Why I’m Tea Fiend

I drink tea like a drowning person breathes air: in great big gulps with equally great appreciation which dwindles away after a while until the next drowning episode.

Every time I'm about to drink tea, there's a moment of "Aw, I have to boil water and I barely have any milk…" That thought is promptly forgotten as I sit with a big mug of tea in front of me. I become struck with my fondness of tea and decide to make a second, third, even fourth mug of tea before I'm even done drinking the first. I'm happy sitting at a table by myself going through copious amounts of tea, coming up with ideas with what tea I should drink after the current mug is gone. Sometimes I even come up with tea menus for one (me), starting with a tea that will make me yearn for another cup, transitioning between cups with delicate-tasting teas and perhaps (if I'm lucky) a piece of cake, and ending with usually the same tea I start with (just to leave something to think about after I'm done, my belly filled to the uttermost with liquid).

It's not like I have gourmet teas; I just have normal tea bags. It's more the warm, relaxing effect tea has. I don't get annoyed with a sugar or caffeine rush that comes after drinking something like Starbucks or hot chocolate. I can work with a cup of tea (as I'm doing now), or I can cool down with one after a workout.

Of course, I really love the gourmet teas, too; I just don't drink lots of them (because they're expensive and I'm a college student). Even when I was an elementary school student, I had a profound appreciation for the Chinese teas that start out bitter, but then have a dry sweetness the more you drink. Not the typical fare for a 10 year old, but what can I say? I've had the habit of drinking tea since I was two or three. When my parents took me to Chinese restaurants, I wouldn't yearn for the sugary goodness of orange pop (though I wouldn't turn it down either if it was offered), but I'd usually drink tea happily, feeling very adult in the process. In recent years, my parents and I have developed a habit of afternoon tea and cake on the weekends. That's when the good stuff comes out.

…look, I've had two cups of tea already!