Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the main event.

In this corner, weighing in hot from the kettle, all the way from Asia, the aromatic beverage made from steeped leaves, enjoyed in a variety of types (black, green, white, herbal, oolong, etc.) and once memorably lampooned by Stephen Colbert … please put your hands together for … tea!

And in this corner, a brewed morning, midday and evening pick-me-up that – to lovers of lattes, cravers of cappuccinos and enjoyers of espressos, especially – likely needs no introduction … please give a fresh-ground greeting to … coffee!

If you’ve ever wondered, in a face-off between coffee and tea, which beloved caffeinated beverage would win, the Huffington Post has offered an answer, at least by one measure. The site has pulled together an infographic comparing worldwide consumption of coffee and tea based on retail sales. And the winner is … coffee!

But while coffee dominated tea in terms of “retail sales of thousands of grams per capita” in 2009, based on data compiled by Euromonitor International, tea still outsells coffee in populous countries like China and India, as well as the U.K., Russia, Ireland, Chile, Morocco, Turkey, South Africa and Egypt.  So, as others have pointed out, it may not be as dramatic a KO as it initially appears.