For many writers, coffee’s essential in order to practice the craft. It gives us energy, smells good, and there are many ways to drink it—you can add creamer or take it black (I love it both ways!)
I, too, swore on coffee being the writer’s drink—until my mom got me a brilliant cocoa-latte machine. After experimenting with different things in the recipe booklet, I realized we shouldn’t limit ourselves to coffee.
Your cure to Writer’s Block might be simple as choosing a different hot (or cold) beverage!
Recently, homemade hot chocolate’s been my favorite when it’s time to write or edit. I’ve also tried a hot Nutella drink and a variation made with dulce de leche (if you haven’t tried this Argentine delicacy, do. It’s so sweet, you may only be able to handle one spoonful!) Other days I need a classic cup of warm tea. Since springtime weather has come, I’m planning to make cold drinks—special lemonades, iced coffee, even smoothies.
The point of this post is we shouldn’t confine the craft to one age group, genre, or drink. I used to look at people who preferred tea with suspicious eyes, but this winter realized that limiting our writing to one beverage is like forcing us all to follow the same storyline.
Writers shouldn’t be limited to the workspace habits of others. We build our own, choosing how to organize our desks, even picking which pens to write with. Believe it or not, this does make a difference!
Don’t let anyone force you to drink coffee. I encourage you to experiment before you decide it’s not for you, since a lot can be done to ‘customize’ it; however, don’t do it because you feel pressured.
You can be a writer and not like coffee. You can even be a writer and not like tea. Be a writer by being you.
Choose your favorite writing beverage, make a playlist your muse enjoys, write in a shadowy corner or a sunny spot in the yard. I believe we would get more original stories if people would walk away from stereotypes, embracing themselves as individuals.
What do you drink while writing—coffee, lemonade, or plain old water? Do you write in a cafe or your comfy bedroom? Do you listen to indie music or classic rock?
Choose what feels right for you, for the sake of your story!
Mariella Hunt 
I don’t really like chocolate, but all of this sounds so good! I didn’t even know a cocoa-latte machine existed, lol.
Yeah, this is like, so important for me. Because I actually hate coffee a little bit, and even if it’s like okay it’s kind of annoying when people are like “WRITERS+COFFEE=EVERYTHING” and I’m just like *sips tea resentfully*
But you’re right. People should just be themselves, no matter what they write or what they drink!
I’m a tea gal. Sometimes I get coffee based drinks at Starbucks, but strong coffee makes me as jittery as a squirrel. Not a good condition to write in, heh.
An enjoyable post and hits some good points. I enjoy drinking tea…or …water or a pop drink when writing, usually a cold option as I get so engrossed I forget about the drink.
I commonly write on the sofa or on my bed, but occasionally like a coffee shop when I need a change of scenery :)
I loooooove tea. So that’s my go-to beverage when I’m writing. I especially like to brew oolong teas when I write, but any kind will do. Never been much of a coffee person, to be honest.
I personally stick with coffee and a little creamer whenever I find myself hard a work writing. However, I will admit to the occasional cup of tea or water to stay hydrated. This is a wonderful article; I’d never seen coffee used in this sort of metaphor before. Nice work.
-Kane