The friendly couple who hosted me and my friends the first time I stayed at a bred and breakfast in London were as polite as only British couples can be. After showing us the facilities, the tall and elegant gentleman asked us what we would like to have for breakfast. He was quite surprised by our answer: “Darling, they are tea drinkers!”, he exclaimed to his equally elegant wife.

I have never forgotten the way he phrased it, not only because of the delicious “pompous ease” (totally British!) but also because it was the first time anyone had ever called me a “tea drinker”. Although I have inclination for tea, the coffee culture is so strong in Brazil that there is no such division between “tea drinkers” and “coffee drinkers” simply because the first, as a category, does not exist for the average Brazilian.

Yerba mate drinkers? Okay, we have a lot of them, mostly in the south of the country, but even they do not consider themselves “tea drinkers”. Brazilians and coffee are so strongly connected that the expression in Brazilian Portuguese for breakfast is “the coffee of the morning” (o café-da-manhã).

From production to consumption, coffe is a beverage strongly linked to the history of Brazil. Understanding who produces what type of coffee and for whom means understanding a lot about the Brazilian society.

Anyway, since the London event, I believe that a reasonably efficient way of cataloging humanity is to divide it into coffee drinkers and tea drinkers. Here is where I am in my reflections so far:

1. tea people seem to be more attentive to details, while coffee people would go more for the big picture;
2. coffee people speak louder, while tea people tend to speak longer;
3. tea people are zen while coffee people are drama queens.

Okay, it is a pretty debatable short list, but it is what comes to mind when the playlist of the day ranks two classics: Tea for Two and Black Coffee. Compare the energy of these jazz standards, their lyrics and the images they evoke and you may no longer consider my list so crazy.

And do not forget to do your listening in the right company, escorted by a nice cup of tea. Or coffee. After all, what kind of person are you?

Be seeing you!

G.F.