My Favorite Morning Drink (Plus, a Discount Code)

Having the same issue today! :/

Hi Kathy and Claire, Mike from explorer here. So sorry you’re having an issue! I just checked and the code is active. I also placed an order with it and it’s working in my end. Couple of quick thoughts: the code os case sensitive, so please use as COJ20. The code also may only be used one time per customer, so if it was used prior, it will not apply. If you are still having trouble, please send me an email to hello@explorercoldbrew.com and we’ll figure something out! Thanks!!

Hey Abi, Mike from Explorer here :) So great to hear you want to try us! Just a heads up we currently don’t ship to Canada but our friends at Switch Grocery do – you can find us there: https://www.switchgrocery.com/products/explorer-cold-brew-coffee-concentrate#

Hi Linh, Mike from Explorer here. That is really odd – we actually offer Free Shipping! Would love to understand what you had in your cart and what you were seeing – please let me know, if this is a bug, I’d love to fix it asap :) Thanks!

I was looking for this too, Emily! I just weaned myself from full-caf to decaf and realized that I am no longer an anxious mess for much of the day. WHO KNEW?! I make french press, but I’m also a big iced coffee person so this sounds great for the warmer months.

Grady’s New Orleans Cold Brew also is glorious and has a decaf options — my sister loved it so much during her pregnancy that she’s stuck to decaf to this day

Hi! I’m a MAJOR coffee drinker since like age 12 and I’ve recently felt called to examine the relationship between my anxiety (exacerbated by the pandemic and parenting two young children) and coffee. Can you describe the difference you feel and how long it took to notice results?
Thank you!

Hi Claire,
I cut way back on coffee this January (from like 6-8 cups to 1) and I feel like a whole new person. I can handle stress better, sleep better, don’t yell at my kids as much… you get the idea. I actually have more energy than I have in years. Full disclosure: I also cut way back on alcohol and social media, but I really think the coffee made the biggest difference in my anxiety levels. I no longer feel that tightness in my chest. I wish I had thought of this earlier in the pandemic; I could have saved $$$ on therapy ;)
For the first 2 weeks, I had headaches and was *quite* cranky but these are the things that helped me:
If you are still drinking a little coffee, make your first drink of the morning non-caffeinated (I like hot water with lemon).
Keep a bunch of tasty herbal tees (or kombucha or sparkling waters or whatever) for when you want to reach for more coffee throughout the day.
Go to bed early! Sleep it off. I literally went to bed before my kids one night. It’s boring, but it won’t last forever.

I really hope you give it a try, Claire!

Hi Claire!
I had to reduce my coffee intake last year (only one cup a day now) and it was quite the ajustment. For the first few weeks, because I missed the ritual of a cup of coffee in the morning, I switched to matcha lattes and would wait later for my cup of coffee. I think it helped making withdrawal symptoms not too strong and I felt it was an easier transition from coffee than just plain green tea. Now I only drink sencha with lemon in the morning and I actually feel quite jittery if I have coffee too early during the day (green tea never does that to me). I sometimes miss drinking as much coffee as I’d like, but I feel overall calmer and noticed very quickly that my sleep was deeper too. I would recommend phasing out caffeine slowly, so that it’s not too brutal. Good luck!

Thanks, Sarah! I’ll check them out too!

Claire—I quit drinking regular coffee about 4 months ago. I also drastically reduced my social media usage. I told my husband the other day that I’m feeling the happiest I have in years. I attribute it to those two changes. When I do encounter a stressful situation or have a bad day, I’m able to move past it much quicker than before with a lot less tears. Prior to switching to decaf, I was experiencing heart palpitations which I thought was just a response to the anxiety I was feeling, but those have disappeared completely. I’m also (weirdly enough) able to get out of bed easier in the morning. I think it’s because my sleep quality is better. Overall, I feel much less on edge than I have in so long. The first 4 days without caffeine were difficult. I had to nap during the day and the headache the first two days was rough, but it was worth it in my experience. I don’t plan on going back.

Hi SK, Mike from Explorer here :) Our cold brews are shelf stable and last up to 9 months from production. Once opened, we recommend that you store in the fridge and consume in 2-3 week. Hope this is helpful!

Tyler, that’s so interesting, did your doctor suggest that?

I did the same! I gave up caffeine back in spring of 2020 because it was amping up my anxiety. I drink a cup of decaf every morning and the ritual is still satisfying!

Tyler, I read Michael Pollan’s book This is your Mind on Plants and he has a really interesting look on how addicted we are all are to caffeine and how normalized it is. It made me think a lot about my own caffeine consumption and how many of us are caffeinated all the time.

I hear you on the alcohol conversation though. I gave up alcohol a few years back for similar reasons (sleep disruption, anxiety, etc.) and found the sober curious movement really helpful. Maybe you can start a caffeine-free-curious movement ;)

I have switched to morning decaf as well, having drunk half-caff for years. Pro Tip: Make a switch when you are on vacation and don’t *need* caffeine to wake up. That shift helped me wean off morning caffeine. I like waking up without a bleary ‘Where’s my caffeine” headache. My anxiety is way lower and I still have sips of caff drinks once in a while, but it’s been a good change. I also switched when hot flashes started up for me, so timing was pretty good overall!

I spent a few weeks off caffeine because I could not shake a UTI and I thought the caffeine was irritating the problem. Not only did it help with that, but my stomach felt calmer, my mind was calmer, and I slept better and woke up well. I am about to go back to it, and think I may give this decaf a try because I still like to have something hot and delicious in the morning.

I completely gave up caffeine last year, I thought it would be so hard and I put it off for a long time, but I didn’t have any side effects by cutting it out slowly. I feel so much better and even much less tired in the morning!

I had decaf coffee this weekend and I was so jittery and anxious after, I think I’m super sensitive to it. Oddly I treat myself to black tea every now and then and I don’t have that feeling.

I had endless eye twitches when I drank coffee every day (French press, which might be why–more caffeinated). I gave up all coffee/caffeine when breastfeeding (I don’t care what they say about “you can have ‘moderate’ caffeine,” any amount kept my kids up), and now I’m so sensitive to caffeine, even a cup of supposedly 99 percent caffeine-free cocoa results in a migraine-like headache the next day if I don’t have another cup then! Caffeine is insidious! Going off coffee both times I breastfed gave me flu-like symptoms for 10 days. Body aches, headache, hot, exhaustion, mental fog! I don’t miss the eye twitches or the withdrawal when you cut back. But I miss the coffee ritual and taste–and instant perkiness. What a mood enhancer. I would try the decaf here with fingers crossed–it sounds delicious. :)

Have you ever heard of MUD/WTR? I was a big coffee drinker until I gave it up a few years ago after doing my first real cleanse and have never gone back (because it made me realize all the negative effects it had on my body). But I really enjoy having a hot mug of something in the AM in addition to my lemon water, and I discovered MUD/WTR about a year ago and LOVE IT (for its taste and physical benefits):
https://mudwtr.com

@Chika – What does MUD/WTR taste like? How would you describe it?

This is something I think about periodically. I gave up coffee temporarily when I was going through IVF and then in the first trimester. I really missed it – I love the taste, the caffeine hit. I also realised that one of the only times I had in the day for me was going to get a coffee between school drop off and starting work. But, I keep on thinking about this picture of spiderwebs made on caffeine vs not https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_psychoactive_drugs_on_animals and also that I do have problems with anxiety. I do keep it to one, max 2 a day but I really really really love my coffee

I am with you Summer, it was so exciting to see my community featured TWICE in one day!

Happen to have that kettle and it’s great! It’s Bodum.

hahahaha

Tuesgay!