The problem is that the widely available tea brands (at least in America) are usually shit, and people not knowing how to make it right and end up using scalding hot water when making green tea or microwaving the water with the bag in. I get my tea from tea shops and use an electric kettle to get the brewing temps right, and now a lot of grocery store teas are disgusting to me.
I like good coffee too, but when I have it I often feel sick later and the caffeine content sometimes sets off my anxiety.
Coffee also messes with my digestion and if I’m not careful makes me anxious. These days I avoid coffee and get my morning caffeine fix from yerba mate. It tastes better and is easier to enjoy than coffee.
I laugh incredulously when people defend going to Starbucks every day like “well I don’t get the $8 dessert coffees, I just get regular coffee!” and it’s like, that aint coffee darling.
As an enthusiast for both leaf soup and bean juice, it seems like most coffee drinkers think of cheap, old, dusty teabag tea, overboiled to taste like bitter vegetables in sewage water, while most tea drinkers think of pure dark overroasted burnt coffee, preground too finely (or as the worst kind of instant coffee), tasting like acid in an ash tray, like those are your only two options.
Both coffee and tea can be so terrible and also so wonderful. I guess my favorite coffee takes quite some preparation and my favorite tea cost me about as much as a junkie’s crack addiction. But both can be really nice if you spend a little more money on a quality product and take the bit of effort to prepare it properly.
Yeah I drink coffee for the stimulants, but it can be good. Tea is a sometimes drink but when done decent is usually excellent and has a very high ceiling
Especially when you get good tea from quality suppliers, it’s excellent. I’m part of a tea club and get sent boxes of tea from a specific vendor i really like. Some of the tea is probably more than a year old, but I’d just as happily tear open the bag and make a delicious pot of tea. high quality tea is not as expensive as people think and it’s absolutely wonderful. it is softer than coffee though and takes some time for your palate to adjust.
ETA: I pay $40 every other month and get over an ounce of loose leaf tea, carefully selected with love by the vendor. they’re a small operation with direct ties to tea farms in China and source from family and friends. And if you’re in the right communities, you can talk to them directly and discuss the tea with them. the world of tea is very inviting and open and you’d be surprised how cheap really good tea is, especially in bulk.
I think tea is actually way more approachable which is what makes it less snobby.
You have to be educated about what makes it good and how to prepare it but at the end of the day all you need is the tea, some hot water and a cup. You get fancy with filtering it and how but it’s unnecessary to enjoy.
You shouldn’t need to filter high quality tea, it should speak for itself. A little leaves at the bottom are just snacks. if you prefer it filtered thats fine, just totally unnecessary. Really the limiting factor is actually water quality, but there are people experimenting with water recipes to make the best tea. And they usually share their recipes and the majority of the minerals are widely available and it’s just a lot of distilled water. The equipment is what’s most expensive, but a cheap gaiwan or even a small bowl and you’re good to go.
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