Today marks eight weeks since my last cup of coffee. Swayed by a conversation with my friend Erica, I gave it up to see what would happen. She had spoken of her post-caffeine life in glowing terms, and I was curious to see if I could replicate her results—great sleep, consistent energy throughout the day, no crashes, and an absence of that uneasy and overstimulated feeling I always got from drinking coffee. It all sounded so appealing.
Nearly two months into this experiment, I feel better most of the time. I do have a much more even supply of energy. I don’t crash as much. I do sleep better most of the time, though still not as much as I would like on account of August’s tendency to howl at first light. Coffee made my gears turn a little too fast. Life without it moves at a slightly slower pace, but a much more comfortable one.
That said, I still miss the kick in the pants that coffee used to give me in the morning. At least I did until I discovered the volcano, a drink made from pressed ginger juice, lime, cayenne, and oil of oregano.
The volcano is stimulating without being overstimulating. It fills me with energy without letting me down afterward. It is delicious and fresh and, apparently, quite nutritious.
Once I started drinking my daily volcano, there was no going back. And yet, the volcano was starting to break the bank.The first one I drank in New York was $8 for four ounces. Making it myself, the price was much better, but still, keeping myself in ginger was getting expensive.
The solution: H Mart, Baltimore’s Korean superstore. When we drove into the city for my office holiday party the other night, we took a slight detour.
In Chestertown, ginger costs $3.99 a pound, and the ginger I find is often dried out and sad.
At H Mart, there is a mountain of ginger, fresh and juicy.
And, better yet, only 99 cents a pound.
Faced with such cheap abundance, I did what any self-respecting ginger junkie would do. I got 11 pounds of it. For $11. Saving $33 dollars in the process. Here is my stash.
I haven’t decided how long the coffee fast will last. As long as I keep on feeling better than I did before, I see no reason to go back.
Plus, I’m hooked on ginger, the taste, the kick, and the wonderful oddity.
Have you ever seen a more beautiful root?
1. How ’bout selecting some particularly anthropomorphic or otherwise suggestive specimens from your pile to use as inspiration for your & blog reader drawings: kind of a tune-up for ’13 drawing-a-day?
2. When I find you freebasing ginger, doing shots of oil of oregano, & smoking cayenne underneath the bakery loading dock I’ll unseat you from your decaffeinated high horse.
Out of curiosity, how long do you think 11 pounds of ginger will last in your house before you consume it, and how do you intend to store it? (I think it’s freezable, but my ginger always seems to go bad before I can finish it)
Advantage of freezing ginger root:
Easy to cook with…. “Shave” it with a paring knife.
Also, keeps for months, maybe longer.