I think you're right that the ritual accounts for a lot of the pleasure, and I'm okay with that. Another drink I love, yerba mate, is all about the ritual. I do

I think you're right that the ritual accounts for a lot of the pleasure, and I'm okay with that. Another drink I love, yerba mate, is all about the ritual. I don't know if this is universally the case, but the protocol I was taught includes the proper way to prepare the mate in the gourd, that the host always pours new hot water in, that making the sucking sound when you're out of hot water is okay (and I think even encouraged), and that everyone drinks from the same gourd together. It's an acquired taste, but the company and friendship that the ritual begets is worth the initial palate shock.