Mixing your drinks

Roger Wade: What’ll you have?
Philip Marlowe: What are you drinking?
Roger Wade: What I’m drinking is called Aquavit.
Philip Marlowe: I’m drinking what you’re drinking.
Roger Wade: Well God bless you. I like to hear that. People these days go, “Oh, I want a little of this. Oh, and a little of that and a twist of lemon.” Balls!
– The Long Goodbye (1973)

We microwave our leftover meals without a second thought but the idea of microwaving cold tea or coffee is close to anathema. People are very specific about how they like their tea and coffee in terms of temperature, colour, strength and depth (to the extent that they provide Pantone numbers). But they’ll eat basically anything. It’s funny how we’ll eat the same meal (i.e. spaghetti bolognese) but it probably won’t taste exactly the same as any other time we’ve had it, but we’ll eat it anyway. Whereas with tea and coffee, it needs to taste exactly how the drinker likes it.

I praise my friend who has his tea or coffee any which way. That is, when being asked how he likes it, he’ll reply, ‘Oh, just however you’re making it’ or ‘as it comes’. He doesn’t want exactly the same tea or coffee every time (and will as happily drink it when it’s stone cold as when it’s steaming hot). I mean, how boring would that be?

Previously on Barnflakes
The T.E.A. Theory
Not for all the tea in China
Lionel Rich Tea
Water as it Oughta
Tagalog for Tea
Proud to Serve