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Coffee

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Coffee trumps tea hands down! Coffee is a symbol of independence, daring, grit, hard work, and determination. Farmers and factory workers drink coffee. Artistic and sensitive people drink tea. Actually, broad generalizations like that are pointless and inane. Choosing between the beverages is a matter of personal preference and has no direct reflection on your lifestyle. Being a coffee drinker who sometimes dabbles in tea, I must staunchly support the coffee side of the debate.

Coffee has a high caffeine content, which is perfect for people who must wake up early, work long hours, or sit for long periods of time at a desk. After five years of life in the active duty Army, I cannot imagine starting my day with anything lighter than straight black coffee. Coffee has the warm, full-bodied kick you need to get up and moving and clear the cobwebs out of the brain.

Tea has a lower caffeine content and barely any kick at all. While it is a great drink for those needing a light pick-me-up in the afternoon, the only person it can roust out of bed is someone with ten hours of sleep under their belt.

Coffee comes in a machine that you can program a timer, allowing you to set up your coffee before you go to bed and have the smell of it brewing wake you up in the morning. Just the warm inviting smell of brewing coffee is enough to tempt the staunchest sleeper out of a warm bed on a chill morning. Knowing that you will have an immediate, full cup of hot coffee the moment you reach the kitchen is motivation to get out of bed and face the day.

Tea requires you to put on a pot of water and wait for it to boil. Once you water has boiled, you must pour it over your teabag and steep your tea until the water turns somewhat darker. Boiling water can take almost five minutes, after which you must pump your tea bag up and down in the desperate attempt to have it stain the water faster! All this effort while your addled brain is caffeine starved and begging to be let back in bed!

Coffee comes in cups or mugs which tend to be large and heavy. Tea comes in cups that are lightweight and dainty. The shape of the cup is a strong indicator of the type of lifestyle the consumer desires to have. Tea is considered "high brow" and for the leisure class, probably because of its English pedigree, while coffee is considered more of a drink for the working people. Given America's tendency towards rebellion, independence, and emotional connection for the "working man," coffee tends to be the beverage of choice for most Americans.

Coffee is often strong and full bodied, and you cannot see the bottom of your cup when you are drinking it. Its opaqueness speaks of its strength and its ability to get you moving. Tea is incredibly transparent, and often suffers from weakness if not steeped for long periods of time. Generally, by the time you get some decent color in your tea cup, your water is tepid! Tea can hardly get you moving, and is useful really for pondering and reflecting.

Coffee and tea do have a few similarities. Coffee and tea both stain your teeth with prolonged drinking, and are both low calorie beverages (until you add cream, sugar, or honey). Beyond those two points, the similarities fade. Coffee is clearly the far superior beverage, and should reign supreme on the world stage!

Learn more about this author, C. M. Erickson.
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