[umgud]

I’m 64 and have always drank it black. No designer coffee for me, but it needs to be fresh.

[Smellin Salt]

I have always drank mine black out of sheer laziness.

[imardmd1]

Good deal! Although if your coffee is bitter it's--as you say--either not fresh (oxygenated?) or too strong, or both; or not freshly ground, or cheap beans or . . .

Find somebody that sells goodcoffee.

And dark chocolate? the darker you can stand it, the better. It contains phenylethanolamine, the compound your brain cuses your body to make when you think you are falling in love. Eat a bar of it when depressed, and you'll feel a little bit happier a couple of hours later.

Try it. You'll see.

But for every cup of coffee, drink a glass of water; otherwise, since caffeine is a diuretic and removes more water from your body than it adds, you'll get dehydrated, and maybe your blood pressure might dip, making you feel kind of weak. Cocoa has caffeine in it, too.

[antidisestablishment]

I grew up in a trucking family, and my mom made coffee so dark that the drivers commented how strong it was. Never knew coffee was a drink until I left home—always considered it a drug. I still like it black and strong. Turkish coffee— straight up—was the only thing I ever found that I liked in the Middle East.