London, GB | Formerly of New York, Buenos Aires, Fife, and the Western Cape. | Saoránach d’Éirinn.

The Red Lion Coffee Shoppe

Or: How Andrew Cusack Became a Tea Drinker

THE HOT SUMMER sun has fled us here in New York, having been replaced by the cooling but somber clouds of rain. My mind can’t help but harken back to an August of just a few years ago when I spent the summer in Argentina. Of course, New York’s summer is Buenos Aires’s winter, but in Argentina winter means prodigious rain and skies of grey, rather than the glorious snows we’re used to in the Big Apple. On the grounds of St. Alban’s College, our happy little school, there was situated the spartan but merry Red Lion Coffee Shoppe.

On many a cold, grey, Argentine August day we would escape the sufferings of education and flee to the Red Lion. There were two points of service at the Red Lion coffee shop: one a window which faced onto the outside (seen above), the other a hole-in-the wall counter which faced onto the little square room which was the shop. It was a simple, sparsely-decorated room with a few chairs and tables, the walls covered with posters lauding South African rugby and New Zealand cricket, and framed prints depicting charming views of other St Alban’s toponyms around the world: the original St. Alban’s in England, St. Alban’s in South Africa, St. Alban’s in Denmark, St. Alban’s just about everywhere. There was only one heater (the Argentines, in their desire to be in all ways like the British, do not heat their buildings properly) mounted onto the side wall opposite the counter and the obvious idea was to sit right next to the heater or else freeze. It was a black moment when one entered the Red Lion only to discover that others – the nerve! – were already situated by the heater. Rest assured, many a rueful glance was exchanged.

Anyhow, while a number of carbonated beverages were on offer, a nice warm cup of tea was much preferred to a cold, refrigerated soda. Tea at the Red Lion, which was invariably Green Hills, was accompanied by chocolate, usually fulfilled by a packet of M&M’s, but occasionally I went for Rhodesia bars which I confess I only ever bought because of their name. (Incidentally, I took a Rhodesia bar home and when I had a fetching young tutor at St Andrews who was one of the last Rhodesians to be born, I gave it to her as a gift at our last tutorial).

I had never been a regular tea drinker before then and am very glad that I acquired the happy habit; it is one which has stood me well throughout the ages. What better companion in Scotland, for example, while reading as the grey tempest of the Caledonian climate brews outside, than a nice cup of warm brew inside? And of course tea need not be a solitary joy. When I think of the hours wasted away in after-rosary cups of tea on weekday afternoons in St Andrews! It would bring scandal to some. Indeed one cold Scottish afternoon the hours of cups of tea gave way to two bottles of port, and then a raid by a gaggle of ne’erdowells on my secret whiskey reserve! (Duly recounted herein).

At any rate, I believe it to be one of summer’s chief deficiencies that it is too hot for the proper, frequent enjoyment of tea, and so I rather look forward to the coming fall and winter seasons. Nestled in a comfy chair with a nice cup of tea and a good book; could there be pleasures more sublime?

Published at 9:20 am on Monday 28 August 2006. Categories: Argentina Journal People Tags: .
Comments

Andrew, I do hope your hours of being “nestled in a comfy chair with a nice cup of tea and a good book” will be on those days you have off from your gainful employment.

— Aunt Naomi 28 Aug 2006 10:45 am

Andrew has gainful employment?

How dreadful!

— hilary 28 Aug 2006 10:52 am

It appears once again, Mr. Cusack, that we delight in similar things. I returned to New York City in early August (following my wedding in Galicia, Spain) — just in time for that insufferable heat wave. Within a fortnight, the temperature was nothing but sublime. Although in any given year I would celebrate having sunny-but-breezy 70° weather, I must admit that I was happiest upon the arrival of our recent stormy weather: Time to curl-up on the couch with the rain pitter-pattering against the window pane; a hot cup of tea; and hours spent pondering over the many books that summer and its obligations did scarcely allow me to enjoy.

— Alessandro 28 Aug 2006 1:57 pm

Tea is fine all year round, just like civilization.

— Steve M. 28 Aug 2006 10:31 pm

All the Brits in Saint Louis know about a little shop on Main Street in Saint Charles, where *real* tea is available. It is just down the street from the shrine of Saint Duchesne. The Good Sister, however, was most likely a coffee drinker.

— Mark Scott Abeln 3 Sep 2006 12:24 am
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