h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

For some of us decaffinated beverages (coffee, as well as soda's like Pepsi, etc.) are a requirement becuase of medical reasons.
Coffee screws up your body already if your body handles it fine but for some of us things get really bad if we start injecting caffeine into our veins or drinking a bunch of coffee, which is about the same thing.
If it wasn't for decaffeinated Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, and Sprite I wouldn't ever drink soda at all. And decaff coffee is the only kind of coffee I can have now.

Well, the name is true- decaff drinks ARE nice. That's just the problem. Us caffein drinkers don't want nice drinks. We want drinks that kick you till you wake up. We want coffee.

We understand that there are people who can't have caffein and feel sorry for them, but we NEED our caffein, and don't really care what it does to our body. So there you have it.
Besides, if anyone prefers Pepsi to Coke, I really feel sorry for him. Coke beats all else. Exept for coffee, of course.

I've encountered this nasty discrimination before, and now it is really annoying me!! Grrr!! This writer is in Australia. Unless it is a strictly local phenomenon (in which case I'm moving to Melbourne next week), the only soft drinks ("sodas") containing caffeine that can be purchased here are colas (and possibly some iced teas, but I seriously don't think they count). Why can't we have other caffeinated carbonated drinks too??? It's not faaaaaairrrr!!!!

Responding to the second post above; yes, we do like a lotta kick. I never used to drink Coke, then started doing so for sentimental reasons. Shortly after that I rediscovered Jolt and converted (no, I was ~not~ running on batteries before) until I discovered something called Columbian Cola, which supposedly has "maximum caffeine" plus guarana and something called "yerba mate" (sounds like some mangled Australian greeting, dunnit). This stuff is wonderful. Only problem with it is that I have yet to find it for sale somewhere other than a 7-Eleven store. Worse, only my local 7-Eleven has it in the 500ml bottle.

So I'm deprived. So I whinge. (Thank you for making a simple whingeing subroutine very happy.)

"I never used to drink Coke, then started doing so for sentimental reasons."

Now *that's* intriguing; I've heard lots of reasons for drinking Coke, but that's a new one. Care to explain?

I'm a one drink kind of gal - coffee or nothing. I don't even like carbonated beverages. Even so, Coca-Cola has done an incredibly marketing (er, brainwashing) job on me, because sometimes I see the little red and white can and think "I wonder if that really does make one happier." Watch for me at the next candlelight vigil singing "I'd like to buy the world a Coke..."

Kate

kate -
thanks.
it's great to find somebody thinking just like me.
I already started to feel like a mutant, trying to get a decent coffee in a pub or disco or whatever at 2 a.m., people around me drinking cola and telling me "I couldn't sleep if I drank coffee now"
oh.
You noticed the extra hand with fixed coffeemug...

Probably a bit late... but 'yerba mate'? You can get in a 7-11? The thing that confuses me (most, I might add) is your reference to the bottle? Or did I get mixed up and you were talking about the Colombian Cola? 'Cos the mate is usually a hot drink (except in extremely hot places where you get the 'terere' version...
BTW, it sure does give you a kick, and keeps you goin'... and goin'.... currently I'm drinking it... 4:30am...

Have the dubious joys of "Red Bull" reached the shores of the US yet?
Tastes a little like mountian dew, and contains the following by volume. And (Heretic ahoy) is even better than coffee (!)

"Taurine: 0.4%"
"Glucuronaolactanone: 0.24%"
"Caffiene 0.03%"

And it's so good it's banned in most european countries.

PS 2 for the price of one Coke has made me a convert.
PPS Red Bull beats coke.

My Dad calls de-caff "castrated coffee"

We forgot to take the coffee with us to work the other day but remembered the flasks- hot water is not quite the same There are times when I wish I didn't work in fields (at least ones that aren't near coffee selling places!)