Hi all,

I'm trying to sort out an issue I have that occurs only when I drink
certain coffees prepared certain ways. Maybe someone on this list can
help. What I have noticed is that I experience a lot of anxiety after
drinking coffee prepared in a French press, or as an espresso. Drip
coffee does not affect me . . . as long as it is a dark roast.
Medium-roasted coffee, even when dripped, causes a lot of anxiety (not
jitters, but knot-in-the-stomach fear) after I drink it. It's not
caffeine, as near as I can tell, because I can drink a lot of tea, a lot
of caffeinated soft drinks, and my drip coffee has a lot of caffeine, I
think, as I use a heft amount of a fine grind, and little water into a
small cone, resulting in only a 3/4-inch amount of coffee in a demitasse
cup. It's pretty strong -- and very flavorful, I like it. Two or three
of these in the morning. Dark roast, no problem. Medium roast (or French
press or espresso shots) and for the next couple hours I'm completely
wigged out. Give me Valium!

I'm thankful that I have found a coffee preparation method that works
for me; otherwise I would not be able to enjoy coffee at all. I reckon
there is some compound or compounds that dark roasts don't have, and are
more plentiful when coffee is not passed through a paper filter. What
might they be? What, besides caffeine, can trigger anxiety?

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westphalia: "Mellow Yellow (The Electrical Banana)"
KG6RCR