In a recent essay on coffee in America, essayist Julia Keller proclaimed that there is a fundamental difference between "coffee people" and "tea people." The difference between the two is a "a cultural divide that cuts across movies, and TV, and literature, and life.... Coffee is scraped knuckles and bum luck; tea is an extended pinkie and inherited wealth."As someone who's been known to drink both, I'm at a bit of a loss. (Perhaps I secretly have a split personality?) But, honestly, am I the only one who sees a similarity in the finicky preparation requirements of both beverages? A precise amount of coffee or tea needs to be added to a precise amount of water at a precise temperature for a precise amount of time. A mistake in the amount of coffee grounds or tea leaves; the amount of water or its temperature; or the amount of time it sits will all have a definite impact on flavor. Of course, the fact that most of us make our coffee in a coffee pot (which does all the temperature work on its own), may make all the difference. But do you see yourself as a particular affectionado of one hot beverage over the other?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-21-2006 @ 4:19PM
Foodie Pam said...
I am also both a coffee and a tea person. I don't see why someone couldn't be both...
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10-21-2006 @ 4:38PM
jmchez said...
I am both.
In the morning I must have my latte (homemade or Starbucks) and I will also have espresso or american coffe when with firends in restaurants or, again, in coffeehouses. However, at home in the late afternoon or with bad weather days, I tend to feel like having a variety of different teas.
I particulalrly like the Yogi tea brand. they have really nice combinations of teas and herbs for alsmost every ocassion, health need, or mood.
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10-21-2006 @ 5:37PM
POOT-TOOP said...
Looks like the writer was just bored; i cant believe people get paid to write crap like this.
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10-21-2006 @ 5:38PM
rainey said...
I can enjoy a good cup of coffee but I'm really a tea person and always have been. But that description couldn't be further from the truth. I'm as funky and gritty as I'm allowed to be in polite company. I am barely fit for (or interested in) civilization on my worst days and "eccentric" on my best. Fortunately, the older I get the easier it seems to get away with it these days.
The image of an effete person with pinky extended is someone else who might just as readily be ordering a complicated coffee preparation.
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10-21-2006 @ 5:44PM
Robyn said...
yeah, this is silly! it depends on how much caffeine i need, how much acid my stomach can take, what's available, wht kind of tea is available at a certain shop.
hrm... i'm not picky about how i make things though. i just stick a bag in some water. and i'm still trying to figure out how much grounds i need for a cup of coffee. (i'm new.)
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10-21-2006 @ 5:59PM
MJ said...
Im both..........First, was strickly a tea drinker. Would only drink coffee on ocassion. Stomch wouldnt allow it, until i realized if I didnt use much sugar I could enjoy a cup. Now I enjoy both, but still like to shop for speciality teas, hated flavored coffees!
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10-21-2006 @ 6:04PM
Perris from So. Texas said...
I like both! But I must say overall I prefer tea - iced!! I'm not particularly crazy about hot tea but being a true southern girl I drink iced tea every day, year round.
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10-21-2006 @ 6:20PM
JennT said...
I am a tea junkie: I enjoy the ceremony of making tea properly, watching it steep, and then enjoying it. I tinker and make my own loose-leaf blends, and I have empty pouches I bought for travel to the home office where the tea is bigelow bags (and it's unseemly to bring all of my tea apparatus through customs).
The pinkie-extended tea drinker is an old-fashioned pretention that describes someone who is served tea (or coffee, for that matter), as opposed to someone who makes his/her own.
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10-21-2006 @ 7:17PM
Janis said...
Starbucks bold coffees only!!
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10-21-2006 @ 10:35PM
Kiwi Carlisle said...
I'm allergic to coffee, so there's no contest! Give me my tea any time! I like the smell of coffee, but even a cup of decaf will give me a horrible migraine.
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10-21-2006 @ 11:02PM
oneless70 said...
I prefer good coffee, but enjoy tea as well. I choose tea when I don't have the time to prepare good coffee, or when I don't have ideal conditions for coffee (at work, etc.), or for a change of pace. I also enjoy hot tea toddies.
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10-21-2006 @ 11:28PM
kaitlin Hess said...
I'm a hot chocolate person!
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10-21-2006 @ 11:52PM
Camille Bauman said...
Good old coffee anyday, and not those flavored calorie laden creamy concoctions.
Tea reminds me of a drink you consume when you are ill, laced with lemon and honey to soothe a sore throat. It's too thin and watery...need something robust and aromatic....gets your heart started first thing in the morning!
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10-21-2006 @ 11:57PM
Sera said...
I'm defiantely a Tea girl. :)
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10-22-2006 @ 12:27AM
matt said...
I would suggest that there are a lot of tea drinkers trapped in a coffee drinkers body. Barry's, Lyon's, Assam or Uva teas with milk have similar strengths as coffee. Good with milk, coloring, even similar flaws like bitterness. There just aren't too many occasions to try a good tea.
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10-22-2006 @ 8:10AM
Dawn said...
I am coffeee and herbal tea person. I love coffee with a passion. Herbal tea is a way of relaxtion. How would the author classify me?
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10-22-2006 @ 11:04AM
salt said...
I like coffee
I like tea
I like the boys
and the boys like me
(old jumprope rhyme)
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10-22-2006 @ 11:27AM
j said...
both are stolen from cultures not western. I can't speak for coffee but tea is an asian staple that can be enjoyed by the emperor or a peasant in the fields. the pinky extended tea drinker is a perversion of tea's roots
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10-22-2006 @ 7:41PM
Vanessa Balchen said...
Coffee. I tried to be a tea person but it didn't ever have enough flavor, body, or umph to bother with.
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10-23-2006 @ 7:46AM
Lord Jezo said...
Speaking of tea, this morning I have finally found a tea too strong for me.
Yorkshire Gold by Taylors of Harrogate.
I picked up a box yesterday and for the first time in years I have had to take the tea bag out of my tea cup. Normally I will drink Asian teas and let it seep for an hour, I could never get my tea strong enough. White, green, oolong.. I would just take the leaves and leave them in the cup until I was finished drinking. Even loose Typhoo tea from the UK, I'll fill up a bag, toss it in my cup, and let it take over.
But this Yorkshire Gold stuff. Man, this is intense. Within a few minutes the tea was so dark that I could not even see the bottom of the tea bag. The flavor was the strongest I have ever had.
I think I have found my match.
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