Green Tea

I used to be an avid coffee drinker. Whenever I left the house, I would find a way to visit a Starbucks on the way to my destination. I always just got coffee. I loved everything about it - the ambience of the store, the smell, the ritualistic aspects of it. It was more than just a hot drink. What can you really say about coffee that hasn't been said? It was a fetish for me.

I decided to stop drinking it about two years ago. I've always been interested in health and healthy living - even if I don't always measure up as much as I'd like. At the time, I was drinking two venti coffees a day, at least. When I stopped, I had headaches and an all-over ache, both of which lasted about two weeks. It was scary.

I don't claim any special virtue as a result of having quit. I still miss it, and I think there are a lot of people who manage their coffee habit much better than I did. But green tea can be pretty exciting, folks.

I first had what I would consider real green tea when I visited Japan back in 1999. The hotel I was staying in provided tea bags and hot water in our rooms. Drinking green tea felt like an authentic sort of japanese thing to do, so I did it. I was surprised by the tea's bright green color and fresh, grassy taste. I came to enjoy it quite a bit and I've been drinking it ever since, and even more since I don't drink coffee any more.

I remember reading somewhere about someone trying to get into green tea, and saying that compared to coffee, it just wasn't much. I know what that person was trying to say, and yet I've come to feel in life like there are comparisons that are just worthless. You really can't compare the two.

I especially like the fact that you can drink and drink and drink green tea and not have to feel funny about it, like you're harming yourself in some way. Oh sure, there's caffeine in it..but lets compare it to a cup of Starbuck's finest, shall we? If you look here you can see that a 12 oz. "tall" coffee at the 'Buck has 279 milligrams of caffeine. The same amount of green tea would have around 30mg (according to this website) - although to be sure, that number can vary depending on how it's brewed or for how long or the type of green tea itself. You may have heard that green tea has 1/4 the caffeine of coffee, and that may be generally true. Starbucks, however, is notorious for high caffeine content in their coffee. Not to say I don't still love them - I still go at least twice a week. They do sell green tea after all.

So I do miss coffee. A high-quality, fresh cup of green tea, though, can have an aroma nearly as evocative, in my opinion. And I guess I'm stuck with it, until they invent coffee that's good for you.