The surprising aspects of coffee and tea and what they tell about your personality
The surprising aspects of coffee and tea and what they tell about you
Coffee and tea are two of the favorite drinks that share the same market. While tea, as a drink, has been around longer then coffee, the last one has gained more fame then the first.
Both, coffee and tea, have been used as medicine and social drinks.
During centuries the tea lovers have developed the tea ceremonial in Asian countries and coffee lovers have built the coffee houses all over the world. Both drinks contain caffeine, the active substance that keep us alert and energize us during day, and awake during night.
So far, looks like there are major similarities between coffee and tea. Then why we usually chose one over another?
Is a coffee drinker different the a tea dinker?
Well, according with Bennett Allen Weinberg and Bonnie Bealer, the authors of The World of Caffeine, the Science and Culture of the World’s Most Popular Drug,there are lots of “aspects” of coffee and tea that are not only different but opposite.
Personality aspects
Coffee
| Tea
|
---|---|
Male (The first customers of the coffee houses were men. Women were not allowed. For more info read mu hub Coffee role as a social drink)
| Female (Not sure why, maybe because in England the tea ceremony was hosted in a private house and the host was, usually, the housewife)
|
Bohemian (There were lots of writers and artists that used to attend the coffeehouses late in the night bringing with them nonconformist behaviour and strange ideas)
| Conventional (The 5 o’clock English tea or the Japanese tea ritual speaks about order and rules, appropriate social attitude, freedom within limits)
|
Sordid(Again, coffeehouses and their libertarianism)
| Beautiful(Didn’t Japanese used to make haiku’s at this tea gatherings. In oriental graphics representing the tea ceremony every piece of art looks polished, refined. In English society the conversation had to be not only proper but intelligent.)
|
Common(Everybody could have a cup a coffee, even women, at home. The coffeehouses were open to all without social status discrimination)
| Refined(The tea thing was more upper class, an exclusive practice of people of noble condition.)
|
Indulgence(No limits can be set for ideas or attitude. Turks drank coffee while smoking tobacco or other pleasing herbs.)
| Temperance(Au contraire - lots of limits were imposed, from serving the tea, to the right clothes and right small talk.)
|
Vice(Maybe because the indulgence, described above. Or because the subjects that were discussed in a coffeehouse were sometime very bold. Even today some think that drinking coffee is a bad habit!!!!! )
| Virtue(I don’t see the connection unless is opposing the vice aspect of the coffee.)
|
Excess(This aspect is obvious, from staying late at night, to plotting political strikes)
| Moderation(I occasionally drink tea and I even like it but I think tea is the only drink you won’t go crazy about it)
|
Passion, Earthiness(From the first mention of coffee to a world wide consumption have past very centuries...that speaks passion)
| Spirituality, Mysticism(On the other hand, tea is associated with a sophisticated mind and spirit)
|
Vivacious, Extroverted(Due to the caffeine effect, I believe)
| Shy, Introverted(Because the imposed social restraining?)
|
Hardheaded
| Romantic
|
Promiscuous(Maybe because coffee was accessible to everyone....)
| Pure(...while tea was only for upper consumers, at least in England)
|
Work(I have never heard anybody that had a tea to stay up late...)
| Contemplation(What is your mind doing when not concentrating to the task on hand? Wondering..)
|
Social aspects
Coffee
| Tea
|
---|---|
Mornings, Late Nights
| Afternoons(English 5 o’clock...are they still do it? I‘m wondering when the Japanese tea ceremony take place...)
|
American
| English
|
Occidental
| Oriental
|
Casual
| Formal, Ceremonial
|
Demimonde
| Society
|
Outlaw(This has to do with all the personality aspects described above. During it’s 700 years of known history coffee and coffee drinking have stirred lots of political issues and coffee have been even banned in some countries. German rulers have even tried to restrict it’s consumption to the nobility class by imposing huge taxes and regulating its price.)
| Good citizen(Governments wants their citizens to be moderate and obedient)
|
Other aspects and comparisons
Coffee
| Tea
|
---|---|
Yang (Chinese philosophy - masculine, motivation, mover and shaker)
| Yin (Chinese philosophy - feminine, the yang ‘s opposite)
|
Kinetic Energy (The energy of motion)
| Potential energy(Stored energy)
|
Topology
| Geometry
|
Beethoven
| Mozart
|
Heidegger
| Carnap
|
Balzac (Honore De Balzac, 1799 to 1850, french writer and coffee lover)
| Balzac
|
Davidoff rich aroma coffee
The aspects of coffee and tea listed above have been compiled from The World of Caffeine, the Science and Culture of the World’s Most Popular Drug.I added the commentaries in parenthesis, trying to describe the aspect from a historical and social perspective. I hope you’ll find some true lines for you.
Do you drink coffee or tea?
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