For my payday treat each month, I head a little way inland to one of the city’s finest patisseries, and order cake and coffee.  Their coffee is wonderful – roasted in small batches, ground only as needed, prepared with care – and utterly addictive.  And so it comes to pass that I am sipping a long black Americano when I read these words:

“caffeine levels [in the sea] are so high in some coastal areas that it’s used as a marker to determine general water quality”

Caffeine seeps into the sea.  But of course.  Where did I think it went?

I am a caffeine fiend.  Every year, in the Spring, I try to break the cycle of addiction; I usually manage a few days, sometimes weeks, before I succumb to the lure of a hot, bitter coffee in the morning, or a comforting cup of tea at work – in thrall…