zensationtealady

One question I’m often posed is “Do you sell coffee?”

People have always been a little surprised that until today the answer has been a resounding no. We’re a respectable tea house thank-you very much. How dare you.

It’s not that I don’t like coffee. I don’t mind the occasional macchiato – about once every 2 weeks or as a matter of habit when in Europe, kinda like smoking 😉

It’s not that I am averse to the taste coffee itself. I love a good ristretto – but tea is my lifestyle choice and I’m not in the business of directly competing with the café saturated market. Tea has a rich history that is embedded in both Eastern and Western cultures much like coffee. On the one hand, Tea is associated with slowing down, becoming aware of your senses; in the moment, in the space – mindfulness, for lack of a better word.  Coffee though seems to be both an affliction (to be sub-human, pre-morning coffee) and an addiction that gives people that buzz to get plugged into the daily grind (no pun intended). Personally, that’s not my cup of tea (pun intended).

I prefer things at a more leisurely pace – the scenic route if you will. It’s not a competition between coffee and tea, each has their own merit, but for the sake of the “debate”, tea is a no-brainer. Not only does tea have less calories (especially stacked against the milky versions we seem partial to – Hello Latté !) but also being a better pH level for our bodies means there are a myriad of health benefits from cholesterol reduction to anti-ageing.

Being a tea drinker entails a different thought process altogether. When I drink tea my mind actually feels able to calmly follow thoughts from beginning to end – I can only imagine how skittish I would sound if I were writing this under the influence of too much coffee. For me, tea is both invigorating and calming and can be drunk all day long. Coffee meanwhile is more like a heart starter, and forget about having more than one cup in a sitting! Both have their time and place. But on the whole I’ll happily stick with my fragrant high mountain oolongs, malty blacks, crisp greens and delicately sweet white teas, sipping while contemplating all manner of armchair philosophies.

Tea: so pure, so serene

But Zensation Tea Lady doesn’t forget about you coffee fiends and junkies. For you we now have Vietnamese Weasel Coffee. A smooth drop, owing to the enzymes that break down the coffee beans proteins. A rare, sought after and thus expensive delicacy. I know how I’ll be getting my once a fortnightly fix!

There is definitely room in my life for both tea and coffee to coexist in perfect ying/yang harmony. So I won’t sit on my high horse and judge you quietly if you ask us if we serve coffee. No, as a matter of fact I’ll offer you the very finest coffee that is so smooth you’ll think its been predigested by a small marsupial.

Coffee hungry weasel. Thirsty?

In closing – if you’re at the tea house and you’re after a coffee, we do sell it, however, you may have to pay for it through the nose and it will have come out of a weasels ass.

So, Coffee? Tea? Me 😉 ?

Tea du Jour : I recommend the Jasmine White Rabbit. Do try the dumplings. Xie xie ni.

Tune: The Searcher’s – Love Potion #9