I totally agree wit Anitapreciouspearl, even though I am a coffee drinker AND smoker...addictions are best curbed now...that being said, I keep about a year's supply of coffee on hand and I think I should be looking into growing my own also. As for the cigarettes, well, that's a demon I have fought, and lost against several times. There are only 3 options when you address your addictions...
1 - quite now while the quitin's good
2 - store up ample supplies to get you to the point of producing your own
3 - deal with the withdrawl at the least convenient time

Makes me wonder about the shelf life of nicotene gum though.......

Anitapreciouspearl: Agreed...but it is one of those luxuries i leave myself because 3 times in recent memory I went without each time learning what it took to get off it and stay functional. I always keep a small sypply of coffee and tea in the house so even if I never went shopping again, I could wean myself off it and stay functional. You make a great point though. I quit smoking 6 years ago and haven't touched one since. (That was hard!) Cold turkey in this case is the only way to go.

Denob: You can't grow coffee in Canada. Maybe some form of tea, but coffee only grows int he tropic belt.

I too, am a heavy coffee drinker. When I was in the army my RSM once said to me that he wouldn't be able to recognize me if I didn't have a coffee in my hand. The year before I retired from the service I did a 9 month tour in Afganistan. During that time I might have had 3 cups of coffee. I was busy all the time and had other things on my mind so I never even thought about it and I didn't find it stressful at all.
As for tea, there are any number of wild plants that make excellent teas. Wild mint, birch, pine and rose hips come immediately to mind. Roasted chicory roots make a good coffee substitute. So drink up and enjoy.

Tazweiss: You point out great wild beverage makers a few of which I drink myself, but do any of those contain caffeine to get you off the juice? I don't think they do, but I'm not certain. They would however be a great source of vitamins.

Birch bark tea is basically natures aspirin, (acetasalysilic acid) rosehips and cedar leaves contain gobs and gobs of vitamin C. Nutritious and delicious. But remember...pinky up with your tea! 😀

Ilex vomitoria ......... sounds delicious

Very few people know this interesting fact about yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), also known as Texas holly. This is a relative of the South American maté (Ilex paraguayensis) and provides the only wild tea with caffeine in Texas and occurs in other areas of the southeast coastal plains of the United Sates.

http://texaspreppersnetwork.blogspot.com/2010/02/wild-tea-in-texas-yaupon-tea.html

I found if you take instant coffee and mix into cold water and then bring it to the boil it improves the flavour.

Rancid coffee would probably still contain caffeine, it would be worth the risk of long term storage .

The way I drink coffee, it wouldn't last long enough to go bad.

I drink instant coffee regularly. I buy the hazelnut flavoured stuff and mix in a packet of instant hot chocolate mix and coffeemate. Home-made mocha. I've tried some chocolate flavoured almond milk the last time and it worked well... Of course coffeemate is probably not good for us but I'm lactose intolerant and I will only have access to coffee mate if shtf anyway, since we don't have goats etc...

I only drink instant really, it tastes all right. I drink drip when out and about. Recently was told to use less on the spoon per cup and voila, tastes even better.

The best way to preserve coffee is in the bean form, if packed this way in an air tight container, coffee can last for a very long time. But for those who cant take the time to grind them, buy it canned, or for the non-motivated...instant. 🙁

I know this discussion was first started back in Sep. 2011 and last post in April 2012, but came across it in my research of the CPN archive.
btw, great pointers in all the forum posts, thanks.

As for long term coffee storage, let me address this, as I have experience here.
1. Instant / Freeze-dried: Likely the way to go for safety, as I've not experienced any drop in flavour of any brand in a storage interval of 3 to 5 five years. NOTE: I can drink it ... I get it served to me at cheap beach side restaurants in Mexico, and you just have to experiment with the amount to put on a spoon. I like my coffee (decaf & regular) strong, so I use two heaping spoonfulls, with cream and sugar. No cream or sugar; I use a level spoon amount.

2. Whole bean / roasted: BEST for consistent flavour. I regularly make trips to Mexico each year, and will buy upwards of 20 pounds of 1 pound vacuum-sealed bags of Blazon (better brand) from Soriana - a Mexican chain grocery store - purchased for about 5$CDN a pound bag; the price is the reason I buy it. This usually lasts me close to 2 years, due to the infrequency of my Mexico trips each year. The last bag at the end of two years tastes the same as the first ... after 2 years of storage. Presently, I have other whole bean roasted coffee - about 20 bags from Canadian stores purchased on discount and Starbucks' Christmas overstock specials stored and am using. I will keep about 2 to 3 of the bags to 3 years next, but I really don't expect much decay in taste. NOTE 1: I do have both an electric and hand grinder. NOTE 2: haven't had any problems with rancid beans yet, but longer term tests will tell ....

3. Ground / vacuum-sealed Brand-name bags or cans: don't like. Have come over the years to develop a taste for fresh ground. Once you go ..., you never go back. (Yeah, okay; I'm a coffee snob .... 😀 ) But, I'd like to point out in my early years of "stock-piling / testing" storage of coffee, or just buying varying brands / dated cans or bags of ground coffee, that I never found the taste of the brewed coffee to stay consistent once the bag or can is open. It never matters if you then reseal the can / bag after, move the remains to a proper coffee storage area such as a cool & dark area - not a freezer, heathens! 😆 - or vacuum-seal the ground stuff again. Once you've opened it, it must be used quickly. Plus, a bag of ground coffee will not stay as fresh over a two year interval as a bag of whole bean; I can verify by citing my own Starbucks test.

4. Whole bean / green: I've not tested this thoroughly yet, but am going to now. The only reason I have avoided it, is that any whole grean bean transported to USA or Canada must first be treated with chemicals to reduce chances of importation of pests .... So, I worry that any long term storage of Whole green bean may allow for any possible remaining pests which reside in the bulk bags of green coffee bean to overcome dormancy. A friend who once worked as a Barista and eventual bean purchaser explained some of this to me, and I checked later on while visiting a coffee plantation in Mexico a number of years ago. NOTE: not all roasting of green coffee bean drives off oils; first crack roasting drives off moisture, condensing the oils and killing any remaining parasites/bugs in the beans, while at the same time vapourizing the chemicals used to the treat the beans; and, second crack roasting drives off some coffee oil, but condenses bean coffee oil further - the further you "crack", the further you will drive off oil as beans open up and shatter. Yes, green beans are imported in bulk from many countries, and they are treated as a commodity after which each purchasing / distributing / retailing company then roasts the beans in bulk.

Finally, if you do store coffee, especially whole bean, for any long duration, DO NOT store in a freezer - or refridgerator. Only store in a cool, dark place.
Also, there is nothing wrong with drinking decaf. As long as it a wise choice of decaf.
Trivia: did you know that there is more caffiene in a Tim Horton's decaf than there is a Starbuck's decaf. It's true. Caffiene sensitive people should experiment and you'll find out I'm right.

Thanks for that gPRS.

I come by coffee drinking honestly. There was always a pot on when I grew up and when I visit, I can always count on the coffee being fresh. That being said, this discussion reminds me of a story my grandparents told of life in Holland during the occupation by the Nazis. As I'm sure you can imagine, every staple was scarce and that was especially true for coffee. My grand mother and her neighbors would roast pretty much any bean they could get their hands on, grind it up, and filter water through it. While I'm sure they missed the caffeine, I think their efforts had more to do with maintaining a sense of normalcy and consistency than with feeding their addictions. I never thought to ask my grand father what it was he smoked during those lean years.

My wife picked up some single serving packets of instant coffee from Starbucks. It's pretty darn good stuff and perfect for stashing in your pocket or bag. Not cheap but it's by far the best instant I've ever had.

If you know someone who owns a store/restaurant, ask them to buy a box of them from the buyer's retail, or restaurant supply (middle man, but you need a store business Lic.), or you might find them at Costco.

Another thing to invest in would be either a small, medium or large size modern stove top percolator for your coffee. If you've ever seen those hexagonal 3 piece, screw-apart units at Ikea (or Winners'), then you know of which I speak. They're the closest to making the coffee of old on the big camp-fire coffee pots. Easy to clean too.
As for the Starbucks instant, is that the single serve packets I've seen in their stores? I thought those were tea bags of coffee, not freeze-dried instant.