You know what I love? No matter the weather, I love a good hot cup of tea.
Although I may get chased out of Seattle for saying this, I’ve never developed a taste for coffee. But tea? I can drink tea any time of the day. Hot, iced, black, green, herbal, I love it all.
And while Washington has a reputation for being a coffee place, there really is a lot of wonderful tea up here. The cup pictured above was purchased at a local coffee roaster. They had loose leaf B. Fuller tea, so I ordered a cup of juniper sage. What a delightful herbal blend!
Mostly though, I brew tea at home. Every morning I get up, I turn on the electric kettle (I have one of those fancy ones where you can set the temperature), and I scoop some loose leaf tea into a pot, or if I’m feeling lazy, I drop a tea bag into a mug.
People often ask me what my favorite tea is. I always get hung up on questions about “favorite” foods or drinks, because it depends so much on my mood, the season, and the context. But I think I can come up with a general ranking of tea and tea-like beverages…
- Oolong, especially milky or phoenix oolong.
- Pu’erh, the darker the better.
- Black tea, although I usually go for flavored blends over straight tea.
- Green tea, split between single-origin and flavored blends.
- Exotic teas like purple or yellow varieties.
- Matcha tea, flavored or not.
- Herbal tisanes. These jump up the list in Winter when I enjoy them for dessert.
- White tea, which I still like but rarely drink.
There’s only one tea-like beverage I’ve discovered that I don’t like, and that is chamomile. I used to drink it for upset stomachs so now I associate the scent with nausea. I can’t drink it at all on its own, and if it’s in a blend it can’t be one of the dominant flavors. It’s just a huge NOPE for me.
When it comes to flavored blends, my tastes really change a lot based on the season. In the winter I want chai, or rich flavors like chocolate and caramel. During the summer I gravitate more towards light, fruity flavors.
If I’m sick, I immediately reach for ginger tea. I especially like to brew a cup of tea and drop a piece of candied ginger in the bottom for an extra kick. Yum!
Most of the time, I drink my tea straight. I might occasionally add a little honey or rock sugar to a dessert tea to bring out the flavors, or add honey to my ginger tea for a sore throat. And I do like to have a good milky, sweet chai as a treat now and then.
Are you a tea drinker? And if so, can you choose a favorite, or are you as fickle as I am?
