Coffee was my go-to, then it changed
When you grow up with a Norwegian mom and an Alaska Native dad, coffee is the unifying force of their universe. I cannot recall a time coffee wasn’t available and the universal fluid for conversations. I also don’t know when I started drinking coffee, because it was always present. When I was a kid, it was canned milk, two sugar cubes, and the coffee boiled on the stove. Might explain why I started shaving at age 3.
Suffice to say, before being a coffee snob was a thing, I was a coffee snob. How much so? When I was a student at Stanford, I had a Chemex, and was drinking French Roast in the 1970’s when most people thought bold coffee was Maxwell House. When I moved to The University of Chicago in the 1970’s I bought my first French Press.
I remember when Starbucks had real coffee, not the milkshakes with more calories than a Big Mac. I bought my first Starbucks from its original store when I was a surgical resident in Seattle. It was the start of the coffee revolution in Seattle, and I was there. I seriously pondered getting one of the first espresso machines available, but discovered I really didn’t like espresso.
A buddy and I would spend Saturdays trying to find the best coffee in Seattle, as new coffee shops sprang up in the 1980’s. Yes, this was before Starbucks was on every corner of the universe. I remember when they opened their 5th store in Seattle, fifth ever - now we have five in a mile radius of my home in California. By the time I left Seattle in 1991, Starbucks had over 100 stores, and had I been smart, I would have invested in their IPO. But I moved to Phoenix in 1991 to start my surgical career, and Starbucks didn’t have a Phoenix store.
I ordered Starbucks to my home in Phoenix, until 1995 when Starbucks opened their first store in the airport. Because they had a local store, they would no longer allow subscriptions. Bemoaning my fate to my neighbor, a California native, I was introduced to Peet’s. He said it was “the best in the world.” I drank some of his and heartily agreed. Thanks to my neighbor, I’ve been drinking Peet’s ever since. Yes, I’ve tried many other coffees, but Peet’s did it for me.
I went to Turkey in the late 1990’s. It was a tradition in Turkey that a bride would get permission from her prospective in-laws to marry their son if she could make a good cup of coffee. I thought this was sensible. The beautiful tour guide had my eye, and then I tasted her Turkish coffee, and alas, I left the country without her. The coffee was not as beautiful as she was, and we all know that beauty fades, but I was going to drink coffee forever.
When AeroPress came out with its first device, I bought it, and took it with me on my travels. I found that coffee in hotel rooms had three variations: order from room service, instant with a tea kettle, or some other system often with ground coffee that was well past its prime. I remember my girlfriend asked me why I brought an AeroPress, whole beans, a portable grinder and kettle to the hotel. Then I made her a cup of coffee. I am pretty sure she fell in love with me then, because it was not my charm that did it.
Suffice to say, coffee for me was like oxygen. When I started blogging in the 1990s, coffee was a frequent topic. If restaurants had a coffee sommelier, my interest would engage. There have been a few, and I’ve even found coffee that I appreciated, but alas, someone always changes how the coffee I like is roasted or out of stock.
I would drink about 3-4 cups of coffee on any given morning. Some evenings, I would have coffee as a warm drink before going to sleep. I’ve had almost every coffee machine one could imagine, but since 2005, I have a Jura which grinds the beans and adds the water.
When good enough stopped being good enough
Then I started Zepbound, and something changed. I first noticed I would have just one cup, and that was it, rarely two. What happened? I didn’t feel like drinking a second, and this was so strange for me.
I used to state that as a surgeon, I could drink any coffee in any place, at any time. It just had to be strong, hot, and black - like my soul. But that changed. Not my soul or heart, they are still bitter.
Of course, there was this one horrible cup of coffee at 20 E Jackson in Seattle, that I won’t soon forget. The restaurant is long gone, but that was the worst coffee I’ve ever had.
The Wine
The same thing happened with wine. Having a glass or two of wine with dinner, when I didn’t have a patient in the hospital or wasn’t on call, was enjoyable. When I stopped my hospital practice, I enjoyed it even more. But that changed when I started Zepbound.
I no longer enjoyed some wines I once did. Today, if I get a glass of wine that is mediocre, I leave it unfinished. Before Zepbound, I would have finished the glass and opened another bottle. OK, when I mean a bit mediocre, I mean airline wine.
As a result of drinking less, I’ve canceled five wine club memberships. Five. My two wine refrigerators are now repositories for gifts for friends and neighbors more than for me.
So imagine, I spent decades with great coffee, fine wine, and now my taste changed. If the wine isn’t to my liking, I don’t finish it. I drink my coffee now cold, as it is less bitter with more flavor.
There’s More to This Story
Did tirzepatide change my taste buds? Did it change what my brain finds pleasurable?
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