As we type, now is the perfect time to set your goals and plans for the fresh new year ahead. Whether you’re working from home for the foreseeable, or just want to lighten-up your caffeine intake then our Lockdown Coffee Tips about how to caffeine reset could dramatically help balance health & wellbeing without sacrificing coffee enjoyment.
Whether home working or home-schooling, juggling lockdown life with too much caffeine will only result in higher levels of anxiety and stress. On the flip side, forgoing daily brews will only add to lockdown-induced boredom.
Your Lockdown Coffee Tips
So whether you’re a little too dependent on caffeine or the new Covid way of work and play are affecting your levels of stress and sleep, here are some Lockdown Coffee Tips on how to reset your relationship with caffeine during lockdown and beyond.
Tip #1 Caffeinate your way to better sleep
The truth is you don’t need to eliminate that much-needed morning coffee to help kick-start long lockdown days. The answer is to enjoy the best of both caffeine worlds, indulging in caffeinated cuppas before lunchtime, then switching to decaf in the afternoon. You’ll be caffeine-free by early evening and significantly boost the quality of your sleep, while reducing any anxiety levels at the end of a long day.
Thanks to the gradual caffeine reduction over a period of days or weeks you’ll also be avoiding all the painful withdrawal symptoms associated with a full caffeine detox. So aim to restrict the number of caffeinated coffees to four cups a day to avoid exceeding the 400mg of caffeine that the European Food Standards Agency recommend.
Tip #2: Keep calm and drink speciality grade decaf
A key weapon in any caffeine reset is the once ugly duckling of the coffee world, decaf.
For many, the very word induces horrid memories of enduring insipid mugs of instant decaf in pursuit of going caffeine-free. Worse still, eight out of 10 of those mugs were highly likely to have been exposed to the same chemicals found in paint stripper, used to remove the caffeine.
While solvent decaffeination is still very much a reality, decaf has luckily been re-born in the last decade thanks to processes such as Swiss Water and Mountain Water Decaffeination by simply combining spring water, temperature and time to create delicious, chemical-free decafs that taste like the real caffeinated thing.
Our Blue Goose Range of Ground and Whole Bean Coffees include both a Swiss Water Organic Decaf from Peru and a Mountain Water Organic Decaf from Mexico.
Tip #3: Don’t let lockdown kill your love of coffee
Coffee is a small luxury indulgence so, whether working from home, home schooling or both it’s important to enjoy your cuppa in a happy or relaxing place to avoid associating coffee itself with stressful situations.
Why not actually book a coffee break in the kitchen with your other half for a good natter, or snuggle up with the kids to watch a lovely film.
We all need a little happiness in our lives at the moment so your coffee break is the perfect chance to make the most of being at home with loved ones in these strange Covid-19 times.
Tip #4: Make brewing a cinch while looking after the environment
If the thought of grinding and brewing your own coffee is too much then invest in your very own original-style Nespresso® coffee pod machine. Convenient and simple to use, they are a dream for creating barista quality coffee at home.
But beware your environmental footprint if you just opt for standard aluminium or plastic pods. They will outlive your children and your grandchildren if they end up in in landfill so, instead, choose our range of the Nespresso® compatible eco pods, delivering speciality grade coffee in entirely compostable coffee capsules.
From our Organic Swiss Water® pods to our Which? Magazine Best Buy compostable pods filled with 2 Star Great Taste Award Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee, it’s a range that is the perfect eco option for any conscious coffee drinker.
Tip #5: Caffeine Calory Burn…sip your way to a thinner you!
For those planning or already in their new lockdown exercise regime, caffeinating your workout could help you reach weight and fitness goals faster for exactly the same physical effort! Evidence shows that enjoying a coffee before exercise enhances your fitness and athletic performance and will help burn an average of 15% more calories for exactly the same effort.
Take Channel 4s “Food Unwrapped Does Superfoods” programme, for example. Presenter Kate Quilton’s stepped up to test the theory, where a caffeine-free workout boosted her metabolic rate by 100 calories. But exactly the same workout, post-espresso, boosted her metabolic rate by 300 calories. She was 30 seconds faster too, proving caffeine really does help enhance athletic performance and burn more calories for exactly the same amount of exercise.
Who knew a simple shot of espresso could work such wonders for the new you?
Tip #6: Be more ethical – choose climate-conscious coffee
In the face of the pandemic, it’s easy to forget the wider threats we face such as climate change, so making some really simple choices when you next buy coffee will help you enjoy many exceptional chemical-free mugs of the good stuff while hitting your 2021 eco-conscious intentions.
For example, always choosing organically grown coffee will help local wildlife and biodiversity thrive in the coffee fields as well as reducing the creation, use and disposal of man-made chemicals. This is particularly true when purchasing decafs so always look for the Swiss Water® Decaf logo or opt for Mountain Water decaf.
Now more than ever small businesses like Blue Goose Coffee need your help too. Our purpose driven approach means we pay our farmers a premium well above the Fairtrade Minimum Price and donate to water and wildlife charities. We also offset our workforce’s carbon footprint and supply all our coffee in entirely plastic-free packaging.
So, by choosing our organic decaf coffees in compostable pods, or from our new range of whole bean and ground coffee in compostable pouches, you’re also choosing a delicious, sustainable and ethical coffee experience that is good for you and the planet.
Lockdown Coffee Club
If Lockdown is getting you down then our Caffeine Collective is the perfect lockdown coffee club to join for exclusive offers, chances to win coffee prizes and of course some more Lockdown Coffee Tips. Just head to our Caffeine Collective sign up page to be part of our group of eco-conscious coffee lovers. We look forward to welcoming you!