With a recent uprising of different cafes and coffee shops (7Brew, Starbucks, Ziggis) it got me thinking about the age-old question: are you a coffee person or tea person?
When given the reasoning behind whether you like coffee or tea, I hear a consistency behind both options: ‘it’s too bitter’ or ‘it’s not flavorful enough.’ Coffee people mostly describe tea as being ‘watered down’ and tea people describe coffee as ‘bitter.’
So truly which one is better, or more popular?
Ignoring the uprise of energy drinks, when one is looking for a caffeine high, they lean towards coffee despite many teas containing caffeine. The average coffee bean offers ten to 12 milligrams of caffeine per gram, and matcha (one of the most caffeinated teas) contains 19 to 44 milligrams per gram. Both give a decent amount of caffeine, so the argument that coffee gives you caffeine and tea doesn’t isn’t completely valid.
Whichever one works for you when seeking caffeine, both have been described as tasting ‘earthy.’ Coffee is described as tasting like dirt, and tea is described as tasting like grass, but there isn’t only one tea option whereas coffee has very limited options. Tea has many flavors because it’s usually a blend of black or green tea leaves from the plant Camellia Sinensis and mixed with other herbs or leaves for flavor. The difference between black tea and green tea is how it’s prepared, changing the initial flavor.
Similarly, the flavor of coffee also comes from different types of coffee and how the coffee bean is roasted. The only difference is that when tea has different flavors, they taste completely different: peach tea and mint tea taste completely different and there’s no undertone of tea, but when coffee has different flavors there’s always a potent taste of coffee.
When you think about where tea comes from, you probably think of the UK, but the origins may surprise you. The Camellia Sinensis, native to China and Northern Myanmar dating all the way back to 2723 B.C.E. Tea was accidentally discovered when Emperor Shen Nong was boiling water when a leaf from a wild tea tree drifted into the pot, according to ancient Chinese history. Because of the colonization of tea, it’s hard to pin down when it was actually founded. It wasn’t until the Tang Dynasty (618-907) that tea was widespread.
The origins of coffee aren’t talked about as much as talking about which cafè has the best coffee (it’s not Starbucks). Coffee beans come from multiple plants, but according to Ethiopian legend it came from a goat herder named Kaldi after noticing his goats eating cherries from a tree. After eating these cherries, Kaldi noticed his goats were so full of energy that they didn’t want to sleep, Kaldi shared his findings and the word of energizing berries spread fast, becoming widespread in the 15th century.
Despite the debate, coffee and tea are both delicious and unique tasting for anyone to enjoy. You can add sugar, honey, milk and creamers and so much more to basically create your own unique drink out of coffee or tea. Not one is better than the other; it’s all based on opinion and what you like.
