WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 2, "Penance," streaming now on Paramount+.
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 has introduced its own divergent timeline, thanks to the machinations of the omnipotent Q, where the utopian United Federation of Planets has been replaced by the totalitarian Confederation of Earth. Rather than Jean-Luc Picard than being celebrated as Starfleet's ultimate officer, initiating scores of peaceful first contacts and defending the ideals upon which the Federation are built upon, he is renowned as a cruel general who has eradicated dozens of civilizations across the cosmos in the name of the Confederation. And as Picard learns more about his murderous counterpart in this reality, he also discovers a key change that leaves him in disgust: The Confederation's Picard prefers coffee over tea.
As Picard leads Starfleet in a renewed confrontation with the resurgent Borg Queen, Q steps in to alter a single moment in humanity's 21st history that creates a butterfly effect that rewrites reality. Picard awakens on his family vineyard back in France but quickly notices how much the world has changed due to Q's tampering. After learning about his counterpart's bloody history in this divergent timeline, Picard contemplates all he's witnessed in his study where his android attendant gives him his typical morning beverage: A Colombian roast that Picard nearly spits out in disgust.
In the prime Star Trek timeline, Picard's signature beverage of choice is hot Earl Grey tea, with Picard often curtly ordering it to nearby replicators as "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot." The first time Picard orders tea is in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 episode "Contagion," though he doesn't actually receive the beverage at the time due to a replicator malfunction. Picard ordered the tea throughout the TNG era, with his frequency in drinking it becoming something of a running joke.
Interestingly, in an early draft for "Contagion," Picard was to order darjeeling tea from India instead but this was changed in later drafts, becoming a gastronomic staple for the character. This original plan is referenced in TNG's series finale episode "All Good Things..." with Picard receiving a cup of darjeeling tea and reacting poorly to not receiving his preferred beverage. By the start of Picard Season 1, 18 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis, Picard began drinking decaffeinated Earl Grey tea instead, hinting at health considerations in his advancing age, though he continues to drink regular Earl Grey on occasion.
Funnily enough, despite hearing all the atrocities that his Q-Verse counterpart carried out, Picard almost demonstrates more disgust in this timeline's choice in preferred drink than the widespread war crimes. For Picard, this change is the last straw, lamenting that he has truly descended into Hell if the version of himself from this timeline would prefer coffee over tea. And with this realization, Picard is more determined than ever to restore the timeline, with a cup of dark roast instead of Earl Grey being a step too far.
The Picard Season 2 premiere poked fun at the venerable admiral's love of Earl Grey tea not once but twice over the course of the episode and Season 2's sophomore episode keeps this trend going. Chateau Picard has become a house of horrors thanks to Q's shift in the timeline and the gravest injustice of them all is a choice in morning brew. Picard is a man on a mission, ready to restore the timeline and dispel Q's latest mischief; just make sure the man gets his cup of Earl Grey.
Created by Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer and Alex Kurtzman, Star Trek: Picard releases new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.