Recently I saw a comment pass by wherein someone asked how a person could “hate tea.” There are about a billion different kinds, so how could you know that you hate all of them? And it’s true. One can know if they hate coffee. If you only drink it with a ton of sugar and milk added (hello, roommate, child, other child…) you hate coffee and you need to stop drinking mine.
No, seriously. Go get a cup of tea. We have all the choices.We do. We have a piece of furniture devoted solely to tea.
We have a wide selection of teas. I usually start my deciding with considering how much caffeine I feel the need for. I try to avoid coffee every day (because I don’t want to have to have it every day, and also to keep it special.)
So yes. Choices. Black, green, white, herbal…our vendor of choice is Harney & Sons, for the dual reasons of delicious tea and pretty tins. (We are almost to the point of building a house with tea tins.)
Sunday morning I enjoyed a delicious Florence blend.
H&S sells most teas either in sachet or loose. I usually prefer a sachet (easier), but I wanted to try this one and the cheapest way since they were out of samples was to buy a small tin of loose. Also, I do enjoy the whole process of making myself a cup of tea, on a Sunday morning when I have the time.
Everyone in this house has their own way to make loose tea. I have this little strainer, that sits in my cup and I pour the water through. Kid has a tea ball, but the kind on a handle, so it’s easy for her to deal with. Roomie, the biggest tea lover in the house, has an adorable little tea pot with a strainer insert, and makes her tea two cups at a time.
Any tea lover will tell you that for best results, you steep different kinds of tea different times. Black, green, white, herbal…different things need different treatment. Obviously. But this tea lover could not possibly tell you which takes what. Luckily H&S wants me to enjoy their tea, so they put the directions right on the tin. (You may think “duh,” but you’d be surprised how often actually needed directions are not to be found, but then they put directions on toothpick packages.)
Once I know the time, I use my tea timer.
I feel so civilized, y’all. Sophisticated, even! That is not something I feel in your typical day. And then–I get tea.
What more could I possibly want from the process?
I’m wishing you a peaceful, contented day, friend, whether you choose coffee or tea or something else. (Next month, my thoughts on Irish Cream! Or not.)