Congratulations to Stephani, who won yesterday’s drawing! I’ll be emailing Stephani to arrange delivery of her choice of book.

Today’s debate: coffee or tea?

I am a tea person. I honestly dislike the taste of coffee, though I love the smell. I started drinking tea for a couple of reasons: 1.) To have something to drink when the coffee drinkers were drinking coffee after a dinner and 2.) I’m Irish.

What does being Irish have to do with it? I never realized this until I wrote a workshop about building characters and the traditions passed down through the generations, but one of the reasons I drink tea with milk and sweetener is because that’s how my dad drank it. And where did he pick up that habit? From his parents, who were from—you guessed it—Ireland.

I drink black teas. No herbal for me, though I will occasionally drink chamomile if I have an upset stomach (learned that one from a pediatrician years ago). I will also drink the chamomile straight up, no milk or sugar. The poor chamomile gets lost with that stuff in it. But black teas? They’re fairly strong, sometimes bitter and need the help from milk and sweetener. Note I said milk, not cream. Anyone ever try drinking creamer in tea? It completely masks the taste of the tea, and you find yourself drinking hot creamer. Bleh.

Here in America, we are a coffee society. I will order tea at a restaurant, and I will ask for milk. They bring me creamer. I ask again for milk (as I remove the lemon and honey from my saucer). They look at me funny, but they eventually come back with a small glass of milk. It’s exhausting. However, if you drink coffee, they bring all the fixings, exactly as you would wish.

Now a few years ago, my husband and I went to Ireland. When I went to a restaurant, I ordered tea. That’s it, just tea. Not only did they bring me a big, silver pot of brewed tea (just as they would serve coffee in America), they brought milk and sweetener without me having to ask. My people!

One other fun thing about Ireland: my husband ordered coffee one day and asked for cream. The wait staff looked perplexed, but they eventually brought him some. Apparently one drinks coffee with milk as well.

Now, I’m not dissing coffee. I’m just saying I’m a tea drinker living in a coffee drinking country. My husband occasionally drinks coffee, as does my older son. My younger son has drifted into Tea Land with me. His favorite? Irish Breakfast. <G>

My husband and I went to Hawaii a couple of years ago. We stayed on The Big Island (as West coasters refer to the island of Hawaii), specifically Kona. Of course we found ourselves at a Kona coffee plantation, where my husband tried a blend of coffee referred to as Peaberry. Our tour guide recommended we try the Peaberry without anything in it. Then, if we still wanted to add something after the first taste, we should do so.

My husband tried the Peaberry black, and he was amazed at the flavor. Normally coffee beans grow two to a cherry, flat against each other two halves inside a peanut. But once in a while, the cherry only produces one mutant bean, and this apparently produces a sweeter and less bitter coffee. Because processing the Peaberry is so labor intensive (picking out the mutant beans by hand), it is very expensive, even there in Hawaii. A pound of it cost around $35! We brought some home to my son (just a little package, around $8), and he loved it, too.

So, my name is Deb and I am a tea drinker. My current favorite is English Breakfast and The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee blend, which a friend brought back for me from England.

What about you? Are you a coffee person or a tea person? What’s your favorite? Comment to be included in a drawing to win a paperback title from my backlist!