Tea, Tea, and more Tea

I'm told that from a very early age, I adored tea. I never grew out of my penchant for having tea parties, and multiple birthday parties became tea parties, and tea-related gifts came to be my favorites to receive. To this day I'm still a tea lover, and as the weather has started to become cooler, I'm gearing up for another lovely tea-filled winter!


Many people say they don't "get" tea, and the appeal is kind of hard to explain. My love of it is multi-dimensional. I first and foremost love the tastes of different teas: the intricacies of different types and flavors. Tea is also my favorite means of relaxation, whether I need a cup as I'm working or as I soak in the bathtub. I also like the precision of tea making. To make tea well, the amount of tea, temperature of the water, steep time, and more need to be monitored carefully, and I like the different details and ritual that goes along with making it. Tea is also beautiful in and of itself, and I love watching leaves unfold as they steep, and the color of the infusion after it has steeped. The beauty also comes in the form of beautiful teapots and containers that hold tea! 


I'm sure that I'll add more posts about tea later, but today I want to show some of my favorite teas and accessories. I wouldn't be able to call myself a real tea lover if I didn't use loose, whole leaf tea instead of tea bags (come to think of it, I don't remember the last time I used ground up, bagged tea!). Once I discovered loose tea, I never looked back: the flavors are so much deeper and complex in loose tea, as opposed to the ground tea that now tastes like metal to me. 

Let me first post a chart from Teavana that has proven helpful in my tea making adventures. It lists the type of tea, along with the amount of leaves to use in 8 ounces of water. The last two columns show the temperature that the water should be, and then the steeping time. Many people just thrown a tea bag into hot water and leave it there as they drink it, but it really should be removed after the time listed to avoid a bitter taste. 


By the way, I love Teavana. Where I live, at least, this is the best place to find high-quality tea. I'd love to hear about tea stores you love too! Teavana can be expensive, but good teas are bound to be expensive since the best parts of the tea plant are used.

As I said above, one of the things I enjoy about tea is storing it. Tea needs to be kept in an airtight container, preferably a tin one, away from heat and light. Teavana has some beautiful tins--I have the one pictured second from the right, which I keep some green tea in, and it's fun to look at and take out in my tea-making process.

I adore my elephant teapot which I found at World Market (one of my favorite stores--need to write about that too!). It's a very stylish way to serve tea. You don't have room for a full infuser basket, so you might need a tea ball, but it's still a wonderful pot.

World Market is also a great place to find tea if you're weaning yourself off of the bad ground-up tea for a reasonable price. If you're looking for a great-tasting green tea for a very good price, try this green tea--it's not completely full leaf but it's still much better than the ground-up stuff. It's $6 for 15 tea bags, and you can use the bags more than once if you do it properly. The bags are also biodegradable, and I love tossing them in my compost bin when I finish, knowing it might become this summer's tomatoes!

I'll add more tea wisdom later!