Even though I am a 23 year old college student, I have never tasted coffee before, not even a single drop. This is surprising, since college students resemble fish without air if they do not get their coffee daily. From what I had observed in my college experience, college-aged people cannot survive without coffee. Without drinking coffee, my peers stagger around like zombies from The Walking Dead. Frightened of this possibility, I do not intend to try coffee anytime soon. On that line of thought, it is honestly hard for me to understand why friends would not consume healthier and more affordable alternatives. Having always been intrigued by coffee addiction, I have decided to write about why coffee is such a popular beverage among many.
I was always intrigued by coffee because friends and family have always said that it is their favorite drink. When I ask them why they prefer coffee over a different drink, both parties simply say that it is "good." Other than that, they cannot come up with a reason explaining their obsession with the multi-faceted drink.
So, why are people addicted to coffee? Why is it part of their daily and essential sustenance? Society enjoys consuming coffee at a large capacity, since it provides social value. Although there is an influence due to the caffeine, society believes that coffee is socially instrumental in that it provides "tradition and ritual about drinking coffee" (0). By establishing a tradition or custom through coffee, such as a set time to drink at, say, a local coffee shop or at home, coffee drinkers will have more opportunities to socialize and make new friends with other aficionados. Drinking coffee locally rather than privately will enrich coffee fanatics through forming "connections with people" (1). Without drinking coffee in a group setting, friends and family cannot engage in conversation with each other as often as they would like, thus declining their social health. The links of communication will be broken.
On a related level, coffee drinking individuals have a deep passion for coffee reflecting the cultural origins. Thanks to coffee, coffee fans can take part in "unique coffee cultures" (2). More specifically, people drink coffee in order to become "energized" (3). Consuming coffee regularly helps fight off against the stresses of life, especially for those people who are "not having enough sleep" (4). In other words, coffee acts as the Patronus Charm in preventing sleep deprivation from overtaking the common coffee drinker. Unfortunately, the power of the coffee is misleading coffee aficionados into thinking that partaking of coffee is the "only way to start our day" (5). This seems to be a destructive process; it encourages the drinker to depend on coffee as the supposedly only satisfying and healthy means of sustenance. Coffee as the sole diet will not give the consumer enough energy to function throughout the day. It is not likely safe to be addicted to coffee through this route considering the fact that coffee consists of many "psychoactive substances" (6), which could cause overconsumption of coffee to result in a number of illnesses, including “anxiety, insomnia, and dizziness” (7 ).
After gathering some research on coffee, I still think I have benefited in the long run from not having drunk coffee before despite my status as a college student. I have already exposed myself to poor health thanks to regular consumption of soda. With that in mind, I do not think I will be trying coffee anytime soon.
