Hmmm...I could also say that one of life's little triumphs is that I'm carving out some time to blog. But that's another story for another day. Moving on to the decaf story...
My desire to drink decaf came as an unwelcome surprise a number of years ago when I had multiple terrifying episodes of fast heart rate out of nowhere. I never actually thought these episodes were caused by caffeine--after all, I had been drinking caffeine for years with no problem--but it did seem wise to get rid of any substances that might in any way contribute to the problem. I gave up caffeine (including decaf coffee, which of course is not totally free of caffeine) cold turkey at that time.
I forget how long that lasted, but I do remember what led me to start drinking small amounts of caffeine again. Having exhausted my sick leave (and some of my annual leave) trying to figure out what was causing the heart issue (inconclusive in the end, but likely related to my thyroid), I caught two colds back to back. To the utter annoyance of my colleagues, I decided to work through these colds since I had no sick leave to speak of and desperately wanted to have enough leave to take a vacation at some point. But working while sick is exhausting and something had to give. I started drinking caffeinated tea and decaf coffee at that point. This has mostly stuck through the years. I've had fully caffeinated coffee a few times since then, but I actually like taking in a lower amount of caffeine. I find that my energy levels are more even throughout the day, and I spend less time desperate to find a bathroom.
So this is all fine and good, but when you go out for coffee, the decaf situation is pretty disappointing for the most part. There is usually only one variety available, and sometimes you're stuck paying for a specialty drink because they're out of brewed decaf. And nobody every seemed to be able to offer iced decaf. You could get an iced decaf latte or other specialty drink, but you had to pay more for it. And wait for them to make it. I was never sure which part bothered me more.
But! A new coffee shop moved into a recently constructed apartment building near me. And it has the holy grail of decaf cold brew! I could hardly believe my eyes when I first saw it on the menu. It's become my go-to order (although as it gets colder outside, that might change for a few months). And the coffee shop in question has become my go-to coffee shop because it offers something that the other coffee shops near me don't. If anyone else has been looking for decaf cold brew, the coffee shop is PJ's. Looking at their website, it looks like most of their locations are in Louisiana and Mississippi, but it also looks like they're working to expand to other parts of the country (like where I live, for example). They also have good brownies, so if you do happen upon one of their locations, be sure to stop in for your cold brew and chocolate fix!
