# Coffee in the evenings



## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

Hi caffeine pals!

I often try to justify turning on my espresso machine when I get home from work but something deep down tells me its not civil or proper to do this. No idea where this came from other than having a stimulant in the evening is probably bad for your sleep pattern and might verge on addiction???

I'd be really interested to know how many of you drink coffee in the evenings, before or after dinner and any effect you think it might have on your sleep patterns, digestion and anything else you've noticed.

I would love a valid justification for having a shot upon returning home but till I kill those reservations, coffee will remain a morning and early afternoon affair for me.

- Fatboy


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

If I have any desire to be able to sleep before 1am then I make sure my last coffee is no later than 3pm. The older I've become the more I seem to be sensitive to caffeine.


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## dwalsh1 (Mar 3, 2010)

If you have done a days work on a shitty building site walking up and down stairs with tools and ladders then nothing not even coffee will keep me awake.


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## SlowRoast (Sep 24, 2010)

I drink coffee right up until 10pm if I'm not working the next day. Even if I am I'll drink it at like 9pm. I see it this way, I have over a grands worth of shiny stainless steel sat in my kitchen, might as well use it...

If I drink coffee around 7pm after working all day I actually tend to fall asleep after, not sure why, but I'm often found having a nap after my coffee!

When you work in a Costa all day, the amount of caffeine in 100% Arabica over a blend with Robusta seems nothing to me now ...


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## cjbailey1 (Jan 17, 2011)

I tend not to have any coffee after 6pm, but that is mainly because I fall asleep if I do!


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

8pm is the cut off point for me, its usually a latte. I sleep like a baby


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## FDC (Jan 7, 2012)

At the weekend (when I am more relaxed) I will have a double espressso some time after my dinner. No problem with sleeping. Been on holiday at home this last week and its been great enjoying a coffee each evening and not thinking about work the next day and the early rise for the drive up to Edinburgh!


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## ronsil (Mar 8, 2012)

I can take an espresso up to 9.00 pm without causing me fluctuations in my sleep pattern


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## jimrobo (Aug 5, 2011)

my coffee cut off is 6pm too. If I really want a hot drink its either decaf or hot choc!


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## almoalmo (Jul 12, 2012)

I have been a coffee drinker since my early teens. When at work I would drink up to 10 cups a day of variable quality. I sometimes take a cup of coffee to bed. I sometimes wish it acted as a stimulant!


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

I often have an after dinner espresso/ristretto instead of a dessert, puts me to sleep if anything. Brewed coffee tends to give me much more of a hit...I have bought some decaf but this is more for daytime experimentng with brewed methods, rather than for espresso.

Liqueur coffees in the Indian restaurant are my big downfall....I really know I shouldn't, ...just can't resist, then I'm wide awake at 3am with heart palpitations...I put it down to the sugar?

I have been having a lot of weird & very vivid dreams lately though....!


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## SlowRoast (Sep 24, 2010)

Y'see I'm sat here drinking a flat white made with a triple ristretto. I'll sleep juuust fine









Surprisingly I haven't had liqueur coffee ... Enlighten me, MWKB


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

"Surprisingly I haven't had liqueur coffee ... Enlighten me, MWKB"

OK, forget everything you know about coffee...and we'll begin...

Cup of drip filter coffee (4-5oz? Couldn't tell you what machine) add four teaspoons of brown sugar (needed to keep the cream from sinking into the coffee), a shot of your preferred spirit/liqueur. Top with UHT cream, the pouring stuff, never squirty...that would be just common! Cream sits on the top & the hot coffee is sipped through the cold cream. Irish whisky is most common, vodka makes it a "Russian", Tia Maria a "Calypso"...you can essentially go "around the globe" depending on what booze you add.

I guess you could try a gourmet version, like a cross between a carrajillo & espresso con panna?


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## SlowRoast (Sep 24, 2010)

Haha that sounds insanely bad for you but interesting enough to give it a try, I haven't found myself wondering into the drip/pour over world yet. Maybe on my next visit to London ...

But yeah I might try an espresso based one. Con panna with Amaretto anyone?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

"But yeah I might try an espresso based one. Con panna with Amaretto anyone?"

Ha ha, I think you might have a natural flair for this kind of thing!


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## SlowRoast (Sep 24, 2010)

Haha, thanks







I got some SM Santa Clara for next week, that might be interesting to try with it.


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## beebah (Apr 1, 2012)

garydyke1 said:


> 8pm is the cut off point for me, its usually a latte. I sleep like a baby


If my two are anything to go by, that means waking up every 2-3pm hours and screaming! At times I've been so tired that even 4-5 espressos in an evening won't keep me from passing out the moment my head touches the pillow. In fact its 12.25 now and I'm just sitting down to an aeropress brew!


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

Very interesting to hear people's routines. Seems like 6pm is a general cut-off with some daredevils pushing the limits.

I am going to push the boat out this evening and have a double when I get home!

Thank you all for removing the reservations of evening coffee! I probably won't have a brewed coffee however as they tend to have a more tangible impact on my heart rate.


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## Milesy (Mar 8, 2012)

It is also proven (in science as well as personally) that Caffeine effects vary depending on your own energy and exercise levels.

I can drink a double espresso while tired and sleep no bother, yet I can drink a double espresso and then go to the gym and be absolutely wired and need to lie down because of head rushes and nausea. I believe the effect is related to the proportion of adrenaline in circulation.


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

So I was forced into opening my last bag of Has Bean Batman blend at work at around 5pm this evening to make a cafetiere.

I must say I either made a particularly strong (caffeine-wise) brew or evening brews have a particularly strong affect on me.

Could have swore I'd taken something illegal....

Brewed coffee in the evening doesn't agree with me, the jury is still out on espresso.


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## Spooks (Feb 20, 2012)

Don't seem to have any issues with espresso late at night and sleep, unsure if I'm doing it wrong going by what's been said here lol

Only have around 2 flat whites and occasional espresso dopio per day so not a huge amount of caffeine. Never tried brewed coffee at nights as I'm not particularly good at making a good brewed coffee, it may react different.


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## suferick (Jul 19, 2011)

I've just finished working a block of 12-hour night shifts and double espresso was what kept me going. I did make sure that my last shot was three hours from the end of the shift.

In my experience, the body adjusts to any pattern so the first few times evening coffee might cause problems but thereafter it should be fine


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## LeeWardle (Nov 16, 2008)

I drink coffee right into the evening and before bed sometimes...it never really has had much effect on me...Maybe it's because I drink so much that under the influence of caffeine is my normal state!!


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## Outlaw333 (Dec 13, 2011)

I used to think that I could drink coffee well into the night with no effect but I wasn't noticing that the reason I was going to sleep after sunrise might have had something to do with the midnight V60s!


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Midnight V60s = great name for a band!


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## Outlaw333 (Dec 13, 2011)

garydyke1 said:


> Midnight V60s = great name for a band!


Dude you are a genius! do you mind if I use it?


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

Featuring Grandmaster Batman on the turntables?


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## Outlaw333 (Dec 13, 2011)

Fo Sho!!!


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## jacksg (Jul 18, 2012)

I find that caffeine hardly does anything to me whilst awake, no more energy or anything... but a cup too late can indeed keep me awake at night. It's very annoying! Usually try to stick to decaf for my evening coffee (afternoon non-decaf coffees no later than 5pm ish). Doesn't always affect me but I hate not being able to get to sleep so don't like to risk it.


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## jimbow (Oct 13, 2011)

There is quite a good article here on the effects of caffeine on the body:

http://lifehacker.com/5585217/what-caffeine-actually-does-to-your-brain


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