First of all, let me say that I love coffee like few other things on earth. The thought of drinking it gives me weak knees, I dream of it, and crave it every moment of the day. The problem with this is that I also like to drink it at night, and that can ruin the sleep that I get afterward- waking up feeling hungover when you haven't been drinking alcohol is a good sign that you likely aren't getting quality sleep. Enter the Teecino.
I first read of this stuff here, recommended by Steve to those trying to quit coffee. Now, I would really rather die than quit drinking coffee, but WOULD like to cut the coffee out by 5pm (I go to bed at 1am), as when I do I sleep like a baby and wake up refresed, but sometimes my willpower fails and I end up brewing a coffee at 10pm and then being wired for the whole night. So I figured I'd give this stuff a shot as a coffee substitute once evening hits- I like herbal teas as well, but they don't fix that ever present coffee craving for me because they just don't
feel anything like coffee.
The health food store near me had several flavors of Teecino, and since I can't stand many flavored coffees (I like it plain and black!), I went with the plain "Java" flavor. The first thing I noticed, is that before it's brewed, it smells nothing like coffee. It has a sweeter, almost fruity smell to it, although you can also smell the more bitter chicory as well.
Once brewed, I tried it, and although I do like it, it also doesn't taste anything like coffee to me. Once again, the chicory does add a bitter taste, but it's overpowered by whatever else this tastes like- I can't really tell what it is, it doesn't taste like coffee, but it's GOOD!
I think the main thing, for me, is that brewing the Teecino
feels like I'm brewing coffee- you brew it the exact same way, in a coffee pot. Also, it does have a "coffee texture" to it, thicker than that of tea, which does trick that addicted part of my brain into thinking it's getting its fix, without bombarding my adrenals with caffeine before bed. It's the thicker texture of this stuff that makes it satisfying, and I would easily recommend it as the next closest thing to coffee, unless you want to suffer through drinking "decaf" coffee, which I also can't stand.
Just thought this might be a useful post for anyone wondering about Teecino, whether to subsitute for coffee in general (the horror!) or if you're a coffee freak like me who needs to lay off of the stuff after dark
