Coffee, tea or my what a dilemma

One of my favorite lines of poetry comes from “The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Eliot. It is simply, “I have measured out my life in coffee spoons.” I can equate to that because not much happens around here until I have had at least a cup of coffee. I also can relate to the idea that no matter how many cups you have in a day, none usually can compare to the first cup from the pot, or the first one of the day. I have also come to know through the years that the cleaner the pot and the clearer the water, the better the taste of that coffee.

Black coffee seems so harsh.

Coffee pot at work.

This brings me to another literary comment on coffee, the one by George Orwell in 1984. Orwell’s main character is forever thinking about how greasy the coffee is. I used to practically gag through that book because of it. The other day as I poured myself a fourth or fifth cup of the day, I noticed the film on the pot and into the cup. It is true that coffee gets filmy, perhaps that is what Orwell means, but I think the film is more from lack of cleaning, and in the case of my cup from the ever present supply of dairy product, which I have been weaning myself from as of late. Anyway, I am thinking it is time for a massive cleaning at my place, one that includes a scrubbing of the coffee pot and machine.

So what about that title? I have been noticing more and more almost romanticizing of tea drinking in the books and television that I have been connecting to lately. If you know anything about us revolutionary Americans, you know that we are pretty partial to our coffee, so what is the turn to tea in the past few years? I have to go back to that key word, romanticized. Doesn’t it just sound so “cool” to talk about sipping tea. They were sitting and talking and having tea and crumpets. It seems to say luxury, leisure and lots of money.

Tea is steeped in fancy pots.

What beautiful flowers you see when sipping tea from me.

Wouldn’t you love to hold this saucer while sipping tea with this cup.

This is what we used at the café to serve tea.

Even a fancy jar to hold the tea bags.

Coffee on the other hand, especially in my family is…”You SOB’s were having coffee and didn’t invite me.” Coffee is something you bolt down the last swallows of while semi-standing, as you throw down the cash for the waitress and grab the last donut off the plate and rush out the door to make the SUV that is heading to your construction work or the first hunting stop. Or you linger over it while you contemplate which table to clear first as you clean up from that rush of workers or hunters or afternoon customers.

Here is my version of fancy coffee. It is a home made mocha-fatta-lotta caffeine.

Coffee says to me, “You are a working person who needs the caffeine to get through the day.” As I age, coffee is the liquid that keeps my kidneys and bladder hard at work and gives me a chance to see when it is time to get the broom and mop and cleaning supplies into the bathroom. So for me, you see, as much as I would like to take the late afternoon to sip tea and eat biscuits and chew scones and lather pure butter on thick slices of homemade bread, I will be drinking my coffee often black, but sometimes with cream and chocolate while working on my produce trying to get it safely into a jar or a freezer bag, so that when winter hits, I will remember what this summer was all about.

And now I hear the tomatoes, not just the coffee calling my name.

So how about you weigh in on which you prefer, coffee or tea, or ??? Have a great day!!