On Monday of this week I stopped drinking coffee. It was at the prompting of a Twitter contact, @davidberlind, and I said I would do it for five days, see how I felt, if I slept any better (couldn’t really get any better), if I had withdrawals symptoms and then would re-evaluate if I continued. (Pause, while I take a long drink of my rich cup of coffee with just a bit of half-and-half).

Ok, I’m back. Late last week, I commented on Twitter that I was enjoying my first cup of coffee for the day, it was a beautiful cool morning in Austin and I was looking forward to the day. (Another drink, be right back.) Well, David, someone I used to work with pretty regularly when I was in my company’s product communications team, said he no longer drank coffee, he sleeps much better, and now drinks nothing but green herbal, caffeine-free tea. (Sorry, one more drink.)

Well, after a few back and forth tweets with him, I thought perhaps it would be a good idea to see how my body would react to five days without the dark, flavorful, creamy stuff, hold on, I have to have another drink.

The reaction from my followers on Twitter was very funny. Most people said, no, don’t do it. You’ll have headaches, you won’t like it, and suggested I would be unbearable to be around. These claims were not my experience. Yes, I did have moments where I felt an incredible sereneness, not really tired but more of incredible calm to my demeanor. I never got headaches and actually my sleeping got worse but that may been tied to my back being sore for some reason. (Last drink, I promise.)

So, this morning, I awoke at 5:30am, no alarm, ready to go to the kitchen, make a pot of coffee, open up the Bible for a long-overdue quiet time, and begin my day. Upon reflection on the past five days, here are my top reasons why I love coffee.

Why I Will Not Break Up With Mr. Mrs. Coffee Again

1. He She looks so good in my cup, even better than on the coffee commercials on TV (Don’t they make coffee look like it will solve all your problems?)
2. He She is an integral part of the grown-up culture (coffee-break; hey, let’s grab a cup of coffee; my third place; I need my car to have those spills just like in my parent’s Buick Roadmaster, and the Lincoln Towncar before that.)
3. The contrast of him her against my white coffee cup is very artsy.
4. We have a kitchen full of accessories to accompany our coffee lifestyle (a coffee maker, a coffee grinder, an espresso machine, cream and sugar dispensers, coffee cups, travel cups, re-usable coffee filters, on and on and on.)
5. My grandfather, Erick, was the first person to teach me how to drink coffee when I was just little, with lots of cream and sugar and a day-old Swedish roll dunked in it. I would be turning my back on my culture if I ever stop drinking my friend again.

I have to go. My wife is now up with her cup of coffee and my cup is empty. What do you like about coffee?