Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Everyday tea basics + holiday tea

Tea is a pretty serious business for me. I don't even know how much I drink - I think I average a 12 ounce mug every hour for the first half of the day and then every two hours after that.

saturday afternoon tea
{saturday afternoon tea}

For everyday, I drink plain black tea, bagged or loose leaf, depending on how convenient I need it to be. Start with fresh, boiling water. Steep for 4 - 5 minutes, until the tea is fairly dark. Absolutely no sugar, but I do take milk. Never, ever add the milk until the tea is completely finished brewing. If I'm going to drink my tea sans milk, I'll usually cut a little bit of time off the brewing, so it isn't quite so dark. Skimp too much and you'll think you're drinking ditch water - lightly colored and tasting vaguely of twigs.

I'm partial to the Lipton Yellow Label tea, which is very basic but strong. I get it from the local Indian grocery store, but you can also order it online. It isn't the same as the Lipton you see in most grocery stores, even though they both come in a yellow box. Confusing, I know. As a more expensive (but more readily available) back up, I like the Tazo Awake. Of course, I think that if you start with hot enough water and brew it properly, you can get a drinkable cup of tea out of an offbrand tea bag that expired years ago (desperate situations and all that).

For the holidays, I step it up a little ...

Harney and Sons
{harney and sons white christmas and holiday tea}

Holiday tea is a sort of sacred ritual for me. It's black tea with some spices and citrus and just the smell is enough to make me feel a little calmer. I make it even more indulgent by using real cream rather than my usual milk.

I like to pick up the custom holiday tea blend from the tea shop in my old college town (Bamboo Tea House in Claremont, for locals) but I didn't make it this year. Harney and Sons Holiday Tea is an excellent alternative - good black tea with spices. I fully admit that I also purchased the White Christmas tea solely because I loved the tin. I promise I'll actually try it out and report back.

I had a little bit of a meltdown on Saturday when I realized that one of my nemeses*, the FedEx ground delivery guy, hadn't bothered to buzz me to come down and sign for the package of tea, but had instead just decided to leave a note and redeliver on Tuesday. I was really, really looking forward to that tea. And now I'm finally enjoying it.

writing thank you notes
{writing thank you notes, holiday tea, previously}

* The plural makes it sound worse than it is - I really only have two nemeses. The FedEx ground delivery guy who consistently fails to deliver or misdelivers packages, and the senior checker at the Santa Monica Michael's, who sneakily manages to be unbelievably rude but never when anyone I know is around to witness it, thus doubling the offense by making me look crazy. I've only actually complained officially about the FedEx guy, because I figure I would probably also be rude if I worked somewhere as hellish as Michael's.

31 comments:

  1. Yum! I love drinking tea. I feel like it just cleanses my body!

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  2. I've never counted how many cups of tea I drink while at work, but I'm almost too afraid to know. I really like the Kusmi variety box, but I'm the opposite of you in that I never, ever take milk, but sometime honey.
    Actually, I think I'm overdue for a cup right now!

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  3. your postscripts and deadpan comments never cease to entertain me. just thought you should know.

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  4. This post managed to make me feel happy, calm, and eager for some tea and simple cookies, all at the same time. Like how food always seems to play a role, eh?

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  5. Good pictures to start a finals morning with. Thanks. Also, I'm a new reader via ESB. Pretty glad I found this blog because it's pretty adorable.

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  6. Ohhh... can't wait to hear back on the white Christmas tea! I am also an addict (I brew my tea in a teapot and then typically proceed to drink all of it myself).

    Love the cake plate too. Where is it from?

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  7. My nemesis works at the 85th Street USPS on the Upper West Side. I have only once gone in there without crying.

    (I love your ongoing tales of tea.)

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  8. Seriously, though. What's up with UPS and FedEx? It's gotten to the point where I don't even want to buy it if they don't use good ole USPS Priority Mail.

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  9. I love the Bamboo Tea House! My sister went to Scripps 10 years ago and for the last few years her, my mom, myself, my godmother and her daughter all drive to the village and shop the day after Thanksgiving (Barbara Cheatley and Some Crust are also favorite stops).
    Happy Wednesday!

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  10. ha i love that i already knew your other nemesis and whenever i go into michaels, i give it a whirl. i think he probably just has a crush on you and lacks the social skills to communicate it effectively. that's my only guess, but rest assured, i believe you.

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  11. Mmm, tea. I love tea. I usually drink black teas, occasionally herbal. Very occasionally with milk or cream, but never with sugar. I might have to try some Christmas tea this year, if for no other reason than a pretty tin. ;)

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  12. Yay, I am pretty darn serious about tea as well. Recently I was telling a friend about all the teas and tea things I have and I think she thought I was exaggerating, but then she came over and was like "you weren't kidding!" haha I am practically obsessed. I just did a post about my new holiday teas too! Mmmm....so yummy.

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  13. I believe we have the same taste in black tea, as Awake is also my favorite - though due to costly and packaging I switched to loose leaf. After much searching I found Harney & Sons CTC Assam to be a good substitute - check it out!

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  14. I recently found your blog and saw this post about tea! I love tea, almost as much as you do. Congrats on your engagement!!

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  15. I share your tea tastes, too! I'll have to try Harney and Sons Holiday Tea. If you like Awake, you might like Typhoo, my favorite basic black tea. It's sold in the British aisle of my supermarket, but you can also find it online (even on Amazon!). I'm glad to know someone else uses something richer than milk; I like half-and-half for my daily morning cup.

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  16. I love tea as well and this post made me so happy. Does all the black tea make it hard to sleep? I have to stop drinking it after 2pm if I want to even entertain thoughts of sleep that night. You should also try Fortnum and Mason's teas, if you can get your hands on them. Their Christmas tea was the very first "flavoured" tea experience I had and having tea in their cafe when I was in London was one of my highlights. Sad, but true.

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  17. I'm also a bit of a tea addict! Although I was raised in the south so I'm a true sweet tea drinker. But I also really enjoy the Tazo Passion tea, and anything hibiscus.
    Bisous,
    Rachel
    lovealamode.wordpress.com

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  18. I used to drink a lot of tea (I'm British), but recently I had my teeth whitened and I've had to cut back. It's been awful.

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  19. i need to become better about drinking tea. i love it when i do, but can't be bothered to make it.

    man, i'm lazy.

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  20. @ sacha - the cakeplate is by rosanna and i bought it here. that size is too small for cakes but i love having it to display cookies or treats.

    @ ashley - luckily i love both my usps carrier and my ups guy - they're both wonderful! for some reason, the fedex guy who has my route is a total flake. drives me nuts. apparently fedex ground doesn't directly oversee their drivers, so you have the chance of getting a great driver who takes good care of you, or you can get a complete dud. complaining to the company doesn't help at all, because they just contract the routes out to the individual drivers. maddening.

    @ alexis - yay! i went to scripps and i'm in love with the village. so glad that your family enjoys it too.

    @ mari - i'll have to try typhoo - i've seen it in the store!

    @ kate - 5:00 pm is the cut off time for tea for me. i aim to go to bed around 10:00 (when i'm being good) and i never have trouble falling asleep.

    @ nicola - i've been putting off whitening my teeth because i can't face cutting back on my tea habit! maybe that makes it an addiction?

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  21. I like black tea too but don't drink it much because I like to have it veery sweet... at least three heaping teaspoons. Though I am drinking a nice nursing tea at the moment (no sweetener) to keep my milk up.
    Good luck with your nemesi (plural?).

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  22. Ah! Wonderful to hear another serious tea drinker being passionate!
    I lived in England for 6 years (I'm Swedish) and came away with a slight obsession. I use a Queen's Silver Jubilee tea pot and I prefer PG Tips loose leaf brewed strong and with just a little bit of milk. Fortnum and Mason is also wonderful as someone else pointed out. I also have a thing for floral bone china tea cups. Mmmm....

    Keep up the good work with the blog! Thanks! :)

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  23. One of the benefits of living in a dorm with a front desk (well, besides the free rent and all) is having someone that corrals all packages. It's brilliant.

    The other nice thing is that my housemasters gave all of us RAs a huge container of loose tea and this brilliant tall mug with strainer that is the perfect size for tea. Love.

    (also, Alton Brown did a really nice special on tea awhile back - very interesting)

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  24. @Ashley don't romanticize the USPS. our mailman never bothers to walk down the path to deliver our packages. NEVER. he just sticks a slip in the box and makes us go to the post office to pick them up.

    @Rachel that's a lot of caffeine, my lady. just saying.

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  25. Yum.. I've been really into spiced black tea lately, too.
    Now I have a craving.

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  26. reading this post made me feel warm and cozy and calm. until i got to the part about the nemesis. :p

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  27. One of my friends just told me about your blog, and I'm excited to see you this enthusiatic about tea. I also have a blog where I write about tea a lot, and I created a site for tea ratings and reviews, which also has a lot of general information about different varieties of tea. Do let me know what you think!

    Also, Ashley, I can really relate to what you say about UPS vs. USPS. But I think it's partly a function of where you live. Where I live, I can walk to a post office, but the UPS depot I need to drive to. UPS refuses to leave packages at my door too. But other places I've lived, UPS has been wonderful...it may just depend on the route / neighborhood and the type of building you're in.

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  28. I loooove tea too! My favorite brand is Remedy, which I got introduced to by a friend in Santa Monica. The company is in Seattle, so I order it online. The Blue Hawaii (actually a white tea, but it is INCREDIBLE) is my favorite, but the Black Satin and Black Joy are also delicious. Fun to poke around their website, too.

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  29. My favorite tea is Harney and Sons hot cinnamon spice. Although I admit I drink my tea fairly weak and with lots of sugar.

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  30. Rachel, first things first: cheers on your and Dustin's engagement! Second, I must recommend a tea I bought just last night -- The Republic of Tea's Tea of Good Tidings (I found little boxes of it at Crate & Barrel). I made my first cup moments ago and am in holiday heaven (though I ought to have let it steep another minute).

    I'm not currently blogging but am always reading you. Merry Christmas!

    Holiday cheer,
    Helen from The Museum Cupboard

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  31. I'll second Bea's love of PG Tips, although I just use bags (usually available at Cost Plus for 7.99/80 bags). For a treat, I like loose tea from Urth Caffe--Amazing Grace (Irish breakfast) and The Mystical Traveler (white peach and organic vanilla).

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