This is a question I get asked a lot and the answer might surprise you.

How many cups of coffee a day do you think I drink?

Do you think I drink a pot a day? Maybe 20 espressos?

Surprisingly, I only drink 2-3 cups of coffee on a normal day and 3-4 on a heavy day.

My usual coffee ritual is 2 cups in the morning and one in the afternoon. But sometimes I’ll have 2 in the morning, then one in the afternoon and one in the early evening. It also depends on what I am working on and what I want from the coffee.

When I am writing or working on a project I will want more coffee to sustain my mood and help me stay creative. Coffee is ritualistic for me.

The smell, the taste, the sight, the sound, the warmth: all of these elements are part of the enjoyment for me. For example, if I am stuck, I’ll stop and hold the mug, inhale the scent and close my eyes. Let the aroma bang around in my head and see what sparks appear when I open my eyes again.

I don’t drink coffee for the “buzz” or zing these days. I used to when I was younger and needed the charge of energy from coffee.
My military days were my major coffee habit days; I had a very physically demanding job and I was also in my 20s. I lived on at least a pot of coffee with a few Mountain Dews thrown in for good measure.

The coffee was usually free, but sometimes you had to put in some quarters to the Chief. It was worth it. It was black, mud, tar-like and needed sugar and creamer. It did the job and was worth the coinage. Besides the walk down the hall and into the Chief’s office was part of the charm. That’s where all the action was. So not only was it needed for the job, it was where my team hung out. 

Long gone are my pot of coffee days. I drank enough coffee one night to give me the shakes and make the room wobbly and freaked me out.
So I never did that again. That was before the military so lesson learned. My friends and I were having a writers’ night at Carrow’s and we drank and wrote and drank and wrote. I felt the whole room shake and it wasn’t an earthquake; it was me on too much coffee. It was scary and I told no one, just ordered some fries and tried to make the shaking stop.

Coffee is communal. Coffee is ritualistic. Coffee is life. If I didn’t drink coffee I wouldn’t put any liquids in my body. Coffee is all I drink in a day. 2-3 cups or 3-4 cups is how I keep myself going.