Tea Drinkers, We Exist

Some things are just so mainstream that it completely overshadows what else is out there that is similar.

Ask me this question, hey do you want to go grab a coffee? There is a 99.9% chance that my answer will be:

Yeah sure, but I drink tea.

Because coffee is such a mainstream beverage, anyone who doesn’t drink it is viewed to be a rather strange person. The reason why, in my mind, why people are addicted to coffee is because the caffeine within it is supposed to instantly wake you up. But I could never do the taste of coffee, had a sip of it once at Tim Hortons many years ago, and it was unpleasantly bitter. Not even adding some milk and sugar masked that taste and I do not like bitter-tasting things. That’s also why whenever I have alcohol, I don’t like anything too strong because it’s also bitter.

But, when I started drinking tea, I found its taste was much more pleasing for me, I’ll add some milk, sugar, or even honey and I’ve been drinking tea ever since. Tea can also have caffeine in it, and it often varies how much of it is there or how long you let the bag seep in the boiling water. There are also herbal options too and I enjoy lemon, peach and cranberry herbal tea.

I also find it to be more friendly to the environment because all you do is boil the water, and put the teabag in the compost when it’s done seeping, that’s it. You don’t need to do a bunch of extra steps such as grinding beans if you’re preparing your coffee at home.

Many people rely on coffee to wake up, or stay awake if they’re working the night shift, or pulling an all-nighter for a test or project (don’t do this, it never works). When I’m on the night shift, I will take my tea in a thermos with some snacks and consume it before 4am which is enough to get me through the night. Other than that, I enjoy a nice cup of tea to unwind, but again, because coffee is so mainstream, the media assumes that everybody drinks it.

The one gripe I had with Animal Crossing is that whenever you went to the Roost, the only thing Brewster offered there was coffee, except on Valentine’s Day, he would serve hot chocolate instead: another hot beverage I prefer over coffee. Then the new update for ACNH arrived which brought the Roost back to our islands. Because ACNH has made a significant effort to be more inclusive, I was hoping that that would include non-coffee drinkers but just as there is a lack of activism for people with disabilities compared to that for the LGBTQ community (note to self, write about this later without being disrespectful), that did not happen. Hell, he won’t let me add pigeon milk yet!

It would be cool if Brewster also served tea at his cafe, and maybe some baked goods too like donuts, muffins, and other pastries like the Roost is the AC version of Tim Hortons. Now, I’ve never had anyone look at me in a strange way when I tell them I don’t drink coffee, but sometimes I worry that might happen someday, especially if it was on the Internet.

When was the last time you saw on a popular TV show outside of the UK that the person was drinking tea? Another example of how mainstream it has become that it’s easy to assume that everyone does it.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m not hating on coffee or people that enjoy it. If you like the taste of it, if you like that it wakes you up, or you like that it helps you stay up when you need to, that’s great, but just so you know, people like me who prefer their Earl Grey or Chai do exist. Maybe what we need to do is come up with an inclusive term for those who don’t drink coffee.

My mom doesn’t drink coffee because she had a bad reaction to it years ago and I don’t drink it because I don’t like the taste. Whatever the reason, we’re out there.

👽Emily