Tea versus Coffee

I've always loved a good cuppa - a freshly brewed pot of English Breakfast tea leaves is a wonderful thing - but once upon a time I always started my day with coffee.

No more! As I spend more and more time in the country tea has become a full blown obsession, a morning routine that has well and truly replaced the daily "strong skim capuccino" habit I harboured for a good many years in Sydney's CBD. Especially those made by the wonderful team at Vella Nero on Clarence St.

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Now every morning as I collect my car keys, handbag, esky, laptop, sports gear etc and head to the car I'm also juggling a Thermos travel mug brimming with white tea. It keeps me company on the long drive, gets me in the right mood for big day a work, soothes any last minute getting out the door anxieties and provides lovely warmth for my hands on crispy winter's mornings.

If someone had told me 12 months ago that tea would overtake coffee in my affections I would have snorted cappuccino foam into their face! And it's not that I don't drink coffee, in fact I still love it but I cannot bear bad coffee so I'm down to one a week, maybe two a week when things are really busy.

So you can really put my change of heart down to a combination of my own poor coffee making skills at home (we have a lovely espresso machine and the farmer orders beans for his three-a-day habit strong long blacks from Campos, Allpress or Toby's Estate every three weeks) and the unpredictability of the barista skills at local coffee establishments - sometimes surprisingly wonderful, other times absolutely woeful.

And don't get me wrong, some days just cry out for extra caffeination and it's all I can do to make it into Leeton and pull up at the door of The Coffee Tree. Not to mention every trip I make to Sydney and Melbourne still involves chasing down machiatos and cappuccinos at every corner. But it's moved from every day habit to special treat, which probably isn't bad for me on the whole.