Tea for Two and Two for Tea. Tea for You and Tea for Me....

I'm sipping black tea with a little honey and 2% milk as I write this.  It's my afternoon ritual.
Coffee in the morning, black tea in the afternoon and herbal tea after dinner.
There is something satisfying, soothing, spiritual about brewing a pot of tea.
My nephew, a music teacher, has been experiencing different teas and shared some of his favorites with me a few Christmas's ago.  When he got married we sent him and his musical wife a teapot and two tea cups.

In the world, tea is the beverage most consumed after water, but most people in this country drink coffee.
Many people associate tea with colds or the flu, to be taken as medicine and only as necessary.  Noses wrinkle and brows furrow and they drink tea just because it's good for them.

Where is the fun in that?

The ritual of tea making begins my afternoon.  The tea kettle is emptied of yesterday's water.  I rinse then fill it with filtered water.  On to the stovetop it goes with the burner on high.   While I wait, I run the tap water until it is steaming, fill my ceramic teapot and cover it with a tea towel. You can use a cozy if you wish.
As soon as that teakettle sings, I pull it off the burner and let the boiling water settle down.
Loose tea is the best in a tea ball or other infuser.  Quickly pour out the tap water, deposit the tea into the hot teapot and gently pour the boiled water into the teapot.  Cover with a towel and wait, patiently, for the steeping to be complete.  This is the perfect time to pull out you sweetener, lemon, or milk and favorite mug, cup or tea bowl.
This is my tea bowl today:

I've heard people say that just the ritual of making the tea is enough to start their afternoon, or anytime actually, right. Introspection seems to be part of the tea making process for me.
Drinking the tea, whether caffeinated or herbal with makes you feel really good-the caffine buzz is more sustained and the crash isn’t as harsh as coffee.
You'll have to try it for yourself and let me know if you agree.


The different tea types include

• black-oxidized rich flavor
• green-less processed endless benefits, flavor light to darker richer
• white-least processed, most delicate flavor
• oolong-processed black tea complex with layers & varieties
• matcha- japanese powdered green tea traditional japanese tea ceremoney
• Pu-erh- processed Chinese exotic taste, history-once sold in formed shapes & used as currency
• herbal- herbs, flowers, spices etc usually caffine free
• red- african rooibos herb caffeine free sweet refreshing mate- yerba mate leaves high in caffeine herbal tea.

Here are some tea related websites I love to visit:
The Tea Guy Speaks 
What's hot in the tea world now
Winter Teas for Newbies
Five great teas for winter 
Mellow Monk
Just what the name implies..mellow
Gracious Hospitality 
Entertaining
Lanie Sips
Personal relfections
Insani-tea BlogTea
Tea lover blog
Tea-Finely Brewed 
You'll learn alot here
Miss Minimalist
More about Tea Ceremony

Let's make Tea Time special --

Loose is the best, like dancing and kissing.

Strange how a teapot can represent at the same time the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company.  ~Author Unknown

If you are cold, tea will warm you.  If you are too heated, it will cool you.  If you are depressed, it will cheer you.  If you are excited, it will calm you.  ~Gladstone, 1865







Looking to learn more?  One way to really flash up your day-plan a tea party.  Little sandwiches, cakes, petit-fours, cookies...even crunchy rice cereal bars can make for a festive party.  Tea Parties-They're not just for girls.

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.  ~Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

Bread and water can so easily be toast and tea.  ~Author Unknown






My tea kettle is Yellow.  Doesn't match anything, just looks cool on our black stove top.

We had a kettle; we let it leak:
Our not repairing made it worse.
We haven't had any tea for a week...
The bottom is out of the Universe.
~Rudyard Kipling

Tea is a cup of life.  ~Author Unknown





Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world.  ~T'ien Yiheng

There is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, Letters and Social Aims

Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.  ~Catherine Douzel

Drinking a daily cup of tea will surely starve the apothecary.  ~Chinese Proverb

There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea.  ~Bernard-Paul Heroux

Matte Green Glaze Teapot

Large Anagama Blue Teapot

Small Anagama and Blue Teapot

 Teapots on Etsy


Two teapots on the left hold
4 C water. 
The teapot on the right holds
8 C of water.


 Do not put on direct heat source.

Functional stoneware is food safe.  It will not react to food.  Tea doesn't stain stoneware.