Ever drank so much coffee that you end up with a racing heart, sense of anxiety and complete inability to slow your brain down and get to sleep? I have definitely gone through that to varying degrees, ranging from being a bit restless and tired and spun up simultaneously to feeling like my heart was racing and arrhythmic. Too much caffeine! In fact, it’s a common side-effect of the popular molecule. Here‘s the science:
“Caffeine acts like a natural stimulant for the nervous system. It blocks the effects of naturally-produced neuromodulator adenosine, linked to drowsiness, by acting on a chemical called phosphodiesterase (PDE) at a cellular level. Phosphodiesterase acts on adenosine in the cells to prevent it from conducting signals across the body such as the feeling of tiredness. Instead, caffeine stimulates the body into “fight or flight” mode by boosting alertness through the central nervous pathway and encouraging more blood to be transported around the body.”
Yikes. Clearly drinking a lot of caffeine and then going into a high stress environment is a pretty bad idea. So why do so many college students – and adults – drink coffee when they are stressed and want to stay awake? Because a little bit of coffee is good. A lot of coffee? Not so good. The trick is to find the balance. Or maybe just switch to Quokka Brew.
Co-invented by University of California, Berkeley students Ofek Arush and George Passantino, Quokka Brew is the market’s first caffeinated “jitterless coffee”. It’s vegan, but it’s more than just cold brew and oat milk. They’ve added organic amino acids and brain-boosting nootropics to counteract the jitters and crash from caffeine. No, I don’t know what nootropics are. 🙂
When George reached out and asked me if I’d like to try some, I was definitely down for a taste test of the Quokka Brew vanilla latte. I received two bottles the next morning, packed in ice. The final product will be distributed in cans, but the bottles are pretty fun, actually:
I have to admit, the timing was not optimal and it took me more than a week to finally try the two samples due to my surprisingly busy schedule. I typically add oat milk to my cold brew or iced coffee (yes, oat milk, which I’ve switched to instead of dairy milk). Being a blend of oat milk and cold brew, however, I figured that it should be delicious right out of the bottle, right?
It certainly had the perfect consistency for a latte:
But what about taste?
Turns out that the Quokka Brew tastes delicious!
I get a fair number of different canned iced coffee beverages at the store and am always trying new ones. This jumped right up to my top ten list and once it’s available through retail channels, I’m sure I’ll be buying some. Meanwhile, it’s available through Indiegogo so you might want to check out their campaign and consider purchasing a sample half-dozen cans to support them.
As for me, I’m going to jealously hoard the second bottle of Quokka Brew to ensure my kids don’t steal it, and acquire some more once that’s an option.
Disclosure: George sent me a few samples to try out. Which was really nice of him.