More than anything else (even chocolate), coffee is my vice.  Particularly now, having (temporarily) eschewed dairy, coffee is the one remaining food that I consume more of than I really probably should.  I love it so $#@*%# much.  I try to limit myself to only four shots a day (two in the morning, and two in the afternoon), but if I'm stressed out or an opportunity presents itself, I rarely turn down an opportunity for more.

Is it really all that bad?

When you talk about coffee and health, what you're really talking about is caffeine - which also includes tea (another favorite of mine), energy drinks and supplements (no.  just no.), and, in tiny doses, a handful of other foods.  As far as I can tell, the jury is still out on the health benefits/detriments of coffee and caffeine.  Depending on where you look and whom you ask, coffee is either a perfectly healthy dose of antioxidants (it does have quite a few) that can save you from Alzheimers, or it will give you heart attacks and raise your blood sugar levels.  Oh, and as far as exercise is concerned, it will reduce blood flow to the heart and/or lessen the pain, allowing you to push harder.  Every month or two someone posts a "Is coffee OK?" thread to the CrossFit nutrition forums, and it erupts into a war of opinions formed from some recent study or other.

So whatever.  Until someone comes up with something conclusive, you can pry my double americano from my cold, jittery, overcaffeinated hands.

How do you take yours?

One of the best gifts I have ever received was a fully automatic home espresso machine, given by my wonderful and understanding wife.  Push button: get espresso.  A logic both perfect in its simplicity and stunning in its effect.  For several years now, we've lived in a mild, darkly roasted buzz of contentment.

The machine is great, and we won't be giving it up anytime soon (we've already repaired it twice).  It does, however, have its drawbacks.  First of all, it's expensive to buy and, if it breaks, expensive to fix.  With all the moving gizmos and computerized whatnots it contains, there's a lot that can go wrong.

Drip coffee, the default choice of most Americans, is definitely a lot cheaper, and almost as easy to make.  The biggest downside is that, in comparison, it really doesn't taste very good.

Since we stopped dairy, we've been drinking our coffee black, and doing this has been eye-opening in more ways than one.  You see, cream does an excellent job of masking deficiencies in both bean and brew, so when you drink the pure stuff, you get more of the good as well as more of the bad.  And if it's bad, it's very very bad.  Cream also counters the acid that can dominate a hot-water brew--acid that is the primary motivator of that scrunchy-nosed wince you gave when I mentioned drinking black coffee.

Introducing cold-brew coffee

Even with the Italian wondermachine on our counter, we found that once our coffee cooled down a little, we would be grimacing at the bitter, acidic tang.  I had tried cold-brew coffee at Cafe Gratitude, and liked it, remembering something in their woo-woo menu  about how the cold-brew had less acid, so I let my fingers do the googling to see if it was doable at home.

Turns out it's really, really easy.  And soooooooo good.  Iced, hot or lukewarm, every sip is free from bitterness but full of flavor.  And it is powerful stuff, too!  I didn't know it was possible for me to feel the effects of caffeine anymore, but I made my first cup a bit too strong and spent the morning in a highly productive and somewhat bemused cloud.

You see, the extended brew time extracts about 90% of the flavor and caffeine elements, but only 10-15% of the oils and acids that make up the bite we associate with normal coffee.  It's the same drink in many ways, but remarkably different.  If you LIKE bitter coffee, you probably won't care much for cold-brew - it seems people either love it or are singularly unimpressed.  But if, like me, you love and accept coffee in ALL its glorious forms, then you should definitely give this a try.

Here's all you need to do to try it yourself.  Mix one part coffee (coarse grind) with four parts water in a container (I use one of those half-gallon glass jars with the flip-top lids).  Stir and let it sit overnight, in your refrigerator or on your counter.  10-12 hours is optimal, but anything over 5 hours will do.

In the morning, filter out the grounds.  I use an old french press I had sitting in a cupboard, but you could use a paper coffee filter or even a fine-mesh cheesecloth.

Be careful:  the resulting brew is concentrated coffee, too strong to drink as is.  You'll probably want to keep this in your fridge and dilute it again about 50% when you make your drink.  This stuff is awesome for iced coffee, as it's already cold so it won't melt your ice cubes.  Enjoy it with apple slices smothered with almond butter. 

Heaven.