I’m going to be completely honest, I drank tea while writing most of this article. I’m a tea fanatic, whether or not it’s seasonal, earl gray, chai (a personal favorite), cinnamon apple spice, or herbal teas for headaches, I drink a lot of tea. In fact, it’s a morning ritual for me. Anyone who sees me from 0 to 2nd period will identify me with a giant silver mug in my hand, and I’m not the only one. Thus, it makes sense that the reason I’m writing this article is to convey to you the underrated nature of tea, and why it’s actually just as good if not better than coffee.   

I can and have seen most coffee and breve latte drinkers original reactions: “We are strong, eagle loving, firework shooting Americans! We haven’t drank their weird fancy water since the Tea Party in 1773!” That brings us into the history of tea, which I’ll attempt to make the least boring that I can for our readers’ enjoyment. Basically tea originated in China as a medicinal drink that was hopefully more tasty than that grape Tylenol your mom gave you as a kid. At least three years later (or closer to a couple centuries), it became a common drink in Britain. From there, it expanded all over the world as a fairly popular beverage that was often for more upper-class people. Then, in a dramatic plot twist, the Parliament of Great Britain passed the Tea Act in 1773, and Americans were slightly annoyed, to say the least. They showed this through dumping some tea in some water (which is basically just making a bunch of other, colder tea) and that made Great Britain pretty mad. For some reason, we still haven’t quite gotten over the mentality that tea is inferior, and have frowned slightly upon it ever since.

This odd aversion to tea may exist for a lot of Americans, but in younger people, tea is actually on the rise. In fact, Time magazine took a United States survey, and though coffee was still slightly preferred, they claimed, “…tea consumption [in the US] continues to grow, with the total wholesale value of tea sold in the United States reaching $10 billion last year, up fivefold from 1990.” This new trend is thanks to many aspects of tea, but one of the main reasons is the fact that it’s actually much better for us than coffee. Especially in more naturally based teas like green tea, the health benefits are basically endless. It boosts energy and muscle endurance, prevents serious diseases like heart attacks and diabetes, and can even give you a better complexion. Coffee, on the other hand, can actually create an unhealthy dependence of caffeine and a higher risk for some diseases.  

Now, I should clarify here that I am in no way trying to diss the majority of our population that are coffee drinkers. Coffee can be delicious, but is certainly an acquired taste, and many people don’t enjoy it because of the more bitter taste that it provides. This makes tea a slightly more approachable choice for some people, but coffee is still a wonderful drink.

I was drinking tea when my editor told me to write some article for the newspaper, and thus this article has been created. Hopefully, you learned something about tea you may not have known before. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll give a nice cup of oolong tea a try. Whats oolong tea? No one really knows, but it’s really fun to say. Either way, consider putting your tall, nonfat latte with caramel drizzle aside, and give tea a try.