My Life In Beverages

We document our lives in so many ways. There are stories on Instagram, vlogs on YouTube, snaps on Snapchat, quick jots in a journal app, lengthy journal entries when we get the time, and more. Each of us document life in a multitude of ways which become different kinds of memories to look back on.

What I like most about present-day creativity is how we constantly find new ways to express ourselves and share our lives. The internet may have created many cons but it allows us to try things that would be silly in the real world.

In my mid-year notes, I casually mentioned that I could write 1k words about my morning beverages if given the chance. Mehek jokingly asked when I would post it in the comments so the idea stuck in the back of my brain. In real life, I would have laughed it off and never gone forward with it. But this is my blog where I can talk about any silly thing I like.

Thus, here I am today, trying something new by documenting my life in beverages. This will be much more than a list of favourite drinks. So, grab a beverage of your choice and settle down. Let's talk about liquids and life 🍵

coffee

This has to be the first beverage I talk about because it's the most prevalent in my life. There are so many ways I have coffee, each bringing a different joy to my days.

But firstly, you should know that caffeine does not affect me. I can have a cup of coffee at night and sleep like a baby. I don't depend on energy drinks on tiring days because they don't help me the way they're supposed to. Caffeine rush? Caffeine crash? Don't know them.

When I was in 11th grade, I attended prep classes for the all-India engineering entrance exams. Once a week, I had 3 continuous hours of physics and I hated physics. My mom's a postgrad in physics but it is not my subject. I would be so bored and everything would fly over my head. The class made me sleepy.

One day, I thought I'd use the powers of caffeine to help me study physics. I think my exams were nearing so I was a bit serious about trying to absorb knowledge. I had two cups of coffee between school and prep classes and went off to study physics.

Coffee did nothing. I was just as sleepy as before and I learnt nothing. I was bewildered that coffee didn't help. That was when I started noticing that caffeine doesn't work for me. In fact, if I have very strong coffee, it makes me sleepy. I'll talk more about this later.

Yes, I'm an anomaly. But I now have a friend who also doesn't get affected by caffeine so I know that I'm not the only one.

The good part about not being affected by caffeine is that I get to enjoy the taste of coffee whenever I want without worrying about messing up my sleep. All I think about is enjoying coffee.

While I could have it even right before I go to bed, I like having coffee in the mornings. Morning coffees are my favourite. I love starting the day with a cup of coffee and an activity that I like. It feels great to do my favourite things before my day gets sucked into work.

I like to enjoy my coffee with a book or with a vlog even if it's only for 10-15 minutes. That bit of me-time is enough to make the day better. I savour my morning coffees because makes for a good start to the day.

I don't have coffee every morning but I have it most mornings unless I'm in a rush or I'm having protein shakes. I usually take a break from coffee whenever I feel like the charm isn't there anymore so that it feels special again when I get back to it.

Mom and I usually have filter coffee at home. The smell of filter coffee is unlike anything else. While I understand the charm of the smell in a coffee shop, it still won't beat the smell of filter coffee at home.

Now, you might say that it's obvious that we prefer filter coffee. We're Thamizhans (pronounced Tamilians unless you can say the ழ் sound). Thamizhans are known for loving coffee. But actually, my family is not fond of coffee. My dad's side is all about tea and my maternal granddad was against having regular drinks that could become a crutch. Coffee wasn't allowed in his house.

My mom started drinking coffee only in the last decade, mostly because of me 😂 Now, she's become a coffee aficionado and looks for good coffee powder. The only rule in my house is that coffee should be chicory-free, as it's not good for health.

My problem with filter coffee is that there aren't variations so I get bored of it after a while. As I have coffee only for the taste, the taste matters the most. If I have the same kind of coffee for weeks, I don't like it anymore. I once went off coffee for several months because I got bored of it.

Hence, I like to switch things up and try new flavours. I can do it now that I earn and can spend my money on coffee 😂

Over the past 2-3 years, I've tried coffee from multiple brands in various flavours. My favourite so far is by Dyne, a local coffee brand that sources beans from Coorg. Coorg is a hill station in my state known for its coffee plantations.

I first tried Dyne coffee a couple of years back. It was December and I was mostly cooped up at home due to a stressful work project with a tight deadline. I was working all day. My friends planned to watch the 2022 Football World Cup finals amongst a crowd in a Sunday market called "Sunday Soul Sante". It usually has a bunch of small businesses setting up stalls to sell things like jewellery, food, candles, etc. I logged off from work early-ish and went with my friends even though I'm not interested in football. I needed a break! I wanted to see my friends!

We were looking at the different items for sale before the match screening started. When we came to the Dyne stall, we were offered a taste of the coffee. It was so good! I wanted to try the Irish Cream flavour but unfortunately, they were out. I bought one bottle of Caramel coffee with the idea of buying Irish Cream later online.

To be honest, caramel is not my flavour but I got it anyway to have something new. I had coffee with it the next morning very quickly before I rushed to the office. I came home at night to find out that my mom loved it so much that she had it three times.

In the following weeks, I didn't have the time to have coffee at home so I always rushed to the office and had something there and I would return for a late dinner so I didn't have more of the coffee. One day, I returned home and she told me to buy another bottle. I asked why because although I bought only 60g, it's strong and not much is required per cup. Turns out that my mom had the coffee 2-3 times a day and FINISHED IT. She left a tiny bit for me to have again because she realized that I had it only once 😂

It's so funny to remember it now but I was shocked at that time. It was like a wake-up call for me because I realized only then how I didn't even take time to peacefully have coffee at home. Right from the moment I woke up, it was go go go.

All the coffee flavours were out on Dyne so I got onto the waitlist and bought caramel and hazelnut as soon as they were back in stock. Mom learnt to control her coffee consumption because caffeine does affect her and 2-3 times a day wasn't doing her any good and I made sure to take 10-15 minutes to have coffee before I got to work. Since then, having a cup of coffee in the morning is like making sure that I'm not letting my life be run by work. That's when I started cherishing morning coffees.

Dyne coffee is quite expensive, I won't lie. But mom and I love the taste so I buy it once in a while. I finally tried the Irish Cream flavour and loved it (mom still prefers caramel). We were loyal customers to the point that, a year later, the Dyne team came home to gift a hamper!

I got a call from the Dyne team asking if they could stop by in the evening. I said yes and they came home right after I was back from work. The team gifted us a fancy box of all their flavours and even made a video (for marketing). It turned out that they had started the company a little before I first bought from them and that mela was their first stall. So, we became one of their first loyal customers.

Mom loved the attention 😂 she smiled so brightly when they gave the hamper, said glowing words, and asked them a lot of questions about their company. The hamper had a bunch of flavours we hadn't tried yet and we spent months slowly having them all. I was surprised to find that I liked the raspberry flavour and mom was obsessed with the espresso one.

They gave the coffee in tiny bottles about the size of my thumb which made it very convenient to carry a bit of it to the office. On some days, I took them to the office and shared them with my colleagues. They love the flavours too and never turn down the coffee if I offer it.

As I mostly have coffee at home, I only have it at the office maybe once in two weeks. However, I keep a small bottle of coffee at the office so that if I'm having a hard day, I can easily have some. The coffee by the coffee machine at the office is atrocious and I hate it. I tried it a few times and decided that I'd rather get my own from home.

In cafés, coffees are my go-to choice. In hot drinks, I preferred lattes for a long time but recently, I've been liking flat whites. I finally learnt the difference between different coffee options.

I've had coffee in several places throughout the years but the best coffee I've ever had was at a friend's engagement. It was in the morning so we went early and there was breakfast being served. The idly and pumpkin halwa were good but the highlight was the coffee. They served a small cup of filter coffee and I fell in love at the first sip. The taste was so strong and nice.

Later, another friend arrived and had breakfast after I was done. When we met up afterwards, I asked her if she had the coffee and both of us said "It was so good!" at the same time. We said it loudly and people around us turned to look at us 😂 She and I looked forward to the coffee at the same friend's wedding but the coffee at the wedding breakfast was not the same. I dreamt about that coffee for months after I had it and I still regret not having a second cup. I haven't had better coffee since then.

In cold drinks, I avoid cold brew because the only time I had a cold brew, it almost put me to sleep. I was out with a friend and her friend when I tried it. We were at this fancy café called Araku in Indiranagar. Because of the vibe, I thought I'd try something that sounded fancy too. Big mistake.

After just a few sips of cold brew, I started yawning and my eyes started drooping. I couldn't stop yawning! I was quite energetic before I had the drink and within 15 minutes, I was ready to go to bed in the middle of the afternoon. I slept so hard that night.

That cold brew must have been very strong because I had never had such a reaction to caffeine before. I finally understood why people have cold brews for the caffeine because if it worked the other way, I might have stayed up for two days.

My favourite cold drink is cold coffee. Although it's a simple drink, it can be made so differently. Each café has a different way of preparing it. If I go to a new place where I'm not sure of what's good, I choose cold coffee because while the taste can vary, it is usually not bad.

I especially love cold coffee in hot weather. When I went on a vacation to Varkala with my friends, I had cold coffee in every café if it was available and even went back to a café at the end of the trip to have their lovely cold coffee again.

The best cold coffee I've had is the one near my old office, though. There's a small stall that sells drinks (juices, cold coffee, milkshakes) and snacks (sandwiches, maggi, salad etc.) near my old office. There aren't any tables or chairs to sit so we usually eat/drink while standing or bring them back to the office. The prices of the items aren't expensive too, but wow the cold coffee there is so good.

One day during summer, my colleagues/friends and I had an intense badminton session in the morning. I was craving something cool so I looked at my friend (the same one who obsessed over the filter coffee at the engagement with me) and said cold coffee and she replied let's go. So we all went to the tech park in our workout clothes, parked in the regular spot, and went to have cold coffee.

I still remember how refreshing it felt that day. I even have the snap I sent on that day of the cold coffee with the bright sun in the background saved. It's one of my treasured memories because that was a golden time when my team spent all our time together in and outside of the office. Our days were filled with bickering, working, playing, laughing, and helping each other out, and I will always remember that time fondly.

tea / chai

I waited until I had a cup of chai with me so that this section feels complete 😂 It's 6pm as I write this. It's slightly chilly because of the rainy weather we've been having for the past few days. Sun has gone down and I've turned on the IKEA mushroom lamp in my room so my room is glowing with soft warm light. Feels Like Home by CHPTRS is playing on the speaker. This is the perfect time for chai.

Whenever it rains, it gets cold, I feel stressed or I have a headache, chai is my go-to drink. The warmth from tea is like caffeine.

One of the most common get-to-know-them questions is "are you a coffee person or a tea person?" I'm both. I love coffee but I also love tea.

By the way, whenever I say just "tea", I mean chai. I use them interchangeably. I know that in other countries, "tea" is considered to be the water tea and chai is "milk tea". But here, it's the other way round because chai is more common for us. I call chai as "tea" and say "water tea" for teas that are without milk. Interesting how the default changes based on the geography and traditions, isn't it?

South Indians are fond of coffee but we're also really fond of tea. It's because we have both coffee and tea plantations in abundance. I believe North Indians prefer tea over coffee but I can't say it for sure.

As I mentioned earlier, my dad's family is a tea family. I've always known my dad as a tea person. He wakes up at 5 am every day and needs a cup of tea first thing. He also has tea around 4 pm every day. He gets crabby without it at both times.

I wasn't a chai person for the longest time. My dad makes tea very strong (for the caffeine, probably) and it's not to my taste. He used to offer me tea but I wouldn't usually accept it.

My mom wasn't a tea or coffee person as her dad strongly opposed having these drinks because it's easy to become reliant on caffeine. However, when she got into the workforce, she got into tea because her office would serve tea to everyone in the evenings. She declined them for a long time but she eventually caved because it helps to have a warm drink on stressful work days.

When she started making and having tea at home, I was in college. We would return home from college and office around the same time. She'd make light tea and we'd sit together and chat. I got into having tea in the evenings because it meant having a good conversation with mom after a long day.

I've gotten used to having something in the evenings but what I have depends on who I'm with. It's usually tea when I'm at home because mom likes to have it. However, we don't have evening tea time talks much anymore because I'm usually working.

Mom and I make our chai pretty light with more water which probably has very less caffeine. When my aunt (from Chennai, this is important because tea and coffee in Chennai is strooong) visits us, she complains that our tea is basically water and makes strong tea for herself 😂 I like it that way, though. It's nice to sit with a hot cup of light tea in the evenings, absorbing warmth from it.

I find that having a hot drink in the evenings reduces my headaches and hot tea is a great option. We sometimes make masala tea or ginger tea in the winters or when we have sore throats. We have tried a bunch of tea leaves like masala tea, elaichi tea, etc. but we always revert to the regular tea at home.

A drink become a must in the evenings on work days for me and the usual choice is tea. Remember how I said mom got into tea at work? It's the case for most people in the Indian workforce. Evening tea times are infamous for being the time when colleagues gossip and network. Some people go for smoke breaks, others go for tea breaks.

After we shifted to the current office location last year, my colleagues and I struggled to settle on a drink for the evenings. The previous location had hot chai available in office at all times but the current office pantry doesn't have it. We don't like the chai made through tea bags. We tried a bunch of places nearby and finally settled on one that serves good ginger tea.

Every evening, a few of my colleagues and I take 15-20 mins to have a tea break. It's not easy to find common free time considering that we work on different things and are on different teams (and we're now each pod leads of different pods) but we try. We take turns waiting for each other to become free and cajoling each other to drop work for a bit to have a break.

That 15-20 minutes (on busy days, it's <10 minutes) makes a big difference. Sometimes, I forget to even drink water at work. It's helpful to physically step out of the office and relax for a bit. It's also nice to gossip and learn what's happening in other teams 😂

On the days when we're too busy to step away from our desks (happening more and more often lately 😥), I grab a hot drink from the office pantry. It's not tea, though.

I miss the ginger tea that was available in the old office during my internship. That was the only time I was obsessed with tea.

I joined my current company as an intern in my last semester of college and it was a totally new environment for me. I always knew that I would prefer the work environment to the academic environment but I didn't realize the other things that come with working like gossiping with peers over tea and snacks. I didn't know that there would be games at the office to play during breaks. It was a time of newness.

My favourite aspect of the old office was the ginger tea. As my intern group was on a different floor, we had only the drinks made in machines in the beginning. When we got over hesitation and went into the regular office floor during breaks, we found that there were way better drinks in the main area.

The staff used to prepare hot ginger tea and put it into the tea dispenser regularly so that the tea was always hot and never out. I used to have tea in the morning, in the evening, and even right before leaving the office for the day. I! loved! that! ginger! tea! I used to tell my mom not to prepare any drink for me in the mornings and would go in early to enjoy the tea.

Unfortunately, the pandemic hit about a month into my internship and when we returned to working at an office, it was at a new location without that ginger tea. I wasn't able to enjoy that tea for a long time but I still fondly remember it.

Other than workdays, I don't have chai outside unless I go to a specific chai place. My favourite tea place was "Tea Trails" in Brigade Road which has unfortunately closed. They had so many types of chai (all of them amazing) and snacks to go with it. I used to visit it often on weekends after buying books.

The first time I went to Tea Trails was a few years back when I was planning a huge meetup to introduce my school friends to my college group. I love talking about my favourite people so I often talk about friends to other friends. Soon, they knew each other so well and wanted to meet. Tea Trails was the only place in Brigade Road that agreed to host 14 of us for lunch on a weekend. While the food wasn't great, I loved the tea.

My idea of a solo chill outing was going to the bookstore and then going to Tea Trails to have hot chai while reading a book. I liked the seats that overlooked the busy Brigade Road. I took so many of my colleagues and friends there over time too. I'm so sad that the place has closed. I haven't found another chai place yet.

bubble tea / boba tea

This is a more recent obsession of mine. I think I tried bubble tea for the first time about a couple of years back. I didn't like it initially but it grew on me.

If I remember right, I first tried boba tea with my friend and his friend. He introduced me to boba by taking me to Boba Tree. I don't remember which bubble tea I tried but I remember that it was super sugary and I didn't like it that much. (I'm not a huge fan of sweets).

The first bubble tea drink that I liked was a cold coffee one. Cold coffee is a safe choice that is hard to mess up so I tried cold coffee boba the second time I tried boba. It tasted like regular cold coffee with tapioca pearls. I had only cold coffee boba for a long time before branching out.

Currently, my favourite is the Japanese Matcha bubble tea. I love it. Not all places make it well (some add too much sugar) but the few places where it's good, it's great. It's my go-to drink when I want to treat myself. Bubble tea is fairly expensive so it's usually only a treat or I pick it up if it's literally on my way.

I also like only the chewy boba, not the popping ones. The popping ones are so weird. It's like they're balloons that softly burst or disappear when you have them. It's off-putting.

My favourite boba place is The Boba King in Brigade Road. It's also the place that got me to like boba with their cold coffee boba and I started liking the matcha flavour through their boba teas. One reason why I kept trying their boba and grew to like it is because the prices are affordable and it's in an area that I visit often.

Funny story: I found the place because I saw people holding bubble teas while walking in Brigade road. I searched "bubble tea place near me" and found it. I'm usually not someone who sees others having something and crave it. But it happened that day so I searched the place and took my friend (coincidentally, the same one who introduced me to boba) with me.

I don't think the Boba King makes the best boba tea. However, they make good boba tea at that price. Other bubble teas that I've had cost quite a bit more so I wouldn't have them more than once in a few months. It's also hard to find good bubble tea places.

Over the past two years, more and more places serve boba and so many new boba-specific places have opened up. It's easy to see that more people are enjoying the drink so more business are popping up for it. However, not all places make it well. It's pretty easy to tell if they've used cheap packaged boba.

If I want to have boba tea at home, I usually order from Boba Tree because there's a branch nearby. Their Japanese Matcha bubble tea is pretty good. It would be better if they used less sugar but it's fine. I can get it delivered at a fair-enough price using coupons so it's fine.

Another place nearby that serves great boba and is my frequented place is Casa Fresco by Tea Brew. I've been there so many times—with friends and alone. I really like their Hazelnut Coffee Boba and Japanese Matcha Boba Tea. I saw a new boba place the other day while I was out with a friend and we stopped by so that I could try the matcha boba there and it was actually great! I'm looking forward to go there again.

As you can tell, I absolutely love matcha boba 🧋😂 The matcha flavour is so refreshing. Paired with cold milk, it makes for a great drink on a hot day. The chewy tapioca pearls are nice too. I just really like matcha boba right now.

The best bubble tea I've had is at Elixir in Koramangala. I first tried their boba when they had a branch open in Ulsoor. The same friend who introduced me to boba has a friend who used to order from Elixir despite it being very far. So we went to try it ourselves to see if it's that good. He tried the Tiger bubble tea and it was sooo good. I can't remember which one I had (it wasn't the matcha one) but it was great too.

I've been to the Koramangala branch three to four times (always with friends as if we're on a special expedition) and I've tried a few different flavours. They carry the only Taro boba that I have ever liked (I did not like it in any other place) and their Matcha boba is too good. They also have Matcha mochi which is great.

Recently, the friend who introduced me to boba and Elixir, called me up and said "are you free" on a holiday. I was busy so I said no. Then he said "boba" and I said "... okay" 😂 So I took a break and went with him to Koramangala. No but honestly, that place is so far from us. We decided to eat well because we knew that we wouldn't go back again soon.

Apparently, the owners serve under a few different brands with different menu options in the same place. So, we ordered boba and mochi and poke bowls. This was actually the first time I had their matcha boba and it was exactly what I needed that day. The teriyaki poke bowl was also so good! My friend and I ate and drank well and absolutely loved everything. I want to go back so badly, I'm convincing some friends to meet there soon.

Reading the above, you must have understood how influenced I got by that one friend to love bubble tea. But hey, I'm also an influencer who got other people to love boba.

I've taken many friends and colleagues to have bubble tea with me. I can say for sure that they like it because they have boba and send me snaps/pictures of it. Even if it wasn't on my mind, seeing them makes me want to have boba 😂

I'm lucky that my workplace is fairly close to The Boba King so on days when we have time, I take my colleagues there. It makes for a nice treat in the middle of the workday. Sadly, I haven't been able to go for boba during work days in months because I've been so busy.

My reader friends never understood why I liked the matcha flavour and hadn't tried bubble tea. We met up at Casa Fresco one day and they loved the Matcha Bubble Tea there. After that day, I randomly get pictures of bubble teas in the group chat. Vaish loved it so much that she has ordered it home multiple times.

At this point, having boba tea myself or with my friends is like a treat. I don't have it very often, though. Maybe once or twice a month.

iced matcha tea

I have matcha drinks a lot now but when I first tried matcha, I hated it. I'm not sure of the exact year but I clearly remember the events as if it happened last month. For a person who is known for forgetting a lot of things and regularly jokes that "I have 1GB memory," I sure do remember a lot of the smaller moments in life.

We were in one of my friend's homes. He lived far away with no proper public transportation access so going to his place was always a day trip. We were hanging out and when evening came out, we decided to have tea. One of my other friends made chai but the host friend said that he has something better for him and I.

He said that he got authentic matcha and that I'll love it. I was hella skeptical because I hadn't heard of it before but I thought if he liked it, it must be good. He took strong matcha powder, put just a tiny bit of it in a glass of hot water, mixed it well and gave it to me. He looked at me with expectation and I said, "it tasted green" 😂 I hated it and was sad that I didn't have the chai.

Looking back, I realize that we didn't make it the way matcha is supposed to be made (whisking etc.). And most people wouldn't like matcha if it's introduced to them with no dilution. It might have been a tad better with milk, at least.

Cut to years later and I like matcha now! I will admit, matcha was easier to like when it came with milk and sugar. Once I got used to the matcha flavour in bubble teas, I tried it in other drinks. Not many places in Bangalore serve matcha drinks so it wasn't easy to find them but I tried it whenever I saw it.

I still don't like hot matcha tea/latte but I love the cold drinks, especially iced matcha tea. Matcha is such a refreshing taste as a cold drink. If it's available and I trust the café or I see good reviews, I pick matcha over coffee. I pick iced matcha over iced/cold coffee! How things change, haha.

My favourite iced matcha tea is at Casa Fresco by Tea Brew. Honestly, their iced matcha tea is the only one that has stuck in my head. All the others that I've had weren't impressive. I don't like the hot matcha tea there either but the iced one is great.

I visit the restaurant often and on one day, I didn't want any milk-based drink. While perusing the menu, I noticed Iced Matcha Tea and immediately went for it. It was so good that wanted to have it again every day for the next week. I once went to the café just to have the Iced Matcha Tea.

On one of the days, I went to the café for alone for some quality solo time. It was really nice to read a book while sipping on iced matcha tea on a hot summer day. I finished the book from start to finish there! (It was Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers if you're curious).

Even my reader friends who didn't understand why I liked matcha said that it was nice when they tried it. After that, I was convinced that people would like matcha more if it is introduced to them gently. No one likes new tastes if it is too strong the first time they try it.

protein shake

Protein shakes got added to my routine last year when I started exercising regularly.

Introducing protein shakes to my routine took a bit of experimenting. I had no idea which protein to use, when to have it, and how often to have it. The two people I was close to who took protein powder regularly had differing routines. In the end, I decided to just try one and go from there.

The first protein powder I tried was MyProtein's cholocate whey protein. It was way too cholocatey and sweet for me. I also didn't know that I should have it after workouts so I had it before I went running. And I had it with milk so it was like having a chocolate shake in the morning before working out. Not a good thing.

However, I noticed improvement within a couple of days! Protein shakes are no joke. I could deal with the chocolate and the sweetness if it meant that my body wouldn't ache all day and I could run better.

Eventually, I tried more things and learnt how I'd like to take protein. I started having it after my workouts and I bought a shaker. I tried whey protein with water and didn't like it so I stuck to milk.

When my whey protein finished, I decided to try plant protein. Whey was a bit too rough on my stomach and I didn't want sucralose in my daily intake. My other friend used Cosmix plant protein so I listened to his suggestion.

I again went with a cholocate flavour because I figured that I could manage it after dealing with the whey protein for a while. But Cosmix's Chikmanglur Mocha flavour is totally different and I had to get used to a flavour I didn't like again. I also didn't like it with milk so I had to try something new again.

It turned out that I prefer plant protein with water. I bought a shaker and used it to have protein powder with regular water every morning.

The difference between whey and plant protein is quite evident. My recovery time reduced with plant protein but I didn't have any digestion issues. I also didn't feel heavy after having it like I felt with whey. I had a big problem with the flavour, though.

My friend gave me a couple of flavours to try. They were better, but they still weren't flavours that I liked. I looked through the Cosmix site and found the Japanese Ceremonial Matcha flavour, and that was it. I got it and loved it.

I love having matcha protein powder after my workouts. I add it to water in my shaker, give it a good shake, and enjoy it. Other than being healthy, it's a quick way to enjoy a taste that I love so it's a win-win. It's kiinda like cold matcha tea after a workout. It's refreshing and I enjoy it.

When Cosmix released the Vanilla Latte flavour, I tried that as well and liked it. It tastes exactly like cold coffee! For a while, I alternated between the two flavours depending on my mood. But eventually, I got back to having only matcha.

How often I have protein shakes depends on how much I work out. I have protein powder only after a workout so on the days when I don't work out, I don't have protein. If I don't regularly exercise and I don't feel like my body needs extra protein to recover, I don't have protein.

While protein helps, I don't want to become reliant on it, you know? I don't want to have it unnecessarily either. Nowadays, as I'm not working out rigorously, I skip protein on days when I don't tire out much too. As I write this, I haven't had protein shakes for a few weeks because I'm exercising only around twice a week.

lemon tea

When I say lemon tea, I mean the water tea. There's no lemon milk tea (as far as I know) but it's better to clarify.

Back when I was in college, we could buy a small glass of lemon tea for 10 rupees and it used to be good. They had coffee and tea for 10 bucks as well but the lemon tea was especially good. Although I'm not a huge fan of lemon tea, I had it a few times due to my friends loving it and eventually grew to like it.

During my internship in the last semester of college, the staff used to make 10-15 glasses of hot lemon tea and brought them out at exactly 5 pm every day. Whoever got there early would snatch up the lemon tea. The office also arranged for snacks 2-3 times a week which would come at exactly 5 pm.

My internship peers and I used to rush to the cafeteria for lemon tea and snacks. As I loved the ginger tea at the office more, I used to skip the lemon tea for it. But I had it a few times and loved it.

Nowadays, I mostly have lemon tea at the office by making it from a tea bag. The office pantry stocks up on lemon and green tea bags. As there's no tea at this office and I don't like the coffee, I have lemon tea if I feel like having a drink.

Most of the time, tea bags by Cafe Coffee Day are in stock but on a few rare days, there are Tetley lemon tea bags in stock. When I see the latter, I always have a cup of lemon tea. I prefer the Tetley lemon tea flavour more. It doesn't get bitter if I let the tea bag steep for long and tastes good cold as well. It's better for when I'm slowly sipping on lemon tea as I work.

I usually have lemon tea in the mornings while chatting with my colleagues. On most mornings, if we don't have pressing work to do, my colleagues and I like to have a drink while chatting. Somehow, the workday feels better if we start it with morning tea. We talk about random things and gossip if we have any information. We also talk about how busy our day is so that we can plan early on when we can go out for tea.

From the above paragraph, it sounds as if we do nothing but have drinks and gossip during work hours but it's actually a very small part of the day. We run around like headless chickens for almost the entire day once we start working so it's nice to start it on a good note and plan breaks beforehand. We also talk about common meetings and any common work. Somehow, talking about work over tea doesn't feel like work but having the same conversation elsewhere feels like serious work. I don't think I'm alone in thinking that 😂

After a few months of having lemon tea in the mornings, I switched to drinking water while chatting with my colleagues. I didn't like the Cafe Coffee Day lemon tea anymore and I realized that I could just stick to water. Since then, my consumption of lemon tea has reduced drastically. I now only have it if I really need some hot drink to stave off a headache and get through the day.

To be honest, at this point, it's more likely that I forget to have a drink during the workday rather than choose a specific drink. The last Thursday, I totally forgot about break or tea until I was on my way home after work. I realized it only because I felt tired and hungry. Oh, how I miss the internship days when we could go to the pantry at 5 pm sharp every day.

I don't have lemon tea outside of the office because I prefer other drinks over it. I have it in the office because it's the only available drink that I don't mind having.

other water teas

I don't have any other specific water tea to highlight but I want to talk about them as a whole. When I say water tea, I mean all kinds of water tea (except lemon tea because I covered that). It can mean green tea or any other kind.

I actually don't like green tea. I haven't liked green tea made from tea bags at all the offices I've worked in so far. However, when mom or I buy some for home, I don't mind it it. Somehow, the green tea bags which are kept in offices don't taste good. I didn't know that it could taste better until mom bought some once.

But I avoid green tea bags at offices for another reason too. Every time I have green tea at the office, I get very hungry within an hour.

About 2 years ago, I was avoiding milk for a few weeks to see if it's a trigger for my eczema so I tried having green tea instead of milk teas. I would have it in the morning while chatting with my colleagues or in evening breaks. Like clockwork, in around an hour or so, I'd become hungry. My lunches were usually enough but after having green tea, I wanted to snack in between meals.

I knew that green tea is supposed to help in losing weight and that was when I realized that it might be true. One of my colleagues used to have green tea right after lunch to try to lose weight. I didn't care about it though. And frankly, becoming hungry out of schedule was inconvenient when I had so much work. So I started avoiding green tea.

Over the years, mum and I have tried many kinds of water teas. Once, she got a hibiscus tea bag set which was interesting and nice. I loved the tea bag's style because it was circular and had no pins. It was also strong enough for two big mugs.

Nowadays, I usually have some kind of tea around noon while working at home. My work starts at 11 AM which isn't too far away from lunch but somehow, I always feel like I need a little extra push to last till lunch. Mom and I tend to have late lunches too, at around 2:30 PM, so we have some tea around 12:30 PM.

Working from home is a conundrum. Whenever I work from home, I think that I'm going to take it easy and rest or take care of myself. But, 99% of the time, I work more than I do at office. I'm stuck to my desk during the workday. I don't even take a lunch break half the time, which is what happened last Friday. Fridays are supposed to be easy but nowadays, my Fridays are filled with meetings from 1:30 to 5:30 which means that I end up having lunch at my desk.

During the pandemic, when we were all working from home, I was pretty much a workaholic. I used to get so absorbed in work that I'd forget to drink water or eat. Until my mom called out to me or brought sme something, I'd lose track of time.

It got to the point that she was worried about my workaholic tendencies and was worried about me when I had to go back to office. She was worried that I would forget to eat at office 😂 She started bringing me some kind of water tea around noon so that I'd have something, even if it was flavoured water.

I'd like to say that I don't work as much anymore but that is a lie. We don't have water tea as much nowadays because we haven't found any new interesting teas. As I mentioned earlier, we get bored and like to try new tastes. The last I got was a barley tea pack from Ladakh which tastes quite new. We have it once in a while.

endnotes

Well, this was a long post! I told you that I could write 1k words about my beverages but I'm guessing you didn't expect almost 8k words about them 😂

This post doesn't have big memories but it has a lot of the small moments from my life. If I had to map out my days by a measure that isn't time, I'd probably measure it by the drinks I have. Coffees in the mornings, water teas at random times when I want a drink, chai in the evenings, bubble teas when I want to treat myself, and protein shakes after a rigorous workout.

Our lives are so much more than the big moments. They're mostly filled with daily routines that aren't usually captured or talked about. But our daily lives say so much more about who we are and how we like to live.

The beverages you have can say a lot about you because there's more to them than being just drinks you have. Beverages, like food, tie memories together over several years. There's always a story behind why you don't miss your regular beverages.

Writing this post took me through so many memories over the years. In no other post have I visited so many different kinds of memories. I became so nostalgic over the tea served in the office during my internship days! 😂 I normally wouldn't link evenings from my college days to evenings during work days. But, like we found out above, they're linked through chai.

Obviously, the memories don't stop here. In fact, I'm currently searching for a specific drink that I can treat myself to in the winters like how I had bubble teas in the summer. I haven't found it yet—chai is too normal and I don't like hot chocolate. I'll probably try a bunch of different hot drinks at different places to find it and I'll make more memories along the way.

I'm looking forward to write about "my life in beverages" a decade or so later.

tell me about your life in beverages ☕️

I hope you enjoyed going on the several trips down my memory lane with me! I'd love to have a look at yours. What does your life in beverages look like? What drinks connect the most memories in your life? When you think of your regular drink, what's the first moment that comes to mind? Share with me in the comments! Or you could make a post about it 👀