Reinventing the morning ritual- Can bone broth really dethrone coffee?

We live in a society that’s basically completely addicted to coffee. Some will go as far as to say that modern society in its entirety is sort of a by-product of the coffee industry. Lol, but not really. 

Coffee was once a little-known delicacy for the elite. But once it went on to its global domination, it became an invincible force.

The origins of the dark brew

Coffee grown worldwide can trace its lineage back to the ancient coffee forests on the Ethiopian plateau. There, legend says, the goat herder named Kaldi first discovered the potential of these beloved beans. 

The story says that Kaldi discovered coffee after he noticed that after eating the berries from a certain tree, his goats became so hyped up that they couldn’t sleep at night. 

Kaldi reported his discoveries to the abbot of the local monastery, who went on to make a drink with the berries, to experiment with it. He quickly found that it kept him alert through the long hours of evening prayer. The now energetic abbot shared his discovery with the other monks at the monastery, and knowledge of the invigorating brew began to spread.

"Coffee is a way of stealing time that should by right belong to your older self."  - Terry Pratchett

As the center of the world moved west, and coffee reached the Arabian peninsula, it began a journey that would bring these beans to every corner of the globe. Yeah, it’s a well-rounded joke. 

This rich dark liquid flows across the world and greases the wheels of our economies. It’s one of the most traded items on today's market. There are countries where it’s a base for their entire economy!

Everybody likes coffee. Some love it.

Coffee is great, yes. We love it, no way around it. If you’re a coffee-lover, (like everybody else, duh), you know that brewing and consuming coffee is a complex and refined experience. There’s the rich aroma, the comforting warmth, and the undeniable cool of the preparation ritual itself.

Like Pavlov's dogs, we are self-trained to connect the smell and taste of coffee with the very idea of waking up to go to work in the morning. We thank coffee for our productivity and the fact that we, amazingly, sometimes do meet deadlines. 

But, as with all things that are so good, there is a downside. Coffee has its dark (well, darker?) side. We all experienced it: after the glorious, energetic high, in comes the inevitable, terrible crash. After the desired effects wear off, we feel weak, depleted, low on energy, sleepy, tired more than the time of day would justify. If we try to jump start again, by adding yet more coffee to our system, many of us get jittery, jumpy, nervous, and shaky. Our focus blurs. Our attention span gets chopped up into tiny pieces. Some will even cry for no obvious reason. Terrible, really. 

Bone broth can dethrone coffee

In comes the long-sought-for alternative: bone broth. Yes, we’re well aware of how it sounds at first. The very idea of replacing your obligatory cup of morning coffee with some salty, meaty soup, sounds, well…weird? Offputting? But bear with me for a moment. Let me present this case. 

This idea is actually not all that strange. Think about it: what do we want our coffee to do? Why are we drinking it? What are we expecting to get from it?

When asked these questions, most people would say that it’s the energizing effect they’re after when drinking their coffee. They seek that instant waking, the comfort, familiarity. 

The thing is, all of this can be achieved with bone broth! Bone broth has a familiar, homey taste we all love, albait in another context. We’re already programmed to associate its rich smell and taste with the memories of meals shared with our family. It brings up the feelings of warmth and comfort, probably even more so than coffee. The only thing is, we need some time to get accustomed to all of that in this new context. We just need to switch the perception of bone broth, to see it more as a day kickstarting drink and less as a mid-day meal. 

And it can be done. Actually, more and more people are doing it. There are places that serve exclusively bone broth in drinking cups, and their business is doing great. 

Where broth has the edge over coffee

Where bone broth actually wins over coffee, is in the fact that it’s actually good for you. Yes, a cup of coffee a day also has some health benefits, true. But let’s be honest- how many among us really stop at that one cup a day? Most coffee drinkers, including yours truly, drink at least three cups a day. Not to mention that coffee cup sizes have grown to literally buckets in the past decades, and that the coffee we drink today is some two or even three times stronger than it used to be, with so much more caffeine. Today's “Medium” used to be “Grande”, back in the day!

Bone broth will not give you that sharp incline in energy, but a steady, long lasting feeling of warmth and uplifted spirits. It will not bring you to that awful crash so sharply after a few hours, once the primary effects wear off. 

Bone broth is nutritious; it doesn’t give you that empty energy, that actually depletes your body of micronutrients. It’s rich in collagen building blocks, so it’s good for your skin (even more so- it’s great!), while we all know what coffee can do to our tan. (Ugh.)

You should really try it. Give it a week or two. It can’t hurt, and it for sure can help plenty.