Tea Cozies

Are you a tea drinker? I am, and in the last 15 or 20 years, I have become more of a tea deinker than a coffee drinker.  I sometimes make a cup of tea, but more often, I make a pot of tea.  Sometimes, I use loose tea leaves in an infuser, but more often than not, I use tea bags to make tea.

Sometimes, I go out to restaurants to have a quiet and comfortable meal, with the intension of having a pot of tea  with  the quiet and relaxing meal.

I  have several tea pots, but many are decorative.  I do have a couple of teapots that are functional.  Several years ago, I purchased a tea cozie which I use for pots of tea, either brewed with tea leaves and an infusor, or with tea bags.

Saturday, 4/4/2020 I made tea in the afternoon in my tea pot.  I had it brewing in the pot and under the tea cozie for about 3 hour, before I remembered to drink some of the tea. It was still warm.  The tea cozie did its job.

Tea

My mother was a tea drinker. She drank her tea plain.  For years, she drank coffee in the morning, because my father drank coffee.  Sometimes, she would drink iced coffee in the summer. But she preferred tea, and at the noon and evening meals, she drank tea.  After many years, she drank tea in the morning.

For years, I was a coffee drinker. But I kept tea on hand.  Because when I did not feel well, or needed a hot drink to warm me up, I preferred tea to coffee or cocoa. 

My mother drank orange pekoe or pekoe tea, and for years, I did not realize there was any other. In high school, I was introduced to Earl Grey and English Breakfast tea.  And, somewhere along the line, I was introduced to jasmine tea, at a Chinese restaurant.

In college I was introduced to herb teas, which, I believe are really infusions.  We thought it was exciting to drink Celestial Seasonings teas http://www.celestialseasonings.com/ , as they were a "hippy" product. Well, they are a very mainstream and well respected product now.  Over the years, I have grown to enjoy many of their teas.

I really like Bengal Spice, more for the aroma than the taste.  One of my most favorite is Peppermint.  I can drink a lot of that.  I sometimes make it into iced tea in the summer, although I prefer to drink hot tea, even in the summer, most of the time.

I tried a wellness tea, and it was too bland. I do like the Sleepytime teas, and Tension Tamer.  Most of the teas I prefer have some menthol, mint or eucalyptus in them. Many also have licorice.  I have a licorice tea. I drank too much one time, and my heart pounded, I became dizzy and felt awful.  I think it was the effect of the licorice http://nccam.nih.gov/health/licoriceroot.

I have tried many kinds and flavors of tea. Many are just pekoe tea, flavored. I like those okay, but I still prefer herb teas.  One of my early favorites was Ginger Twist, http://liptontea.elsstore.com/view/product/?id=17641&cid=296, a Lipton tea I can no longer find locally.  It was truly soothing to my stomach.

I have also had and enjoyed African Red tea or Rooibos, or bush tea.  I drank this years ago, and remembered it when I watched the TV series and read the books about "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" http://www.mccallsmith.com/botswana.htm, in which the protagonist drank bush tea often..

But when I am cold, nothing warms me like hot orange pekoe tea.

Coffee, Tea or Caffeine?

I used to be the kind of person who had a coffee cup in her hand from first thing in the morning until I went to bed at night.  I started drinking coffee when I was in high school, and continued on for years.

Sometime in the 1980s, I stopped drinking coffee, but continued to drink cola and other sodas that contain caffeine.  I also drank tea.  That lasted about a year, then I started drinking coffee again. Sometime in the early 1990's, I changed from morning coffee to drinking diet cola in the morning. I went back to drinking coffee at some point.

In the late 1990s, I got away from drinking coffee, except in the morning.  I slowly weaned myself off caffeine drinks during the day, and for a while used tomato juice for my afternoon pick-me-up.  I now use neither, and mostly drink non-caffeine containing sodas. I also drink herb teas, more correctly called infusions, which do not contain caffeine.

I still occasionally have a cup of coffee for breakfast, especially on a cold Sunday morning. I have learned not to have two cups of coffee, because it REALLY gives me the jitters. I sometimes drink real tea, with caffeine, especially if I am at a Oriental food restaurant. I like jasmine tea, which is usually a brewed tea with jasmine flavor in it.

The last time I went out for Chinese food in the evening, I finished the pot of tea which I was provided.  I thought it would keep me awake, but it did not.

Today, I went to a meeting at a delicatessen.  This place is strange, and does not offer warm tea. Their beverage choices are limited. The have really good BREWED tea, not instant tea, and only sell "iced tea." They serve it in very large cups, I suspect maybe even 32 oz cups.  I bought one today.  They let me get tea with out ice, since they do not serve hot tea.  I gulped down the entire cup of tea in the course of our hour long meeting.   One of my colleagues commented she would like tea, but at that time of the day, did not dare to, due to the caffeine influence. I understand.

When I left the meeting, I could feel the influence of the caffeine:  my heart was racing, I felt jittery, and my head was pounding.  It did not feel good.

Today was a beautiful day, and my plan was to do some serious yard work after the meeting (I would have started it before the meeting, but I did not want to go to the meeting smelly and sweaty, and would not have had enough time to make it worth my while to work and then take a shower.) Well, I arrived home very energized.  I was able to accomplish all I wanted to do, and then some, in my yard. I am grateful for that, and I believe the caffeine jolt helped me.

The trick will be, now, if I can go to sleep. We shall see. The caffeine in tea does not seem to me to be as powerful as that in coffee.  That may just be my mindset, and we do know the influence the mind has in regards to such things.

I think I am still racing just a little. And, it really is too early for me to think about going to bed, but my eyes are getting tired, and I am starting to yawn, which are good signs that I may be able to sleep tonight.