Tea will
My kind of store! In Bar Harbor, Maine 2012
“If you are cold, tea will warm you;
if you are too heated, it will cool you;
If you are depressed, it will cheer you;
If you are excited, it will calm you.”
― William Ewart Gladstone
My day would not be complete without tea. For those of us who grew up in the South, iced tea was part of everyday life, but I did not start drinking hot tea regularly until about 14 years ago. I got really hooked on it when my British pen pal made me several cups one chilly, wet afternoon in 2001 after we’d been exploring Waltham Abbey and got chilled to the bone. Since then, my tea consumption has steadily increased, partly because I keep reading how healthy it is, and partly because my aging brain really adores the caffeine, but mostly because I simply love it.
I know green tea is supposedly more nutritious, but I prefer the taste of black tea, in all its magnificent flavors and variations. So I solve that problem by mixing green tea with black (steeping the black tea in boiling-hot water, as my British friend taught me, and then adding the green tea to steep after the water has cooled slightly). If I’m in a hurry or lazy, I’ll just mix the two loose teas together or use one teabag of each. And if I’m going to be home all day, I’ll fix two small pots, one of each, and just pour some of each into my huge tea mug, enjoying it throughout the day.
To tell the truth, tea is almost like a hobby for me, as well as my drink of preference. My favorite thing is to share a cup (or many cups) of tea with a friend, along with some good conversation. Wish we could share a cup right now! But as an alternative, leave me a mailing address in the comments (I’ll edit out your info before posting, and I won’t sell it – I promise!) and I’ll send you a tea bag from my embarrassingly large collection. Or just take a few minutes to sit down now with a nice cup, while you relax with the paper, a magazine or your favorite blogs. It’s a great way to make any day a little bit brighter!
p.s. if you request a teabag, let me know what kinds you like — herbal, decaf, fruit-flavored, Earl Gray, etc.
Read more about the health benefits of tea here
This post was originally published seven years ago today, but the offer of a free tea bag is still good. The original post and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below.
- Posted in: Uncategorized
- Tagged: beverages, caffeine, cup of comfort, healthy habits, joy, mug, relaxation, ritual, simple pleasures, take a break, tea, warmth
Defeat Despair 
Dear Julia,
I have to chuckle, knowing I’ve contributed to your ELC!
I thought briefly about requesting a bag from your collection, letting you pick the flavor, and then I thought – oh! If I go visit Julia in person, I can perhaps peruse part of the collection, and likely experience more than one bag, and in good company!
It’s uncanny how quickly that thought came! 😁
Love to you and Matt,
Susan
Susan, the neat thing about my ELC is its diversity. As it happens, you have always given me flavors that were unlike anything else I had. For example, I’m loving the flavored chamomile you sent recently. The same is true of the gifts of tea from others. It has been a delightful coincidence (or maybe I should say blessing) that I almost never get anything I already have. And yes, perusing the collection is definitely best done in person! Just let me know when– with enough advance notice, I’m sure we can get the jigsaw puzzle of your schedule and my schedule to fit together somehow. 😀
Well put, regarding our jigsaw puzzle scheduling!
Also, with enough planning, airfare is less expensive.
I will certainly be in touch! 🙂
Susan, I have no fewer than three major trip scheduled in the coming weeks, but now everything is on hold now, “pending” as we wait and see what happens with this coronavirus. On top of that the soonest one, which I had most been looking forward to, has been called to a halt by a cancer diagnosis in the spouse of my traveling companion. So I’m feeling a bit blindsided today…the cancelled trip is the least of my worries. I’m more upset by the diagnosis, which is the same cancer, in the same place, as Jeff had. Life is so fragile and things can change so quickly! But yes, let’s still look to a time when you can come and visit in person. I’m hoping that the warm weather will halt the rapid spread of the virus.
I’m so sorry to hear it, Julia. Sending prayers for your friend and her husband.
Thank you, Susan. It’s my sister’s husband. But they got some guardedly optimistic news on Friday, so the picture looks better than it did a week ago. Meanwhile, the diagnostics and appointments continue…
Oh, my.
Thank you for telling me. I’m praying for all of you through this.
Thank you Susan. Good news! No spread. The pathology came back that the tumor is mostly precancerous so hopefully surgery will take care of it. He lost a kidney to cancer about 15 years ago so he will be a two-time survivor! 😀 Prayers appreciated and ALWAYS needed!
Wow! I’m so glad to hear those test results! I’m praying he can have the surgery soon, that they remove all of the cells threatening cancer, and that he recovers quickly with no complications.
Surgery on Monday. Prayers appreciated! My sister will not even be allowed to come into the hospital to be with him, before or after, due to the Covid 19 shutdown, despite the fact that, as of this morning, there has only been ONE reported case (info via the Covid map from Johns Hopkins) in the county where he will have the surgery. I guess they want to keep it that way!
Praying today!
Surgery went very well. Tumor removed with good margins all around and “no surprises” in the words of the doctor. They hope he will be able to go home in 2-3 days. Thanks for praying!
I’m so glad!!
Julia, I have-my own rather large collection of tea! I think one of my favorites I s Lady Grey!
Blessings, Janet
Thank you Janet! I couldn’t tell whether this was a request for tea or not, but I do have some Lady Grey somewhere…I’m happy to know you like it. It does fit you, I think. I’m also happy to know you are here with us, reading my blog. I never know who is out there reading it until they comment. Love to you and C. W. and the girls. ❤
What an exciting shop to visit! I want to walk right through the photo and into the room so that I can browse through all the interesting teas and pots that are so prettily arranged. I must confess that I mostly drink water, but a cup or glass of tea are always something special when I feel chilled or when it’s a really hot day. I wonder what special treat ended up going home with you from the tea shop those many years ago? I think that there’s a tea shop in Lititz that I might have to visit soon just because your photo makes me want to go to one!
Judy, it was a fun shop. One of those places where I had to force myself to MOVE ON rather than linger, as we had limited time. As far as what I brought home from that particular shop, I can’t remember what flavor of tea I got, but I did get a little silver tea-bag holder (for putting used tea bags on) which I need because I almost always use mugs, which have no saucers. The tea bag holder was shaped like a tea pot and I used it so much that eventually the finish came off it. I buffed it repeatedly with steel wool and got a few more uses out of it before finally giving up on it, but I had it long enough that the memory of it will stay with me. Although, to tell the truth, I have another, less-used silver tea bag holder that is too small to be practical, but so decorative I can’t bear to part with it. That might be the one I got there…There is indeed a nice tea shop in Lititz (at least there used to be) and I can’t remember exactly what I got there, either…maybe some Russian tea (which I love), and one other flavor? I need to keep a tea journal! Often I will write down the name of a flavor I particularly like, but these notes end up on scraps of paper scattered here, there and everywhere. A tea journal would be just the thing, because I could record what I got where, who gave me which, etc. and which ones I like enough to buy again…in the (highly theoretical and absurdly improbable) event that I someday run out of tea and need to buy more…
I love that quote! 😊👍 Great post. 😊
Thank you! I’m happy that you like it.