I love tea. That’s not to say I don’t like coffee. I do. The two aren’t mutually exclusive. You’ll never see me turn down a Starbucks grande latte. But there’s a subtle mystique surrounding tea. Maybe it’s because multiple cultures have built elaborate traditions and rituals around the beverage. Think of the tea they serve in Chinese restaurants in little handleless tea cups, called pimming cups. Or High Tea in London served in bone china cups with assorted finger sandwiches, biscuits, and scones with clotted cream.
Recently I realized that whenever I sit down to relax and enjoy a good book, I always supplement the moment with a cup of tea. Never coffee. Why is that, I wondered. I suspect it comes from many sources. For one, as a child, Grandma would serve me hot tea with a smidge of milk and sugar. It made me feel so grown up to sip my tea alongside her. No surprise, that’s the way I take my tea now.
As an avid reader I immersed myself in many books depicting English society. Tea figured prominently in the lives of both upstairs and downstairs British subjects. A “cuppa” could cure all manner of maladies from an aching, gouty toe to the receipt of unsettling news. Ladies put on their finery and whiled away the afternoon gossiping – you didn’t dare miss a tea that you were invited to lest you become the object of conversation. In inclement weather, lucky deliverymen were invited into the kitchen for a cuppa. Put a cup of the hot concoction in someone’s hand and life got better. Tea is an instant comfort beverage.
And there was a tea for everyone and every situation – bracing breakfast teas to get you started in the morning, delicate floral teas, medicinal teas, exotic teas, loose tea, teabags, infusions, blends.
My all-time favorite is Earl Grey tea. I was pleasantly surprised when Trained psychologist Darren Stanton revealed it’s The Queen’s favorite hot beverage. “Psychological research suggests that people who enjoy Earl Grey tea are linked to class and are mature in their personality,” he said in a British Heritage Travel Magazine article. How about that? Of course, then the article goes on to say that it’s the tea of choice for the older generation. Ouch!