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What does one do about a tea addiction? INDULGE IT!

How does one come to possess the obsession for tea? We all have our own explanations and I can only share mine at this time.

Nana (my maternal great-grandmother) took her tea with honey and lemon. When I was very young I never realized her fondness for tea, but that unmistakable aroma of tea and lemons locked itself deep in my memory. Those that study memory and neuro-paths claim that the sense of smell is one of the strongest memory triggers. I can tell you from experience that there isn't a time that I smell tea and lemon, or tea, lemon and honey, that I don't remember my dear Nana.

My mother, who spent much of her childhood with her grandma (Nana) inherited Nana's love of tea, but put her own "twist" on it and I don't mean a twist of lemon. Mom takes her tea "English"--hot, with milk and sugar.

I like my daily cups (let's just say, more than 3) the way my mother makes it...right down to the brand when I can get it. On special occasions and for special moods and purposes I experiment with other types. Now there are so many brands and types of tea that it is a science to describe what you are drinking...in lay terms, it is English/British Breakfast tea. The high quality teas are such a luxury that they are a special event and I will STOP EVERYTHING to fully enjoy and appreciate my mug. But for everyday "maintenance" I have a cup of Tetley or Lipton. I am almost never found at the keyboard without a cup on the warming plate, as there is right now.

Okay...take that finger away from the back of your throat! I know that I am merely drinking a brew of tea dust, but it is MY tea dust and I am quite accustom to it. I did say that I drink fine tea for special occasions! Don't gag, if you prepare Tetley right it's not bad at all.

Now, what really is a horror is what passes for tea on the menu of fast food restaurants and even better restaurants! YUK! You know what I'm talking about--those cups of "dirty dishwater" served in a tea cup or you're suppose to steep in a stainless steel mini pitcher, accompanied by a plastic vile (and I do mean VILE) of oily stuff that is supposedly cream. Lord have mercy!

My friends know very well that they can forget about sneaking some inferior brew in front of me. I can just take a sniff and I know. There's no disguise for a bad batch, I don't care what china you serve it in, what type of sweetener you use, or what flavorings you try to get by with, I just can't stomach the stuff. That's why I've taken to carrying a small re-sealable pouch of my own tea bags. It's not eccentric and not snobbery, it is self preservation! My best friend has her own way of mixing her coffee and we tolerate each other's preference very well.

My Mom, in her kind mercy, used to send me "care packages" of tea from home. Yes, we have the same brand available here. What many people don't realize is that, just like coffee, special blends are marketed to certain regions of the country. For example, the brand I use most often produces a clear liquor here in the south because market research says that most tea here is brewed for iced tea and customers don't like the more robust, yet "cloudy when chilled" version from the northern regions--so I'm told.[shrug]

When I was living at home and I had a cold, or an upset stomach, or was just feeling "icky" Mom would make me a cup of tea. It was a comfort and it always made me feel better--it still does. It shouldn't be surprising that until a few years ago, my own son used to ask for a cup of tea when he was not feeling well or "homesick." If there can be such a thing, tea is love in a cup.

© Copyright 1997-2020 Joyce K. Meyer. All rights reserved. http://www.mycottage.com This page was created December 8, 1997, and last updated on 10/18/20.