Tea vs Coffee

                                                             

When you talk about beverages and brews you cannot leave out tea and coffee. The daily life of humans hinges upon tea and coffee to a great extent. Although, there is a lot of history associated with both tea and coffee. If we plunge into data and historical facts, there have been wars for the access of these products. 

This itself speaks a loud about the popularity, significance and usage of tea and coffee. It is believed that Tea was discovered by the ancient Chinese rule Shen Nong, when a historical leaf fell into his boiling water. Fortunately, when the leaf fell into his boiling water, he decided to drink it. Not thinking at all about how it fell, the mechanisms and the physics involved; an approach thoroughly unlike that of Uncle Newton. The history of coffee began much later as compared to that of tea. It is believed that coffee was first discovered in Arabia near the Red Sea. So, as we can see both Tea and Coffee have great associated with them.

Tea has a lesser amount of caffeine content in it. The caffeine content in tea is about 40-50 mg per cup. Apart from caffeine, tea has Tannin and Catechin that help in preventing cancer and heart diseases. Coffee on the other hand, has really high caffeine content. The high caffeine content is perhaps the only drawback and demerit associated with coffee. Tea occurs in the form of leaves, while coffee occurs in the form of beans. There are different forms of preparation of tea- White tea, Green Tea, Black Tea, Red Tea and others. Similarly, coffee has different types of consumption as well- Drip Coffee, Espresso, Brewed, Instant, Plunger, Filter et al. So, the users have ample of choices and they can pick according to their taste and need.

Tea is a refined beverage. It has a calming effect and works like a tranquilizer. The pace is slow and tea helps you to relax. It is because of this very reason that most of the Tea TV commercials/advertisements strive to demonstrate and exhibit this calming effect of tea. That is the obvious reason you often see the protagonist saying “waah” after sipping tea, to show and highlight the calmness and satisfaction sipping tea brings to him! On the other hand, the coffee culture can be fast paced and frantic. It gives you a feeling of excitement, helps you stay awake! Coffee gives you a sudden rush; you feel it in your veins!

We Indians consider tea as the king of all brews! Coffee has a huge popularity all over the world, in the United States in particular. In the recent few decades, we have seen many coffee chains growing business in India. Few of the big shots coffee chains are- Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), Barista Lavazza, Costa Coffee and Tata Starbucks. Thus, this stamps the fact that India loves coffee as well! Most of these coffee chains are expensive and way out of reach for the people belonging to the lower strata of the society. While you can have a fantastic cup of tea on road-side tea stalls as well. That’s the beauty of it. India is full of these tea-stalls and each one offers a unique taste. There is this special “Kashmiri Chai” that contains dry fruits as well. Every state in India has a different and unique way of preparation of tea! Still, both beverages have immense significance, taste and usage- Keep sipping!   

Rohan Kalia