Some updated thoughts on tea

what i'm drinking, and how!

Happy morning after my birthday weekend! Nearly two years ago I wrote about how I had become addicted (both physically and spiritually) to whole-leaf tea, after giving up coffee to lessen my daily physical anxiety symptoms (generally feeling like I would die at 11 am):

NOW, I thought it would be nice to offer an update on my favorite teas and teaware, the things after which I am lusting, the teas that keep me sustained week to week.

The Daily Setup

I’m currently spending most of my days up in Vermont, where I’m living in a very sweet little house on the Bennington campus. The house’s only flaw is that the kitchen light is motion-sensor and hospital-bright, so any time of day I walk in I am flooded in horrific cool LED light that would make a dewy teen look haggard. This is particularly bothersome when I have just woken up and all I want is a tender little cup of tea. Other than that my setup there is ideal, in part because there is a fat electric kettle that lives on the counter. I brought my own large Marian Bull mug, as I usually do—I generally cannot stand a small mug unless it’s paired with a large teapot—and my beloved tea strainer. I have been living off a two-pound jar of honey from However Wild Farm in Shaftsbury, VT. There is also organic whole milk.

A note on honey: I basically think that buying local honey is the only good option we have. Even the fake “local” stuff you get at the big stores tastes wan to me….I’m sorry…..I need a roadside stand or a CSA or a shoppy-shop…….save the bees!!!!

In Brooklyn, my setup is one relatively tidy shelf in the middle of other, less tidy shelves. Rachel recently wrote about their sweet tea setup in Brooklyn, and I have become very envious of anyone with a tea nook. But I have my little repurposed glass jars¹ and tea tins, most of which are labeled. Last year, one of the only ceramic projects I undertook was making a set of tiny spoons, most of which live inside these jars, and all of which make me very happy. There’s a great maraca-like pleasure in picking up a jar of tea and hearing your utensil already rattling around, ready to be used. I do also have a glass teapot (stashed haphazardly somewhere else) that I bought off etsy ages ago; I don’t love it but am too stubborn to replace it. My preferred daily mug is from Ginny Sims; I have a huge collection of mugs and I use like four of them. I am always almost buying a Mary Hadley teapot on Esty. I am also browsing for vintage oyster knives, which Max says work well as tea picks. And I still crave the yellow-handled Alessi kettle……

Standard Rotation:

I have a few daily teas (or “daily drinkers”) in standard rotation. They are: