It's hardly defiling. Unless you happen to place tea on a pedestal, in which case, yes, probably.

Raine sighs a little, but she doesn't immediately try to argue the point. Instead she changes tacks. "If you have verification from multiple independent sources, the chances that they're wrong are slim," she points out. She tests her own tea, pauses, gives it a curious look, but drinks it regardless. "What is it that makes you think you aren't, or can't be?"

She's straying from the Pepper problem, she realizes, but this may also be important.