A Love Affair With Tea
Read more articles on Cooking and Food and Let Me Share With You.December 3, 2007
Posted by Karen Amato Schwartz
December 3, 2007
Posted by Karen Amato Schwartz
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Tea is somewhat of an enigma in my life. I don’t feel the same way about coffee, so today’s question is, “What is it about tea?”
My first memory of tea was when I about 7. My uncle was visiting. In my house, no one drank tea, so when I saw a pitcher of something dark in the refrigerator, I poured myself a nice big glass, expecting a mouthful of familiar, sweet cola.
Imagine my surprise to find out it was none other than Lipton, meant for my uncle. I immediately spit it out, thinking it was the worst thing I ever tasted! Who knows if it’s due to some strange childhood “scarring” from having my hopes dashed, or that the taste was so off-putting (especially cold) that I decided never again…However, the tide turned when I was finally on my own.
For some reason, in my early 20’s and in my first apartment, I decided to try herbal teas-maybe it was the pretty packaging that intrigued me. Anyway, I tried a blend that’s still available called “Red Zinger”. Now, I think it had a much stronger taste than it does now, but it’s basically still the same. I keep some in my pantry, and every now and then, in the middle of the day, I’ll make a cup. Funny, but it’s not the taste that keeps drawing me back as much as the memories and the essence that I equate with it…it represents my independence, in a way, because tea was never drunk in my parents’ house, and it reminds me of my triumph over the tea rejection of my youth. I most often drank it during the winter, and I have vague memories of snow blowing around and classical music playing in the background. (Somehow, certain kind of teas demands a sophisticated atmosphere!) Hence, when I drink Red Zinger now, perhaps I’m hoping to recapture some of the peace and happiness I knew back then…
In the intervening years, I found that buying green and black teas from New York’s Chinatown made drinking it even better, and now I never turn down tea in an oriental restaurant. Amusingly, a stay in a London Hotel served coffee every morning, but buying English Breakfast tea at some of the fancy stores made up for it-although I never did make it to a real “high tea” in that city. About 10 years later, a friend and I visited one of those tea shops that are becoming popular, and, it elevated drinking tea to a classy and elegant social affair. I’ve experimented with some wonderful, relatively rare and expensive teas, and found many to be so much more enjoyable than coffee, but in a different way. As I type this, I’m sipping Vanilla Ginger Green Chai, and probably years from now, the taste will bring me back to this point in my life.
I think the thing about teas is that because there are so many varieties, everyone is bound to like one version or the other. It’s the flavors that attract me, whereby all coffees pretty much seem the same to my taste buds.
But one thing is certain: never, ever will I touch any of those “regular” teas; I want something a lot more exotic!
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