Friendship - this is what coffee and tea bring about in any part of the day! The joy of awaiting a coffee or tea break beats anything else that could seem like heaven. Take a break with us at the museum, for a journey through the charm of an amazing collection of postage stamps and philatelic materials on nothing else but….coffee and tea!

The Coffee or Tea? Exhibition glimmers with a rare chance towards understanding coffee and tea as a living culture that has been a constant part of history, mythology, religion, ritual, medicine, trade, politics and social etiquette.

More than 100,000 years ago, the Africans started consuming coffee as food and as wine. Then coffee cultivation became the forte of the ancient Middle-Easterners in about 100 AD. Soon the joy of coffee spread all over the globe, as a stimulant with an attitude!

Next to good old plain water, tea is indeed the most consumed beverage in the world! In 2737 BC, Shen Nung, believed to be a Chinese Emperor, had unknowingly consumed boiled water that contained a tea leaf. On that day, tea was discovered, as a refreshing health tonic! Soon, tea's benefits reached the world, with help from Buddhist monks who carried it wherever they went.

In mid-20th century Singapore, the Sarabat tea street-stalls (selling Indian spiced or ginger tea) and authentic kopitiams were a common sight. They created a sense of personal warmth as well as communal togetherness. Today's café culture has become a catalyst for global communication! In a café, we discuss business, share ideas, reveal gossips and chatter about just anything that leaps from the mind and heart.

The fact that these 2 beverages have been and are still a huge influence in the global daily life and economy proves their cultural invincibility. Come down to the museum to relish the exhibition, after which your next cup of coffee or tea would not be the same again…