So, I can’t recall how it started. It seemed like a good idea at the time; I think it was just a pack of Twinings loose leaf tea – possibly Earl Grey – and the realisation that a nicely brewed cup of good quality leaf tea tasted much better than the stuff we got in bags.
It was prettier too – the little leaves all sat there in the tin, rather than the unexciting paper bags filled with what my dad used to describe as floor sweepings. Not that my palette is that attuned, I’m sure. You could probably serve me a well prepared cup of good quality bag tea and I’d probably not notice; but I *think* I can tell the difference and I suspect that’s what counts.
Anyhow, we drifted along for some time supping the Twinings tea, and then it had to happen. We tried something better. We tried little sample packs from Nothing But Tea, we visited Attic in Bristol and Dammann in Paris. And we were taken, hooked, sold. However you want to describe it.
Good tea is all you’ll find in our house (A box of ‘organic tea’ in bags lurks for when we have builders). As with the coffee (I’m sadly missing my Dancing Goat Blend (from Batdorf and Bronson, in Olympia)) you reach this unfortunate point where drinking instant coffee / cheap bag tea is just, well, it’s not that nice. And you want something ‘better’. And then you’re buggered, because you’ve developed a tea habit* and you find yourself browsing and going “Mmm, spicy and fruity liquor, that sounds nice” and ordering more tea, even though you’re broke.
On the plus side, at least you have a decent cuppa :)
* Which goes with my coffee habit; thanks to Kara :-P
