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sunshine jen: Tea Totally
For the last month, I have been cutting back on the coffee. Even though I enjoy the occasional afternoon latte, coffee is no longer central to my functioning. I use to get up every morning, fire up the automatic drip, and make myself a strong brew just to become a coherent human being. Now, I get up in the morning and make myself a cup of tea.
How did that happen?
I blame Ireland. Yes, it is the fault of an entire nation that I’m no longer buying coffee.
Back when I was in Ireland, I was usually the first one up in the morning. I had two choices. I could either bang around the kitchen, make a lot of noise, and make myself a crappy cup of French press coffee (I’ve never really liked French press coffee), or I could put the kettle on and make a strong cup of Irish tea. If I kept the tea bag in long enough, the tea turned dark brown and was chuck full of flavor.
The tea wasn’t as sharp as coffee. It didn’t smack me awake like the coffee did. Instead, it eased me into my day along with a nice slice of toast. Ahah, I see why tea and toast is so awesome.
Back in LA and recovering from jet lag, I went back to coffee. It jolted me awake in the morning and was a nice way to end a meal, but missing the ease of tea, I started my day with a cup of tea and had a coffee in the late morning. Then, one day I forgot to have a coffee at all. This was how I quit smoking---gradually, forgetting to smoke one day, then two days, then a week. I am now up to three weeks without a regular coffee ritual.
Last week, I decided to make myself fried eggs for dinner and to pair it with a cup of coffee since I was going out to the theatre. I love that egg/coffee combo. Also, since it was getting cool, I figured a nice cup of joe would warm me up.
Big mistake.
I was bouncing off the walls when I got to the theatre. I even managed to convince an actress that it was bad to eat lettuce at night. I was weird. I was wired. What was happening to me? Was I becoming one of those people? One of those non-coffee-oh-I’ll-just-have-tea-thanks people? Oh nooo!
I now have three kinds of tea in the cabinet. I have my upper tea, an Irish tea called Lyons (I’ve had Barrys Tea, but my preference is the Lyons). I have my downer tea, a box of Chamomile. Then, I also have my healthy green tea. I prefer tea in tea bags even though I can deal with loose leaf tea and especially love how green tea leaves open up in the pot.
I am not surprised that I have become a tea drinker. Both my Aunt and my Dad are big tea drinkers. Their preference is old school Lipton. I have had bad tea experiences---some super organic teas smell like dung to me. I also don’t like anything called Roasted Rice or some of that fruity berry crap.
Even though I am loving on the tea, I haven’t gone totally teetotaler. I still enjoy the sublime martini and other cocktails as well as wine as well as beer. Yes, I love beverages.
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