Coffee vs. Tea vs. Lemonade

It was a cheery afternoon when Teri and her two daughters, Breeze and Freya, had arrived at the Deluxe Village House. Teri was very excited for some afternoon coffee with Heidi Choch and Harlin Hopscotch. Harlin Hopscotch was very proud of his coffee serving and entertaining skills. He had the nicest little cloth to go on the coffee table and a beautiful set of cups and plates. On top of that, only the best coffee special was served to guests after they had been carefully grounded in the coffee maker.

That cheerful afternoon, the adults propped themselves on the armchairs and sofa of the Deluxe Living Room. Heidi had already set a fine set of tarts bought from the cake shop in town square on the coffee table. Harlin had grinded the coffee special beans wondrously. Teri sipped a sip of the hot coffee and sighed.

“You’ve outdone yourself once more, Harlin,” she said.

“Yes, yes. A coffee experience is truly the best beverage experience there could possibly be,” Harlin replied

“Well, I wouldn’t know about using the word ‘best’,” Heidi chimed in.

“Yes, I would argue a lemonade experience is the best,” Teri argued.

“I was going to say tea,” Heidi claimed.

“No, no, no. Coffee!” Harlin said with an impatient tone.

The adults started squabbling as Bell was walking downstairs for a cup of water.

“Why don’t you all just prepare a beverage experience separately and judge fairly?” she suggested.

The adults all murmured and agreed.

“Then, I must have a second chance,” Harlin proclaimed. “These tarts aren’t fresh enough and the serving experience wasn’t well prepped.”

The adults agreed. Tomorrow would be Harlin’s turn, then the next day would be Heidi’s, and at last the third day would be Teri’s.

The next morning, Harlin woke up especially early and headed for town. He was going to do this right. Fresh out of the oven tarts, a nice new can of coffee special beans, and he had already asked Bell to serve the coffee very fancily.

Harlin laid everything out that afternoon as Heidi was opening the door after Teri knocked on the door.

“Come in, come in,” Bell said. She had bathed and used extra fur shampoo to be her extra best for this important experience.

She ushered them to the Deluxe Living Room, where Harlin was waiting.

“Help yourself to some fresh baked tarts I bought from the village bakery just this morning,” Harlin greeted.

The adults all took up a comfortable seat, and then Bell carefully poured the hot coffee into their little cups.

Teri took a sip and commented, ”Wondrous. A nice steaming cup of coffee with a fresh baked tart.” Heidi nodded in agreement. Harlin, taking note of all this, was sure he would win by now.

The next day, Teri came over once more for Heidi’s tea experience. She had already poured out three steaming cups of tea, and she knew the perfect arrangements for everyone. She personally enjoyed light tea with crushed orange zest mixed in, while Harlin enjoyed a strong cup of earl grey coffee. Teri on the other hand liked strong orange zested tea. Teri and Harlin were led into the dining room to pick up their cup of tea. Then, they marched off to the patio.

“Oooo, nature setting with a light, yet hot beverage. Very clever, Heidi,” Teri exclaimed.

Heidi was overjoyed and was sure she would win, too.

The next day, Heidi and Harlin drove over to Teri’s Lakeside Lodge in their spacious Family Seven Seater. Freya greeted them at the door and beckoned for them to come out to the balcony.

“Quite a warm day, isn’t it,” she mentioned.

Heidi and Harlin couldn’t help but agree. It seemed Teri’s luck had been good enough to get her a day with especially warm weather.

Teri was waiting by the balcony with a pitcher of lemonade and glasses prepared already.

“You can see town from here,” she said. The view was spectacular, and a rare treat for the Hopscotch adults who lived further north and further away from town. Teri’s house was southern and much closer to town. (So close that she went there everyday to order meals from the Delicious Restaurant).

“Ahhh,” all the adults sighed when they gulped their refreshingly cold lemonade down. The heat seemed to be bearable now with a pitcher of lemonade at their disposal.

“Well, then, my dear sister and husband, while both of you served fine experiences indeed, you can declare me the winner now,” Heidi announced.

“Not so fast, cold lemonade with great views on a warm day, what could be better than that?” Teri interjected.

“What about my fresh tarts and wondrously grinded coffee beans?” Harlin said.

Freya, who had been trying to study downstairs,

couldn’t concentrate with all the chatter upstairs and yelled, ”Coffee, tea, and lemonade all create the best serving experiences!”

“So that means I win?” Harlin questioned.

“And me?” Teri asked.

“And I’m the best,” Heidi whispered to herself.

“Yes, yes. All three of you are winners and the best.”

The adults murmured and agreed. They were all the best.

Just wait until I phone Bell and Karen about this, Freya thought to herself.