What age did you start drinking coffee?

16. note: The data shows that all is not bad when it comes to coffee and health.

Eight, I think.

I started drinking coffee at fourteen, but it was short lived. Now, I only drink it on occasion.

Note, that wasn’t too long ago. About two years ago, actually, and it lasted a week..

When I was in my early 20s. I drank instant when I was in my teens, but I don’t think that counts.

Before age 2. My dad used to put it in my bottles

Ten or Eleven. Lots of milk and sugar at first, now I take it black.

@Imadethisupwithnoforethought I can’t drink coffee any other way…

I started in 7th grade, so I was 12. I have drunk it regularly since.

around 11 but I didn’t drink it regularly until 13, I would have a cup every morning with my father who was a truck driver before he went to work and I went to do my paper route. It was the best time I had with my father and I would never change those mornings we had such father and daughter talks that I didn’t get to have as an adult since he died when I was 17.

15. My parents drank coffee like crazy and the natural smell of it brewing was too big a temptation for me. And, I drink about four cups a day.

I think 15…

Started at 2…. Started regularly at 9… Stopped when I became a health nut at 14. ;)

I don’t drink it. Coffee ice cream has been my favorite ice cream since very very young. I like the taste of coffee, but my mom does not drink it, and I was not at the table usually when my dad had his morning coffee, so it wasn’t ever served to me. I drank lots of coca-cola with no restrictions from my parents, so I took in plenty of caffeine as a kid and through my early 30’s.

I drink some of my husband’s coffee every so often, but I figure better not to get into the habit. You never miss what you never had.

@JLeslie . smart. I quit from time to time. ... but it somehow always creeps back into my routine.

My grandma gave me ice cream mixed with coffee as a preschooler. By second or third grade, I drank it for breakfast. I didn’t know until I was in middle school that in most US families, a first cup of coffee seems to be akin to a first sip of beer.

@tranquilsea Is she allowed to drink caffeine? For me that is the only real question, but that is me. Coffee, soda pop, tea, what’s the real difference? I guess maybe arguably soda is the worst of the three.

About 7–8 but I’d only have it a few times a year.

About the age of 7; I remember my parents trying to discourage me by telling me it was cow pee! when I asked what were they drinking. Sheese! Some parents.:\

9 or 10, when I’d go fishing with my dad, 13 or so while visiting with a neighbor. His mom made “Swedish” coffee— fresh ground coffee and egg whites mixed together, put in a coffee pot and gentle boiled until you could smell it in kitchen. Drank it black then still do now.

At 15, when I started high school. It was a social activity because we could walk to a coffee house and it was a really cheap way to sit and visit for hours after school. I’ve been an addict ever since.

Around seven, though it wasn’t a daily thing until I was 10–11.

I know some people say it stunts your growth; maybe that is why I am only 6’0” :D

@keobooks It’s true that for many coffee is like some sort of right of passage in America. I am actually surprised to see so many people started so young and are American. In my family nothing was treated like that. We were allowed to try the alcoholic drink my dad was drinking, or have some tea or coffee if we wanted it. But, coffee was still perceived as a grown up drink primarily. My parents I think were of the mind if you make some sort of taboo or very grown up thing only, it makes it more enticing to kids. My husband’s family used to give his niece a “coffee” when she asked for it, when she wanted to be like the grown ups. As soon as she was able to drink from a cup they would give her a short coffee, mostly milk and sugar. It was cute. I was given Coke as a treat in my bottle when I was a toddler. So was my husband.

Freshman year in college, when I had to pull all-nighters. I was 17 or 18. Hated it at first but now can’t get out of bed without it.

Around 13 or so. My dad had one of those 7–11 style monster coffee makers in his bedroom that always had about a quarter of a pot burned so bad it had to be chewed. I poured myself a cup of that everyday. To this day I can appreciate a good cup of coffee, but it is just as easy for me to down a hot cup of swill.

@JLeslie she does drink the occasional coke and the occasional tea. Coffee is something new. I have a feeling she’s trying to act more grown up now that she’s 14.

Our son regulary had iced lattes from about 18 mos to about 2.5yrs. Now he’s not too into them.

As for me, I didn’t like the taste until my 20’s. Personally, I don’t think coffee is anywhere near as bad as soda, so if my son wanted to drink it, I’d let him.

Sixteen or seventeen or so. I had some before, but it wasn’t regular until those mentioned ages. And even then. I wasn’t allowed to have coffee lol, but I always drained the bottom of the unattended coffee maker, reheated it in the microwave and drank it. Kinda nasty, but I was looking for effect, not taste. I’d also buy it in gas stations and shit, and in my last years of unfinished school, one teacher actually let me have a cup if I got there early in the morning. I even offered to pay for it, but he was like eh, s’all cool.

When I was little I remember drinking the cup bottoms of coffee that my parents let sit around. It was all cold, but for some reason I enjoyed them. My mom had sweet coffee, so I liked that better than my dad’s hoarse ass cowboy coffee. That changed by now though. Sugar in my coffee, gtfo.

Apparently I once did that with a buncha beer bottles leftover from a party, and I was found passed out in the hall. I don’t remember that, though. XD

14, and I drank it every couple days then. At age 15 I started working in a coffeehouse and it turned into a daily (or more) habit.

When I was 15 I started. I don’t have it very often now though….

This might sound strange or weird for most of you.

I noticed a few years ago that if I drink coffee I get really sleepy and in maximum 20 minutes I need to find a bed to sleep. It’s not caffeine that acts like this on me because I can drink Cola/Pepsi/Mountain Dew and not feel asleep at all. Only when I drink coffee I get sleepy.
I usually drink it when I have to sleep. I use it instead of a sleeping pill ^^
I did not like coffee that much so I rarely drank it. And since I was drinking it like once per year I wasn’t able to see if the coffee was making me sleepy or anything else. But now I know it for a fact ^^

An occasional small cup of coffee (like once a week) at age 14 should be OK. But 2 or 3 cups a day at that age is not a good idea.

I had my fist cup of coffee at age 16. I didn’t care for the taste much at all but I liked how the coffee make me feel. At first I wanted to drink more but soon the novelty wore off (maybe because we only had instant coffee at home).

@Hibernate Perhaps you have a natural very high tolerance for caffeine and it is the warm liquid in your stomach and the soothing coffee aroma that puts you to sleep.

@Hibernate I myself sleep better if I have something caffeinated (coffee, soda, breakfast tea…) right before bedtime, so it doesn’t sound weird to me.

@gondwanalon Occasional? Small? Can you tell me why it’s not a good idea? I’m sorry, but your response intrigues me.
Also, if your first taste of coffee was instant, I can’t blame you for not liking it; that stuff is nasty and cannot compare to a freshly ground Ethiopian or Sumatran bean. Compare a nice steak to a Big Mac; one is convenient, the other tastes good.

Very early teens, I only ever drink decaf though, caffeinated almost induces panic attacks in me…

@jerv Some folks drink their coffee from huge mugs. When I say a small I mean a 4 to 8 ounce cup.

As far as limiting coffee intake to children, well that is just common sense. Caffeine has been linked to attention problems and hyperactivity in children so it’s better to actually avoid it. Kids already get caffeine in other things like chocolate and sodas.

I never learned to like coffee. I thought it was too bitter. My son started drinking it in college; my daughter never learned to like it. I never make coffee myself, because I have no idea what good coffee tastes like. I don’t like a dessert if I can taste coffee in it. My taste buds just never enjoyed it, so I didn’t either.

@gondwanalon Giving stimulants to ADD/ADHD kids helps… but I guess that there is a link between a problem and something that solves/mitigates it. Too much sugar causes similar issues, so it seems to me that coffee is preferable to soda!

Myself, never. I never have liked the taste. I’ll probably have a cup once a year or so, with a ton of cream and sugar, when I’m craving something warm and don’t have any tea. But one of my children started drinking coffee occasionally around 14 years old. She’s 17 now, and still loves it, but doesn’t drink it every day or anything. She’s more of a latte kind of girl over regular old coffee, so she gets them when she’s out and about, not so much at home.

@gondwanalon I understand what you are saying but if I drink warm milk / a hot cup of tea or anything like this I don’t get sleepy. It’s hard to explain it but picture this. I just woke up, I stayed 2 hours awake [I slept 10 hours before waking up] and if I go and drink coffee I get sleepy again. I drink coffee only when I need/want to sleep ^^