On the necessity of tea

I don't know where to begin, so I'll just type and see where we get to.

I love tea. I think I could even say that I have a little bit of an addiction to tea. I typically drink between one and four cups a day, not always of the same kind, but sometimes I get hung up on a favourite and drink that all day.
And so, this is my attempt at ... not CRITIQUING tea, but sharing my experiences with flavours, new brewing techniques, new tea recipes... basically sharing my love of tea with the world.

My husband has called me a tea snob. Yes, it's true that I bring my own teabags on vacations, and I sometimes have a little stash in my purse in case I go to a restaurant. And I DO have an entire cupboard in the kitchen devoted to JUST TEA (and tea-making supplies). But I promise you I am not a snob. I am a down-to-earth woman that loves her tea.

My love of tea started as a child, when I would share in my parents' evening ritual of a cup of (something) after dinner. Mom drank coffee, dad drank tea. And seeing as coffee was Not Appropriate For Little Children, tea it was. As a kid, it was "mother goose tea" which was mostly milk with a little tea thrown in.

As I got older, it was less milk, more tea, AND different flavours too. I came to love peppermint, and Earl Grey. And then my dad discovered how to make an awesome pail of ICED tea. That changed our summers, that did. So it became tea all year round.

I was the weirdo high school kid who drank tea and read books in the lounge, glasses perched either on the top of my head or the end of my nose. I drank tea all through university. It was my saving grace through long nights of paper-writing, studying, CRAMMING.... It was the thing I turned to when I needed to cry, or when I needed to help soothe a crying friend.

When I was working, I would drink a cup in the morning on my way to work, a cup of tea during my mid-day break (to get me through the cra-- afternoon...), and then usually a cup after work.

And now that I am unemployed, the tea is what keeps me sane through the long day of letting my body recuperate from the Ordeals of The Previous Job, and preparations to Search For Work.

So here goes: A blog about Tea.