I started drinking de-caf coffee (in the afternoons, and only once in a while), because all of a sudden, tea (any kind) started giving me the worst heartburn, and I need a warm drink, sometimes.

De-caf coffee is not the same beast at all as real coffee, but if I put enough cream in (whereas I'm happy to drink my hi-test black, with no sugar), it seems to satisfy.

OMG stout weather is coming up!

Just for your edification, The Alchemist now has Holy Cow! IPA and Bolton Brown back on tap....

I'll drink a decaf latte in the afternoon because it's like a creamy, sweet (after I put in splenda), vauguely coffee flavored treat. Straight up decaf coffee, NSM. Sometimes when I want something when we go out to dinner to end the meal and dessert or whiskey/port isn't really an option or doing it for me. Even then, I'd prefer a decaf cappicino type thing.

Otherwise, I just stick to water.

Just for your edification, The Alchemist now has Holy Cow! IPA and Bolton Brown back on tap....

Oh, damn. Why is Vermont so far away? However, I had an awesome stout at the Willimantic Brewery this weekend:

Dead Letter Drye Stout – An unfiltered Dark ale brewed with seven malts and some flaked Rye enhanced with Perle hops. 5.9%abv

There's also an excellent looking Rye Ale going up just before we are headed CT-wards for my grandmother's 90th birthday party...

This is a problem with decaf coffee too -- the decaffeination process removes flavor as well as caffeine.

There are new coffee varieties with the caffeine gene knocked-out. Once those get established we can have uncaf coffee instead of decaf.

There are new coffee varieties with the caffeine gene knocked-out.

But how do they taste?

Plus, with mutated coffee beans I suppose coffee drinkers would have to worry about the occaional monsterism.

Shrift, there were cheers for you in Florence when Dana announced you had a new job.

Excellent! I only wish I could have been there with you all. (And if The Fiddler's Elbow was still around in Florence, you could have got Guinness there, but the last time I was in Florence was 8 years ago, so who knows where the Irish pub is now!)

We just had Sam Adams Cream Stout ice cream at JP Licks yesterday. It was goooood.

Oh, thank you. I have an ongoing stout & ice cream argument going on, and it's nice to have some ammunition for my side.

I like the taste of good beer,

Yep

and if one could make it without alcohol and it tasted as good as your craft brews, I'd drink it.

Not sure I'd go that far. Maybe.

I have Ben & Jerry's Black and Tan ice cream in my freezer, but it's not really all that stouty.