Why Americans will never love tea as much as coffee



But some thoughts on why they should...
Americans will likely never drink tea with the same devotion as coffee because it does not fit their frenetic culture. This curious argument is put forward by food writer Max Falkowitz, who explains in an article for Heated how tea is all about slowing down, whereas coffee's great appeal lies in the way it speeds things up. He writes,
"Coffee in the American model is speedy and largely solitary; in any region where tea has a foothold, it acts as a mechanism for slowing people down and, in literal and metaphorical senses, bringing them together, be it a Turkish town square or Egyptian hookah lounge or a Chinese teahouse."
I'd never thought of this difference between the world's two most popular hot beverages, but I like it because it's reflected in my own travel experiences, as well as my personal consumption habits. At home, I turn to tea first thing in the morning as I'm easing into the day and in the evening when I'm winding down. Coffee is my go-to when it's time to accelerate my day and increase alertness, and I drink a few cups between 8 AM and noon.
Falkowitz offers another wonderful reason to love tea, one that will appeal to environmentalists, minimalists, and penny-pinchers alike:
"Where specialty coffee is focused on using a relatively large amount of ground beans to make a small single serving, tea is expansive. You brew it by the pot (or put on a kettle for everyone’s tea bags) to serve many at once. The leaves can be steeped again and again."
Indeed, I learned this lesson on a recent trip to Sri Lanka, where a tea producer explained how the most expensive silver and gold tip teas, as well as many green teas, can be brewed up to three times before tossing. Doing the same with coffee is impossible; it would result in a tasteless, weak brew, which shows you get more bang for your buck with good tea leaves. (The multiple brewings do not apply to the 'dust' in prepackaged tea bags, as the Sri Lankans call it rather disparagingly.)
I'm not taking a side in the coffee versus tea debate, as I think each has its time and place, but Falkowitz's words make me appreciate tea more than I already do. We need all the reusable, slowing, and community-building activities that we can get in our lives, and tea does just that.
On that note, I think it's time to make another cup with the single-origin Broken Orange Pekoe (B.O.P.) leaves I brought back from my trip...


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

That Uplifting Tweet You Just Shared? A Russian Troll Sent It

Image
Here’s what Russia’s 2020 disinformation operations look like, according to two experts on social media and propaganda. By   DARREN LINVILL   &   PATRICK WARREN Internet trolls don’t troll. Not the professionals at least. Professional trolls don’t go on social media to antagonize liberals or belittle conservatives. They are not narrow minded, drunk or angry. They don’t lack basic English language skills. They certainly aren’t  “somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds,”  as the president once put it. Your stereotypical trolls do exist on social media, but the amateurs aren’t a threat to Western democracy. Professional trolls, on the other hand, are the tip of the spear in the new digital, ideological battleground. To combat the threat they pose, we must first understand them — and take them seriously. MORE: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russia-troll-2020-election-interference-twitter-916482/ P...
Read more

The Nightmare Scenario That Keeps Election Lawyers Up At Night -- And Could Hand Trump A Second Term

Image
The Nightmare Scenario That Keeps Election Lawyers Up At Night -- And Could Hand Trump A Second Term   (Photo: Photos: Getty Images) Americans will almost certainly go to bed on Nov. 3 without knowing who won the presidential election. Since millions of people will vote by mail, constraints on time and resources will slow ballot counting into potentially a weeks-long process. Voting patterns suggest it’s likely that President  Donald Trump  could end Election Day in the lead in certain key states, only to be overtaken by Democratic opponent  Joe Biden  when more votes are tallied.  This could create a nightmare scenario during the three months stretching from Election Day to the Jan. 20 inauguration: a battle on the state and congressional level over who is the legitimate winner. This could include Congress reconvening on Jan. 6, presided over by Vice President  Mike Pence , with no consensus over its potential role in choosing the next president. This...
Read more

When Life Hands You Lemons

Image
 It's like this folks: sometimes your mind goes blank. Happens more than usual with me of course. Take this forum for instance. I wanted to post something today and couldn't think of a topic. At least not a non-sexual one and we know sexual ones lately have been frowned upon.  Then along comes one of our regulars and complains about something. Well, they might not say it was a complaint, just an observation, but it was a complaint. A minor one. It has something to do about being able to make something out of nothing. Sort of like me this morning, how to make a thread out of an empty head? But they (notice I am using the correct pronoun, not saying he or she), by what they said got me thinking. What I thought was: Not sure if that is the actual saying, if I remember correctly, I remember the saying going something like this: Umm, no, I don't think the saying I am thinking of goes that way either, maybe ONE of you good folks can remind me how the saying goes. Either way, when...
Read more