Tea Cozy

Refreshing and slightly tart, this was a nice way to start my working morning.
Isn’t it Friday yet?

My imagination is shabby this week. I’ve been reaching for the same things again and again. That’s alright. I’m enjoying the consistency.
I wish I knew what fruit was in this. Something tart, probably currants. I love a currant tea, so that’s probably why I bought it.
Reminder- keep better notes on contents of blend when buying from small tea shops.

Its tech week. So I’m going to be extra exhausted. Rehearsals will run long, and will probably be frustrating, plus I have my normal day job and suchlike.
Ugghh. Its going to be such a long week. I am going to require all the tea I can drink.
I’ll start with a cup of this.
My memories of this was that I wasn’t crazy about it, but it is actually very pleasant. I am enjoying it. Its going a pretty bright fruity note, and that was refreshing and nice today.

I did not have a good night. Rehersal ran late, and I staggered home much later than I wanted. When I got home, and email from my ex was waiting for me, which further ruined the night.
I feel bad. It wasn’t a “bad” breakup. Nothing specifically happened to break us up or anything, but we had to separate and its really steeped me in a profound sadness, that I am working on recovering from.
He wants to be friends now, saying he misses talking to me, and hoping that I can start with a small conversation with him. In theory that sounds like a good thing- this was someone who was so important for such a long period of my life. I should want a future where we can be friends.
But I am not ready for that future now. Even that email shook me up so much that I could hardly rest.
The dreadful thing is that I don’t want to cause him pain, and my refusal to talk is surely causing him pain, but I need to look out for my own emotional well being.
If there is even the hope of being friends in the future then I need to give myself the time to mourn, and space away from constant or forceful reminders of what might have been. I need to keep building a life away from the life I’d hoped I’d have.
This is all very heavy and dramatic. I am sorry. It helps sometimes just to say it out to you all, you know? Because you understand (as many do not), how important tea is for all of lifes occatios. I clung to my mug of this today like a child clings to its security blanket. Tea is stablility. Tea is peace and joy and comfort and caffine, on a day when I need all of those things.

I am very proud of myself, I remembered that I was going to steep this for one fewer minute than I normally would, and did so! And it yielded a very pleasant cup, just as I hoped for.
A very nice cuppa this morning.
Part of the sipdown fever is also drinking teas I’ve barely tried more often. I love watching my logged times go up and the leaf go down, when I’m in the midst of this sipdown fever!

My pot of the morning.
I need to take better notes when buying teas from little shops. This has no info on the packaging, and I bought it a bit ago, so I don’t quite remember what it is, other than black tea which sounded good to me at the time.
Aha, I think its got currant in it. Both the leaf and the brew have that fruity tartness of current. Also, I love current teas, so that sounds like me, alright.
Its a decent tea. It has a tart, fruity flavor to it. I think it would probably do well with a minute lighter steep then I gave it.
So far these Tea Cozy teas have done well.

Making progress, as this blend was my morning cup, and a sipdown!
I quite liked this one, it was warm and, well, cozy. I may very well pick up some more in future!
But for today, another notch of the Black Friday Sipdown goals.

Still raining, and I am feeling happy. Rain is my favorite weather, so if I wake up in the middle of the night and hear it falling, then I am a very happy camper.
This seemed like the perfect wooly sweater of a tea to have this morning.
Also, less thematically, I’m getting low on it, so it might be one of my black Friday sipdowns, if I work at it.
In the meantime, nom.

Tea of my morning. A nice, rich, cozy sort of blend. It fits its name well.

I have finally hit the proper weather for this tea! Cold in the mornings, with the hint of frost in the air. That’s when blends with Lapsangs really sing.
And so I have a very satisfying mug of this to start my morning out right.

It rained last night! Yaaay! It looks that that wonderful burst of autumnal weather is going as quickly as it arrived, but I am still in full on rainy weather celebration.
So it was time to grab the teas that smell and taste like campfires, the smokey smell of tea blending with the soft scent of freshly washed air.
This is a blend that has a strong backbone of lapsang in it, which is great for mornings like today.

Did not sleep well last night, so its time for the sturdy teas!
This is a good Monday morning tea, strong, but not demanding of my full attention, so I can stagger around and get ready without feeling guilty if I have to step away from my mug.
I hopes it powers me through this day!

I’m getting soft in my old age. I usually like me tea as black as a Goth’s wardrobe, with no sweetener or additives. But I found myself sipping this today and thinking that a splash of milk might not go amiss.
I mean, I still like it, even without the milk, but it might be nice, even with a little sugar.
I’m going soft, obviously.

I woke up to the rain this morning, so I decided that I needed a cozy blend.
This is from a local tea shop, and its their house blend. I’ve been waiting for the right day to brew it up, and that day has arrived!
I’m afraid the packaging leaves something to be desired, in that it does not list the teas that have gone into this blend, but one of then is clearly Lapsang. But its not just Lapsang.
Its a really nice blend, with the smokey quality I love in Lapsangs, but also some mellow sweetness to it. I don’t know what is causing that, but I’m not about to argue.
It was a very cozy cup this morning, I am happy to say. And I’m glad they are local, because this might be something that, once I drink this particular package down, might be worth bringing back into the cupboard.

And this is a sipdown! Woo!
I liked this tea, but I didn’t love it. Its one of those teas that was nice to have, and lovely to try, but it won’t be making a repeat performance.
A good start to the day, with a Monday Sipdown!

It sounds like a siege is going on outside. The wind is battering everything within an inch of its life, and I am huddled inside, clutching my cup of tea, hoping it all dies down soon. I’ve got stuff to do, after all!
Bleh the wind. It makes my head hurt and that makes me grumpy. I am going to huddle around this tea some more, and grumble about the wind.

Goodness but its windy today. This means my head is absolutely full of junk, and I’m battling a sore throat. Brilliant.
So I think lots of hot fluids are called for.
I’m nearly to the bottom of this bag, and while I’ve enjoyed it, its not going to be a staple in the cupboard. That’s alright! Not everything has to be. Some things it was just nice to try.

So I need to do a little grocery store run, and I’m holding a list at the moment, which simply says “bananas. Tea filters” on it, and if that doesn’t sum up a great deal of my grocery life, then I do not know what does. (I take it back, I do know what does. I will get home, suddenly remember the six other things I wanted to buy but did not, and then promptly forget to write them on the next list.)
(I use the paper filter for my work tea drinking- there is nowhere to clean a strainer at work, so it simplifies life. I am all for the simplification of life.)
That’s a fairly long winded way of saying that I brought the spare filters I had at home to work, and drank some of this tea. Its a busy week in the office, so tea is required. Plus I suspect I’m not fighting a cold. Argh.
I’ll need more tea filters asap, I can tell.

I find I like lavender most when its cold, and specifically when its raining. So bingo, hey presto, a perfect cup for today.
Today it was more lavender than earl grey, but as that’s what I was in the mood for I’m not going to fuss.

Do you ever just sit and think about how lovely tea is, and how happy you are to drink it, and how wonderful that there is a world of tea, a history of tea, a culture of tea?
I do. I’ve been doing that a lot lately, thinking about all the tea rooms I want to visit, the tea houses I want to experience, the books about tea I want to read. I’ve been thinking about the flavors I’ve got currently, and the ones I want to try, and the just total, enveloping niceness that is a good cup of tea.
What loveliness.
I’m sipping this, which is full of sweet lavender today, and feeling happy that such a wonderful thing as tea exists in the first place, and that I get to share that vibrant culture with all of you.

I’m dragging today. I am very sleepy this afternoon, and a strong cup of this was called for.
I seem to have hit a very sweet spot in the bag. Its really, really nice here!
Ahh, a nice thing on this tea drinking day.

I have discovered a huge cachet of lavender in this scoop. Nice! I like lavender, so its a nice thing.
It makes this particular cup very mellow indeed. I can certainly get used to it!

This is a very aromatic tea. So much so, that when I left my office to grab the mail, and came back, I had a deep and satisfying breath of lavender, even though the cup was already drunk.
Not a bad way to make a Thursday a little easier.

I’m in a lavender mood, today. I’m wearing a lavender based perfume (again), and very happily drinking this as a work cup of tea.
What is it with weeks when you’ve got Monday off? Tuesdays are always bonkers.
This is just the right amount of soothing and peppy to help me through a very busy morning.