I think out of the replies I will probably be the most unhealthy. I drink coffee with equal until I get jittery and then switch to diet mountain dew. On most days I switch back and forth up until night time when I hit the cheap cheap beer.

Coffee (flat white, one teaspoon of sugar) is my beverage of choice. I use tea, usually white with 1 tsp sugar as a cheap backup when I feel like I've spent enough money for the day. Coffee is what really allows me to get in the zone though. I think black coffee hits me too fast, which is why I switched to white.

Occasionally I try cola, but regardless of the brand and variety, soft drinks always leave me thirstier than when I started.

Probably more insight into my caffeine ingestion than anyone wanted, too :)

I used to be the epitome of the Pepsi generation, drinking it all day long for my caffeine fix. Whilst getting my third Pepsi before noon in the break room one day, I mentioned having a headache to a rather happy-go-lucky fellow who was getting his drink from the water fountain. He said he too was an addict like myself and once he quit, his headaches vanished. Not having his intestinal fortitude, I replaced my morning Pepsis with coffee and my headaches have pretty much vanished too.

For road trips, coffee works best for me. Pilot truck stops have the best road coffee, IMHO. For some reason Pepsi will make me sleepy on the road. Energy drinks worked for awhile on road trips. Too many energy drinks tend to give me an even goofier grin than normal which is not well received at the aforementioned truck stops.

For code trips, Pepsi seems to get me over through mental pause more often than not.

Mike Roberts is a bewildered Linux Journal Reader Advisory Panelist.