Drinking Tea and Coffee in France
By Sev
It would be difficult to argue that coffee and tea do not hold a similar importance for French people. After all, cafés are commonplace in cities, towns and villages of France; and while these establishments serve tea, the most common (and often cheapest) drink indeed is the café (kah-fay) - a plain coffee brewed like espresso. A café sérré is especially strong.
For a little more sophistication, there exists some variations:
Café au lait (kah-fay oh-lay) is a very popular French coffee with steamed milk. At home, it is often served in a bol (bowl). To the dismay of foreigners, some French people like to dip their bread (a slice of baguette, spread with butter) in it.
Café crème (kah-fay khremm) is a coffee served in a large cup with hot cream. Of course, you can always ask for a Café décafféiné (kah-fay day-kah-fay-uhn-ay) - decaffeinated coffee.
French also drink tea occasionally, but later in the day, and especially in the evening, people enjoy a tisane (herbal tea). The most common ones are verveine (verbena), camomille (chamomile), tilleul (tilia, linden), menthe (mint).
Tea in Italy (What?)
By Max
Notwithstanding its ancient ties to China — remember Marco Polo and the Jesuits-educated Chinese elite of the Middle ages? — Italy is not exactly known for tea consumption or culture. Even the uber-Italian spaghetti seems to have been imported from China via Marco Polo, however Italy has remained a little resistant to tea so much so that the Italian spelling for tea is in itself is mysterious: the. Italy is a coffee-importer and consumer powerhouse, with leading brands like Illy (from Trieste), Lavazza (Torino), Segafredo (Bologna), and Kimbo (Napoli). Espresso is possibly the most Italian of all beverages.
Of course you can buy tea almost everywhere and there are people who drink it regularly, but it is not a staple beverage like coffee. In Italy, tea is mostly associated with the flu (influenza) or a cold (raffreddore). Hot tea and honey (miele) are popular during flu season, but that is it. Italians do however enjoy tea while in the UK, Asia, Middle East, and North Africa. For instance, the author of this post — an Italian — still recalls that, while living in Morocco, he would sip about ten glasses a day of hot tea with mint while lazily watching people walking in the socco.