From Coffee Snobs to Tea Snobs?

By Olivia Leigh in Food on Jan 9, 2007 8:47PM

We used to be coffee fiends like the worst of them. Working, as every aspiring cool kid and poor college student has, as a barista in college, we learned to appreciate the aroma, taste, and all-nighter caffeine power of a cup of joe. By the time we found ourselves at a school in Costa Rica that offered unlimited coffee, we’d sometimes be drinking six cups a day, running around like a kid on a Mountain Dew rush.

Fortunately, over the years, our coffee obsession has waned, largely being replaced by a fondness for tea. According to an article in the Tribune, we’re not alone.

Tea is a piping-hot market in the U.S., which has traditionally shunned the beverage in favor of a dark roast, save the ubiquitous iced tea or a bag of relatively flavorless black tea at your grandma’s house. Sales are expected to climb to $10 billion by 2010, up $4 billion from 2005. Not only is the drink popular to enjoy at home, but the number of “tea cafes” have increased-ten fold in the past ten years, from 200 to 2,000.

Why the interest in tea? Chalk it up to America’s ironic urge to find health and calm in our overstuffed, overly busy society. Reports have suggested that the antioxidant-rich tea may help prevent tooth decay, bad breath, and even Alzheimer’s disease, and the relatively low amounts of caffeine also draw java converts.

Health benefits aside, we just like the way it tastes. From green to jasmine, rooibos to oolong, we have yet to meet a tea we don’t like. Here in the city, we of course frequent local favorite, Argo Tea, where we’d found their Earl Grey Vanilla Crème to be our favorite winter beverage. For buying loose tea, we like to hit upTea Gschwender and Teavana to find something special to brew in a Beehouse teapot, or, if you’re loaded, a Mono Filio.

What about you? Are you jumping on the tea bandwagon? If so, at what tea cafes can you be spotted sipping?

Photo by alexhung.