Tea or Coffee – Which is your favorite beverage?

^-^ coffee

I am just curious to know how many of us like tea or coffee or both? I love Tea. That’s what I drink daily (almost). I think it’s the sweet taste which draws me to the tea and of course I love that tea goes so well with Marie or Milk biscuits.

I don’t know why, I was never drawn to coffee. I think that’s because coffee not very tasty (read: sugary). Even if I visit coffee day, I just drink either cafe mocha (during winters) or tropical iceberg (during summers). I don’t like anything else. I guess I like these two because they have a strong chocolate flavour combined with coffee.

I like the normal tea that we make at homes/get at restaurants – Tea with milk and sugar. Lots of sugar, that is. I think I have tasted some of the best tea’s when I was staying in Coimbatore. I wonder if the proximity to the Tea estates of Ooty has to do anything with this?

When I drink tea outside, I like to combine it with spicy stuff like masal/medhu vada, samosa, puff, bajji, bonda (with sambar), etc. If you have not tried it, try it. These uncanny combinations are too good! I also remember having some excellent masala tea in a train, long time back. I wonder if the taste is maintained still… Somehow, the green tea doesn’t catch my fancy. Need to try it!

Recently I came to know that the British promoted tea in India by giving it to people for free (initially), addicted them to it, and then started selling it. I also remembered going to the neighboring shops to drink tea, a couple of times when my mother was not at home to give me the tea! Hence I became quite apprehensive and I started taking breaks. I drink tea for 10 days and take a break for 5 days. De-addiction 😛 Yes, I do crazy things like that 🙂

So, I would like to know what you prefer – Tea or Coffee or both or neither? I don’t know how to make tea but any tips for making a great tea (like special ingredients, etc) will be highly appreciated. You can also tell me your preferred choice of coffee in coffee day/any other cafe. I will try it once 🙂

Destination Infinity

The photo in the beginning is a copyright free photo released in the public domain.

37 thoughts on “Tea or Coffee – Which is your favorite beverage?

  1. Maxims

    I’m a certified coffee addict! When my husband sees the large mug of black coffee (minus the sugar) that I consume first thing in the morning, he just cannot stand it. He is a tea person and has plenty of it distributed over the entire day, in very small quantities per serving though. He prefers it with ginger and cardamom powder for the evening tea. He does drink instant coffee occasionally. The only tea I can stand is the green tea; or black tea with mint or cardamom powder (again without sugar). I just cannot tolerate the taste of milk.

    1. Rajesh K

      Well, I like tea with sugar and milk. I too don’t like milk separately, but with tea or milk-shakes, I like it. I guess tastes can be drastically different between people! I drink only one tea, in a large tumbler and am still afraid that it will addict me!

      Destination Infinity

  2. SG

    I drink both of them. But coffee on a daily basis. So you like “oru kadi oru kudi” (one bite one sip). Coffee or Tea – combine with spicy stuff like masal vada is great.

    1. Rajesh K

      I guessed there should be some people who like both. Yes, masal vada especially is too good with tea. I don’t get to eat/drink that combination too often, these days.

      Destination Infinity

  3. Shilpa Garg

    It’s only tea for me and I am pretty fussy about it.
    1. I like only masala tea and I keep changing the masala every few days… ginger, cardamom, fennel, regular branded tea masala etc etc
    2. While I am Ok with somebody cooking food for me daily but tea is something, I like making myself.
    3. I like to have it my special favorite large mugs only.
    4. I like to have my cup in total peace with no disturbance, phones, doorbells etc.
    5. I hate separate tea. So when I am travelling for work and where these hotels serve only separate tea, I prefer to miss my tea.
    6. Yes, I like my tea sweet!

    Gosh, this has become a post! 😀

    1. Rajesh K

      What is this separate tea? Milk with tea bags? Anyway, it is good to see another tea lover and that too sweet-tea. I wonder how people like those black tea and black coffee, etc. I need to try some masala flavors. I tried ginger recently, but it is increasing my body heat.

      Destination Infinity

      1. Shilpa Garg

        Separate tea is the one which they serve with tea bags and then add milk and sugar separately! Ginger tea is good in winters and in summers try fennel seeds!

        1. Rajesh K

          Ok… Since its a 9-month summer for us, I guess I need to explore the last option suggested by you!

          Destination Infinity

  4. Jeevan

    For me coffee is the favorite, but I also like tea. I don’t drink coffee everyday and during travel I wish having it more as I like tasting the difference from place to another. I always like having coffee or tea at village tea stalls while traveling since I believe they prepare with direct cow or buffalo milk… but nowadays even villages use packet milk and they are very liquid.

    During my childhood day I more prefer to tea than coffee and I like having butter biscuits soaked in tea.

    1. Rajesh K

      I have never tasted tea prepared using fresh milk! It’s always packet milk or the powder milk, which I guess some shops use. I am ok with tea bags, some of them do taste good but nothing like freshly prepared tea with lots of milk and sugar 🙂

      Butter biscuits soaked in tea? Now that is something I haven’t tried. Can’t imagine the combination but I love them both individually. Will try soon…

      Destination Infinity

  5. Bikramjit Singh Mann

    Cofffee – White – Two sugars PLEASEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 🙂

    it is strange for me when i was in india , it was TEA all the way always , made of milk we called it DUDH PATTI 🙂 .. but for some reason I found the tea here in uk bland.. and am now a coffee drinker ..

    but my coffee is still .. in Milk.. 🙂

    Bikram’s

    1. Rajesh K

      Yes, I too like tea with milk and sugar. I guess tea for me comes with more than those two spoons! I wonder how people like black coffee, etc. The taste is in milk and sugar, I feel.

      Destination Infinity

  6. Susan Deborah

    I like both but when given a choice, I always opt for coffee. I drink tea in places where coffee is not prepared well. When I am in the north, west and east of India, I drink Tea, as they cannot prepare good Coffee like they do in the south. I like my Tea and Coffee milky with lots of sugar. The version of Coffee in London is not Coffee according to me. And, whenever I have Tea, I like to dip the Marie biscuits in them. With Coffee, I don’t like any snacks save vadai or bonda.

    Besh Besh romba nanna irukku 🙂

    Joy always,
    Susan

    1. Rajesh K

      With tea, milk biscuits are also good. I guess coffee got better ads in the south, than tea! That’s why we predominantly remember the ‘punch lines’ from them!

      Destination Infinity

  7. Jas

    Though I drink tea daily but coffee is something I can have anytime of the day and night. We have sometimes had a cup of coffee as late as 2 in the night.

    1. Rajesh K

      Coffee was suggested to me for remaining awake in the nights before exams. But the tension used to take care of it! Somehow your comment reminded me of this!

      Destination Infinity

  8. Krishna

    most preferably T !

    happy diwali…

    thanks

    1. Rajesh K

      Another Tea lover… Ha ha ha… Happy deepavali to you too… 🙂

      Destination Infinity

  9. Lubna

    Hi
    I hopped here to wish you a Happy Diwali and now I’m drawn into a blog conversation. I began to drink tea during my CA exams – rather my mother would thoughtfully perk me up with tea. Earlier I had stayed away from both beverages.
    Then, the habit stuck, so tea it was. Later when I moved to Bangalore for a few years, I switched to coffee. I just did not like the tea served in our office in Bangalore (machine tea or coffee tastes the same).
    Now I don’t mind either. Any hot brown liquid that can jolt me awake is fine.
    But nothing beats a glass of kati chai (half glass) the other shared with a friend with piping hot bhaija’s along the sea during the monsoons, in Mumbai.

    1. Rajesh K

      Of course, hot tea tastes best during cool monsoons and cold winter. I liked the tea from vending machine – I guess the machine generates only milk and the dip bag does the rest. Probably, if we use good flavor of tea dip bags, it might be better.

      Destination Infinity

  10. Sandhya Kumar

    I love coffe without sugar in the morning and ginger tea with 2 tsp. sugar, in the evening! Am not very fond of biscuits! I just boil half cup water with a piece of ginger. after a minute add a tsp. of tea and 2 tsp. of sugar. Boil for one minute, add half cup of milk. Bring it to a boil…my tea is ready!

    You are a foodie! You seem to love good food! be careful about your weight!

    1. Rajesh K

      I thought people have a preference for Tea or Coffee. I do. But many have indicated a preference for both! Interesting to know that! Thanks for the recipe, I may have to try it sometime…

      Earlier, I used to think that I should eat less to maintain weight. But these days, I prefer doing more physical activities instead of eating less 🙂

      Destination Infinity

      1. Sandhya

        If you are buring your extra calories too, you eat as much as you like!

  11. vishesh unni raghunathan

    Kaapi 😀 Need to have at least two shots of coffee in a day. It was worse earlier…now, I can manage on most days with even one shot…

    I don’t mind tea…but it doesn’t as much caffeine as coffee…

  12. Rajesh K

    Ok. So, its not Coffee but its Kaapi indeed 🙂 Filter Coffee a? Bru Instant a? 🙂

    Destination Infinity

  13. KayEm

    What would I do without my early morning cuppa? Tea is my tipple and coffee is the hubby’s poison. I use tea bags for convenience and no sugar but switch to loose tea when I’m not in a hurry. Love ginger, mint & lemon grass or cardamom & cloves in my tea. Do you really believe the Brits got us addicted to it and then sold it to us at a premium? I think they are as diverse as we are – some decent and some, up to no good. It’s a nice tale though.

    1. Rajesh K

      Some tea bags do taste good. What I read was, we were not used to drinking tea before and the British addicted us into drinking it. This was about the region surrounding the Nilgiris and I think I read the information in a Tamil magazine. Not sure how true it is.

      Besides, addicting people to tea is not any bad deed. It was a shrewd business move to increase their sales volume (from tea estates in Ooty). But the British have done far worser things – Addicting the Chinese to opium, for example.

      Destination Infinity

  14. Dilip

    I like light tea and at times herbal (sage or basil) tea. Now that Starbucks is in India I wonder if you plan to check it out too?
    Cheers!

    1. Rajesh K

      I should try herbal tea. Maybe, if Starbucks comes to Chennai I might go. Not particularly interested 🙂

      Destination Infinity

  15. Avada Kedavra

    Filter coffee for me anyday and everyday 🙂 But I like tea too.

    1. Rajesh K

      I knew you liked coffee, but didn’t know about your interest for filter coffee. I don’t even know the difference between normal and filter coffee!

      Destination Infinity

  16. Ashwathy

    Coffee in the mornings once I wake up! Morning cuppa without fail for me… the normal one with milk and sugar. Gives me the energy to kickstart the day!

    But evening I like my cup of tea in the evening… with some biscuit or usually handful of roasted cashews/almonds.

    If I have a very late lunch then I usually go for lemon tea with sugar (no milk), so that I still get the caffeine kick without the heaviness of the milk in it.
    Very rarely I have green tea… I’ve found that it is a detox version…very light on the tummy.

    I used to frequent Baristas and Cafe Coffee Days all the time, but these days I do make cold coffee at home …adding some vanilla ice cream. You can come over and I will make for you as well! 🙂

    1. Rajesh K

      I like only one flavor of cold coffee – The one which comes with more chocolate than coffee. Maybe I need to try making coffee/tea at home? I will try sometime… I am getting cold coffee next to my house in CCD! Why would I travel to Mumbai for that? 🙂

      Destination Infinity

  17. Zephyr

    I am nearly a month late, but this notification got lost in the mountains of them which I haven’t been able to read 🙁

    I share your fondness of sweet tea — I take three spoons of it in cup of ginger tea, which I have throughout the year, summer or winter. In fact, have been having it for half a century now without any adverse effect, so go ahead and have if you like it. Coffee for me should be bitter, filter kaapi, please 😀

  18. rahul aggarwal

    i prefer tea or coffee .. i am not a very big chaai addict .. my limit for the day is 1 cup ..

    if am in CCD i rather eat something than have coffee there !

  19. rahul aggarwal

    oops ..i meant

    i prefer tea over coffee .. although i am not a very big chaai addict as well .. my limit for the day is 1 cup ..

    if am in CCD i rather eat something than have coffee there !

    plz remove the previous comment Rajesh Sir !

  20. Reema

    Tea with Marie biscuits!

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