What I know about tea...

Tea, for me, started off as a thing I did for an ex-boyfriend. I'm a coffee drinker by nature but because it was a tradition for his family, I tried it. At first I was hesitant, fearful that I would somehow like it more than coffee, which was an unfathomable concept since coffee and I have a tight relationship.

I started by drinking PG Tips, a British black tea which was served as a common afternoon treat with crumpets or like-wise cracker type nibblets. My first cup was successfully poured down the drain after I let it sit too long and cool. It became too bitter for me to even finish. My second cup complete with milk and sugar was finished but not necessarily enjoyed. I think I was still having coffee-replacement fears but I began to understand that it was less about the actual drinking of the tea that was important, rather the company and social aspect of it. Like the hookah of the hot drinks family.

Overtime I developed a taste for the black tea and ventured out to discover what other flavors I could find. Mint green tea proved to be a winner almost from the get-go and continues to be a staple in my kitchen. Some flavors failed, mostly in the red tea department, but recently I discovered a red tea that has me hooked. Celestial Seasonings Red Safari Spice.

Discovered at the urging of an aunt of mine while recovering from a two week-long cold, this tea has amazing powers. Really. Think of a winter, Christmasy flavor of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, piquante peppers, blackberry, cloves and bananas (I know!)....with the aftertaste of freshly hot apple cider. Sometimes my teas require a bit of sweetening but this one is perfect as is. I like it not only for it's colorful mural on the box of safari animals on safari (so fitting) but because it reminds me of the holidays at at time in the season when it is still 4 months out (despite Target's push to get the decorations up way early this year).

After years of drinking tea, I can safely say that my relationship with coffee is still going strong. What tea provides for me is a hot drink alternative when I don't really need the jolt of caffeine that coffee provides. It comforts me, soothes me...relaxes me. At this point in my life, tea is my elixor for when my nerves are shot and I need an escape.

So while I don't know everything about tea, I do know this: it makes me happy.