I couldn't face instant this morning so I went ahead and prepared myself a decaf espresso, knowing full well that it was decaf and yet once again, it perked me up as much as on any other day. Perhaps, then, it's not simply a placebo effect but that the smell of the coffee is enough to wake me up and drinking the stuff doesn't actually make any difference. Obviously, I didn't keep a record of how much sleep I got each night, although this figure rarely varies much from six hours, although more like eight at the weekend.
Of course, I drink coffee because I love the taste and because some part of the coffee-making/drinking process keeps me from sinking into a state of constant narcolepsy. Still, I always say that I don't like to drink decaf because it doesn't taste as good as regular coffee (which is plausible, given that the process of decaffeination messes with the flavour), I didn't notice any difference on those two days when I blind-tested myself. Again, maybe because I wasn't expecting to taste a difference or because I have been trying a few different flavours of Nespresso pod recently and so might have put down any differences to this.
I would try to test out my theories but I would need an accomplice to keep a record of whether I was drinking the placebo or the actual elixir and I try to avoid Doktor Landlord in the mornings because he is most definitely not a morning person (except when he's shagging in the shower) and would probably attempt to sabotage my pods.
At least Nestlé have been keeping themselves busy when they aren't persuading A-list celebrities to convince the world that they too can have a luxury, lifestyle brand with none of those nasty, non-PLU Nescafé connotations; busy creating a machine that can carry out human-like "taste tests" on coffee. If they're short of coffee tasters they need only ask...
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