Do you think the lighter the roast, the more the caffeine? A few years ago I didn’t know, and since then my take-away learning was that a lighter roast has more caffeine. Recently, a friend shared this article with me from Scribblers Coffee, “Which Has More Caffeine: Light or Dark Roast?” He said the article’s answer was different than what a Kona farm told him. (My quick answer to myself was also “light roast.”) After I read the article, which answered the question comprehensively, the answer (“it depends”) made sense to me. I knew many of the various facts that come into play, but still in my mind I had distilled it all to the simple answer.
I happen to be reading Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking, Fast and Slow. Answering “Which roast has more caffeine?” gave myself a perfect example of how we like the quick, easy answer. From the description on the back of the book, “Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking.”
Kahneman assigns the label System 1 for our automatic, quick thinking that requires little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control. System 2 is associated with our deliberate, calculated, concentrated thinking. The book formula, simplified, is that the author gives you a fun, relatable example choice/quiz, which illustrates when the different “systems” come into play, sometimes to our disadvantage. After you’re humbled when you fall into the thinking trap the author’s trying to demonstrate, you’re curious and ready to receive the following discussion/explanation. The book is over 400 pages, and it isn’t light reading, though it is if you compare it to the papers these types of academics usually write. You’ll probably need coffee to stay alert to follow the book. I like to read these types of books when I have insomnia, because I want to read them, but they aren’t beach reading. If I read during a wake spell, either I eventually get sleepy or I make progress in the book. It takes a little of the bite out of insomnia.
There you go. Maybe you’ve learned a little about caffeine in coffee if you read the linked article, you have a book recommendation, and you’ve learned one example for dealing and coping with insomnia. One thing I’ve learned with this blog is that I can start with something related to coffee, and from there I can go all over the place!