Good morning! Or, (I hope I have this right) shubh prabhaat!

Today we’re welcoming travel/fantasy writer Barb Taub, author of Do Not Wash Hands in Plates. We talked a bit about her travels to India, then her experience writing about her time there. The “Coffee Break” interviews and posts took a break over the summer but returns ready to whet your appetites for some good food and drink, and of course, great reads!

1. First things first: Coffee or tea…or are you still a chai drinker? How do you take it?

Indian chai vendors in Jodhpur © Ayyer/Smith

It’s so nice to meet someone with her caffeine priorities straight! The answer, of course, is that what I drink depends on where I am. When traveling in India, we love to find all the amazing ways people prepare and drink chai tea.

My British friends know I, as an American, can’t be trusted to make the tea. (“She doesn’t…