I grew up in a very traditional English way in the 1970s and 1980s before the internet and streaming movies and shows on demand mingled the cultures of the USA and the UK. We were raised by teachers and parents who were children during World War II and our grandparents fought in that war while the land of my birth was constantly bombed by the Nazis. This all fueled the stoicism of the British to not panic and to“ Keep Calm and Carry On”. Part of this heritage is to “put the kettle on” to make hot tea whenever there is a stressful situation or just as an essential backdrop to our lives. Part of the philosophical gulf between the two nations is the traditional hot beverage of choice – tea versus coffee.

In Britain, I have heard tea described as not merely a drink, but instead “an emotional support system with a hot water kettle attached”. 18th century English poet, William Cowper described tea as “the cups that cheer but not inebriate”. In America, coffee is not merely a drink. It is a delivery mechanism for productivity. And when I set up my business in the US 15 years ago, I found out just how much this distinction matters.

A British morning begins with the gentle burble of boiling water. The kettle clicks off. The teapot is warmed and teabags or loose tea is lowered into the teapot or mug like a ceremonial offering. There is patience involved. One waits. One reflects. One contemplates the drizzle outside. Tea is restorative.

It says, “Steady on. We shall manage.”

An American morning begins with a machine that sounds like a jet preparing for takeoff. Coffee is brewed in a large carafe. It is poured into a travel mug the size of a small aquarium and consumed at highway speeds. Coffee says, “Let’s go. I have emails and meetings today. Let’s get moving!” This is not a criticism because I love both beverages and both countries. It is, however, a cultural observation.

Here in beautiful Coastal Georgia, coffee shops seem to be everywhere. We have coffee that tastes like caramel, coffee that tastes like pumpkin pie, coffee that tastes like it once attended a yoga retreat.

There are iced versions, frozen versions, and versions that appear to contain more whipped cream than liquid. Americans have taken a simple bean and built a consumer-focused industrial empire.

Naturally there is the option to get coffee through the convenient drive through coffee shop. The British, by contrast, remain stubbornly loyal to tea and if they do make coffee it is often powdered instant coffee mixed with hot water from the kettle. While herbal tea has its place proper tea never involves hibiscus or chamomile or lilac but is usually black tea with milk and sometimes sugar. No ceremony beyond the kettle and the quiet understanding that whatever has gone wrong in the last hour can be temporarily suspended while the teacup is in hand.

When Americans are stressed, they say, “I need coffee.” But when Brits are stressed, they say, “Put the kettle on.” Same sentiment and same actual temperature in the cup, but with a significantly different emotional temperature. It has long seemed to me, even before my embrace of America, that there is something very assertive about coffee. It sharpens and accelerates. It is the beverage equivalent of a pep talk delivered at a loud-ish volume. Tea, on the other hand, smooths the edges. It is less pep talk and more reassuring nod. Sometimes a nice hug on a rainy day. Of course in the UK tea is always a hot drink, never an icy beverage.

From the moment of the Boston Tea Party, which involved an American rejection of over-control by the British, coffee gained the upper hand in the colonies. A new nation was born, and it would run on caffeine. Yet for all the differences, the two drinks perform remarkably similar social functions. In Britain, you do not visit someone’s home or office without being offered tea. It would be unthinkable. You sit at the kitchen or conference table, and are generally offered cookies, which the Brits call biscuits. Tea nudges the conversation along, allows pauses, buys time and smoothes out awkwardness. In America, we accomplish the same thing with coffee. “Let’s grab a coffee” is modern shorthand for everything from business negotiation to heartfelt confession. We cradle the cup like a small furnace and discuss schools, football, weather, business proposals and more. Tea says, “Stay a while” but coffee says, “Let’s get started.”

And yet, increasingly, the lines are blurring. You can now find respectable tea in Georgia, and respectable coffee in England. The British have discovered lattes and strong conference room coffee. Americans are experimenting with kettles. Cultural exchange, it turns out, can be far less dramatic than tossing crates into a harbor. Perhaps that is the secret to the so-called “special relationship.” Britain brings the kettle, while America brings the coffee maker. Between them, something productive and positive occurs. And here in Coastal Georgia — where Southern hospitality meets a dash of English understatement brought here from England by James Oglethorpe in the establishment of Georgia — I like to think that there is room for both. There is a lot more information at www.britannica. com and www.history.com I will leave you with a quote from the great Abraham Lincoln, supposedly said when someone put a cup of something in front of him that he didn’t like. “If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.”

God Bless America! Lesley grew up in London, England and made Georgia her home in 2009. She can be contacted at lesley@lesleyfrancispr.com or via her PR and marketing agency at www.lesleyfrancispr.com.