Almost two years ago, I decided to cut caffeine out of my diet. I was drinking coffee in large amounts, at several points throughout the day, and found myself feeling constantly wired, jittery, and vaguely dehydrated. So, I switched to tea. And though I’ve slowly eased the caffeine restriction, I’ve stuck to my new leafier beverage pursuit.

But I don’t think I’m the only one. Observing friends and colleagues, talking to waiters at a variety of establishments, analyzing supermarket shelves, it seems to me an increasing number of people are becoming tea drinkers. Perhaps it’s the healthier reputation that tea (rightly or wrongly) possesses. Perhaps it’s tea’s more Zen aura, which better jibes with the increasing popularity of yoga, Feng Shui, or Asian neo-minimalist design. Or simply that in today’s post-bubble, post-9/11 economy, constant caffeinated uber-productivity seems less a worthwhile priority.

Whatever the reason, I can certainly predict the result: a drop off in Starbucks sales. Not just because tea drinkers are more likely to brew themselves (as making good tea at home or in the office is vastly simpler than making equally good coffee). Nor because former coffee drinkers might very well spite their overpriced and formerly favored purveyor of their prior beverage of choice, like some strange sort of angry, jilted lover. But because Starbucks exclusively serves Tazo tea, which every single tea drinker I know absolutely hates. Either Starbucks wizes up and starts serving tea without odd herbal infusements, or we just might be seeing the end of an empire.