Why coffee and not tea?

Latte And Now For That Latte
1

I am sitting here at my desk on my third cup of coffee in 30 minutes. Now, I am not sure I like this coffee; correction I know I don’t like it. But every day I make a pot and drink it. Without the pot my day never gets started. At home I make a pot of oolong and drink that all day. I might make a latte or three, but I don’t scarf the joe when working from home like I do here at the office.

Now, AmberV can probably tell me why I drink bad coffee at work and only at work, while saving the luxury of a nice oolong for the comfort of my home, but I figure it is just the fact that I am messed in the head.

Then again I don’t have a head, do I?

sigh

2

I just don’t recommend pouring hot liquids directly into your collar, that’s all.

3

That explains the burning sensation.

4

I am a HUGE and particular tea drinker (note: I am not huge, my passion for tea is). I was brought up by British and Irish parents and I’ve got to the point where I either have my tea sent over from across the pond (Saintsbury’s red label) or we buy it in Canada (Tetley’s). BUT.

I make a pot of coffee when I sit down to work in the morning and I go through it. I cannot function until I have had my cup of tea when I first wake up, but for sitting at the computer and squeezing that blood out of a stone, I need my java.

Then it’s back to tea for afternoon crumpets and after dinner et al et al et al.

So we are all nuts, Jaysen.

(Not that I EVER drink anything else… :blush: )

5

I weaned myself off my mindless, all-day, coffee-drinking habit quite a few years ago now, partly by promising myself that I would make every coffee count. No more mediocre coffee, just the good stuff. But less of it.

Quite the opposite to Molly’s Mum, I can’t function without my morning coffee (slightly longer than espresso, but still espresso-like in nature), which my husband or children kindly bring to me before I get out of bed. At the weekend, I might have a second morning coffee later on, once my day is underway. Two or three evenings a week, I might have an espresso after dinner. And I would always offer coffee if friends or family drop in, and would have one myself if they wanted one. And of course I sometimes go out with friends, and have coffee then.

My coffee consumption plummeted. I no longer have caffeine running through my veins, and I truly relish the coffee that I do drink. But an interesting side-effect is that I am no longer tolerant of bad coffee. Even in restaurants, I am now more likely to say “let’s go back home for coffee” than I am to order after-dinner coffee of unknown (or, worse still, known) quality. (Depends on who I am eating out with, of course.)

The rest of the time, I drink tea: no milk or anything, just black tea. I have always had a cup of tea in bed at night, but my reduced coffee consumption left a beverage gap during the day. My choice varies between (usually) Lapsang souchong, Earl Grey, Lady Grey, gunpowder, green-tea-with-mint or ordinary. Sometimes I buy something more exotic, such as white tea or blue tea (it’s got cornflower petals in it, bizarrely), but those are always a bit of a letdown, despite their sometimes exorbitant cost.

But the problem with tea is that if I drink a lot of it, it makes me feel old, as though my life has somehow shrivelled up and left me with no alternatives. I think I am probably still an all-day coffee-drinker at heart.

6

I did a “cold turkey” no caffeine thing a while back. That was a life changer. I can now go day without coffee, tea or water. Very liberating.

I find it odd that in an environment that I dislike I only seem to drink a beverage that I dislike, bad coffee. At home I do make a nice cup for myself but I prefer the tea. I think Mum hits it on the neck stump. Nuts.

7

Jaysen, it’s not good to go without WATER. We’re something like 96% made up of the stuff. Be careful.

It’s already liberated your head. :open_mouth:

8

So is liquor.

9

Drinking tea is a wisdom thing. Really, like in older and wiser. Years ago I was a no-nonsense coffee-maniac, 2-3 liters a day, no milk, no sugar, accompanied by lots of cigarettes. The usual beverages for computer people, I think.

Just before marrying I suddenly developed intense stomach problems, so instead of calling off the marriage, I decided to put milk into my coffee and switch to filter cigarettes. Seeing the stubborn stupidity of its human, my stomach gave up and got better.

But being married changes people. Soon after, for no reason I seem able or willing to remember, my beverage of choice became Earl Grey tea. My wife, always being more experimental, brought a bag of it back home and told me I wouldn’t like it. Of course I loved it. Hm. Drat. I’m too easy to steer.

In the morning I get lots of English Breakfast, afterwards some more exotic chinese or japanese teas, my favorite being Gao Shan. But then I do have some very peculiar interests too like doing nothing particular with enormous intensity and so on…

10

I did that once. The resulting withdrawal symptoms matched descriptions I’ve heard for heroin withdrawal. It was BAD.

No, I’m quite happy with my coffee.

11

Ahh ha! A vic-k wannabe. Sad, sad. :frowning:
Fluff

12

Shine tastes better in coffee than it does tea.

13

What an allegation! But may be true, once I figure out who ‘me’ actually is and if that particular ‘me’ would like to be someone (or, in your case, many) else’s ‘me’. Be patient, as soon as I am me again I will be back to haunt your me’s.

14

I am in almost total agreement with Siren, particularly:

In fact, the only place we diverge is the part about someone…

… which is partly my own fault: I’m often the first one up, having been writing (or attempting to) for an hour or two before Lady Of The House reaches over to turn off the alarm clock.

Phil

15

I used to be a cold caffeine person. I much preferred soda to either coffee or tea. Now that I’m approaching my dotage (I’ll be 44 this year), I’m appreciating the comfort of a warm beverage. The drink of choice depends on locale – if I’m writing at Panera Bread, it’s hazelnut coffee; at Borders, it’s mambo tea; at the library, a thermos of tea (carefully concealed from the powers that be); at home, it’s a variety of what’s on hand. I try to limit myself to a couple cups a day, but there are tough writing days where I could pretty much mainline the stuff. Today I’m catching up on a tech editing project as well as working on my novel, so it’s going to be a big coffee/tea day.

16

Wow, it is good that I am sitting down! Our older son will turn 40 in two weeks. What age does that make me entering? But at least the five grandkids keep me awake past noon! :mrgreen:

17

I drink a lot of mineral water (and luckily I live next to mountains with very good ones). Despite the medical reasons confirming this is a need for the organism, I simply feel more in tune with the nature when drinking it. My rite, when going to the mountain village where I’ve spent so much of my early youth, is to stop at the fountain, and drink as much as I can (public toilets are nearby…)

Coffe: I’m partially intolerant to caffeine, so I only drink an espresso after lunch and dinner. If waking up early, another one in the early morning. Tea, sometimes at night (but I often prefer camomilla or some other infusion).

I don’t drink while working. Maybe I should have tea, and stop being so anxious all the time?

Paolo

18

Sorry for dragging anyone into an artificial “dotage” with me! :wink: I have 14-year-old twins who remind me on a regular basis that I’m getting oh-so-very old, so it’s become a common joke here. Happy birthday to your son. Enjoy the grandkids! As for me, I’m taking my “oh-so-very old” self to tae kwon do class while my comedy duo is at school. :smiley:

19

Dont y mean: youtube.com/watch?v=GeV0ewzo … re=related :smiley:
Fluff

20

I call coffee by another name, blood. If you prick me, do i not bleed black? I am the quintessential coffee addict. I have the twitchiness to prove it.