HN Explorer

Ask HN: What do you drink?

23 points by breck ↗ HN
I find I code better with a drink nearby. I can't have snacks or food near me but having a soda or something is great.

Right now I drink 2-4 coke zeros per day, which is better than my former habit of a couple cokes a day, which was better than the even earlier habit of a couple of Rockstars per day.

What do you drink?

Just looking for some (hopefully healthier) ideas.

82 comments

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sound2man
Iced peppermint Tea. The most refreshing drink in the galaxy. Much easier on the head than the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster too.
mrduncan
My usual daily routine consists the following: 1-2 cups of coffee in the morning and lots of water and orange juice the rest of the day. I quit drinking soda years ago for the most part (still drink it occasionally but rarely) in college when it was just a lot cheaper to drink water instead and have never really had the urge to pick it up again.

If you're looking to kick the soda, I'd suggest switching over to something else other only water initially since I can almost guarantee you'll get sick of it having no flavor (maybe orange juice, apple juice, or tea).

skushch
Personally I like mineral water, something about the carbonation which made it easier to drop soda.
aristoxenus
Easy on those juices -- that much simple sugar can lead to a metabolic/alertness roller coaster, if not weight problems.
mrduncan
Probably good advice, I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on the internet. For myself though, I stick mainly to water throughout the day.
Femur
My daily fluid intake:

1-2 cups of coffee in the morning.

2-3 cups of Lipton green tea throughout the day.

1 litre of bottled carbonated mineral water at home in the evening.

1 glass of red wine with supper.

I also drink the odd cup/glass of tap water here and there.

Edit: I also never drink soda.

splat
Just water throughout the day. I'll have a beer or a cocktail in the evening. On rare occasions, if I'm feeling particularly tired and need to be alert I'll have a soda or coffee.
DanielBMarkham
I mostly go with water throughout the day.

With meals I usually have a Isopure zero carb drink, which tastes great and lets me load up on protein without all the fat or carbs.

I had stopped caffeine completely, but now that I'm off the caffeine wagon again, once a week (usually Friday) I'll load up on 2 or 3 cups of strong tea -- either Earl Grey or Chai, with cream and Splenda.

And then Friday evening it's usually a couple glasses of wine with supper as an extra treat.

Then back to water again. Repeat and rinse.

omarchowdhury
Water.
effektz
mixed with a little bit of 100% fruit juice
skoob
But, then it's no longer 100% fruit juice!
pasbesoin
I do this, as well. And during/after exercise, I'll drink a 50/50 mix. I don't know whether it's the "proper" approach, but it keeps my stomach settled whereas a lot of plain water can start to feel "heavy" particularly in the stomach. I'm thinking particularly of long (outdoor) cycle rides, back when I did that.
jackchristopher
And it kills foggy brain.

But the best effect is you know it's healthy, so you don't feel bad. Tea too. Green and white tea are high in antioxidants. Drink up.

HalcyonMuse
Well, depends where you live... I spent a summer in Santa Clara in a really crappy apartment and the water always developed this weird white film (or was it a precipitate? I forget) if you let it sit. I considered it very suspicious and did not drink water from the tap at home - I got my fill at work.
oldgregg
Wow. Water is #1 -- and not a single mention of jolt or mountain dew. What a weak generation of hackers -- you know where the term "flow state" came from? David Lightman used to drink his own urine during long coding sessions. That's a scientific fact.
old-gregg
Ha. Old Greggs think alike. Old school programmers, those who created web servers, compilers and the universe, used to drink coffee, smoke pot and read man pages. Today's generation drinks water, smokes ground PG essays and watches screencasts instead of reading proper documentation.

:P

oldgregg
Exactly. And when we weren't playing LoRD on our own BBS we just spent hours rewinding Hackers for THAT ONE SHOT with Angelina Jolie.
splat
At over 7:1 (at last check), I think this comment wins the award for "Highest Karma to Character Ratio"!
rms
I'm sure there is a "yes" or "no" out there that wins.
HalcyonMuse
We'll throw this one in the "non-binary response" category then.
rs
True true

2 weeks ago I would have said "coffee" - used to drink about 6-8 cups a day between 3 am and 7 pm (working hours). Over the past 2 weeks I've switched over to mostly water and 2 cups of coffee per day at most and its unbelievably fantastic.

Water for me has to be room temperature though. Not sure why.

CyberFonic
H20 ... chilled. Used to be Coke (2-4 cans a day) then coffee (3-5 mugs a day). These days an afternoon coffee and snack bar is a once or at most twice a week treat. Typically after eradicating some extra perfidious bug!
sgoraya
Ten Ren Green Tea Powder.

Its good, healthy and easy. A small spoon of it in my water bottle, a good shake and its done. Its good hot too.

As an aside, my wife noticed how my fingernails started growing faster after my green tea habit - really! ;) It prompted a google search several months back and indeed, it does help with nail growth among its many other healthy benefits.

SwellJoe
3-4 cups of Yamamoto jasmine green tea during the early part of the day (waking until 6 or so hours before sleeping).

Water the rest of the time.

I occasionally drink orange juice, when eating chocolate or when having a hot breakfast like grits and eggs.

About once every two or three weeks, I'll have a Pepsi when eating pizza.

anulman
I used to rarely drink soda (only when I went out), but now that they give it to me at the office, it's a bit tougher to avoid.

What I've found helps me avoid the temptation is really good green tea -- I keep a tin of it on my desk at all times. It's ultra-natural, both in how it feels/tastes and in reality; it's got a bit of caffeine, but nothing that'll end in a crash; and it tastes good whether it's hot or cold!

agotterer
I drink 90% water. At work I get up at least once every hour to refill the glass. Gives me a reason to take a break and stretch my legs. I will occasionally have a soda with lunch. I have never had a cup of coffee before and I stopped drinking energy drinks.
brooksbp
3-4 cups green tea a day (good to mix creatine with). You're drinking water and sometimes good anti-oxidants (great for cleansing your body after exercising, or during hangovers).

I try to stay away from coffee; it doesn't take me long to acquire a tolerance for caffeine. I just don't see the benefits of coffee.

I'm a huge fan of grapefruit juice and V8 too.

swolchok
I usually had success with an "addiction reset" by going cold turkey after every semester as an undergrad. As a grad student, I've found that even though I drink 3 cups of green or white tea per day, which is supposed to have relatively minimal caffeine, I get headaches on the weekends when I don't have tea. Do you notice withdrawal headaches with that level of consumption?
lucumo
When I'm at home (where I work most of the time) I drink water, sometimes mixed with (orange) cordial. I found a light version of it, making me feel less guilty about drinking it. :-)
vaksel
water or orange juice
Zak
It depends on what sort of coding I'm doing. It's usually water or herbal tea. If I need extra energy, black tea, but I try not to do that more than a couple times a week since I broke my addiction to caffeine.

When I have to deal with new and interesting bugs that only occur with Internet Explorer, I drink whiskey.

ashleyw
On the average day:

• 2x extra strong coffees with sugar (still dislike it really, too sour, but it wakes me up.)

• ~1-2 litres of Coke and/or other fizzy drinks (my addiction)

• 1-2 Hot chocolate (at night)

• ~4x litres of water, sometimes with flavouring

smokinn
No offense intended but are you overweight? If not, how do you keep the weight off with that much consumption? Daily gym?
ashleyw
The coke is diet, and the hot chocolate is only 30 kcals/mug, so I don't drink many kcals, easily less than 200kcals/day.

But yes I used to be pretty overweight, but I've lost a hell of a lot in the last year. That's one of the reasons I started drinking so much water, it helps tremendously!

jlees
My 'no offence intended' reply would be - does the poster have any trouble sleeping?

I used to drink a ton of fizzy drinks - all diet, but I noticed a significant correlation between insomnia and pop. Drank nothing but water (literally) for 6 months and suddenly could fall asleep before midnight...

ashleyw
My drinking habits sure do tell a lot about me, huh?

I kind of have trouble with my sleep. I sleep wonderfully (8-17 hours; yes, 17, not very often though, on average 11), but I think (or thought?) I have mild free-running sleep disorder, where I go to bed later and later each day (if I didn't manually control it, I'd have a full 24 hour cycle over the course of a few weeks). But I've never thought about pop being the cause. I'll try and ditch it, see if it makes a difference!

jrockway
too sour, but it wakes me up

You might try cold-press coffee, which is much less acidic.

michaelfairley
V8 Fusion. Absolutely delicious, and (according to the marketing on the label) contains a full serving of fruit and vegetables in every 8oz.

That, and water.

thunk
Lots of tea (camellia sinensis: green, Earl Grey, Oolong, Lipton, whatever). Water. No soda.
3dFlatLander
I used to drink a few sodas a day, and I switched to tea about five years ago. I lost some weight during the first year, but I've found I have more energy with tea and no crash. I get most of my tea from Adagio (I'm not affiliated).
dmharrison
I'm a sucker for Irish or Scottish breakfast. Generally I like the black teas which have higher caffeine. Tea to me seems to be less abrasive than the sugary high caffeine drinks but just as effective ;)
dtf
I've got quite into Rooibos tea over the last few months. Very drinkable with a pleasant aroma and no caffeine. I still love coffee, but save it for the weekends.
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lallysingh
Always double-fist with ice water. Most of the time we're drinking b/c we want water. Expect to pee a lot.

On most days, regular coffee is fine. Stage 2 is a tall americano (you know from where). Stage 3 is a chai with two shots of espresso. Stage 4 need not be named, but it gives me wings. I usually save those for mondays or all-nighters.

abyssknight
See, funny thing about that, I hate drinking water because it makes me have to leave my desk a lot. I still do it because I know I need the water intake. Usually my day is 50/50 between Coke Zero (or Mountain Dew on a bad day) and Water. Sometimes it slides to 30/70, but I do my best.

Edit: And by 50/50 I meant one or two cups of water and one can of soda (or on bad days, a 20oz).

rms
I'll agree with the consensus: water is the best, but if you want caffeine, freshly brewed tea is by far the healthiest source of caffeine. The theanine is also a nice bonus.
CyberFonic
Instant coffee causes greater dehydration due to the chemicals used in the manufacturing processes. So you should be drinking extra water to make up for its diuretic effects. So if it's coffee it has to be freshly brewed - the aroma is a bonus treat.
clemesha
Monsters, mountain dew, iced coffee. Anything with caffeine when hacking. Not a healthful response, but an honest one.
teeja
Black tea, in mass quantities.
zzzmarcus
I recently found Viso Vigor which is pretty good for a quick, intense (300mg) dose of caffeine. It also has tons of vitamin B (6, 12 etc.), and feels less to me like drinking death than Red Bull and the other canned energy drinks do. I don't drink it often, but if I need a boost that tastes good and isn't soda it works.

I also enjoy yerba mate. It's very popular in Uruguay where I started drinking it. Especially so among students as an (ostensibly) healthy herbal tea with a good dose of caffeine to keep them awake for studying. My favorite part is the slow, calming ritual around drinking it in the traditional way.

Those two exceptions aside, generally I prefer water.