Coffee

A lot of people are telling me (two is a lot isn’t it?) they are cutting back on or giving up coffee.  Their reason is they cannot sleep at night.
I must admit, I probably drink too much coffee.  How much?  Well I am not telling you.  My boss used to look forward to getting home and having a coffee on the porch.  I am the same except I look forward to the pre work coffee, the morning tea coffee, the lunch time coffee, the afternoon tea coffee, the get home coffee and the coffees of an evening.
I am probably weird (but you no doubt already thought that) but coffee does not seem to affect my sleep.  Using a very loose definition of “straight” I can walk in a straight line.  For many years I have gotten up at four am.  I reckon that is habit.  It does not matter if I go to bed at 8 or 12, I am up at four.
Still, I reckon too much of anything is not a good thing.  Therefore I need help (but you probably already knew that too).  They say that recognising a problem is the first step in solving it.   So this is my recognising I have a problem moment.  Problem.  Too much coffee.  Solution.  Who cares.  Hmmm not the expected outcome I am sure.
We grew up drinking tea.  To say to get it intravenously via a drip would have not looked out of place, indicates how much we drank.  They reckon that tea contains less tannin then coffee.  I really should go back to tea.
I regularly visit a place and have a cup of tea there.  I love it.  But it is the waiting that gets me.  From the time the tea bag is put into the cup until it is drinkable can take like 90 seconds.  I will never get those 90 seconds back. Doing away with tea pots was to me a step in the right direction.  Waiting for the tea to “draw” often meant I was forced to talk.  To me there is something not right about talking and all the time thinking “is the tea ready, is the tea ready.” 
I can of course start drinking as soon as the tea bag goes into the cup but that lessens the experience. Or as a person I know does, leave the tea bag in the cup.  Ok the first sip is often really weak, but by the end it is “I am invincible” strong.
It does not matter if it is tea or coffee, the social experience of having a cuppa together is desirable.  Often it seems it is seen as a pleasant experience to have while talking. 
I had an aunt who gave up tea.  They still appreciated the occasion it presented though.  She would have a cup of water while everyone else was having a coffee or a tea.  I admire her but I don’t want to be like her.  Besides, she is a woman and I am a man and being like her does not seem natural.
I think it is time to raid the pantry to see what tea we have.  A taxi driver once expounded to me the art of tea making.  It can be an art?  I think to do that a person would need to not be desperate.  Often art goes out the window when “must have” takes over.  Still, after it, the simplest thing can seem deep and meaningful.  At least to me.