Thinking about how to get your tea to please you the most it can
Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2024 12:29 am
My sisters arranged a brunch for last Sunday for them & me. My younger sister & I were speaking about it some days before it & did not want it to be concentrated on food. Our mother was a fantastic cook who prepared a very wide variety of dishes & our father was a glutton, & their children are somewhat like both of them.
When I arrived at the apartment of the hosting sister, I saw that there were 2 varieties of tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, fancy cream cheese, other cheeses, 4 excellent breads, smoked salmon, a homemade fish salad spread that had fresh cod, etc. (This was for a casual brunch.) Of course, cookies, nuts, seeds, fruits....
I had brought my best black tea which I prepared for everyone. My family had always started the day with coffee, even youngsters, but everyone was only allowed one cup. Father's cup held 16 ounces, my mother & two oldest siblings' held 12 ounces, etc. (I don't remember my younger sister & I working our way past 6-ounce cups officially. (By the time we were getting up to large sizes, the family did not pay attention to each other much because my father was tied up by too many things including holding local public office & late in adult life my mother got college degrees & a career.)
Anyway, the children like mugs of at least 12-ounce size & most of the six still only drink one cup of anything at a meal etc. So, tired of hearing that my tea is good & seeing second rounds go untouched. I prepared tea in my the host's large teapot, almost 2 quarts & served it in 12-ounce mugs. The tea was a success w/ all 3 sisters drinking all of each mug (for the only time I can remember); so, I poured them more. (Stupidly, I should say, because the serving of 2nds went untouched by them.)
Anyway, I stayed loyal to the plan my younger sister & I had made, to keep from concentrating on the food. However, she & my other sisters made a thing out of mix & matching breads, cream cheeses, etc. & hardly could stay on topics of conversation. I ate nothing for over an hour, but still could not get us to a deeper level of conversation which I had craved since being alone w/ the 3 of them w/o others around was rare.
But damn the tea was good. I drank my first cup, my second cup, & the 2nd cups of my sisters. This made me think. This tea is tops for flavor & not bad for durability, but the 3rd infusions is not so close the best infusion, the 1st, & a full step down from the 2nd: so, the 3rd is good, better than the best infusion of most teas; however, why did I ever bother to make a 3rd. I enjoyed a huge amount of the tea at its best infusions very much.
Last night & today I kept to preparing greater amounts of tea only for the better infusions. It was the best tea-drinking. Also, I did not think about preparing food or eating it, until I was finished being pleased by tea. (I stopped having a cup or 2 before a meal & 1 or 2 cups after the meal. I completed sessions, sat a while feeling the effects of satiation....)
Also, I should note that I have been drinking 3 or 4 different teas daily for some years, & some days even 5 or 6. I think it will be 2 or 3 teas a day ... at least for a while.
Cheers
When I arrived at the apartment of the hosting sister, I saw that there were 2 varieties of tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, fancy cream cheese, other cheeses, 4 excellent breads, smoked salmon, a homemade fish salad spread that had fresh cod, etc. (This was for a casual brunch.) Of course, cookies, nuts, seeds, fruits....
I had brought my best black tea which I prepared for everyone. My family had always started the day with coffee, even youngsters, but everyone was only allowed one cup. Father's cup held 16 ounces, my mother & two oldest siblings' held 12 ounces, etc. (I don't remember my younger sister & I working our way past 6-ounce cups officially. (By the time we were getting up to large sizes, the family did not pay attention to each other much because my father was tied up by too many things including holding local public office & late in adult life my mother got college degrees & a career.)
Anyway, the children like mugs of at least 12-ounce size & most of the six still only drink one cup of anything at a meal etc. So, tired of hearing that my tea is good & seeing second rounds go untouched. I prepared tea in my the host's large teapot, almost 2 quarts & served it in 12-ounce mugs. The tea was a success w/ all 3 sisters drinking all of each mug (for the only time I can remember); so, I poured them more. (Stupidly, I should say, because the serving of 2nds went untouched by them.)
Anyway, I stayed loyal to the plan my younger sister & I had made, to keep from concentrating on the food. However, she & my other sisters made a thing out of mix & matching breads, cream cheeses, etc. & hardly could stay on topics of conversation. I ate nothing for over an hour, but still could not get us to a deeper level of conversation which I had craved since being alone w/ the 3 of them w/o others around was rare.
But damn the tea was good. I drank my first cup, my second cup, & the 2nd cups of my sisters. This made me think. This tea is tops for flavor & not bad for durability, but the 3rd infusions is not so close the best infusion, the 1st, & a full step down from the 2nd: so, the 3rd is good, better than the best infusion of most teas; however, why did I ever bother to make a 3rd. I enjoyed a huge amount of the tea at its best infusions very much.
Last night & today I kept to preparing greater amounts of tea only for the better infusions. It was the best tea-drinking. Also, I did not think about preparing food or eating it, until I was finished being pleased by tea. (I stopped having a cup or 2 before a meal & 1 or 2 cups after the meal. I completed sessions, sat a while feeling the effects of satiation....)
Also, I should note that I have been drinking 3 or 4 different teas daily for some years, & some days even 5 or 6. I think it will be 2 or 3 teas a day ... at least for a while.
Cheers