So I love black coffee so much. I’m THAT person who knows the difference between different countries coffees, I grind the beans myself, I’m critical of that vending machine coffee and all that. It’s also a great appetite suppressor when I’m doing longer fasts. But I’ve been trying to donate blood and since I’m already iron deficient, apparently coffee is terrible for iron absorption. So now I’d like to find an alternative to black coffee that works?
It sounds like you enjoy having knowledge and expertise in a process and culture in addition to the beverage. Tea is the most obvious coffee substitute, but in order for it to fill the coffee hole in your life, maybe approach it from a similar mindset; eg learn about herbal ingredients, tea cultivation, the history of tea.
Preface by saying this is totally anecdotal and I am not a doctor. I am also a coffee enthusiast who loves my black V60 pour over every morning so I can emphasize with not wanting to give it up:
My wife had sever iron deficient anemia a couple years back and she also drank a lot of tea and coffee. She had the same concern as she didn’t want to give up her coffee and tea but obviously would if it meant she could avoid hospitalization. The doctor pointed us to a couple studies and mentioned that its less about the consumption of the caffeine, and more about the timing of the supplementation. Essential as long as my wife left a few hour gap (they suggested 6 but we went pretty fast and loose with it) between her iron supplementation and caffeine intake, there shouldn’t be any issue. Also recommended that she take Vitamin C at the same time as her iron supplement as it greatly increase iron absorption. We just used the yummy tropical flavoured 1000mg chewable ones (dangerously good).
TL;DR Space out your caffeine intake with your iron intake. Make sure you take Vitamin C at the same time as the Iron. I am not a doctor.