Crazy About Tea!
I love tea. I drink coffee every day, but if I had to choose between coffee or tea for just something nice to drink, it would be tea all the way.
One of my favorite things to do is make a pot of tea in one of my nice teapots and drink it out of one of my nice teacups while I read a book. There's not much better than that.
This is my makeshift china cabinet because I'm poor. I hope to one day have a china hutch or curio cabinet where I can display my tea things, and have other places to display my decorative items that aren't tea things. I have a tiny apartment so they get squished together for now.
My top shelf has a teapot and two cups I got at a resale shop in an Asian style. There are two other teacups in a semi-Asian style that were purchased as gifts for me at Disneyworld. They have gorgeous pictures of a Geisha on them.
The middle shelf has my only complete tea service. It has the teapot, creamer, sugar bowl, and six cups and saucers. There's a seventh cup and saucer in the same pattern but a slightly fancier style. The whole thing was bought as a set at a resale shop. I love it.
The bottom shelf has my China teacup in the center. I rarely use it because it's so nice. The set on the left is in an Asian style with a teapot and four cups. It's the only tea set I got new and we bought it at an Asian imports store at our local mall. I'd buy half that store if I could. On the right is my current favorite set. It only has three cups, but as long as I'm not trying to share with more than two people, that's okay. I got it at a resale shop as well. The cups are tiny, but the pattern is lovely, and I love that it has a tray.
My two favorite teas are made by Twinings: Irish Breakfast and Lady Grey. Irish Breakfast is something that a lot of tea companies make, but I'm snobby and only drink the Twinings blend. Lady Grey is exclusive to Twinings and is a variation on the classic blend Earl Grey. The classic blend is a light black tea with bergamot flavoring. Bergamot is a citrus fruit. Lady Grey is the same thing, only with lemon and orange added to the flavoring. I don't like Earl Grey, but I love Lady Grey.
I've become very picky with how I brew my tea. Many Americans just stick the teabag in and let it sit in there while they drink the tea, but it gets bitter and nasty when the bag gets left in too long. So, I did some research into the proper way to brew a cup of tea, and it's made a huge difference in my tea drinking experience.
The number one thing that will kill your tea is leaving the bag in too long. Check the box for time instructions and follow them. You'll be happy you did. The second thing that makes a big difference is filtered water vs. tap water. The third thing is boiling the water instead of microwaving it. The fourth is using an actual teapot. You can get sets that are a mug and teapot that fit together so the pot is the same size as the cup, that way you only brew enough for one cup but you're still using a pot. They sell them at my local big box store.
Tea has a long history in world culture, but Americans don't drink it much, unlike most of the world. From what I understand, tea is the second most popular beverage worldwide, second only to water. The reason Americans don't drink it much is a culture thing that dates back to the Revolutionary War: it was a rebellion against England. The British drink tea all the time, so the rebels wouldn't drink it. Now, we drink coffee more than tea, even more than two hundred years later.
I love coffee and I drink it every morning like most Americans, but the truth is I prefer tea. A proper cup of tea is heavenly.
One of my favorite things to do is make a pot of tea in one of my nice teapots and drink it out of one of my nice teacups while I read a book. There's not much better than that.
This is my makeshift china cabinet because I'm poor. I hope to one day have a china hutch or curio cabinet where I can display my tea things, and have other places to display my decorative items that aren't tea things. I have a tiny apartment so they get squished together for now.
The middle shelf has my only complete tea service. It has the teapot, creamer, sugar bowl, and six cups and saucers. There's a seventh cup and saucer in the same pattern but a slightly fancier style. The whole thing was bought as a set at a resale shop. I love it.
The bottom shelf has my China teacup in the center. I rarely use it because it's so nice. The set on the left is in an Asian style with a teapot and four cups. It's the only tea set I got new and we bought it at an Asian imports store at our local mall. I'd buy half that store if I could. On the right is my current favorite set. It only has three cups, but as long as I'm not trying to share with more than two people, that's okay. I got it at a resale shop as well. The cups are tiny, but the pattern is lovely, and I love that it has a tray.
My two favorite teas are made by Twinings: Irish Breakfast and Lady Grey. Irish Breakfast is something that a lot of tea companies make, but I'm snobby and only drink the Twinings blend. Lady Grey is exclusive to Twinings and is a variation on the classic blend Earl Grey. The classic blend is a light black tea with bergamot flavoring. Bergamot is a citrus fruit. Lady Grey is the same thing, only with lemon and orange added to the flavoring. I don't like Earl Grey, but I love Lady Grey.
I've become very picky with how I brew my tea. Many Americans just stick the teabag in and let it sit in there while they drink the tea, but it gets bitter and nasty when the bag gets left in too long. So, I did some research into the proper way to brew a cup of tea, and it's made a huge difference in my tea drinking experience.
The number one thing that will kill your tea is leaving the bag in too long. Check the box for time instructions and follow them. You'll be happy you did. The second thing that makes a big difference is filtered water vs. tap water. The third thing is boiling the water instead of microwaving it. The fourth is using an actual teapot. You can get sets that are a mug and teapot that fit together so the pot is the same size as the cup, that way you only brew enough for one cup but you're still using a pot. They sell them at my local big box store.
Tea has a long history in world culture, but Americans don't drink it much, unlike most of the world. From what I understand, tea is the second most popular beverage worldwide, second only to water. The reason Americans don't drink it much is a culture thing that dates back to the Revolutionary War: it was a rebellion against England. The British drink tea all the time, so the rebels wouldn't drink it. Now, we drink coffee more than tea, even more than two hundred years later.
I love coffee and I drink it every morning like most Americans, but the truth is I prefer tea. A proper cup of tea is heavenly.
Photo Credit: Katherine Elizabeth
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