Tea

I've always been into tea. When I was nine or ten I insisted on having a tea party, though this was more about being an Anglophile and wanting to have fancy chocolates and cucumber sandwiches than the tea. And for a while in high school, tea was the drink of choice. But by college, I hardened into a full fledged coffee addict and the whole tea thing sort of went away.

I think part of the problem in college was that the tea, like the meat, in the dinning hall was shit. I gave up both after a few weeks. Further adding to this was the coffee house culture prevalent in college. It was easy to sit and have three or for cups of coffee-- free refills-- but drinking tea meant buying another tea bag. Even once I moved off campus, drinking tea had a number of obstacles, namely, the kitchen. Shared between seven guys, the kitchen was never exactly in the sort of condition that would pass a health inspection, which really meant making tea was completely out of the question.

I rediscovered tea a few years ago after graduating from college. Don't get me wrong, I was and still am a coffee addict. If I could inject coffee, I probably would. But once I was into a somewhat cleaner post-college living situation, the idea of boiling a kettle of water for tea was a whole lot more reasonable. I bought a kettle and tea pot. I stocked up on Earl Grey and a Twinnings mixed pack that had Prince of Whales, English and Irish Breakfast, and Lady Grey.

Growing up, my mother, being something of an old hippie, stocked a whole collection of Celestial Seasonings herbal teas in all sorts of various flavors. For a long while, that's all I thought tea was. Then I discovered Earl Grey and there was no going back. I've gone through all sorts of phases, adding honey or lemon or sugar or milk or drinking it black. But at the end of the day, Earl Grey is really my tea of choice. Then came the green tea.

I started mixing things up a bit with a cup of green tea every about a year ago. Green tea is somewhat lighter in flavor and certainly lacks the floral bouquet that comes with a cup of Earl Grey. It is also, if you believe the mythology that some marketing executive came up with, healthy and rejuvenating. There is also the legend that the finest green tea was once picked by virgins wearing silk gloves and snipping with gold scissors. Which myth is motivating me? Anyway, I drink the Tazo gourmet green tea or an Asian brand with packaging covered in Chinese characters, and it was good. But then along came White Tea.

I picked up a package of white tea the other day. White tea is a lot like Green tea, though a little bit lighter and not quite as dry. Coincidentally, I also recently discovered that the office water cooler dispenses hot water at the perfect temperature for brewing bag tea. Bag tea should not be brewed in boiling water, but rather a few degrees below boiling to avoid bitter flavors.

Before my discovery that the hot water tap actually works, I had been drinking tea strictly at home, usually in the evening. Now though, I start the day with a cup of coffee, or two, and continue with tea throughout the day. Then at home for the evening, I'll have another round of tea or alternately, an espresso.

Though not a substitute for a proper cup of coffee, tea has earned its place on my table. And my desk. And anywhere else I can find warm water and teabag.