I like the taste of coffee
On top of all the things said in this thread, I would also add caffeine is a diuretic. The liquid in coffee offsets that side effect.
- Coffee smells good
- Coffee tastes good
- Coffee is warm and comforting
- Coffee is more socially acceptable than popping pills
- Caffeine pills are somewhat harder to find. I can’t order them at a restaurant.
Edit: I’ll point out that you’ll rarely find someone who only drinks coffee for the caffeine. For many (most?) it’s just a perk, or even an unfortunate side-effect, hence the popularity of decaffeinated coffee.
The same reason smokers don’t just wear nicotine patches.
There’s much more to the ritual. The caffeine may be part of it, but pulling in the other senses: the flavor, the smell, the warm mug in your hands, all add up to much more than a dose of caffeine.
coffee means I can take a shit at work
This is like asking: People who eat food for the calories, why don’t you just eat dry primate food pellets?
Because there’s a big upside to enjoying the experience of drinking coffee with few downsides. If coffee was just caffeine dissolved in water it’d be a very different story
Personally I only care about calories, I’m on board for food pellets if they actually worked and were healthy.
You may be a robot in that regard but you’re clearly aware that people enjoy the taste of food and coffee, right?
That’s why I said for the caffeine and not who enjoy coffee.
So you’re really asking about people who dislike coffee but drink it regularly anyway for caffeine? Are there a lot of people in this situation?
Me, unfortunately. Never picked up the taste for coffee, but I accidentally got hooked on caffeine through energy drinks, which are way worse for you. Now I’m trying to acquire the taste for coffee at a late stage to wean myself off energy drinks.