A Weird Thing is Happening

(I'm going to mention some brand names but this is IN NO WAY an advertisement.)

I have always been a tea person. I first started drinking hot tea when I was about 14 or 15, just common grocery store tea bags at first, then my mom bought a bottle of Lea and Perrin's Worcestershire sauce that had a pack of 5 Twinnings tea bags attached. I can't remember for certain what variety. (It might have been Earl Grey. That was one of my favorites for a number of years. I completely lost my taste for it decades ago though.)

That first taste of Twinnings started me on a lifetime of tea appreciation and snobbery. I tried other varieties of Twinnings and later the Internet opened up a whole world of tea that is not available locally. For the past two decades I have mostly drank loose leaf tea because there are so many more varieties available and I can adjust the amount I use depending on the size mug I'm using.

I just never got started drinking coffee. Sure, I tried a few sips when I was young and hated the taste. But at some point I tried the General Foods International Coffees and found some of them... okay. Just a few years ago I got a little bit hooked on Hill's Brother's White Chocolate Caramel Cappuccino which, based on taste, I figure is about five or ten percent coffee. It's more like a fancy hot chocolate. I also love Land O' Lakes Hot Chocolate so the Hill's Brother's was actually like an alternate hot chocolate for me.

The bad thing about Hill's Brother's though, is that it has twice the calories of General Foods International Coffees. (though a little less than LO'L HC) So this year I decided I would stick with the latter. Just for a little variety, once or twice a week. After all, I'm a tea person. But here's the weird thing, suddenly I find myself actually wanting coffee more than I want tea.

So I've been wondering, "Could I possibly like "real" coffee?" (My other half drinks it.) so last week I bought a container of Coffee Mate Peppermint Mocha creamer to try in genuine brewed coffee and that stuff is heavenly. That's bad because I have been using significantly more than the recommended 35 calorie serving. One tablespoon? Really?! ROTFLMAO!

I have not yet been in a Starbucks. There is not one within 40 miles of me, fortunately for that way lies ruin. Also I'm a little bit scared of Starbucks. Everything I've read about them suggests that I would embarrass myself trying to order and annoy the barista with my utter stupidity.

But here's the thing... I am not happy about this change in myself. I like being a tea person because most Americans are not tea people. I like being different. I also like tea culture better than I like coffee culture. Oh, I do still like tea; I just don't seem to want it as much, if you know what I mean. My current favorite is Lapsang Souchong and I need some more of it. So I'm hoping this is just a passing phase. I am still a tea person. I am. I'm just having a sordid little affair with flavored coffees right now.