Sam Reyes

Sam Reyes is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas, and Coffee Alternatives’ most prolific first-person voice. They quit caffeine cold-turkey in 2022 (bad idea), tapered back in the following year (better idea), and settled somewhere in the middle — a daily morning tea, a late-morning herbal coffee, and a firm “no” to anything after 2pm.

Sam writes for the reader who has tried three “coffee replacements” already and wants the real one. Their pieces are personal, experiment-heavy, and tend to end with “here’s what I actually drink” rather than a ranked list.

Longtime tea drinker, sometimes cold-brew relapser, permanent afternoon-nap enthusiast. Current rotation: morning genmaicha, mid-morning Teeccino Hazelnut if working, Crio Bru if not.