Nasty Battles #4 - Tea vs Coffee

Situation at hand - Those of us who had Economics in high school are very familiar with the concept of 'substitutes'. That is, if I cannot get A then I am happy to stick to B. The most widely used example when we explained 'substitutes' in our exam papers was the so-called alternative between tea and coffee. If the price of coffee beans goes up, we wrote, it's not a problem at all -- we just buy some more tea bags and get on with our lives!

The Back-story -  After two years of college, which I can safely say were the most caffeine-intensive days of my short life, I can't help but question this concept, because when your assignment is due in eight hours and you've written exactly three words, will a cup of tea do the job?

Or when you're having a laid-back hangout with friends after dinner, who wants to gulp down black coffee and stay up all night?

So here was the clincher: are tea and coffee really substitutes? And which one do you prefer? Not surprisingly, we can find a large number of purists who are unquestionably loyal to their beloved hot beverage. No substituting in these people's line-ups!

I can't imagine starting my day without a strong cup of chai to wake me up  but then again, I still remember how I didn't like the bitter taste of coffee a few years ago when I started college. But now I am completely hooked to 100 per cent black coffee!”

Then there are some coffee lovers who drink their coffee multiple times throughout the day: in the morning with breakfast, at work before lunch, a cup after lunch, one cup back at home with some evening snacks – and perhaps a cup at night if they are visiting friends or family.

Lessons in History - The hot beverage culture in India is also historically more inclined towards tea. And what an amazing journey tea has been on. Born in China, then taken to Japan, shipped across waters to Portugal, brought to England when a Portuguese princess married a British prince, and finally arriving in the Indian subcontinent with the British East India Company.

The word “cha” is actually from Ancient China. While the South East Asians are still sipping the green tea of their ancestors, we Asians, a little to the left, are addicted to black. Add some fresh milk and sugar to the mix, and you get a hearty cup of ‘chai’ that is a staple at every Indian household. Herbal teas like green tea, rooibos (red) tea, ginger tea, tulsi tea, etc are also known for their health benefits.

On the other hand, the coffee culture is a more Western concept, which is now slowly gaining momentum in the more affluent sections of the Eastern population. When comparing history, if tea were the simple girl-next-door, then coffee would be the banished temptress, so controversial is its back story.

It is said that coffee was discovered in the Ethiopian highlands when some goats ate berries off a plant and wouldn't sleep. A monk then made a drink with the berries and found it greatly increased his energy, and word spread from thereon. Coffee moved east to the Arabian Peninsula, where it was named the “wine of Araby.”

When coffee reached Europe, sceptics warily called it the 'bitter invention of Satan', but the reigning Pope liked it so much he gave it Papal approval.

In the 1600's, coffee reached the New World, to a humble city we now know as New York. Tea was still the reigning queen, however. But in 1773, American colonists fiercely revolted to a huge tax imposed on tea by the King of England. This revolt was the famous Boston Tea Party, which forever changed the drinking preference of Americans (and hence, a large part of the world) from tea to coffee.

Some people say whether they crave tea or coffee depends on their mood. On a chilly December afternoon I would love a mug of coffee. But on rainy days it's surely tea.

Yes, some of us occasionally cheat on tea with coffee, or vice versa. We use the "It's not you, it's me" excuse, but for most of us, our hot beverage preference is stronger than a lot of marriages: we love it from the start, we can't imagine a world without it, we need it to get through the day, we feel alive when we are with it and dead when we are without. Now that's a declaration fit for any love song.

What really adds the spice is the historical significance behind each drink.

Verdict - This battle's certainly not ending any time soon. So pick one side and combine forces! And ahoy fill up that goddamn cup!

- Kalyani Kamat