Experimenting with Hot Tea

 

            This story started a dozen or more years ago. I was still single, living in Marion, and I often spent my evenings walking from my home to the athletic fields on the Indiana Wesleyan campus. One trip around the loop equaled a mile, so it was easy to measure my exercise. Even before I toyed with running, I would walk back there, enjoying the solitude that still felt safe.

            On my trek to the fields, I’d pass a small campus-owned group of duplexes. Back then, they were housing for upperclassmen, and in the summers, they housed students who stayed around for classes or work. (I actually lived there the summer between my junior and senior years!)

            A trio of girls lived in one of the duplexes, and they often sat on their front porch in the evenings, drinking tea and talking while they watched the world on the edge of campus. They would wave at me as I walked past, and one night, one of them called out to me to ask my name.

            I paused to talk to them for a while, and they asked if I liked tea. I told them I liked iced tea, but not hot tea. They told me it was because I’d never had good hot tea, and then they asked if they could have me over for tea sometime.

            So one evening I walked to their duplex and they invited me in for a proper tea party. I was skeptical, but I admit, they impressed me. They were true tea connoisseurs, with glass jars filled with various flavors of loose-leaf tea. They had metal tea strainers, little porcelain tea sets, and so much knowledge about the world of tea.

            They asked about some of my flavor preferences, and I watched in admiration as they put together a loose-leaf tea blend just for me. I watched it steep, and they added some cream for me – which I did not even know was part of a tea experience.

            It was the best tea I’d ever had, and it was the first time I knew college students could have a beverage appreciation for anything other than energy drinks, coffee, or alcohol!

            I wish I’d had more time with those girls, because I do believe they could have taught me so much more about tea, but they graduated and moved away before we could have more tea parties. I also wish I had pictures of this adventure, but it was before the days of over-documenting, so I don't. (I’m still friends with two of them on social media, and it has been a joy to watch them mature into talented young women!)

            Though Ryan and I have always been – and probably always will be – coffee champions, Ryan has been branching out into the world of hot tea lately. Part of it started when he wrestled with a cold last fall, and part of it has stemmed from our small group members, who love hot tea and drink it regularly on the nights we get together for fellowship.

            I’m much like Lexi in the fear of being left out, so I decided 2023 would be my year to learn to like hot tea. I remembered those girls from the duplex and the joy of loose-leaf tea, so I decided to start there. If I’m going to do this thing, I’m going to do it right.

            When we were in Florida for our anniversary trip, I happened upon a Spice and Tea Exchange store. I moved around the perimeter of the store, opening glass jars and inhaling blends. I ended up choosing a chai sampler packet containing chocolate chai black tea, fireside spice oolong tea, and spiced chai mate. Ryan gifted me a tea strainer in my stocking at Christmas, and I was excited to try my hand at tea!

            The first time I tried it, I chose chocolate chai. My GOODNESS, it smelled so delicious as I spooned it into the strainer. I tried drinking it just as it was, and it was too bitter – even with all the really delightful spices in it. (It contains black chocolate tea, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and cloves, so the aroma is absolutely delightfully spicy in all the best ways.) I added some honey, and that did help. The next time, I skipped the honey and moved on to adding a little cream. I liked it – but it was still a very different experience than drinking coffee. 

            Then I tried the Spiced chai with cream, and THAT hit the spot. This one contains yerba mate tea, green rooibos tea, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, orange, lemongrass, aniseed, almond, mango, blue cornflower, pineapple, and papaya. YUM!! I realized after the first try that I hadn't steeped it long enough. (It called for a longer time than the chocolate chai.) So I tried again, but to be honest, it tasted the same.

            I’m going to keep pushing through to learn to love hot tea one way or the other, but I have also learned about myself that my first love is and probably always will be coffee. I’m always going to be more of an iced tea girl than a hot tea girl, but I do feel I can properly appreciate some version of hot tea so I don’t have to miss out on the fun!