Frazz by Jef Mallett for April 07, 2019

I coulda been first comment, but I didn’t wanna…

That’s very good information. Good to know.

People who like science are often blinded by it.

She just had the placebo effect explained to her. She just shot herself in the foot.

Frazz is probably the world’s most educated janitor.

Somebody needs to be.

People who don’t like (blank) are typically ignorant about at least one thing.In this case, they made Starbucks popular.

Starbucks, or: How we appealed to the snobbery of stupid people to get them to pay premium price for burnt coffee.

But we are not talking about actual sickness, but entirely about how one feels. So a placebo effect is just as real as anything else.

She felt more awake and Frazz ruined it for her.

Bottom line, coffee beans have to be roasted, the rest is a matter of taste. BTW, on a mass basis, more or less roasting does not affect caffeine content.

Just let the placebo effect work for her.

I was going to make a pithy comment, but I have to make my 2nd cup now.

You can be right and still wrong. . . Try arguing with your wife and winning. You remember your wedding vows? Well, they may forgive, but they NEVER forget!

I love this conversation. And that Mrs. Olsen is apparently walking to school???

Comics are NOT for science; comics ARE for FUN!!

The problem is that science is telling you why you don’t like dark roast when, in fsct, you do. Science needs to stop telling you why you don’t like it and start figuring out why you do.

And a lighter roast should never be mistaken for weak coffee.

Scientists, like those who are involved in any other human endeavor, can be wrong sometimes. They can also be right.But they certainly aren’t gods, and science should not be worshipped above all else.

Dark roasting is for poor coffee beans. The dark taste masks the taste of the bean.

Pithy observation on the value of science:

“Number of things we thought had a supernatural cause and now know don’t: a huge number.

Number of things we thought had a natural cause and now know don’t: zero.

Any questions?"

—Bob Seidensticker, Cross Examined blog, 2013 Nov. 16

This would explain why I dark roasted blends, it more for the taste rather than the caffeine.

The point is moot anyway. Coffee is the worst beverage ever conceived.

I think the bane of civilization may well be absolutists.

Frazz16 hrs ·

http://www.gocomics.com/frazz/2019/04/07Why isn’t “placebo” pronounced more like “coffee”? Because you’d think they would have common Latin roots. I don’t question the chemistry of caffeine. The stuff works, and, at the risk of outing myself as a bit of a user, the stuff rocks. But people experience it to such different degrees according, mostly, to their expectations. I’ve seen many people turn down an espresso because of fears they’d be bouncing off walls, and then opt for a cup of coffee instead. Okay. There are a lot of good reasons to choose coffee over espresso (well, OK, one, that it’s a lot better to hold onto and warm your hands on a cold day), but a cup of coffee starts at the caffeine level of a shot of espresso. Espresso is stronger per gram, but not per properly served cup.

Dark roasts, as Frazz explains, is another area of much misunderstanding. A dark roast does, in a way, taste stronger. And I think people react to it as if it is. Classic placebo. Somebody should study this. Though that would mean finding a scientist, or anyone, who is objective about coffee. Lotsa luck with that.

But good coffee shops will weigh their beans (rather than measure by scoop), then the dark roast will indeed have more caffeine.

Does Frazz drink ANY caffeine? (Caffeine, is also annoying as one of the “exceptions” to i before e…)

I did not know this about coffee. Thank you Frazz.

Make an innocent comment, get a lecture from Frazz.

And Frazz gets it wrong, anyway:

If you measure your coffee by scoops, light roasted coffee will have more caffeine. Since the beans are denser than a darker roast. However if you weigh out your scoops, darker roasts will have more caffeine, because there is less mass. What should also be noted is that Arabica beans vary in levels of caffeine depending on the plant species.

from https://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en/blog/caffeine-myths-dark-vs-light