Perhaps those early years of drinking road-house and gas-station coffee killed-off my ability to distinguish between bean-flavored mud and the good stuff...For some brief time in the Army over in Germany, and for a few years here back in the States, while going back to school on the GI Bill, I drove semi tractor-trailers; both local and mid-range over-the-road hauling; and I became a coffee addict then.
Few trades or professions are more closely linked with coffee than truck drivers.
I hear what you're saying about Decaf versus 'real' coffee, but, I have a couple of friends and relatives whose own doctors have taken them off caffeine, and they were obliged to fall back upon Decaf themselves, and serve nothing but, when we come to visit.
I must say that I really can't taste much difference.
Then again, my taste-buds aren't the most discerning on the face of the planet.
And, of course, if that's all you've got left... if the doctors are on your ass to lay off the caffeine due to a serious medical condition... well... ya make the best of it, I suppose, and learn to drink and enjoy the damned Decaf... better than nuthin', for an ex-coffee addict.
I don't even have to taste it...I can SMELL the difference!
