Break's Over.

Wouldn't you know it that as soon as I finally got around to announcing that I was taking a break, I'd be ready to start posting again? 

Time for Tea

Until recently, I was a dedicated coffee drinker.  Not that I drank so much coffee (by American standards), but I was very consistant: one cup in the morning, and another (usually a latte) in the late afternoon.  I limited my tea drinking to when I was sick (when I'd have herbal), or on my visits to my most favorite place in New York, Alice's Tea Cup.  Now, I really thought hard about whether I'd even mention Alice's on this blog, because I fear that if too many people find out about it, it will get too popular and I won't be able to get a table without a long wait on my future visits to NYC.  Even now, it's usually a pretty long wait on weekends.  So don't tell anyone, k?  Let's just keep this gem between us.

Alice's has a fabulous selection of teas of all sorts, and you can buy the loose tea by the ounce to make yourself at home.  (They also have the most amazing scones, so amazing that the scones probably deserve their own post.)  My friends know how much I love Alice's tea, so Noah and Amanda bought me as a housewarming gift two lovely chrome-colored canisters of tea.  They did a great job picking them out, too: one is Symphony, a black tea flavored with strawberry and chocolate (there are even chocolate chips mixed in with the loose tea!) and the other is Alice's Tea, which has roses in it and other interesting flavors.  Now, they didn't know it when they chose them, but Symphony was the first tea I ever tried at Alice's (because as a non-tea drinker, chocolate & strawberry tea sounded pretty yummy, and indeed it is), and Alice's Tea became a favorite in my last couple visits to the shop before I moved.  And the fancy canisters are really cool.

A few weeks after Noah & Amanda bestowed this lovely gift upon me, my friend Sara visited.  Sara was the one who introduced me to Alice's, so I of course offered her some tea while she was here.  I mentioned to her that next time I visited New York I wanted to pick up another canister for my Passion Fruit tea from Alice's (which had been living in a lowly sack).  Lo and behold, a few days after she went back to New York, a package arrived for me containing a canister of that tea.

And then a couple weeks later, my friend Amy was visiting me and brought me some ginger tea as a housewarming gift!  We already had quite a lot of tea in the house, but now my pantry is tea central.

But you know what?  Suddenly I'm drinking tea every day!  I'm even thinking of knitting myself a felted tea cozy.  I always thought tea cozies were absolutely ridiculous, but now that I make myself pots of tea, I'm realizing that I really do need something to keep it warm.  And I'm thinking I need a bigger teapot, too, because over Labor Day weekend I had seven guests in the house and most of them were tea drinkers.  And some cups and saucers, instead of my usual coffee mugs.  Who knows? Maybe I'll host a tea party sometime.

I'm still drinking coffee, too, of course.  But I haven't had a latte in weeks.

Comments

[Noah]

So glad I could help promote a new addiction.

Oh, and happy belated birthday!

[The Feminist Mafia]

I'm an obsessed tea drinker too. For black/caffeine, I drink Barry's every day.

www.barrystea.ie/goldblend.htm

For anything else, it's Tea Luxe all the way. The Tea Luxe locations in Harvard Sq and Newbury Street have amazing lunches and treats and loose tea in huge mugs. The Creme de la Earl Grey is fabulous, and I'm not a big Earl Grey fan. The Dragon Pearl Jasmine is so fun. The Jasmine flowers are tightly balled and "bloom" while steeping. Enjoy!

www.tealuxe.com

[Karola]

Hi Alison,
so happy to see you back on the blog track! :-) I love being able to be a part of your new life in Boston, and ironically I think i might have mentioned this but I work for Bob Bernstein - Nancy (she said to send her best!) King Bernstein's hubby isn't it a small world! lots of hugs to you both and kori said hi too! :-) k

[Alison]

Feminist Mafia - I went to Tea Luxe last week! I work near there when I'm at my church job. I haven't tried any of their teas yet, but I took home the menu and they look amazing. I was just there to get t-sacs for when I have my tea to go, and to check out their teapot selection.

I'll have to try Barry's as well. Thanks for the tip!

Karola - you did mention the coincidence, I'll have to remember to tell Scott. Nice to hear from you, and hi to Kori.

[Amanda]

Do you drink your coffee from a mug that says "Loser" a la Alice's?

[Alison]

No, but Scott does!

[Amanda]

Just learned today that Alice's got rid of the Loser mugs because people found it offensive.

[Alison]

People really take themselves too seriously sometimes. Good thing Scott bought one for himself before we moved. He'll have to bring it with him next time we go there.

[Dympna]

A tea convert. You'll have to send my your address and I'll send you some Peet's Christmas blend. Of course don't hold your breath. I still have the tea I bought last Christmas to send to Karola. LOL
Tea cosies rock.
You need to check out adagio.com

[Kay]

Now that's what I call an indefinite leave of absence. Good to 'see' you. I must check out Alice's since it's a block away and I've NEVER BEEN INSIDE. xox Kay