Societies Obsession With Black Coffee

Brain

Caffeine works by simulating a chemical in the brain called Adenosine. Over the course of the time that you are awake adenosine builds up in your brain making you more and more drowsy, the chemical compounds in caffeine are very similar to that of adenosine, so that your brain lets in the caffeine in its place. This prevents the build up and makes you feel more alert and energetic. But eventually the adosine will start to fight back, building up you tolerance to caffeine and making you feel drowsy in the long one. While the caffeine is in your brain it does bring up levels of serotonin which contributes to the productivity that you may feel, but it also increases dopamine, which may feel good at first but will raise blood pressures, and feelings of anxiety. From an Evolutionary advantage we are primed to not like things that taste bitter, because those items are more likely to be poisoned. The only reason why we make an exception for coffee, is because of priming. When you take a sip of coffee, the hit of dopamine and serotonin that you get makes you feel good, so your brain and taste buds are willing to overlook the bitterness. My point is that you are not supposed to like black coffee, so why would you drink it when you can get the same affects from a delicious latte or mocha. 

History

The idea that black coffee tastes bad is also supported from a historical perspectives. Coffeehouses have always been places to discuss ideas and intellectual things, but eventually this wasn’t enough for people to be pulled into a coffeehouse, so they looked for ways to improve. They came up with new drinks to draw customers in and that led to milk based coffees, most of which originated in italy like cappuccino, latte, macchiato, and surprisingly even americano. People then wanted to have coffee at home which was a force driving capitalism. Workplaces even started to include coffee breaks into their schedules. Nestle realized that instant coffee was going to taste bad no matter what so they started to use the cheapest resource possible for production. If people complained that it tasted bad, they could use the excuse thats just how coffee tastes. Once more companies caught onto this, instant coffee, and at home espresso machines were becoming more widespread, and the go to drink before a workday. Eventually people got really tired of the bad taste, and found ways to make milk based coffee at home. 

Calories

Although I will admit that the emphasis put on health applies to many things, yet I have never seen concern over calories as seen in lattes or other  caffeinated beverages. Many black coffee enthusiasts jokingly refer to lattes as “dessert” and “Sugary drinks”. Even energy drinks who have higher calorie densities don’t have the same hype around them. There is so much more high calorie, high sugar food that deserves the attention of “dessert” haters. For example Oil can be up to two hundred Calories per tablespoon, Cheese and Bacon are each up to 150 calories for a slice, and sugar itself is 400 calories for 100 grams or 800 calories for a cup. This means that cookies, cake, pies, or anything that calls for multiple cups of sugar has thousands of calories making any sweet thing with an “inedible” amount of calories, but yet all the pressure of “desert” falls on lattes or other sweet kinds of coffee. Even so called “Healthy” foods are unbelievably calorie dense, cashews and other nuts can be  eight hundred calories for a cup, peanut butter with 200 calories for a few tablespoons. There can be 300 calories in one avocado, or even 200 calories in a small plain bagel. 

My point in all of this is not to say that any food is bad to eat, quite the opposite actually. What I’m trying to say is enjoyment of food should outweigh the potential concern over calories. This includes desserts, peanut butter, and especially coffee. Eating Disorders are started when people are shamed for the little things they enjoy. So really what's the harm in a 300 calorie latte when you're probably spending more than that alone with what you fry your food in? Sugar free sweeteners, and coffee creamers, as well as lower calorie milk alternatives are on the rise. Yet Black coffee enthusiasts don’t care that a drink may be low calorie, they just care about it not being black coffee, which just goes to show how much people don’t actually care about “health”

The culture around coffee has a lot of buzz around it. It has become a symbol of productivity, and energy. Yet despite the stigma around energy, high energy people almost never drink coffee on a regular basis. It's a weird phenomenon but I believe that it ties into what capitalism represents. A lot of the time we are rewarded socially when we choose the least pleasurable option, for example, people who do not take painkillers such as tylenol are seen as tougher than those who do. People who wear uncomfortable clothes are seen as more fashionable, it’s even become acceptable to not sleep so that they can get more work done. If you mention in public that you didn't get a lot of sleep, you will oftentimes be met with “Well I got even less sleep” If you mention that your hungry people will try to convince you that they are hungrier. Capitalism installs a sense of competitiveness or need to be the best in us which causes us to harm ourselves sometime. Which manifests in one wanting to drink black coffee over coffee with cream and sugar. I believe that sometimes the more pleasurable option is the better option simply because it brings more pleasure. The bottom line is that Lattes and mochas taste better than black coffee, and that to me is enough on it’s own to make it the superior option.