It's early morning here in San Antonio. I'm sitting on the patio drinking my espresso. I've seen two deer walk by not 20' feet away. Life is good.
Coffee, and early mornings always make me philosophical. So consider yourself warned, eh?
I was just thinking as I savored my illy espresso about an old Turkish proverb. "A cup of coffee commits one to 40 years of friendship," about the friends with whom I've shared a cup of coffee.
You know you can debate the problems of the world and solve them (sometimes) over a cup of coffee.
You can warm your body and the conversation can warm your heart when you talk with friends over a cup of coffee.
I've listened to sad stories, happy stories and those in-between over cups of coffee with friends.
Maybe the reason I savor my coffee is the good memories and friends that go with the great taste of coffee or espresso.
Not the usual grind,
A tip of the mug to Benjamin Earwicker for the photo of the deer.
A small study of seven elite cyclists in Austraila is making news. Seems athletes who added caffeine to their high carbohydrate post exercise meal were able to perform better the next day. The addition of caffeine increased the energy stored in their muscles. In the study the researchers found the energy stored (glycogen) was 66% more with the added caffeine.
And the amount of caffeine they had was the equivalent of 5-6 cups of coffee. Some of us on 5-6 cups of coffee would be raving maniacs or worse. (I just remember an old boss of mine, scary thought eh?)
Dr. Hawley mentioned some of the athletes had problems sleeping while others fell asleep without any problem. So elite athletes are no different in that respect.
According to Dr. Hawley one of the researchers in the study, " If you have 66% more fuel for the next day's training or competition, there's no question you'll be able to go further and faster."
The saying from Superman comes to mind, "able to leap tall buildings with a single bound." Can you imagine the possibilities for athletic world records with 66% more energy?
Now this study is very small-only 7 cyclists. The results are just question marks designed for future research.
But the possibilities are intriguing. Are the results the same for ordinary people? I for one would never qualify as an elite cyclist or elite athlete.
Would you prepare for potentially strenuous negotiating sessions like these elite cyclists?
What would you do with 66% more energy? Let me know by sharing your thoughts below.
Not the usual grind,
A tip of the mug to News.com.au for the heads up on the research study and for the photo to Piotr Lewandowski
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One of my neighbors when I lived in Maine was an older gentleman who tracked coffee. Every morning he would have his freshly brewed cup, one mid-morning and another at lunch. Then as he said, "It's tea for the rest of the day. I need to sleep at night and the dark roasts, well I'm not young anymore."
Like many coffee aficionados he made the art of growing coffee part of his retirement study. When asked he could tell you the price trends in Brazil, India, and Africa. John had worked many years in the international sales division of a large corporation.
He never used a computer, but would travel several days a week to a commodities brokerage house to watch and study coffee prices. John would take the information and plot it on graph paper-the light green one. He would then make his decisions to invest and buy based on his predictions. He not only invested his money in the commodities, but he would buy coffees to use based on his predictions. The predictions filled several notebooks in his study. His family thought of it as an eccentric habit, one of a retired man. But no one laughed when coffee prices escalated dramatically one year. John gave gourmet and domestic coffees as holiday gifts. A touch of luxury for us all.
Well, John is no longer with us and the notebooks are gone. I use Google and other programs to find the news about coffee and trends.
Today it's contrasting news. Brazil is expecting an excellent crop of coffee while India is having problems with supply due to unseasonably warm temperatures.Good reason to find some coffee beans you enjoy.
As I looked at the Boca Java site today I saw a combination reminding me of John. Click here for a Sunrise Sunset day. You start your day with a fine coffee and end with a good tea.
So for all you coffee lovers. It's still looking good,
Not the usual grind,
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