When I originally approached Paul with a request to appear on the Caffination wall again, I was thinking of writing some witty, sassy, crisp piece on the freshest ways of jazzing up your coffee for spring. You know, like enough already of the hazelnut creamer and heavy eggnog and sickeningly sweet gingerbread stuff. Dang it, I’m ready for coffee-braised steak grilled on the bar-b-q and elegantly laid a-top a refreshing tossed salad with things like fresh cherry tomatoes and thin slices of Italian-dressed cucumbers. Yeah, I know, it sounds good, right?
Well, I attempted to write that post a good 4 or 5 times and failed miserably each time. Writers block? I dunno, maybe. But today, as I stared out the window blankly, it came to me. That post just isn’t gonna happen. Plain and simple: right now here in California there’s a torrential downpour goin’ on. And it’s been here all week. It looks nothing like Spring. Feels less like it. It’s dark. Gloomy. Foreboding. And I want nothing more than to go home, curl up with a book and drink my sorrows away with a cup of coffee and hazelnut creamer.
Alright, so maybe spring was a bit ambitious. After all, April showers bring May flowers. So, maybe when May comes, I’ll write that original piece. But, until then, here are some thoughts & questions about rainy day coffee blues. Why the heck do we crave coffee when the weather sucks? Just why IS it that those Seattleites are more addicted than anyone else? Rain a part of it? You would think so, wouldn’t you? Well, it turns out that Google will fail you miserably if you start typing in search strings like “coffee AND rain†or “seattle AND rain AND coffee†or better yet: “coffee-drinking AND in the rain AND why?â€. And if Google doesn’t back an assumption, can it be legit? I don’t know, like all good Americans, I put a lot of stock in Google Search Results. I’ve got a few ideas, but I’m more hoping you’ll shoot yours back to me.
Question of the Week:
Why does rain trigger coffee cravings? or: If all coffee addicts moved to Seattle, would we suddenly multiply our addiction ten-fold and run the world out of coffee beans?
My rained-out thoughts so far:
- Coffee is warm. / Rain is usually cold. This is pretty basic stuff here.
- Coffee is often a social activity. / Rain is death to social life. Face it, we go out a whole lot less when it’s dumping rain. We sit in our little boxes called houses and mope. Drinking coffee just might be an instinctual reaction to feeling stuck in solitude?
- Coffee is a mood booster. / Rain is pretty depressing after the first 20 minutes or so.
- Shoot this is hard.
- Ah! Coffee-Caffeine-Alert / Rain-Dark-Gloomy-Sleepy. Do we crave coffee more in rainy weather just because we feel more tired?
- Oh I give up. Coffee just makes the world a better place. More rain is just a good excuse to drink more of it.
Somebody help me out. If you’ve got a brilliant reason and answer to my question, will you tell me?
Tara Alley is a freelance writer currently writing all things coffee for Coffee Home Direct. You can follow her on Twitter @hopesiempre.