dangerous teas
I've been drinking loose leaf teas for many years now. An couple of artist friends were already converts, so after a few times visiting with them and trying some different blends they had myself, I decided I'd try some at home. That was it. I gradually turned into a tea nerd.
Up until then, I had thought that tea was that typically milky beige stuff (various shades, granted) that people have arguments about how it tastes best (sugar, no sugar, weak, strong, stewed within an inch of its life) and profess this country runs on. They do not know proper tea.
But I have explored the many individual leaf types and blends, and have now became the sort of person who has six or seven bags of specialist tea types on the go. And milk or sugar goes nowhere near any of them.
I can probably tell you a little about where on the plant the leaf comes from, the processing used that makes it unique, and from what region of the source country it comes from. I own different devices for steeping (brewing) either fine or coarser leaf loose teas as appropriate. Finally, to complete the tea nerd thing, I even have an app to track and select the appropriate steeping times per type, with a countdown timer for my taste.
I get my teas from a small specialist place that is fairly local to me1, but not local enough for me to visit there myself very often (I really don't like going out in the big town—or any towns actually) so I order my teas from their website and get them delivered. There's always a handwritten note thanking me for ordering from them in the parcel, and they always include a free trial-sized pack of a different tea to try.
Good move. I've tried loads more different blends and types than I would have, and have often bought bigger bags of the sample ones I've liked.
When I opened my last parcel from them, I had my normal rooibos (this isn't actually tea, it's from a South African shrub, but importantly to me at the moment, has no caffeine in it at all) and a couple of green teas (also low in caffeine). I've been no caffeine, or at least as low as I can get it, since the onset of some heart problems three years ago.
As I pulled them out, J asked what my free sample tea was this time.
I had a look, then said to her "I can't tell you."
"Oh? Why not?"
"I think it's best you read it. I'm not saying it. I don't know if it'll come out right. And if it doesn't, it could be painful."
"Aw come on, it can't be... Ah.
Yes, wise move."
It's called 'Japanese Sencha Fukujyu'
It's bound to be easier to drink than to say.
Written by a real person, em dashes and all.
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The local-ish specialist shop. Lovely people. Tugboat Teas↩