Recently, I was watching a fascinating BBC documentary about the British love affair with tea (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rx1wx). Not only did it lead me to put the kettle on and reach for the teapot, but it also made me think about tea versus coffee, and how we choose either drink based (if not on taste) on the kind of mood we are trying to create. I decided to take a look back at my novel Burning Embers and explore how I’d used tea and coffee in that romance story, to determine which is the more romantic of the drinks.

Tea

I found various mentions of tea in my book, especially in relation to Aluna, Coral’s old nanny. It’s a comforting drink, grounding and recharging. Take the following excerpt:

“Are you convinced now that you’re in no condition to move?” He laid her down gently on the bed and pulled the sheet over her. “I’ll bring you something to eat and some hot tea. We’ll take it from there,” he said in an even voice, then looked at her solemnly and walked out, leaving her alone in the room.

Rafe is caring for Coral after a car accident, and a cup of tea is offered for calming, settling relief. By the same token, when Coral is nursing Rafe later in the book, she also offers him tea:

Rafe slept all day with Coral sitting next to him, helping him up, holding him against her when bouts of recurrent chills shook him, or gently pushing his shoulders back into the pillows when the fever agitated him. From time to time, she would urge upon him spoons of hot tea or press a water-soaked cotton cloth to his parched lips to refresh him.

Verdict: Tea is soothing, revitalising, healthful and, when offered to another, a way to say, ‘I’d like to take care of you.’

Coffee

 A coffee plantation is one of the settings in the novel, so it is unsurprising that coffee features often as a drink in the novel.

On the one hand, it is a drink for breakfast, to clear away the cobwebs woven the previous day:

When Coral walked into the dining room, she noticed too late that Rafe was on his own, making his way to the sideboard. “Ah, Miss Sinclair,” he exclaimed jovially as she appeared in the doorway, “did you sleep well?” Coral’s first instinct was to rush from the room, but she stayed. Without looking at him, she knew that he was watching her, and she was damned if she was going to give him the satisfaction of an undignified retreat.

“Can I help you to some eggs and bacon? Absolutely delicious! Or maybe you would prefer a cup of coffee to start off with? Nothing like a cup of the hot brown brew to sober one up.”

But for a delicious feast of a breakfast, coffee must also feature:

He laid out breakfast on the veranda while Coral showered and dressed: champagne, freshly squeezed pineapple juice, the fruit salad he knew she liked so much, scrambled ostrich eggs and caviar, hot toast, delicious exotic jams, eucalyptus honey, and his very special coffee from the Kongoni estate.

What a superb start to the day! Skip forward in time, though, until the sun has sunk below the horizon and the African night has set in, cooling and thick with the sounds of a thousand wild animals. Romance is in the air, and what better drink to infuse that mood than coffee:

Rafe reached for a bottle and two glasses from a cabinet. “A small cognac? Or maybe you would prefer some coffee; either will warm you up.” Once again he surprised her with his attentiveness; he had noticed that she was trembling. The shivers could not have resulted from the beautiful, balmy night, and she wondered if that had also crossed his mind.

Coral decided to be sensible for a change. “I’ll have some coffee, please.”

Verdict: Coffee has that sensuous, stirring quality we associate with romance – the richness of the taste and the aroma and the colour; the creamy consistency; the both comforting and energising properties. For me, when it comes to romance, coffee is king. Although you may invite a beau out for a cup of tea, you’ll more likely have a tête-à-tête over coffee. As English playwright John Van Druten once said: ‘I think if I were a woman I’d wear coffee as a perfume.’ Because who can resist the smell?

In case you are wondering, I looked online and found that you can buy an eau de café – Colombian Coffee Perfume. A little strange, perhaps, but surely more romantic than other strange scents on offer, such as the Stilton perfume I found reviewed in The Telegraph!