Drive Time is Coffee Time

Re. Deciding What to Drink...

Kelly, a Brooklyn brewer said when he has to drive, he drinks coffee.

Non-driving times =  beer.

That might be the best answer this blog has yet heard. 

Children's POV

A schoolteacher shared this drawing done by a student who was working on a project about the number of coffee drinkers. We're assuming the child has some alcohol-related complications at home...

(the word "Evil" appears on the label of a beer bottle.)

Starting With What the Day Holds

Chris S., a Queens school teacher, has a way of deciding what to have on a weekend morning / early afternoon--a hair of the dog, or a coffee.

It depends on what the plan is for the remainder of the day. If the day will involve drinking, then he will have a beer. If the day involves work or other non-alcohol activities, then he will drink coffee.

What's in the Tummy?

Lawrence, a Brooklyn chef and artist, has a food-based framework for deciding whether to drink beer or coffee.

He pictures what the beverage would look like in his stomach alongside what he's been eating. If it jibes well, he'll drink that.

Natural Born Chiller

Nikita (sic), a barista at a Long Island City coffee shop, said she never has to decide between coffee or beer. The answer will always be beer.

"I'm naturally a chiller, not a tweaker," she said. "I don't ever want to get amped up."

and then...

"Beer is like a meal. It's liquid bread."

Okay we see where you're coming from!

Sunset: A Dividing Time

Aaron, a musician and bartender in New York's East Village pub Standings:

"If it's before sunset, I'll have coffee. After sunset, a beer."

Day On / Day Off

Nick, of midtown cafe, Piccolo, has a rule about 'Coffee or Beer.'

"If it's my day off, I have a beer in the morning.
If it's a work day, I have a coffee in the morning."

A beer as the first thing waking up?

"Well, maybe a glass of water first."

How Much Drinking Remains?

Eric W., a New York naturalist, has a rule about coffee-beer. "It depends on how much drinking remains to be done for the night. If much drinking is to be done, then much caffeine needs to be consumed. "

Sort of like Red Bull ...

Coffee Afterwards

Ernesto, a New York web designer, spoke about the interplay of coffee and beer. One rule he has is to drink coffee after he's done drinking beer. He caps the night with an Irish Coffee or coffee with Kahlua.

Another circumstance is "coming in from the cold." He'll start with a coffee ... "with stuff in it."

Social Switch

Eric B., a New York restauranteur, when asked about an instance where he chose between coffee or beer, mentioned how this general rule of his affected the decision:

"Drinking (beer) is social. I don't drink alone. The other day I ordered a coffee, and then a friend of mine I hadn't expected, showed up. I immediately set the coffee aside and got a Guinness. "

7am Airport Bar

I interviewed a busy family man / business executive about a number of coffee or beer topics. Asked: Please discuss a situation where either coffee or beer could have been the appropriate choice, and how you chose, he first stated:

"In all cases where I could only choose one, I would choose beer, except if I was in an airport bar at 7am with my boss. Then I would get coffee."

Later in our discussion, this man, who we'll call Ben,  painted a picture of an occurrence in which one or the other option (coffee or beer) would be a mutually exclusive consumption.

"It's Saturday or Sunday morning and you wake up in your own home, between 10 and 11. You can either have a coffee and bagel - some kind of bread product... or a beer -- hair of the dog -- and look for some ibuprofen. I always go with the beer because there's the possibility of a mishap from a digestive standpoint with the coffee."

I asked about the digestive concern about coffee. "It's like a natural laxative... things can backfire."

So does choosing the beer exclude having the bagel? "Not necessarily," Ben said. "But it's rare to do so.. the reason you had wanted the bagel or bread was for the carbs," which you obtain from beer "in liquid form."

Plus, "beer and bagel don't really go along from a taste perspective." 

That's true. So, beware readers: once you do commit to and begin consuming a bagel, the deck is stacked against you; looks like you'll be wise to have a coffee--so make sure it's still nearby!

Editors Notes: The interviewed party is of further value to our blog because he managed a quality coffee beanery for 2+ years. In a later post, we'll publish some of his advice regarding coffee buying, roasting, and serving. Subscribe to this blog!