@nichj487 @reikiom2680
@reikiom2680 sounds like the coffee equivalent of the classic "Reefer Madness ".
Giving up caffeine 10 years ago reduced my anxiety by 90%. About 3 years in someone accidentally gave me a full caff filtered coffee, half hour later i thought i was having some kind of episode or stroke. Thats all i needed, once i found out it was caffeine, to never go back to caffeine (apart from a Coke after mile 25 of ultra races when i need a boost )
Yes on decaf!! I’m so sensitive to caffeine I can’t drink any coffee or black/green tea after 10am, so please make decaf more widely available!
I only have single cup early in the morn and then I'm good all day
To each his/her own! Learn one's own body and follow what it signals.
Same here.
I really enjoyed this despite the fact that I'm not a coffee drinker.... I think coffee has absolutely one of the most rich, warm, comforting, sensational aromas of any scent I've ever smelled which far supercedes the taste... I don't care where it was grown or how it is brewed coffee has always been a let down for me because the taste does not live up to the aroma... But I can appreciate that most people appreciate it!!
32:00 interesting fact I learned at a perfume factory : you don't need coffee beans to reset your smell, you only need to smell something you are *familiar* with. So, actually, the best thing to do when you want to reset is... smell your own skin !
I always smell my own bollocks and that works too.
What if you can't smell yourself
"Cognitive benefits decline with habitual use regardless of increased intake"... helpfully validated. James is so delightfully relativistic and reasonable. There IS a cost to everything. Learning one's balance is key. Each body mind composition is different. Finding Ayurveda at age 14 it has been interesting to look at modern society through that lens. These days, in the past 2years, there seems to be more interest in holistic thinking on health, lifestyle and its key components: digestion, sleep, exercise, spiritual practice (which regulates and uplifts mental-emotional health.) The details discussed in the interview are quite easy to understand and are 5000 years holistically tested using Ayurveda (and Chinese medicine, similar model.)
I've enjoyed many of your guest but truly appreciated this guest with my love for home roasting coffee for over 15 years. I specifically hope that others gathered the most important statement revealed that the grinder is the more important investment for making great coffee at home. Thank you for the consistently intriguing guests.
Normally when people ask me subscribe I don’t.. 🤷🏽♂️.. but if I really think about it, I human being is asking me to do something that has zero negative affects on me and takes seconds.. and I do enjoy your show 🤷🏽♂️
James has completely influenced my coffee enjoyment. I have learned so much and have advanced a step above muggle. Mostly, I am having fun!! Thank you both Gentlemen.
What a fun, knowledgeable and happy guy …
World needs more baristas like him …
Former shift worker here. There is so much going on between coffee culture, sleep, and American work culture. I know in my case, part of my need for caffiene stems from a "self medicating" instead of using Ritalin for my ADHD (please see your doc before messing with this). But since I've been away from shift work for about 2 months now, I've seen my need for caffiene drop from about 600-800mg/day (RDA per FDA is do not exceed 400mg) to about 200mg. I was working a 12 hour rotating swing. If you aren't familiar with this, my schedule was 6am to 6pm for 2 days, off 2 days, then 6pm to 6am for 2 days, then 2 days off. Lather, rinse, repeat. So many people in my area work in factories that do this schedule or similar. In this system, coffee becomes no longer sufficient to keep the body moving. The way we work is so incredibly broken. The shift work creates circadian rythem disorders. In this system, you can't just fix one side of the triangle. You can address the caffiene, but then you can't work. You can't fix the sleep until you fix the job. And you can be so tired that you can't job hunt. I honestly don't know where I was going with this any more. But I don't think coffee drinking is "the problem". I think it's us not treating caffiene like the drug it is. I think I would liken it to tobacco, if you look at pipe tobacco or a cigar vs highly processed cigarette. It's still nicotine, but maybe it's the processing that makes it to where we overconsume. So an energy drink is a highly processed way to consume caffiene vs coffee which is a much less processed and you get other benefits of the plant. So I guess the big question is, how do we as a culture fix our dependence on highly processed types of caffiene?
Wow..sobering suggestion ..
Not invalidating your experience, but there have been some suggestions from the outcomes of adjacent studies (needs to be tested fully) that medicating on ritalin and other stimulants lead to better long term outcomes and lower rates of all cause mortality compared to not medicating, on the whole.
This is because unmedicated people tend to self medicate with really bad habits like excess coffee consumption, smoking, not sleeping, uncontrolled eating and increased impulsivity leading to things like increased exposure to STIs.
Also worth looking into non-stimulant medications such as atomoxetine and treatments such as transcranial magnetic stimulation.
We find a way to diminish shift work , in an ideal wrld scenario.. I get it for nurses doctors etc (which the occurence is still excesive in my opinion) but factory work?
Hopefully AI and technological advancement will come to the rescue
I felt you through this comment mate
Best of luck with what you do
"The way we work is so incredibly broken" Truest statement spoken.
I live in a place with a lot of high tech manufacturing. It is assumed that cleanroom workers will be so burnt out after a few years that they will no longer be able to do the job.
The people involved are highly skilled. That can't be an efficient use of human resources.
A broader assessment of this cultural trend would ask:
-How many patients have been killed by the use of 36 hour shifts in hospitals?
-Is it really good that $2 billion US navy destroyers have tend to ram freighters because their crews are so sleep deprived they can't see straight?
I LOVE decaf! I’m so glad he touched on how delicious is can be. It MUST be a dark roast decaf if you’re going to enjoy it! Italian roast and French roast are great options! Swiss water process is my choice for purity and end quality.
Great to hear James getting behind decaf drinkers, one of the hardest day to day knock-on effects of having a heart condition is being forced to go caffeine free...really tough for a dyed in the wool coffee drinker. Most decaf brands are currently terrible, hopefully with experts like James talking about the topic more consideration will be given to the quality available.
You should check out Dane Law coffee roasters.The roaster there actually cannot drink caffeine himself so he is passionate about making great decaf.
I am just getting into research of decaf and fully intend to consume decaf for a majority I just love the taste of coffee!
But in sweden ive found several small decaf producers
Followed James for a long time as a long time coffee lover. I love thinking of all the amazing farmers whose lives have been improved because of his work and passion in the industry.
Years ago, I started realizing that my morning cup of coffee was giving me insane anxiety. I started mixing decaf with my cup and now enjoy 2/3's decaf to 1/3 caffeinated. No more anxiety. If I crave the comfort of coffee in the afternoon, I strictly have only decaf. Once in awhile, if I'm offered full caffeinated in the afternoon - it will put me to sleep!
I've been told that a sleepy reaction to caffeine is an ADHD thing. Not sure that it's true but interesting to think about.
Me too. One cup of 1/3 caffeinated daily. Maybe a decaf in the afternoon. ☕
@@robinr5337 I also get sleepy when I drink alcohol. So, I limit such things!
Try different caffeinated coffees. I was using a specific brand for 2 years and ran out. I drink water-decaffienated all day with 1 cup of regular at midday sometime. I bought a small bag of regular from a very good local roaster and was really distraught by how anxious and jittery, but not more awake, I felt for hours. I had forgotten how bad coffee could make me feel. Taste around.
This was a
compressive
interview of
James Hoffman!
Steven asks all
the best
targeted questions
Great info via
buildup breakdown
and foundational
career aspirations
Finally, enhancement and fulfillment of chosen career field
Love James so much. His care for other people above his own interests is amazing! For someone whose life and income revolves around coffee, to then be able to admit the negatives of coffee is amazing to see. Also if you watch his videos, even with all his knowledge, he doesn’t proclaim or insist that his way is best or must be done, to me everything is much like “this is how I would do it, this is what I think, but if you prefer what you do - then enjoy your coffee that way”. Would love to see Steven and James do a tasting much like he did with Tom Scott ❤
What a treat to have James Hoffman on the podcast! I adore his passion and enthusiasm for this magical fruit!
I used to have withdrawal symptoms from stopping coffee, but now I am much more picky about the kind of coffee I drink (only certain organic coffees that do not make me jittery, which is a rare few), and I no longer get withdrawal symtpoms if I skip a day or two. Now, sadly I was always depressed before I discovered coffee, and coffee took a lot of my depression away. I did not realize this until I stopped drinking it for a year (I was pregnant and could not STAND coffee). I had postpartum, but the day I started drinking coffee again it was like a miracle. I felt good again finally. And I realized I was depressed without the coffee. So, weirdly it is an antidepressant for me. I only drink one maybe two cups a day because I don't actually handle much of it well. However, taking just enough has proven very good for me.
The depression note is why it's a complicated topic. Some studies find a correlation between depression and coffee, while pthers have found coffee to be beneficial in treating depression, and there are plenty of anecdotal experiences on both sides.
I thonk it just depends on the person, and would suggest andyone suffering from depression should try toggling coffee consumption in either direction to see if it helps.
Very interesting. I feel so happy after I drink coffee, and like you I feel depressed when I don’t. However the annoying this is, after a while of drinking it daily I start to get anxious, and stressed more easily, and overthink etc. weird.
I loved! coffee and drank a fair amount, but reaching my 40s the negatives outweighed the positives so decided to try giving it up and it was the best decision. I now have the same energy all day, no ups and downs and when giving it up there was no headache or any other negative effects.
I lost weight, saved some money, and feel better for it .
That was my experience.
This guy is really well-spoken and easy to listen to. I can understand why he became so successful. Well done! 👏
As an American, I had never-ever heard of Pret before. Now, I feel I must seek them out.
Pret-a-porter.
In my home country, Colombia 🇨🇴, we drink “ cafe con leche” to accompany our dinners almost every evening since childhood.
I've travelled the world I think Colombia has the best coffee. When I stayed in Cartagena I found a lovely coffee shop and one man that worked in there would have coffee ready for me every morning and every evening, for the 3 weeks I stayed there.
who's we? As far as I know, people drink mostly "tinto". Unfortunately, many Colombians drink way too much coffee. Wish I could get Matiz here in the States. I hate Sello Rojo.
I just have to say I just received a delivery for my 'happy tamper' while watching this video. For those who don't know happy tamper is made to level your coffee beans in your puck for your espresso machine, and it is expensive.. My favorite local coffee shop has one and I bought it for my home..
I am reading James' new book and I love his videos. I love coffee as a hobby and I have also worked as a barista and I currently work in a cafe in the kitchen. I have dreams of opening my own business one day in this industry. Thanks to James for his videos and fuelling my coffee passion!
When James said he’d love to travel to visit independents and see their expression of coffee 🫶
When Covid hit, I quit my job and built and lived in an RV.
I then started an ORGANIC + PLANT BASED coffee trailer and towed it around doing markets and festivals.
I’ve stopped and closed it down now but that was a fantastic adventure ☕️💗
LOVE JAMES! followed him on Facebook for a long time now😊 mesmerising voice could listen to him for days!
His Instagram and TH-cam are even better 😊
I'm really sensitive to certain voices and his IS very relaxing.
Coffee is an essential in my life as music and humor for making life worth living. I can get through any life trial so long as I add music - humor and coffee - brilliant episode - Thank You 💫
I was snowed in and ran out of food . That didn’t phase me, but when my coffee ran out, I nearly went crazy.