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Photo: RITU RAJ KONWAR

Piping hot While there are those that worship at the altar of caffeine, the humble chai has devout followers as well

“Coffee drinking has doubtlessly become the latest fad, especially for youngsters,” says hotelier Rupesh Chopra. Jharna Jethani, a business management student says when it comes to her preference, “Coffee wins hands down!” Athletes like 19-year-old Elizabeth Mathew feel that comparatively coffee is the perfect energiser. Ashutosh Bannerjee, a call centre employee, says: “Coffee is a must have since we are expected to stay awake all night and attend to our clients.”

Although most of these people do not mind drinking tea, coffee has become the popular choice. Nevertheless, tea does have its loyalists. Pramod Giri, an anaesthetist, says: “I personally favour tea as it does not cause acidity like coffee does.”

“Too much caffeine can result in dehydration, irritability and ugly stained teeth,” informs nutritionist Tanuja Rao. “A cup of green tea does me a world of good everyday,” she adds.

Just because a teeming majority of teenagers consider coffee to be the “in-drink,” does it imply that they reckon tea is meant only for older people? The jury is still out on this one. “It would be incorrect to say that the tea drinking population consists of only oldies,” says tea stall owner Sharief Khan. He claims that a lot of his customers are “school and college going boys”.

Content writer Raghu M.P, has a different opinion. He comments: “People usually become cautious about their health only when they are growing old. This is probably why older people I know prefer tea. On the other hand, coffee stands for youthfulness and vigour.” A good number of people are not all that rigid about choosing their beverage and are willing to experiment. There are some, of course, who cannot even imagine swapping their frappe for some piping herbal tea.

Praneeth Manohar, a civil engineer, says, “Coffee and tea are brands on their own and now that I am addicted to coffee, I don’t even consider tea as a prospective substitute.”

A more flexible Mrinal Singh, a businessman, states: “Something is better than nothing so I never have anything to complain about.”

It is fact that tea comes at a cheaper price than coffee. But it is also true that the increasing number of cafes in our very own city only underlines the alluring power of coffee. Irrespective of the price it comes at or even the size of the mug, the coffee drinking community is growing rapidly day by day.

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