Americans and Caffeine

4 July 2007 at 9:55 am Peter G. Klein 7 comments

| Peter Klein |

An American thought for July 4. We Americans are aggressive, fast-talking, energetic, Type-A personalities. We drive Hummers and throw down a Jolt or Super Big Gulp while scarfing our Fourth Meal. We don’t do four-week vacations or afternoon siestas like wimpy Europeans or Latin Americans. So we are we the only people in the world who drink decaffeinated coffee?

The Pepper and Salt cartoon in Monday’s WSJ reminded me of living in Europe a few years ago. No decaf in restaurants or in grocery stores. Indeed, the concept is virtually unknown. Why is decaf so popular in the US? Any theories?

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7 Comments Add your own

1. Dirk Friedrich | 4 July 2007 at 11:13 am

I do not know where in Europe you were living, but I do know that you most certainly will not have (had) any problems finding decaf in Germany. In fact, it is and always has been quite popular at the “Kaffekränzchen” (hen party).
2. jonfernquest | 4 July 2007 at 11:00 pm

Because if you scarf down too much coffee you get an ulcer and don’t get enough sleep, de-energising you far more than any cup of coffee could possibly energise you. Simple economics.
3. Libertyfirst | 5 July 2007 at 10:23 am

In Italy, decaffeinated coffee is called “hag” and can be found in every “bar”, even though it’s not a successfull beverage. As far as I know, only people having problems sleeping drink it. In my opinion, hag coffee is not as good as standard coffee, but this can’t play a role in european preferences outside Italy, because their coffee is awful anyway. :-D
4. datacharmer | 5 July 2007 at 10:27 pm

Well, aggressive, hummer-driving, type-A Americans don’t need real coffee -there’s no siestas to drop and no holidays to cancel. But try to get my lazy European ass to some work without an extra strong dose of caffeine, and you are in for a surprise.

The ill need their medicine, the lazy need their coffee. :)
5. Sudha Shenoy | 6 July 2007 at 5:53 am

1. Where in ‘Europe’ were you living? It runs from the Arctic Ocean to Malta, from the Atlantic to the Urals…

2. ‘Decaf’ is an American term. What was the local term?
6. Peter Klein | 6 July 2007 at 10:34 am

I was living in Copenhagen, home of Professor Foss, at the time. Actually I exaggerated slightly for dramatic effect; there was one brand of decaffeinated coffee available in the supermarket, but it was a low-quality brew. The grocery stores here in Missouri — even Super Wal Mart — carry a line of decent, whole-bean coffees, most of which are available in regular and neutered form (e.g., decaf French Roast, decaf Espresso, decaf Columbian, etc.). Any American coffeehouse (Starbucks or the local equivalent) will make you a decaf latte or cappuccino as eagerly as the regular variety. This doesn’t seem to be the case outside the US and Canada.
7. Sudha Shenoy | 7 July 2007 at 12:05 am

I think it’s a case of a far wider range of goods in higher-income US as compared with other DCs. The latter have a far narrower range of coffees, even when they’re coffee-drinking countries. Also the US is the world’s 3rd largest country by population: by definition you’d have a wider range of tastes, & you have the outputs to meet those tastes.

It’s also simply _differences_ in tastes: Oz have a far wider range of potato crisp flavours than any other DC. England have a greater variety of marmalades than anywhere else. There’s far greater variety in sports (over the year) on the telly in Oz than almost anywhere else (rugby league, rugby union, Victorian rules, cricket, tennis, golf, darts, snooker, racing, ironman, surfing, yachting…)