Nothing Like Hot Tea

There is something very satisfying about getting out the glass tea pot I have, filling it with water, and putting it on the stove. I get out the hot plate, the canister of loose tea that I am in the mood for, and the sugar and creamer set. I set up a spoon and a mug. I make sure I have whatever book I am currently embroiled in. If I am at my parents house in the winter, I ask Ray to build a nice warm fire in the fireplace for me to baste in front of it. I have my tea, a good book to read and have a cat (or at my parents house, a dog) to stroke. Life is perfect that way. Twinings Tea

I start each day at work off with a mug or two of hot tea. I always try to drink decaffeinated tea - I have noticed no difference in taste between regular and decaf tea and I feel better without caffeine. I feel that the warmth of the tea and the rich flavour helps to sooth me and prepare me for the trials of the day, and washes out the tensions of the day at night. When I am sick I almost drink it by the liter and it always helps. There is no time of day or year when it is not the perfect drink.

I started drinking teas when I was about seven or so, putting a mug in the huge microwave oven we had. I believe my grandparents introduced me to the joys of hot tea. I drank regular tea - Tetley or Lipton's - for years. But when I went to the British Isles, I was introduced to Twinings Irish Breakfast tea, and I switched over to the finer teas. I found Fortnum & Mason, Jackson's of Piccadilly, and the best thing, a wonderful little shop on Christopher Street in the Village called McNulty's Fine Coffee and Rare Teas. I go there whenever I am in the city to pick up some loose decaffeinated tea. My favourite tea is Twinings Lady Grey - a most satisfying and full-bodied tea!

Brewley's Irish Tea Most tea is fairly reasonable in price. Usually it goes for about US$5.00 for a quarter pound (approximately 0.11 kilograms) of loose tea. A quarter pound sounds like a tiny amount, but tea leaves weight next to nothing, so I am definitely getting my money's worth! It takes a very long time to go through a quarter pound of loose tea!

Tea is an attitude, not just a beverage. People who drink tea are associated with different types of personalities than coffee drinkers. It seems like everyone drinks coffee - at least the regular non-fancy coffee. But not everyone drinks tea, that is a more acquired taste. However, even tea drinkers are snobs - I drink black teas and sometimes oolong teas, but not green teas. And I am not an herbal tea person - I find fruit flavored teas unpleasant in the extreme.

My method of preparing tea is also frowned upon by many. While the average tea drinker has it with maybe a touch of sugar or honey, I prepare mine the British way - milk and sugar. Ignoring for the moment my heavy sugar usage (which is far beyond what anyone including myself recommends for tea), most people abhor putting milk in it. I am fussy - I don't like cream or half-and-half or even whole milk - I like skim milk in it. I have no idea why that is. But very few tea drinkers I know would even consider putting milk, let alone skim milk, in their tea. It's unheard of! Unthinkable! But that is the way I enjoy it.

Buying Tea

Other Tea Lover's Pages

Updated on 5 June 2001 by Aislínge.