A short little post about how coffee affects me when I’m sick. I keep mentioning the issue on the show so I figured I’d give a quick rundown on what happens, why I avoid it and my recent find.

Usually when I get sick my throat / voice is the first thing to go. Now for a person whose hobby is quite voice centric this isn’t a very good thing. But beyond that I drink black coffee, which is an acidic beverage and tend to tear my throat up when I drink it. Coffee, and caffeine by extension is a mild diuretic as well. Vocal folds work on moisture, you do the math. I’m not sure if it just plays havok with the mucus membranes or not, but I end up feeling worse for wear after a cup. tea on the other hand doesn’t do this, despite the caffeine.

The recent find was a suggestion by MAS of Coffeehero to give a shot of espresso a try, and you know what it worked! No ill effects on the throat, after I let the shot cool off a bit.Perhaps its the smaller serving size, refined extraction or richer beverage. I don’t know But i know I’ll but hacking up a lung and well caffeinated at the same time from now on.