LebGeeks

VincentKeyboard

Member

Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

I saw Najjar coffee now has decaf coffee packages (blue ones) and the local market sells them at only 4000LL (200grams).
Do any other lebanese coffee brands also make decaf coffee?

Johnaudi

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Maybe out of topic, but isn't caffeine the primary purpose of covfefe? I still do not understand why people drink decaf (well, for the taste of it of course, but I even do not understand them!

VincentKeyboard

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Type 2 diabetic. Caffeine spikes my blood sugar. Nescafe is off the table as well. My doctor says I can only drink decaf coffee.

eWizzard

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Maybe out of topic, but isn't caffeine the primary purpose of covfefe? I still do not understand why people drink decaf (well, for the taste of it of course, but I even do not understand them!

Same reason that:
Diabetics and the calorie-conscious use sugar substitutes.
People with coeliac disease consume gluten-free alternatives.
The lactose intolerant consume lactose-free dairy.
Vegans consume meat-free analogues.

They all want to enjoy a type of food without some of the drawbacks inherent in its traditional form. Why is that so hard to understand?

xazbrat

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Type 2 diabetic. Caffeine spikes my blood sugar. Nescafe is off the table as well. My doctor says I can only drink decaf coffee.

Well that sucks.

As for your question, Najjar is a big one that sells in supermarkets.  Try going into local roasters and see if they can help you.  And if the price is still a bit high, maybe mess around by mixing with a regular coffee (half-caf) or change the variety of coffee bean.  The brazilian beans they have here are really crappy (usually a robusta, not arabica) and are naturally higher in caffeine than their counterparts which is a positive for some, but not all people.  It is almost much more inexpensive.  Try changing to another coffee, just make sure it is an arabica, and grind the beans yourself (or have someone do it--espresso grind should work for turkish coffee).  If the caffeine still hits you the wrong way, find a decaf and do the same thing and mix the two. At worst, it should taste a lot better.

Coffee without caffeine just seems wrong to me, but sometimes shit happens.  Anyhow, best of luck

rolf

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Me too, decaf coffee is a heresy.
Do I drink my coffee because of the taste?
Hold on, let me laugh.

VincentKeyboard

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Type 2 diabetic. Caffeine spikes my blood sugar. Nescafe is off the table as well. My doctor says I can only drink decaf coffee.

Well that sucks.

As for your question, Najjar is a big one that sells in supermarkets.  Try going into local roasters and see if they can help you.  And if the price is still a bit high, maybe mess around by mixing with a regular coffee (half-caf) or change the variety of coffee bean.  The brazilian beans they have here are really crappy (usually a robusta, not arabica) and are naturally higher in caffeine than their counterparts which is a positive for some, but not all people.  It is almost much more inexpensive.  Try changing to another coffee, just make sure it is an arabica, and grind the beans yourself (or have someone do it--espresso grind should work for turkish coffee).  If the caffeine still hits you the wrong way, find a decaf and do the same thing and mix the two. At worst, it should taste a lot better.

Coffee without caffeine just seems wrong to me, but sometimes shit happens.  Anyhow, best of luck

I bought 5 packs of decaf Najjar. The question is whether I can always find those available. That's why I am looking for alternatives in case those go missing.

Najjar is very cheap at only 4000LL. I did see some american brands at 30 and 40 dollars and those don't seem to warrant the price.

Last edited by VincentKeyboard (July 6 2019)

xazbrat

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

I bought 5 packs of decaf Najjar. The question is whether I can always find those available. That's why I am looking for alternatives in case those go missing.

Najjar is very cheap at only 4000LL. I did see some american brands at 30 and 40 dollars and those don't seem to warrant the price.

tbh man, if coffee were a treat for me and not as a pick me up during the day, I would find something that at least tasted like a treat, not as a reminder of days gone by..  If you like the taste of the coffee fine, but as a substitute you could find something like tea (green and white teas have little caffeine), ginger or herbal teas.  Many teas will give you energy, or the feeling of it, without much caffeine, and others can help you control your blood sugar levels (cinnamon, ginger and turmeric come to mind).

Give yourself some other alternatives---I am sure that coffee will be around if there is enough demand, but don't close the doors on other things.  Also, find out how they decaffeinate the coffee--many times the stuff they put in there to take out the caffeine is pretty bad for you.

Joe

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

I drink coffee because of the taste. AMA.

VincentKeyboard

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Type 2 diabetic. Caffeine spikes my blood sugar. Nescafe is off the table as well. My doctor says I can only drink decaf coffee.

Well that sucks.

It's actually not that bad. I just have to stay away from sugars, bread, caffeine, and potatoes. I eat 600 grams to 1KG of meat a day, two salads, and lots of cheese. I've lost 15KG since starting this diet. I admit that the coffee part is more of an addiction. Even if decaf, I just feel have to have some sort of coffee.

Edit: I've also started going to dunkin donuts for the large decaf.

Last edited by VincentKeyboard (July 8 2019)

Johnaudi

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Maybe out of topic, but isn't caffeine the primary purpose of covfefe? I still do not understand why people drink decaf (well, for the taste of it of course, but I even do not understand them!

Same reason that:
Diabetics and the calorie-conscious use sugar substitutes.
People with coeliac disease consume gluten-free alternatives.
The lactose intolerant consume lactose-free dairy.
Vegans consume meat-free analogues.

They all want to enjoy a type of food without some of the drawbacks inherent in its traditional form. Why is that so hard to understand?

I had no idea diabetics were affected! Thank you for the info though :)
I got hooked to the coffee taste not because of it's actual taste but of how I got used to its consumption during exams, it used to be disgusting the first few times I've drank it.

Last edited by Johnaudi (July 8 2019)

rolf

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

I drink coffee because of the taste. AMA.

I am picky about my coffee. The taste matters a lot.
What I meant is that I would not be dealing with the bitterness if it was not "real" complete coffee.
I would drink something else with a milder taste.

Joe

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Love the taste of good coffee.
Don't care about caffeine.
Nescafé is the work of the devil.
Buying premium grains is absolutely not a waste of my money.

PS: If you guys feel you're getting addicted to caffeine... try to stop. You're still young, there's still time. Teach yourself not to rely on this.

rolf

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Nescafé is the work of the devil.

I drink coffee almost every day but have not had nescafé in a very long time, and plan to keep it this way.

Not my thing.

If you don't drink coffee and start with nescafé, chances are it will put you off coffee, unless you are addicted to sugar, in which case why don't you just get yourself a Mars bar or something?

Some seem to like it and crave it, so, whatever.

nosense

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Nescafé is the work of the devil.

I drink coffee almost every day but have not had nescafé in a very long time, and plan to keep it this way.

Not my thing.

If you don't drink coffee and start with nescafé, chances are it will put you off coffee, unless you are addicted to sugar, in which case why don't you just get yourself a Mars bar or something?

Some seem to like it and crave it, so, whatever.

nescafe ≠ sugar, unless you add sugar

VincentKeyboard

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Actually plain Nescafe has about 12grams of carbs every 100grams. This is bad if you are on a low sugar diet.
Ground Arabic coffee has less than 1gram of carbs every 100grams.

Both my doctor and my pharmacist said "stay clear of Nescafe" for that particular reason.

xazbrat

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Actually plain Nescafe has about 12grams of carbs every 100grams. This is bad if you are on a low sugar diet.
Ground Arabic coffee has less than 1gram of carbs every 100grams.

Both my doctor and my pharmacist said "stay clear of Nescafe" for that particular reason.

That's only true if you are referring to 2in1 and 3in1 sticks that people seem to love out here.  If you were to get the plain instant nescafe, there isn't anything to worry about except your taste buds.

Also, the 3in1 stuff is more scary because of the trans-fats that are in the creamer---sugar you can burn off, the trans-fats otoh, completely screw up your body..  And tbh, if any doctor or pharmacist  says it is all right to drink the 3 in 1 nescafe, you probably should find another one.

VincentKeyboard

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

They both said I should not drink Nescafe at all and I haven't since last year. According to my doctor, Nescafe is between 10 to 12% carbs (and this differs between matinal, gold, etc...).
In any case, I tested last year. Plain Nescafe has carbs. Nescafe Matinal without creamer or sugar would spike me to 170 mg/liter, caffeinated ground coffee to 130s, and decaf keeps me in the 90s.
So I don't trust "Nutrition Facts" websites because from my experience, those numbers are very skewed.
2in1 is especially bad because it uses non-dairy creamer (corn syrup) which is all carbs.

3in1 would probably get me into the 300s which would cause very bad complications. That would very dangerous. I can't just burn off sugar.

The only carbs I get now are from green vegetables such as green beans. I eat a lot of meat with animal fat, and I mean a lot. My neighborhood smells my grill every night.

Still a lot of weight to lose but I'm down from ~100 to ~81 so far on this diet and it's doing wonders for my blood sugar.

Last edited by VincentKeyboard (July 9 2019)

rolf

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

The only carbs I get now are from green vegetables such as green beans. I eat a lot of meat with animal fat, and I mean a lot. My neighborhood smells my grill every night.

That is good, except for the animals and any vegetarians or vegans living around you! This makes me think of the "paleo diet" but I don't think you are eating and raw wild grains.
Maybe it is closer to the Atkins diet.

Anyway, I wanted to say, be careful, too much meat for a long period - in the quantities that you described (1/3 or 1/2 kilo per day) brings problems of it's own, especially if you drink alcohol. A friend told me about himself experiencing, he described it as "the disease of the kings" (in French: la maladie des rois).

Regarding nescafé, what I had in mind includes sugar and creamer - or condensed milk, because most people put junk in there - who drinks nescafé straight without anything? You need to add all these things to try to forget the bitterness and nasty taste of nescafé instant coffee, sadly. But apparently even the plain coffee on it's own contains carbs.

Sorry for hogging the conversation. I tend to do that when it's one of the topics I like and feel a bit passionate about, such as photography, food (and I don't mean junk food), and apparently, I am just realizing: coffee!

Last edited by rolf (July 9 2019)

VincentKeyboard

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Not an alcoholic :) In the last 7 years, I've had about 5 glasses of whiskey and they were all on New Year's eve.
The only issue I have so far with this diet is the occasional constipation but vegetables such as lettuce seem to help with that. Even coffee does as well.
I'll ask my doctor about meat side effects on my next appointment.
Regarding Nescafe, it was bad health wise. It used to make me feel tired. Frankly speaking, I am glad I do not drink that stuff anymore.

In reality, my main concern right now is to lose another 10KG because my weight has caused issues with strangers in the past. Once I am at 70KG, I'll work on a more common diet with more vegetables again.

Joe

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

my weight has caused issues with strangers in the past.

I'm curious, what kind of issues with people start with "oh my god, he's clearly overweight!"

VincentKeyboard

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

my weight has caused issues with strangers in the past.

I'm curious, what kind of issues with people start with "oh my god, he's clearly overweight!"

I've done quite a few jobs over the last decade and a half and this included countless interviews to get them. I've gotten many badly worded comments about my weight especially from female interviewers. Some of those were sales jobs at large franchises but a lot of them were office jobs or warehouse management jobs that didn't necessarily require the tall slender male look. This led me to start working on my weight.

rolf

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

If people are making comments on your looks then they are the problem not you.
Also to be fair the environment in Lebanon is problematic, everything goes including racism and sexism.
So for some a lot of people they do not even realize what they are doing and they think it is normal.
It may be normal in their environment but if you want to look forward and compare yourself to the more developed world, then it is not normal or acceptable.

Joe

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

I've done quite a few jobs over the last decade and a half and this included countless interviews to get them. I've gotten many badly worded comments about my weight especially from female interviewers. Some of those were sales jobs at large franchises but a lot of them were office jobs or warehouse management jobs that didn't necessarily require the tall slender male look. This led me to start working on my weight.

Ugh. People really don't know how to give interviews ... >.<

Vincent thanks for sharing this story. It sucks that you had to go through this kind of adversity, but hey, if it got you to do something about your weight, all the better! You mentioned that you're now down to 80kgs, so I take it that you succeeded, so congrats :)

VincentKeyboard

Member

Re: Decaf coffee in Lebanon?

Thank you.