Tea time

I love coffee. I love the way it smells and tastes and I used to love the way it made me feel. Lately, however, I'm wondering if it has stopped loving me back.

Ever since I went off it (and all caffeine) over Christmas, it has affected me strangely--or maybe I've just been better at noticing its effects. Last week, I realized that two nights in a row, I'd had trouble falling asleep. If there's one thing I've always been good at, it's sleeping, so I found the situation rather disturbing. Both days, I'd had coffee in the morning. The next two days, I didn't--and didn't have any trouble sleeping.

So yesterday morning, wanting a little morning lift, and craving the taste--but not the jolt--of an Americano, I instead ordered tea--Mighty Leaf's Vanilla Bean. And my goodness, was I impressed. Ordinarily, I order tea (herbal) when I'm at the coffee shop at night and don't want any caffeine; I'd never ordered it in the daytime. But I did it again today, and think I may be a convert. I definitely experienced a nice lift, and felt energized without the jittery-ness and distractability that coffee seems recently to induce. And I floated down gently, imperceptibly, without the malaise that comes with a coffee buzz wearing off.

I've heard tea-drinkers talk about these things--as I've sipped my coffee. Somehow the little tea bag tag poking out of their to-go cups always seemed a little pretentious; I don't know why. I do think, however, that it may be time to extend my pinkie finger and join them.