Ugh; I feel like I’m really burning up and that makes me super nervous ’cause Tre has been feeling sick all of yesterday and today; I cannot afford to get sick and miss work!
But anyway; my Aunt Nancy is one of those people who is “super into tea”, which I put into quotations because she’s really more one of those people who likes tea a lot, but doesn’t know much about it. We all know the kind; you say “Oh yeah, I love tea” and she responds “Me too! Have you heard of Teavana” or “I just bought the best Vanilla Rooibos from Tetley” or “Have you tried Passion from Starbucks?”. Literally she has said all of those things to me. And I bite my tongue every time because she’s 65 and well meaning and I don’t want to be a snobby brat when she’s usually very hospitable to me. But it can be frustrating because she’ll ask me my opinions on tea things and when I go more into detail about stuff like tea prep or my “favourite tea” or where I’ve been ordering from recently she’ll either give me a totally vacant look (which I’m pretty accustomed to) or she’ll try to “match” what I’m saying with points of her own. It goes down something like this:
Me: I’ve been trying to be more open with straight black teas lately and try things with dominant notes other than malt or bread. Recently I had a straight black with strong raisin notes and while I didn’t love it, it was a nice switch up.
Aunt Nancy: Oh, well I really like No Name Black tea. We bought a box on sale the other day, and I was really surprised by how nice the quality was. It was just as good as the Tetley we usually buy!
Me: … Cricket Noises
She’s one of those people that has a really hard time admitting other people know more about different things than she does. Which is true in some regards; I mean she’s an expert when it comes to commercial sewing and bridal design and I can’t even scratch the surface on that – but just let me have this one…
One thing that is cool about her though, she is very into gardening and since the last time I saw her (Christmas) she has started growing her own herbs and things to dry and make into herbal teas, so when I was there yesterday to spend time with my Grandma she offered to let me try one of her herbal teas. The one, which I passed on, smelled very strongly of mint/coconut and not much else but the one I did have was definitely more savory smelling and unique.
I actually am not so sure what was in it other than it definitely had a lot of basil. It was nice; but it was strong and distinct. As for other stuff, I’d maybe guess mint? But I’m not really that sure. Very calming and relaxing overall though.
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Sounds like your Aunt want to learn but you’re talking above her head. Forget about notes when talking tea. Give her some samples of the good stuff and ask her what she thinks. Her answer will probably be a simple: she likes it or not. You could ask “Did you taste raisin in that? I get raisin.” I think she will come around slowly but not everyone will want to try everything.
Sounds like your Aunt want to learn but you’re talking above her head. Forget about notes when talking tea. Give her some samples of the good stuff and ask her what she thinks. Her answer will probably be a simple: she likes it or not. You could ask “Did you taste raisin in that? I get raisin.” I think she will come around slowly but not everyone will want to try everything.