If you drink coffee, how old were you when you started?

jerusalem90

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 3:52 am

I asked a coworker in his early thirties if he wanted coffee and he said "I haven't started drinking coffee yet" and that threw me. If I had to guess, I'd guess on average people start around age 21-23.

DH started at 16 and said when he was in the IDF he was the only one bothered by not having coffee, and even when there was coffee, mostly the people in keva (longer than normal military service, so they would be older) would drink it. When he was in the dorms in University, it seemed like most people drank it.

Just out of curiousity.

BadTichelDay

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 3:59 am

I started in my late teens, if I remember rightly. I'm not a morning person and without coffee, I can't start the day properly.

invisiblecircus

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 4:29 am

I find it funny that the co-worker said he hasn't started drinking coffee YET, as if it is somehow inevitable LOL

I'm 44 and have never tried coffee.

synthy

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 4:36 am

invisiblecircus wrote:

I'm 44 and have never tried coffee.

Wow! I remember staining my outfit with coffee when I was around 8, and mom telling me that means I'm too young for it. It was not a real coffee, just some very mild Taster's Choice but still gave me a taste for it. Started drinking real coffee at 16.

Shuly

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 4:49 am

When I was teaching all morning and then going to college in the afternoon/nights. I remember being so tired until my mother suggested that I have a coffee before leaving to college and it was a game changer!

ora_43

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 5:19 am

16.

Before 16, I wasn't allowed to have coffee. My dad later said that he knew I'd be addicted from the moment I started, so he made me wait as long as possible LOL

.

My husband somehow managed to hold off all through army and university, even with overnight guard duty and waking up at 5:30 am to get to class on time. And then he started work and was up to 3-4 cups a day in no time.

Scotty

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 5:23 am

30s. When I realized my mild ADHD can be effectively managed with coffee when I need to concentrate for work. Fell in love with the taste!

kalsee

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 5:52 am

Developed a taste for it recently in my early 30s.
Not addicted, I make myself a cup once or twice a week.

I use it as a break and opportunity to sit down and catch my breath when I walk in the door from work.

jerusalem90

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 6:16 am

invisiblecircus wrote:

I find it funny that the co-worker said he hasn't started drinking coffee YET, as if it is somehow inevitable LOL

I'm 44 and have never tried coffee.

I thought that was weird too! Not "I don't like coffee" but "I don't drink coffee YET" -- like coffee is something old people do. If a 15 year old, or even a 20 year old said that, it wouldn't have seemed so weird.

cbg

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 7:07 am

My parents were born in Cuba.
As a child I was allowed a tiny sip of Cuban coffee
Mom also made me a cup of hot milk with a tiny bit of coffee and lots of sugar since I was 8.
I preferred hot chocolate to cafe con leche.
But that was a common thing for our community

thunderstorm

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 7:14 am

I’ve been drinking coffee since I’m a about age 8 or 9. But , when I look back, I think my parents only had decaf in their house. At that age , I never knew that there is even a difference.
Lately, I’ve been trying to eliminate coffee from my diet altogether. If I do drink any, it’s only one cup in the morning.

caffeine99

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 8:05 am

About 12-13
I'd often make mochas on the way to school, taking a k -cup and adding hot cocoa mix to it.

I really started at 14 with really crappy instant coffee. I was at boarding school and the main floor of my dorm was freezing in the morning so I'd make a coffee to keep warm. I'd add sugar and milk.

By 16-20 I drank about 2-4 a day especially of you count a large starbucks coffee as more than one... In high school I brought my own fancy instant coffee.

MiracleMama

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 8:20 am

I drank coffee occasionally in high school and college years. Didn't start drinking it daily until I got married in my early 20s.

applesbananas

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 8:47 am

Mid 20s
I grew up keeping cholov Yisroel. Coffee was much more tempting to me with the amazing creamers out there. Dh doesn’t keep CY so he got me into coffee + creamer.

Happy to say that I stopped drinking a week before tisha bav this summer and I’m still off ...

YounginBP

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 11:40 am

shmosmom wrote:

I started drinking coffee regularly when I became a parent 😀

Haha. I started during shana rshona.. dh thought it was cool to sit with me and drink! I tried as a teen but it gave me a headache.. and of course if I don't have one now I get an headache. I always tell him it is all your fault! Tongue Out

Not a real drinker tho.. I only to tasters choice. Surprised

Dunkin maybe.. Starbucks is too strong Wink

FranticFrummie

Tue, Nov 09 2021, 11:53 am

When I was 16, my first job was at as a barista. I knew every coffee drink you could imagine, and developed a taste for strong black espresso, especially when paired with a slice of dark chocolate torte. Before that, my grandmother used to make me a small cup of coffee when I would go to visit her. I felt so grown up!

DD now works at Starbucks. She drinks espresso. She says that the caffeine works wonders for her ADD, and now that she's a coffee drinker she's not downing energy drinks anymore (which are pure sugar syrup). Before she graduated high school, she would always have a double shot of espresso on mornings when she had a big test coming up.