burntcopper | Coffee and its reason for existing

Hmm. Thinking about coffee.

Coffee and tea are both used as your standard non-alcoholic beverage. However, intrinsic differences in their use, because coffee's other main use is as a stimulant, whereas tea is a relaxant or 'argh, want something soothing/hot and sweet'. (they're more popular than, say, hot milk, because they can be stored for long periods without going off - similar for juice. Mind you, we know what happens to juice that's stored for long periods. But alcohol is a whole nother topic.**)

Look at their differences in origin. What I've been able to find on the legends of tea's origins is that the leaves blew into a mug of hot water someone was drinking, and they liked the taste it produced. Its primary function is that it *tastes good*.

Whereas coffee = stimulant. Primarily a stimulant. The discovery legends tend to focus on discovering goats or animals (normally by a goatherd or a mystic) eating the berries of the bush and skipping around with energy. we wouldn't have it if it wasn't a stimulant; taste is secondary.

So what, might I ask you, IS THE POINT OF DECAF?

**alcohol, on the other hand, cannot be categorised so easily, as it has three primary functions, which are all equal in popularity : Taste, ability to get drunk, and alternative when the water's undrinkable. (though in the undrinkable case it tended to be watered down *a lot*. Most of our ancestors never drank beer, mead or wine in undiluted form, which is why the drinking feats in sagas and so on sound so bloody impressive.)