Carpe Tea
A fresh cup of tea is a wonderful thing — a promise of warm comfort, gentle nurturing, a little kick in the pants at the droopy part of the afternoon.The making of it is a comforting and comfortable ritual. The boiling kettle. The swelling of the teabag. The splotch of the milk.
And it’s fun to make tea for others too because it’s like cracking a code and there’s a real sense of accomplishment when you create and deliver a cuppa that makes them say “ooooh.” For example, I like my tea strong and on the milky side. Ed takes his black with sugar. Myfanwy used to just show the tea the milk and then take the milk away again before it could pollute the tea. My grandfather wanted you to really mash the bag and Clare likes the teabag out as soon as possible.
You can drink it straight away, blowing and sipping, scalding your tongue just a tiny bit and it’s worth it. Or you can wait until it’s a more swiggable temperature, ready to be downed in grateful mouthfuls. Then there’s the very last chance you have to drink it before disaster strikes: the down-it-in-one temperature. It’s still warm enough to be described as warm — but won’t be in twenty-three seconds so you tip the cup up and gulp it down and you’re tea-d up for the next little bit.
But leave it too long, miss that magic moment, you’re left holding a mugful of liquid disappointment.
Moments matter. Make sure they don’t go cold.
And then read this. Because even the smallest moments hold universes within.
That tea story from the link was so fun!
I also enjoyed your descriptions of tea preferences and rituals. I just gulped down the last of mine right before it got cold.
Oooh, I love tea as well. I prefer it strong enough so that I can still get a nice tea taste after putting the cream and Splenda in.
That link at the bottom of your post is really cool too. I kind of stared at it for a moment when the page first opened, not really getting it, but then I started clicking away and all was revealed.
Lovely post. My girls and I often share an afternoon tea.
I was mesmerized by the stringed instrument button on the second page of the link.