The Pleasures of Afternoon Coffee

So I went through a bout this spring of not drinking coffee. I've never been a heavy coffee drinker, one cup in the morning, every morning. That's not terrible, right? Well, not drinking it certainly was terrible. Horrible headaches everyday for a week that hit right in the middle of my usual afternoon slump. On an ordinary day, the two o'clock hour is hard for me. I lose focus, start drifting, and generally have a minor crisis of motivation. Lack of caffeine added what felt like a ten ton hammer knocking on my brain to that ordinary hiccup in my day.

But here I am, back to my wicked caffeinated ways, drinking a cup every morning. And my drive into work is once again enjoyably contemplative as my brain slowly comes to life. But what I want to talk about now is the afternoon cup. The cup that I'll occasionally reach for when those afternoon lulls hit. And how much better it always tastes when it's summertime and hot in my second floor office and the coffee is iced. Like on a Friday afternoon when things are quiet and warm and the fan pushes the air around sluggishly, not cooling off much. Like today, for instance.

I'm not shy about sharing. I'll freely pull colleagues into the lure of the afternoon jolt. And this afternoon's caffeine produced brilliant results in the form of the following brainstorm: coffee ice cubes. Yup, you got it. Is the genius of this idea apparent to you yet? I bet it is if you've had your afternoon caffeine. No waiting for the coffee to cool before pouring it over ice and no watery coffee those times when you can't wait. Brilliant. I'm giddy with anticipation. Or maybe that's just caffeine.