Since this is the Café... do you like tea or coffee?

[Valolammas]

(Apologies if this has been done already, I did a quick search but didn't find anything.)

I live in a country which claims to have the highest per-capita coffee consumption in the world. But I don't care, because I'm a die hard tea-drinker. I drink tea in the morning, I drink tea during my lunch break and also during my "coffee" break. I drink tea when I get home and keep at it all evening. Did you know that it's possible to develop a caffeine addiction by drinking tea? I get the same withdrawal headaches that coffee drinkers do, when they don't get their fix.

Green tea: I like sencha.
Oolongs: I like them greenish and lightly roasted.
Black/red tea: Keemun all the way! Yunnans are nice, too. Darjeeling is good for making ice tea.
Tea bags: good for emergencies, they make pretty good tinder if you keep them dry.
Herbal "teas": peppermint mostly, basil is nice occasionally.
Pu-erh: :sick2: though I'm willing to try again if someone else pays for it...

I drink my tea straight. No milk, sugar, cream, salt, lemon, jam, or yak butter in mine, thanks. If I'm feeling ill, I do occasionally add a generous dollop of honey.

As for coffee, I do like coffee-flavored cakes, sweets, candy etc., and I like the smell of coffee, but for whatever reason, I just don't like to drink it. Yecch. (No offense intended to coffee-lovers, this is just a bit of fun.)

So, what do you like?


P.S. and totally unrelated to this thread, but I want to share: it's my birthday today, and by a very lucky bit of timing, my order from Lighthound just arrived! Happy happy, joy joy! (Do we have a smiley with an even wider grin?) Now I have all the parts I need for my first ROP and a whole *bunch* of other cool new toys. Such as a ZDP Calypso Jr. Oh thank you, me, how did you know I've always wanted one? It's perfect! Ooh, and is that GID paracord? Excuse me, I think I'll go lock myself into the bathroom for a while.

 

[Nyctophiliac]

Good thread Mr Valolammas.

Tea is a drink for the Gods.

A refreshing cup for you to sup on yer Birthday!!!

Favourites:

British Builders Tea - Hot, strong, sweet and milky - appx 120-145 lumens - a bit of a white wall of light.
Earl Grey - too perfumed for some, but a delightful cuppa on its own, hot or cold - Narrow beam 80-90 lumens - good hotspot.
Chinese Jasmine tea - subtle and delicate - palette cleansing - best served weak and loose leaf rather than bags - Strong just tastes like vinegar - great to flavour white rice - Definately a smooth flood of white with high and low levels.
Peppermint and Camomile - pretty good but not quite the full shilling - peppermint is good for alertness...good output but bad colour rendition and tint.
Redbush - one that is growing on me - a bit of a shock at first but warm and glowing thereafter - especially mixed with Bergamot - Like a narrow sabre beamed incandescant, doesn't show all the details but is great for really wanging around in the dark!


(Sometimes I really fancy a Cappucino...is this wrong??)


Be lucky...

 

[Pokerstud]

Starbucks French Roast, extra bold, #7 grind, black, pure caffine rocket fuel, no side spill, all throw, 1000 lumens worth!!!

 

[The_LED_Museum]

There was no option for "no coffee, no tea, no beer; I drink something else." so I did not vote in this particular poll.

The pop called Vault Zero (the diet version of Vault) is my favourite beverage; in fact, I've got one going right now.

 

[cerbie]

Both, but more tea; mostly due to ease of preparation. Also, for the $, tea lasts longer. I can get 1/2lb of good Earl Grey for under $10, and it lasts a couple months. Whereas coffee will be at least $2.50 for the same amount, but last under a week!

 

[Nyctophiliac]

Hey, what's vault? We don't get that over here in UK!

Have you ever tried Dandelion and Burdock?


Be lucky...

 

[TedTheLed]

green coffee beans can keeps for years if you roast your own.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

Hey, what's vault? We don't get that over here in UK!

Vault is a citrus-flavoured soda pop/energy drink hybrid.
Let's go see if I can dredge up a photograph of a can, bottle, 12-pack, etc. and then host it on my own server...BBS...

This is a bottle of Vault Zero.

 

[Omega Man]

I can't believe tea is tipping the scales.
I'm a diehard tea man. Favorite is Earl Grey bags by Republic of Tea.
I like a little sugar and milk, not big on herbals at all unless I'm sick. Darjeeling is ok from time to time. But part of my ritual when I have the day off or don't have to work a morning shift is to eat breakfast, and have a cup while going over CPF/MP and my email. Or any online browsing/shopping.
Sorry soda guys, but that's one thing I don't drink. There are pretty much 3 occasions it'll pass my lips-
When mixed with booze; as the traditional reward at the end of our camping trips(a bottle of orange soda from the rangers station is how we end every hike); a bottle of ginger beer. I loooove real ginger beer, and any ginger ale falls so short in comparison.

 

[TigerhawkT3]

I don't mind most teas (prefer chamomile), but I absolutely loathe coffee. The smell is almost as bad as cigarette smoke (to me). I just now finished a bottle of Odwalla Mango Tango, which I love. Yum...

 

[greenLED]

I can't believe tea is tipping the scales.

How so? I didn't know there other beverages other than tea out there.

Herbal "tea", Tiger? :sick2: Puh-lease! That's NOT *tea*.

Black tea, some milk, no sugar for me, please. Iced tea (unsweetened, unflavored) when I eat out. Sometimes I'll enjoy some Chai (in milk), but for some reason they tend to add honey to it (or too much cardamom), and that totally ruins it for me.

 

[flashfan]

Can't believe there are no votes (yet) for beer!

Coffee (caffeine!) for me. All you gourmet coffee types will probably gag, but I actually like instant.

 

[Diesel_Bomber]

Mostly tea for me, but sometimes coffee. Black or chai with milk and a bit of sugar. I don't buy any tea-type drinks from stores or Starbucks or wherever. The drinks are always 3X too sweet, even when I ask them to take it easy. The only time I really do coffee now is when I'm working nights during the winter. On some of those jobs, fights have started over who gets the last couple swallows of scalding-hot-oversugared-crude-oil-like-"coffee" from the bottom of a thermos. If it's a long job I'll break out the backpacking stove I bring along and make fresh coffee. Boosts morale immeasurably and I tend to have a crowd of friends rather quickly when I do that.

:buddies:

 

[Joe Talmadge]

Drink both. I like coffee best, purchased from small operations where I can get the beans within a few days of roasting. I like many varieties, with kona and moka java being among my faves. Gotta be freshly roasted to perfection, definitely no supermarket beans, nor Pete's/Starbucks/etc

For tea, I love high-quality greens and whites. High grade lung ching is my fave green; silver needle my favorite white.

 

[CLHC]

Both coffee and tea, and I also drink beer!

Cheers!

 

[Monocrom]

Mmmm..... Sweet, sweet beer! :twothumbs

 

[knot]

There's a Starbucks on every street, it seems, in the northwest. There are 4 or 5 coffee shops just on one street alone in Portland. I swear, if I hear the name "Starbucks" or see another sign.........I'll, I'll... have a quadruple double mocha expresso.

I like tea with condensed milk and sugar.

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

I voted coffee only, but drink ICED tea often for lunch and always for supper.

Can't even imagine drinking hot tea!

 

[ernsanada]

I like Lipton Citrus Flavored Green Iced Tea.

Left to right, Fenix L1P, Lipton Citrus Flavored Green Iced Tea, Lumapower MRV

 

[knot]

Try Thai iced tea - delicious!