I love to drink coffee, tea and herbal tisanes in a multitude of flavors. Generally I prefer tea to coffee, since coffee makes my head feel staticy sometimes, but there are days, like today, when I just want to smell some good coffee brewing. I’m taking a break from writing to give my head a rest and thought I’d update about the coffees and teas that I drink most often.
Mornings belong to the English PG Tips and Irish Breakfast. In Europe tea bags generally hold twice the amount of leaves as American bags, so I double up on the Twinings. I’m not a purist either—-I always add milk/cream and sugar. I like it light and sweet 
I mostly drink green and white teas in the afternoon. Today though I wanted to smell coffee so I brewed a sample bag of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee I had lying around.
That’s my favorite cup! An old fashioned 6 oz-er. So much smaller than the huge mugs we have today.
The summer time is also perfect for iced coffee, and anytime for a Southerner is the proper time for iced sweet tea.
When I have trouble sleeping I make a cup (sometimes doubling up on the bags) of an herbal tea called Sleepytime Extra with Valerian. Valerian is an herb that’s root can be used as a mild sedative.
Beverages—whether they be tea, coffee or wine—are an important part of food culture and cultures in general. Japan is famous for their intricate tea service. In Turkey and other Arabic countries it is customary to sit and drink coffee or chai/cay/cha with friends and families into the hours of the night. Europe, especially France and Italy, have strong barista traditions with espressos and small coffees so thick they seem to devour sugar before your eyes. Yerba Mate is drunk in Argentina and Paraguay with a circle of friends and family and small gourd. What would England be without tea time? Or our girly princess childhoods for that matter?
Though there are many reputed health benefits—from antioxidants in teas to the calming quality of chamomile—that’s not the reason I find to drink them. They’re part of the long history of humanity looking for a pick-me-up, a commodity, a substance to heal and a warm drink to gather around on a cold night. So, unless you’re downing gallons of coffee a day, make a tradition of your morning coffee or afternoon tea and know that—hey, it’s pretty cool to be a part of a tradition that, for tea, goes back thousands of years and for coffee to the mid-1400s.
Enjoy!
