inferior, inferiority complex, partake

My wife tried it, too. She drinks espresso and does not like tea unless it's iced. As iced tea, she liked red espresso fine. But she raised a question I was silently thinking: Why wouldn't people who don't drink coffee, and prefer tea, simply have a cup of tea brewed the conventional way?

Oddly, red espresso earned Best New Product in the specialty beverage category at the Coffee Association of America's Conference & Exhibition last May. That's a little like New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning getting voted Most Valuable Player by Major League Baseball.

One reason tea drinkers might like red espresso—an idea mentioned to me by the company and spelled out on a PowerPoint presentation somewhere, I presume—is that red espresso enables tea drinkers to partake more of the café culture. Call me crazy, but I don't think tea drinkers at Starbuck's (SBUX) sitting with coffee drinkers are experiencing an inferiority complex. Do they feel they need to sit at another table from their friends?

Definition

partake (TAKE PART) Hide phonetics
verb [I] partook, partaken OLD-FASHIONED OR FORMAL
to become involved with or take part in something:
She was happy to partake in the festivities.

partake (EAT/DRINK) Hide phonetics
verb [I] partook, partaken OLD-FASHIONED OR HUMOROUS
to eat or drink:
Would you care to partake of a little wine with us?

inferior Hide phonetics
adjective
1 not good, or not as good as someone or something else:
These products are inferior to those we bought last year.
She cited cases in which women had received inferior health care.
It was clear the group were regarded as intellectually/morally/socially inferior.
Compare superior (BETTER).

2 SPECIALIZED lower, or of lower rank:
an inferior officer
Compare superior (BETTER).

inferiority Hide phonetics
noun [U]
His ill treatment as a child had given him a strong sense of inferiority.
Compare superiority at superior (BETTER).
inferiority complex noun [C]
a feeling that you are not as good, as intelligent, as attractive, etc. as other people:
He's always had an inferiority complex about his height.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: inferiority complex

Acute sense of personal inferiority, often resulting in either timidity or (through overcompensation) exaggerated aggressiveness. Though once a standard psychological concept, particularly among followers of Alfred Adler, it has lost much of its usefulness through imprecise popular misuse.