Japanese will often say "let's have beer for now" when they're out,but coffee seems to be the "when in doubt" beverage of choice or Americans. In New York, the city I call home, coffee is everywhere. You find coffee served at the old neighborhood diner, the corner deli, the sidewalk bagel and dougnuts vendor and the eclectic cafe Nothing says "I'm in America!" to me than the thick rimmed cup of coffee that comes as soon as I take my seat in a diner.

SoHo has many hip cafes	A cafe with a loft feel. This cafe is self-service.

And I couldn't go without mentioning the Starbucks, which since the mid-1990's kept popping up one after another. Despite skepticism that Americans wouldn't pony up more than a dollar for a cup of coffee, the coffee shop chain has been a huge success, making coffee an even bigger institution of American life.

What about tea, on the other hand? Although it is the second most consumed beverage after water, tea has always had assumed a low profile in America. Tea was considered a drink for gentle old ladies quietly sipping away, as opposed to being an integral part of most people's lives.

But just as the world of coffee in America was spiced up by the emergence of speciality coffee industry led by Starbucks, tea has started to receive attention in the past decade too and has come to be recognized as the healthy lunch and dinnertime alternative to wine and coffee.

Interest in Asia evident in Zen, Chi and Kanji characters, appreciation for cuisines from around the world, the Starbucks Phenomenon - that is, a willingness to spend a little more for style - have all combined to help people discover the appeal of tea. In addition, health conscious people have been drawn to the beverage that is non-alcoholic, low caffeine.

In fact, the US tea business has grown twofold in the last 10 years and is now a multi-billion dollar industry. Even in coffee shops, there are variety of tea flavors, and we can expect even more growth in the tea business in the near future.

So come back again as I will be reporting on the many faces of tea, a drink as diverse as New Yorkers.

Starbucks has become a familiar sight in Japan as well.	When you ask for tea in a diner, you receive a teabag and a cup of hot water like this.