Fasli Amikishiyev is a senior finance major at Park University from the capital city of Baku, Azeijaijan. The Stylus recently sat down with the campus student senator and resident mentor to get his input on the world-renowned caffeinated beverage of tea and his love affair with the liquid energy.

How many cups of tea did you drink today (as of 3 p.m.)?

“I think so far, I have drank like five.”

How many do you usually drink in a day?

“I think it is more than ten.”

More than ten?

“It is like I don’t drink water or other kinds of soda. I just drink tea.”

What do you think about tea in America?

“If you are talking about hot tea, they have good brands like Starbucks and Earl Grey and Chai tea and some other kinds. So I really like tea here. But I wish I had the time and chance to make it instead of using tea packets. Because when you make it, it tastes even better. My friend Nargiz makes the best tea here. She always knows why I go to her apartment.She makes traditional tea. I visit her at least once a week. So I can drink, because I don’t have the time to make tea like she does. “

What is the best cup of tea, you have ever drank and what were you doing when you were drinking it?

“I think it was back at home, it was a rainy day, and I was all by myself. I had just made tea for myself, and I drank it in front of the window whilewatching the rain fall. When it rains, I usually like to just sit in front of the window and drink hot tea.”

What do you think about ice tea?

“I don’t really like ice tea. Back home, we don’t really have ice tea. Nowadays it is getting more common to get ice tea, but like two, three years ago we didn’t know anything about ice tea. We have always drunk hot tea. And even it is just a little hot I don’t really like it. It has to be really hot so that I can drink it.”

So how did you get into tea?

“I think it is a cultural thing. Back home, everybody drinks tea.We even have tea places. They are not like a Starbucks or anything; they don’t even have a brand name. They are just tea places or coffee places. You just go there to drink, sometimes play games.”

What is your favorite tea place in Azerbaijan?

“I would say my favorite tea place is at homebecause of the way my Mom makes it. I like the way she makes the tea. Back at home, we actually make the tea ourselves. And I like how the way my mom does it. We have these different kinds of flavors, that you add in it tastes really good.”

So how does your Mom make it?

“We have mountain places. They grow like some kind of plant, it is not tea but it is like green stuff but we when you go there they usually offer the tea with that green stuff. And it tastes really good. And it is called Kakotu.”

What would you like to know about tea?

“I think I already wrote three or four papers about tea. I would like to know that something I have never heard before.”

Anything else you want to tell me about tea?

“I can tell you the benefits of tea. It makes you calm and relaxed. It doesn’t have a lot of caffeine in it which is good. That is why I prefer it better than coffee. And like a lot of people have addictions to different kinds of beverages, different kinds of drinks. Instead of drinking coffee or tea is the better beverage. Like studies show that tea is the second healthiest beverage in the world after water. So why not drink it?”

Do you think you are addicted to tea?

“I think I am not addicted to anything, but it is just like part of my life. I would say that I am not addicted to anything because an addiction should be something you cannot live without. But I can live without it. But I just like to drink it.”

What is the longest you have ever stayed without drinking tea?

“I think it is when I had to fast. When we fast we don’t have to drink anything. It think it was 12 or 13 hours that I didn’t drink or eat anything.”

If you could have tea with anyone, who would you like to have tea with?

“I think I’ll have tea with Bill Gates because I like his career. Even though he has a lot of money but he still helps poor people, he has the Gates Foundation and tries to help poor people.”

Now that you are a Resident Mentor what kind of tea will you serve your students on your floor?

“Probably Earl Grey.”