Coffee vs. (black) Tea (social anthropology)

EmmaFitzwilliam

Occasionally I go Out For Tea to a Tea Shop (which makes a bit of an "occasion" out of tea, as opposed to a store which sells only tea, or a shop which offers tea and sandwiches but no ambiance), and when I do, I have no trouble pairing sweets (and, of course, scones) with the tea.

Day to day, however, I find that if I drink tea, apart from a now-past tendency to over-indulge in a certain brand of tea biscuits, I really am not keen to have much in the way of desserts/snacks with the tea.

If I drink coffee, on the other hand, I find that the idea of most desserts/snacks seems more palatable with coffee. And the scones go equally as well with coffee as with tea.

Also, since I drink my tea with 1/2 oz milk, and my coffee with 1 oz half and half, I know I'm looking at a 25 calorie differential right off the bat.

Today, I chose the tea over the coffee, both for the 25 calories and because the tea biscuits I currently favor (only 32 calories for two!) go better (to my palate) with coffee than with tea.

Has anyone else observed something similar in their experience?

lemurcat12

No--I drink both coffee and tea black and I never particularly want sweets with either. In fact, one helpful use of coffee for me is when friends get sweets after dinner at a restaurant. I can sip coffee instead. When I pair a beverage with sweets it is coffee that I prefer, though. I think it's all about habit--if coffee for you has traditionally come with a sweet, then it will be hard to break that association. For me, coffee traditionally comes by itself or with breakfast more often or not (I eat savory breakfasts), so no strong sweet association.

phantasmagical

I tend to drink a strong hit of coffee in the morning with stevia (a new development; it used to be cream and as much sugar as I could reasonably justify...and I'm an expert justifier), and then drink tea throughout the day. I rarely pair my tea with anything, but if I do it's usually some kind of cookie.

Those tea biscuits sound great...what kind are they?

enterdanger

I don't discriminate...if there is caffeine in it, I'll drink it. However I like coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon and at night. I don't like flavored teas or coffee. I like my tea black and my coffee creamy. I don't require anything sugary with either, but I'm most likely to eat something sugary with coffee. Probably because I like sweet breakfast foods from time to time.

knittnponder

I use half & half in my coffee (50 grams) and none in my tea. I don't typically have any food with either. Coffee is my morning indulgence and I don't eat breakfast until about an hour later. Tea is either in the late afternoon (black) or in the evening while I wind down from the day (herbal or no caffeine). My little rituals for drinking these beverages don't include food so I don't associate it with them. If your calories permit then rock on and enjoy your scones!

EmmaFitzwilliam

The 16 calorie tea biscuits? I warn you, they're tiny. Like 1 inch by 2 inch rectangle tiny. But at 32 calories for 2, they're just enough of a cookie that 2 satisfies the need. They're called Kedem tea biscuits. I found them in the International aisle of my grocery store, or with the Kosher foods.

BinaryPulsar

I love tea!

awesomewastaken

I hardly ever drink coffee. For some reason, as weird as it sounds, it has always made me incredibly sleepy. So now I only have it if I really-really miss the taste and don't have anything important planned. Otherwise it's (green) tea all the way.

But I've never had a habit of eating something with my beverage (unless I'm having a meal, that's a different story).

phantasmagical

Thank you EmmaFitzwilliam! Sounds perfect.

moraiwebird

Tea for me, please! Unless it's bagged. Then coffee.

missomgitsica

I can't eat anything with tea or coffee, I think of the drink as the treat.

ShibaEars

I do like to have tea with something sweet. I find it's not drinking the tea that makes me want sweets, but if there are cookies/cake around I will make tea to have with them.

EmmaFitzwilliam

It's not really an either/or question. I love both.

But the idea of donuts and tea, for example, seems weird. Donuts and coffee seems perfectly normal.

Scones, for me, go with both coffee and tea.

Cake? Coffee.

Pie? Maybe tea; definitely coffee.

Pudding? Neither, most likely.

Cookies? Coffee.

Maybe it's American acculturation. There isn't a strong tradition, as far as I know, of cakes or cookies (as opposed to tea biscuits, which are very different!) in Britain, so foods I think of as "not British" don't go with tea (for all that scones go perfectly fine with coffee).

grandmamere

Coffee is my thing with 1 tbsp of creamer. I've just stop using sugar since my creamer caramel macchiato (yum) is sweet enough for me. I have decaf with the same creamer for dessert too.... I do love ice tea, especially Starbucks iced green tea smile:

rbfdac

I have never in my life desired to pair a food with a hot drink. I LOVE coffee and like hot tea, but can count on half a hand how many times I've eaten something with it or dipped it in.
Maybe it's a Southern American thing, I'm not sure, but we don't often see people eating sweets, or really anything, with their coffee or hot tea. Granted, there's the whole "donuts and coffee" thing, but I don't think I've ever seen anybody do this aside from breakfast time. Coffee is either with breakfast, alongside food and cold drink like orange juice or a drink by itself. Same with tea.
I usually have a cup of tea or coffee in the evening before bed (decaf) as a relaxing treat.
It's interesting, the differences you see in cultures.

rbfdac

missomgitsica wrote: »

I can't eat anything with tea or coffee, I think of the drink as the treat.

Just saw this--- my thoughts exactly (as stated in my post above)

EmmaFitzwilliam

rbfdac wrote: »

I have never in my life desired to pair a food with a hot drink. I LOVE coffee and like hot tea, but can count on half a hand how many times I've eaten something with it or dipped it in.
Maybe it's a Southern American thing, I'm not sure, but we don't often see people eating sweets, or really anything, with their coffee or hot tea.
(snip)
It's interesting, the differences you see in cultures.

Absolutely. Even in different regions within the U.S. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and have lived on the West Coast almost my entire life - I spent 3 years in Britain, and less than two years in Texas (and the first year I was still in school and so not attuned to the coffee/tea:food issue), so I may have a very skewed perspective. In my experience, food isn't dipped or dunked in coffee, per se, but coffee is used more to clear the palate for the next bite.

JoRocka

EmmaFitzwilliam wrote: »

It's not really an either/or question. I love both.

But the idea of donuts and tea, for example, seems weird. Donuts and coffee seems perfectly normal.

Scones, for me, go with both coffee and tea.

Cake? Coffee.

Pie? Maybe tea; definitely coffee.

Pudding? Neither, most likely.

Cookies? Coffee.

Maybe it's American acculturation. There isn't a strong tradition, as far as I know, of cakes or cookies (as opposed to tea biscuits, which are very different!) in Britain, so foods I think of as "not British" don't go with tea (for all that scones go perfectly fine with coffee).

similar.... I'd add that I'll drink tea with my ice cream- but I prefer my dinner decadent treats with coffee the heavy rich flavor counters the sweetness nicely.

FenTiger89

I definitely think it's a cultural thing. My mum was English, and we lived there for several years when I was growing up. Coffee - maybe a donut or a breakfast type pastry. If you had (hot) tea, you had biscuits or small slices of cake - Battenburg, sponge cake, etc. Even after living in Georgia for 30 years the same holds true. I've ingrained this into my Michigan-born husband to the point that he expects Rich Tea biscuits with his evening cuppa.

EmmaFitzwilliam

Rich tea biscuits were a part of my downfall! I love the Pally's with my tea. Tragically, at 54 calories each, they pack quite a wallop, and worse when you have (as I would) up 3-6 a day.

grandmamere

EmmaFitzwilliam wrote: »

Rich tea biscuits were a part of my downfall! I love the Pally's with my tea. Tragically, at 54 calories each, they pack quite a wallop, and worse when you have (as I would) up 3-6 a day.

It appears that this "habit/ritual" can be maintained on your MFP log. If you love it so much then allot it/them in your meal plan.

KarenJanine

Being a true Brit, Afternoon Tea (tea, sandwiches, scones, cake) should be served with tea. But if I'm just out for 'tea and cake' I'll usually choose coffee, and have a skimmed latte (using the protein in the milk to help balance the cake macros )

PeachyCarol

I need caffeine in the morning, but I go through this odd phasing thing throughout my life where coffee will just suddenly become horrible to me. I'll stop drinking it for years and years (I'll drink strong tea instead in the morning), and then one day, out of the blue, I'll want coffee again. Lather, rinse repeat. One off-coffee phase was 10 years long.

It's strange, because when I like coffee, I really love it. I make it quite strong.

carrieliz81

I like coffee and tea, and usually I drink them because I'm trying to avoid consuming something else that has calories. So, usually I enjoy them on their own. Also, I drink my tea and coffee black with no sugar, but I can enjoy sweet tea and vanilla lattes with the best of them. Those are usually special treats for me.

yesimpson

Coffee with everything. Tea is only any good if it's the only caffeinated beverage available first thing in the morning, and you make it blinking strong with a dash of milk and no sugar anywhere near it. On the other hand I love coffee in all its forms, and it goes with everything cake/biscuit/scone/muffin/donut-like.

Favourite thing is a strong filter coffee with half a sugar and milk, with a fridge-cold chocolate bar to break into pieces and dunk into it.

LovingLife_Erin

I used to drink coffee a lot more, but then gradually stopped as I didn't want the extra sugar in it (I wouldn't ever put sugar in tea as it's gross then).

I am a tea-aholic. I crave it and drink a lot of it each day. Now when I drink coffee, it just doesn't have the same comforting effect as tea does.

Tea is great. It picks you up when you need it, and calms you down when you need to relax. It goes great with any meal/sweet and is just the best.

I won't lie... I do miss having a fatty cream tea though! Yummy clotted cream, jam, and scones.

EmmaFitzwilliam

I don't miss having fatty cream teas - I have them about once a month. When I started this, I promised myself I wasn't going to make any change I wasn't willing to follow through with for as long as I am in control of my food and activity choices. Not having fancy tea was not on the table.

As for the Pally tea biscuits - I don't love them 300 calories worth. It was mostly a matter of realizing how many I was actually eating on any given day. I like the Kedem biscuits; they're tiny but just a tiny bit of cookie crunch and cookie sweet.

I agree, tea (even black tea) is (for me) generally more calming. Black tea and coffee may have the same caffeine content, but for me coffee definitely has a bigger psychological kick.

Kabijots

I drink tea (Twinings English Breakfast tea), strong with a dash of semi-skimmed milk, morning, noon and night. But then I am English!

It goes with everything. Savoury foods (eggs and bacon), sweet (cakes and biscuits) and just about everything in between. I drink it when I am happy, when I am sad, when I am tired and when I working.

Personally, only have coffee after dinner (strong and black) and on its own. Occasionally, I will have a whisky or liqueur to go with it.

Laurend224

I drink strong black coffee in the mornings and herbal teas (tisanes?) in the evening or afternoons. For some reason black and green teas make me incredibly queasy, especially of I drink them on an empty stomach.

jenglish712

I don't find myself pairing sweets with coffee or tea but there are certain rich sweets that require coffee as a balance.

But I find I drink coffee black, no cream or sugar. I drink my iced tea unsweetened. A tablespoon of honey for Earl Grey, but if I drink Oolong I end up putting like 3 tablespoons of table sugar in it.

lesteidel

They make chocolate tea. My life is complete. I've never eaten with tea before, but I have to admit I like the chocolate flavor tea