
The world is drinking less coffee while office workers stay home - finphil
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/the-world-is-drinking-less-coffee-while-office-workers-stay-home/ar-BB16BZzj
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seattle_spring
Wow not me. Probably because my home coffee setup and beans are a lot better
than my office.

~~~
chrissnell
This, absolutely. The 'Rona shutdown inspired me to buy an old commercial
espresso machine (1964 FAEMA E.61) and build out a little home coffee shop in
the garage, where I learned to pull shots.

[https://www.instagram.com/p/CCgeL3dsTzW/?igshid=u06d4u494zyq](https://www.instagram.com/p/CCgeL3dsTzW/?igshid=u06d4u494zyq)

~~~
elliekelly
Did you set out to buy that particular machine or did you just happen across
it? If you don’t mind my asking, how much did it cost? I have so many
questions!

Do you have a blog? I’d love to read how all of this came about. What an
awesome project. It looks great!

~~~
simpsond
I would say espresso making at home is an expensive hobby unless you are
willing to tolerate variability in the output. A decent stable machine is
going to be close to 1k and the really nice home machines starting at 3k. A
good grinder is also expensive. I got all the gear (buying stuff used where I
could) and I have spent maybe $1500 on components. I love it, but I wouldn’t
recommend it to someone who isn’t willing to put in time to learn and money
for decent tools.

~~~
duckkg5
Breville Barista Express isn't cafe quality but it has a good grinder and
pulls decent shots pretty consistently for $600-700

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MR4D
I’ll second this. I’ve had two of them and they’ve been a joy to use every
day. Excellent value.

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setgree
> Shutdowns for cafes and restaurants -- which typically account for about 25%
> of demand -- were overwhelming, and it could be a while before things pick
> up again.

I was originally going to theorize something about office workers having more
options to deal with fatigue -- taking a nap, or staring into space (and maybe
being less fatigued in general from all the time saved commuting?) -- rather
than just drinking coffee and toughing it out at their desks; but in light of
this stat, it seems that this is all about how hard cafes & restaurants have
been hit by lockdown.

~~~
jseliger
I went to coffee shops not so much for the coffee (as many point out, I can
make it for 10% or less of what the coffee shop does) but for the hanging out
in a "third place."

~~~
setgree
The coffee shop near my (former) Manhattan apartment is one of the places I
miss most in all this.

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ksaj
A few months ago, it was apparently the opposite.
[https://financialpost.com/commodities/agriculture/we-are-
dri...](https://financialpost.com/commodities/agriculture/we-are-drinking-too-
much-coffee-at-home-and-now-theres-a-mad-scramble-for-coffee-beans)

~~~
sp332
Maybe people are drinking the same amount of coffee, but they had to stock up
their homes in March-April and then haven't needed to refill since then.

~~~
ksaj
That makes me wonder if the toilet paper industry is also seeing a short-term
dip in sales because of all that hoarding earlier this year.

~~~
Larrikin
Its annoying how there was pretty much no toilet paper to be found for months
with a massive stock pile of paper towels everywhere and now its the opposite.
I stock up on toilet paper and paper towels at regular intervals and was lucky
to only barely begin running out once stores started getting toilet paper
again but there seems to be no paper towels anywhere now.

~~~
save_ferris
FWIW, major grocers like HEB spent months planning and simulating the effects
of the pandemic before it hit the US and still didn't see the run on toilet
paper coming.[0]

0: [https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/heb-prepared-
coronavirus-p...](https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/heb-prepared-coronavirus-
pandemic/)

~~~
bsder
The "press" also causes active damage in these kinds of situations. "<X>
shortage in stores" in the news will immediately cause a run on said <X> thus
creating the shortage even if it didn't exist before.

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save_ferris
So you're arguing that the press should self-censor in this situation? Their
job is to report the news in factual and objective manner, not ensure that
everyone has enough toilet paper. If the latter isn't true, how do you blame
the press for "active damage" in this situation?

~~~
bsder
> Their job is to report the news in factual and objective manner, not ensure
> that everyone has enough toilet paper.

The job of the press is to inform the public--not yell "Fire!" in a crowded
theatre.

Yes, they should have self-censored.

Shouting "Covid causing shortage of bottled water--News 6 reports!" does
nothing to inform the public nor does it create a useful call to action. It
_only_ creates a problem--often where none previously existed. There was
_ZERO_ reason to believe that Covid would cause a water system failure or
contamination.

This is different from "Hurricane incoming. Stock up on water. Here are the
places which still have it." The information is useful, timely, and relevant.

Having the free speech protection of being the press does not absolve the
press of the responsibility to not be a jerk.

~~~
save_ferris
> The job of the press is to inform the public--not yell "Fire!" in a crowded
> theatre.

But yelling “fire” in a crowded theater is only wrong when there isn’t one,
no?

You go on to argue that it’s ok to have the press explicitly tell people do
something (i.e. to stock up on water) when we live in a time when having the
press directing anyone to do anything results in the exact kind of criticism
you levied against them in your previous post. They reported that toilet paper
is flying off the shelves. Arguably, an equally if not more effective solution
would be to restrict to the number of units a customer could buy at once. But
that doesn’t involve bashing the press.

~~~
bsder
A) You will note that I changed the example to "water" specifically because
there was _NO_ possibility that water was going to be an issue. And yet there
was _still_ panic and shortages, mostly due to reporting.

B) The press reported toilet paper was flying off the shelves. Except that
_before_ they did that, there were only marginal shortages in certain places,
mostly because toilet paper is bulky and slow to restock. After the reporting,
it was out _everywhere_ _instantly_. In this instance, that did great harm to
those who couldn't just "stock and store".

C) "Arguably, an equally if not more effective solution would be to restrict
to the number of units a customer could buy at once."

Sadly, this doesn't actually work. If most people buy toilet paper once a
week, a shift to once every 5 days is way more than enough to cause a supply
chain shock. There is no way to enforce a consumption level that wouldn't
supply chain shock once the panic got started.

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volkk
i personally drink coffee less because i can simply take a 25 min power nap
when i get my usual noon drowsiness after lunch. i also sleep longer because i
dont need to commute as much and feel much more refreshed throughout the day

~~~
Mc91
Before working from home, I used to set my alarm to two hours before work. I
would shave, shower, brush my teeth, have a quick breakfast, then commute in.

Now I set my alarm for fifteen minutes before work. It's preferable for me if
I go to bed early enough that I wake up with enough time for a shower, but if
I don't I can take one after work (or during lunch). The only reason I need a
whole fifteen minutes in the morning is that it takes a couple of minutes for
me to log in my Mac and VPN in.

At work we have nice coffee machines with free coffee. I have coffee at home
too but I am less tired in the morning. Not that costing a little prevents me
from drinking coffee, it's more that it being free is an enticement to
drinking it, as if I am missing one of my perks of the days at the office when
I skip coffee. Also, I am getting less physical activity every week now, so I
also avoid coffee for the calories, and go for water instead.

~~~
volkk
> as if I am missing one of my perks of the days at the office when I skip
> coffee

same mentality for me.

> so I also avoid coffee for the calories, and go for water instead.

i'm pretty sure coffee is like almost 0 calories as long as you dont add milk,
isnt it?

~~~
sitzkrieg
yup black coffee is calorie free

~~~
phonypc
For practical purposes. If you want to get pedantic it's probably something
like 2-5 calories per serving depending on brewing method.

~~~
sitzkrieg
im pretty sure plain drip coffee ends up way below 1. if you ate a bean how
many kcal would that be? the amount of energy impregnated in the water is
still way below

~~~
hinoki
When I brew with French press, there’s a rainbow oil slick. A web search
reveals a lot of blog spam about French press being bad for you, but I
couldn’t find any actual cholesterol numbers.

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pantaloony
I drink a lot less _good_ coffee at home. Not worth shelling out for 5lb of
the good stuff when everything past the first pound will be stale and not very
good by the time I get to it, and purchased in smaller (usually 8-12oz) bags
high-quality, freshly-roasted beans are way too expensive to have more than
occasionally. So those transcendently good cups where one can actually taste
stuff other than "coffee flavor" or "three-day-old rained-on camp fire" happen
a lot less often for me now. :-(

Upper-end-of-bad coffee beans from Costco (so, about the best they have there)
are my go-to at home. Steeping the grounds slow & cold yields way less
cigarette butt flavor/odor than doing pourovers with them, so I'm making a lot
more cold brew than before. Good thing it's Summer.

~~~
mtts
You can freeze coffee beans. Helps keeps them fresh a lot longer.

~~~
regularfry
I do this. Get a kilo of good beans, freeze them in 250g batches.

~~~
dwd
Any issues with moisture? I find most things I freeze end up with condensation
freezing inside the bag, which isn't going to be good for the coffee. I could
imagine it going moldy within days of defrosting with the local humidity.

~~~
regularfry
Not for me, no. Once they're defrosted they're in the fridge.

250g coffee doesn't last more than a few days for me anyway, but if you were
worried about it you could split down again to 125g, so you've never got more
than two or three days for mould to set in.

------
elindbe2
Anecdotally, I've been quite addicted to coffee since college and wanted to
try giving it up. Going to work every day, I had trouble going cold turkey,
but once COVID hit and I started working from home I gave it up almost
effortlessly. I feel like the disruption of routines makes changing your
habits easier.

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bluedino
If I can’t stay at the coffee shop to work, there’s no point in going. I can
make a cup at home and save $5

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WheelsAtLarge
I drink a lot less. I drink a cup a day now. I used to drink a few a day but
I'm better rested and needed less of it now. Quick tip, McCafe coffee is great
tasting and a pretty good bargain. I bought it for the cost and kept it for
the taste.

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eecc
Hmm, morning doses remain the same. In the afternoon laziness might delay the
inevitable second moka round but eventually I’ll go for it. I have a 6cups
Bialetti Venus... should I be worried?

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caymanjim
Most workplaces have free coffee, but few have anything else to drink. I
suspect if you looked at workplaces which stock a variety of free beverages,
coffee consumption there would be much lower as well. I'm somewhat ambivalent
about coffee; I'll drink it if someone else prepares it, but I almost never
bother brewing a pot myself. Without an office where someone's always got a
pot going, or where they have one of those horrible mini-cup instant brewers,
I never drink it.

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rafaelvasco
Don't know why but my body tends to react badly to acidic foods. So I don't
drink coffee (and no alcohol, no junk food, no carbonated sugary poison
drinks... and so on ). That said, home office was a godsend for me. I'm now
productive and happy. Without coffee :)

~~~
tamiral
you can find some low acidic coffee, there are some high elevation smooth
coffees from Uganda as an example that might be of interest.

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hprotagonist
meanwhile i laid in a 15 pound supply in late February when it was starting to
look scary, Just In Case.

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padde
I ordered more Nespresso capsules during the last four months than I had
during the last four years.

~~~
christoph
Same, as much as I still love my aeropress and french press and hate the
Nespresso lock-in, wastage, etc. I do honestly feel my Nespresso Vertuo makes
a damn great cup every time, with zero fuss. Plus their ordering and delivery
is slick as hell. Ordering a load of different capsules on their mobile app in
the evening and they’re at my door the next morning is pretty incredible. They
still can’t seem to send a properly formatted HTML email with the
invoice/receipt though.

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bitwize
My girlfriend moved up just before the major COVID lockdowns and brought with
her a French press and a barista's expertise. So we've been having good coffee
virtually every day.

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nabaraz
I feel the same. I used to walk around the campus every couple of hours and
grab a coffee on the way to my desk. For most days, it amounted to 4-5 cups of
coffee.

At home, I barely go past 2 cups.

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stefan_
Going to fetch a coffee in the office kitchen is a social event or discussion
break. Doesn't work as well at home.

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blackrock
Did anyone get headaches after stopping drinking coffee for a few days?

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stunt
One cup of coffee in the morning, and one cup of tea in the afternoon. I'm on
the same routine since 5 years ago.

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jt2190
Same article, no paywall:

[http://a.msn.com/00/en-us/BB16BZzj](http://a.msn.com/00/en-us/BB16BZzj)

~~~
dang
Ok, changed from [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-11/the-
world...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-11/the-world-is-
drinking-less-coffee-while-office-workers-stay-home). Thanks!

