First, the Super Seven Liquids for preppers:
My Thoughts On:
Coffee & Other Drinking Liquids
By Jerry D Young
I do not drink coffee. Never have. I like the aroma, for the most part, just cannot stand the taste. But being the adventuresome guy that I am, every few years, about every five actually, I give it another try. Just a nice common blend, like Folgers; an espresso; a cappuccino; a mocha; and etc. So far, it is a no go. I still do not like coffee. (I do this same thing for Brussels Sprouts, eggplant, zucchini, raspberries, pomegranate, and a few other things. I at least do try, like my mother and father taught me to do (read that ‘made me’).
Even though I do not drink it myself, it is in my stores. Bulk home stores and in various kits. It has three primary uses for me. First is as a trade/barter item. It is something fairly universal, with known attributes, and a relatively easily determined value level. I hope to be able to acquire what services and goods that I cannot stockpile in the PAW, using coffee as the payment. (among several other things, of course).
The second use is as a good will item. An offer of a cup of coffee as a way to break the ice and instigate a conversation or negotiation; or a small (I mean really small) bottle of Folger’s Coffee Crystals) as a gift or good will offering, to help ease into an unknown and often potentially dangerous situation. This use can be a little tricky, but it is an option I want to have.
The third use is as a self-defense item. I know people that I do not want to be around if they do not have their coffee. They range from simply groggy, useless hunks of barely living flesh; to nine-foot-tall, four-foot-wide deadly bearlike aggressive entities to be feared, avoided, or in these cases where you pretty much have to stay together and get along, to be appeased. I have coffee singles (the tea bag variety and the small tubes of freeze-dried) to protect myself from, and bring back to useful form, these types of people.
Yep, Rob, you were dead on the money about how important coffee is to preppers.
On to the ‘additional’ part of the thoughts:
Super Seven Liquids
In my way of thinking there are seven primary drinking liquids that preppers will want to consider.
1) Water
2) Coffee
3) Tea
4) Hot chocolate
5) Bouillon & Cider
6) Health & Dietary Drinks and Additives
7) Other drinks
Those are the seven drinks and other liquids that I consider the Super 7 for preppers. Below is the reasoning that I have for each of them.
First and foremost, of course, is the absolute essential, water. That calls for a discussion of its own.
Next are the semi essential drinks that help keep preppers going, more comfortable, and, in a couple of cases, healthy.
Coffee, tea (black teas primarily), hot chocolate, and bouillon. For those that regularly drink coffee, tea, and to a much less extent, hot chocolate, the absence of these drinks in higher stress situations that would call for the use of prepping items, can be a real medical situation.
Without the normal ration of these drinks, especially coffee, the constant user can have some severe reactions. Headaches being one of the primary ones. Lethargy and irritability are two more. These can adversely affect the ability to act, and to make good, solid, reasonable decisions.
And, though coffee gets a pretty bad rep for being less than healthy for one, there are some actual health benefits, if, like so many other things, the coffee is taken in moderation.
There are similar effects for black tea drinkers and hot chocolate drinkers, stemming somewhat from the physical requirements, but as much as for the physiological ones. The disruption of routine can be a very negative factor in coping with stressful situations. If a person is denied their morning or afternoon tea, it can be a real let down.
Black teas do not have quite as bad of a reputation as coffee, but black teas tend to be looked down on in favor of green and white teas, plus, of course, herbals. Even black tea can have some benefits.
I just learned that my overwhelmingly favorite tea, Bigelow brand Earl Grey, has some specific, as well as general, health benefits. I had greatly reduced my intake, from two or three cups (12-ounce mugs, actually) per day, and often more, to one cup a week, unless out in the field, where the benefits listed below took precedence over the alleged disadvantages.
The same thing is true with children, those probably more likely to be hot chocolate drinkers rather than coffee or tea. However, a cup of hot chocolate can be a great comfort to a child when everything around them is strange and different, and very disconcerting.
Now, while cider is one of the drinks that people that do not drink coffee or tea often drink, bouillon is almost in the next class, but I decided to keep it here, as there are many people, campers and outdoorspeople in particular, that use bouillon the way many do coffee and tea. And as a supplement to the other three, bouillon can provide additional nutrition, the same comfort effects, additional salt that is often needed, and is a great addition to preparing wild foods.
While tea, and especially coffee, with its higher caffeine levels can be counterproductive to good sleep, a weak cup, or a cup of hot chocolate, cider, or bouillon, can help warm the body core, if taken before bed, and result in more comfortable sleep, often resulting in falling asleep more quickly, and sleeping more restfully.
On to the sixth liquid, which is actually a group of items, and some of them are not necessarily liquid in original state. These are the drinks, or additives to drinks, that have health and dietary benefits. Things like orange or other juices, including powdered versions like Tang; Emegen-C nutrition and dietary supplement; liquid or powdered meal replacement drinks like Boost, Ensure, Slim Fast, and various protein shakes.
While some might find the meal replacement drinks useful, I prefer other foods. But the juices and vitamin/ mineral/ electrolyte powders like the Tang and Emergen-C listed, I think are an import addition to a person’s stores, including field kits.
Herbal teas were mentioned with the Black tea that is the primary tea for many people. They have many of the same attributes of black teas, but also, at least some of them, have very specific health benefits, as well as some medical benefits to prevent and/or treat specific ailments.
Finally, there is another group of liquids. Basically, the ‘other liquids/drinks’ group. This includes things that do not have much in the way of nutrition in them, or therapeutic or medical effects or benefits, but just simply taste good, or improve the taste of plain water, or are a pleasant diversion from the other six.
Soda and other carbonated drinks are in this group, as are things like lemonade; limeade; various Crystal Lite, Kool-Aid, and other water-based flavorings; flavored bottled waters, and so on. Beer and wine fall into this group in my mind, though they do actually have some real benefits to health and comfort, but can easily be consumed well beyond the beneficial amounts, and therefor cause far more problems than are worth it, at least in a field environment. Hard liquors are the same, only more so, despite their slight health and medical benefits. Hard liquor is strictly a medical element in the field, and then only in very small amounts.
Canned and bottle sodas are very bloating, even if sugarless and you are not consuming empty calories. And storage life of soda is not that great, though sugar base sodas do last far longer than diet ones. If one is a soda aficionado, then investing in a small commercial soda fountain system where CO2 can be stored in tanks, and the commercial sugar-based flavorings can be stored in metalized bags, or flavorings produced as needed from local ingredients, and the soda produced on demand, is a real alternative. Especially if used in conjunction with beer brewing, including my favorite, root beer.
If one really feels the need for a ‘soda’, there is a fairly easy, not too expensive, and fairly long-storage-life option. Probably there are more options, but the one I am referring to is the really old ‘candy’ Fizzies tablets. In my case, the root beer one. They have progressed over the years from saccharine, (a carcinogen), to aspartame (brain damage just waiting to happen), to sucralose, which I find acceptable. Not quite the same as a draft Bargs, but if chilled by one of the field expedient methods, not too bad.
Of this group, the lightweight powdered flavorings for water can be an asset, especially when dealing with chemically treated water, and when drinking large amounts of plain water as is often required in the summer during heavy labor. Any flavoring at all can make water more palatable in these cases. I stay away from sugared ones, both because of weight and bulk, and the often-unneeded empty calories.
The aspartame sweetened flavorings (or anything else, for that matter) I stay away from completely, for general health safety reasons. Some of the sucralose sweetened ones are not too bad. So, if one does not go overboard, and uses these ‘other’ liquids where and when appropriate, then life can be just a little bit better when camping out, bugging out, bugging in, or just during every day normal times.
The information on creating the 8-page and 16-page pocket booklets is in the .xls file attached. It can be a bit complicated and confusing, so if there are any questions feel free to ask them in a reply or in a PM.
Just my opinion.
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