I went Christmas shopping yesterday and my first stop was The Tea Party, where I bought three different kinds of tea and a tea strainer. For me. And I don’t even like tea.
It was an impulse buy and I was indulging a strange and recurring impulse: The impulse to want to like tea. There’s just something about tea, with its teapots and strainers and herbs and infusions, that makes me want to be part of it. I love the idea of tea, with its cornucopia of flavour choices and its quiet, understated rituals. Maybe I want to be more like my stereotype of a tea-drinker too: Someone a little more cultured and contemplative and cerebral and healthy.
Don’t get me wrong – I like my stereotype of us coffee-drinkers too. We’re hardy and practical and we get things done. We like to wrap our cold hands around a steaming mug of joe as we plan our busy day. Our coffee breaks allow us a few precious moments to relax between tasks while refueling our energy supplies. Coffee culture is all about getting things done in the grand scheme of things, but taking a break right now.
There’s tea people and coffee people and ideally I’d like to be a hybrid, just like I’m a hybrid dog and cat person (though I do lean more towards cats, it’s true).
But when I put aside the culture and the stereotypes, the sad truth is that I don’t really like tea. I find it kind of bland and boring, like weakly flavoured hot water. Every few years I try again, but the outcome is always the same. Tea just isn’t as robust as coffee. It isn’t as satisfying. I am not, when it comes right down to it, a tea person. I am not a hybrid.
So tea-drinking goes back on the list of things I wish I liked, along with reading in the bathtub, doing housework, running, driving cars, and eating breakfast in bed. Every once in awhile I give each of these things another try, and invariably I find that I still don’t like them.
I like maritime tea – it’s tea for coffee drinkers. Darkmirror is a big fan too. I’m not a herbal “tea” drinker either – I drink hearty herbal infusions. I can’t stand hot water with a bit of flavour.
Pot for 4 cups two big honking tea bags or a heaping teaspoon per cup plus one for the pot. pour on the boiled water and cover it with a tea cosy, leave it 5 – 15 minutes, strain and drink, need moree tea? Add more tea and water to the poty. Keep it going all day – preferably on the warmer on the stove.
Thinks I want to like – Jane Austen. Keep trying, hate it. Reading Walden through, keep trying, even got it out as a book on tape – hate it. Crochet…I really want to like it, the three dimensional quality appeals to me greatly as a toymaker. Doing it, ick, not so much.
Ya, reading in the bathtub is a big whoop for all of us under five footers. It all ends with water in the ears and a soaking wet book. I wish I could be enthousiastic about dessert courses since everybody else is . . . I’d really rather have another helping of salad or a big old french fry parfait.
Wish I liked tea, too, as well as seafood, spending the day in pjs, and crowds. In a previous lifetime, I visited Finland. The tubs in the hotel were molded like a chair, short but deep, so you could fill the tub up to your chin and sit in a comfortable position. If I could find one of those tubs, THEN maybe I would like baths.
I agree with all your dislikes, I don’t like them either, but I don’t wish that I liked them. I prefer showers to baths and if I did take baths I would never think of reading in one, I would rather sleep in and then get out of bed before having breakfast, I would rather walk or cycle then drive. (OK, I admit I do wish I liked running)
Are there people who actually like doing housework, as opposed to just seeing it as something necessary that has to be done and gotten out of the way?
I too am a coffee, not tea, person. However I do drink tea sometimes, but very strong black tea only, no herbal or flavoured teas and no milk and sugar. To me, the point is not to see tea as an alternative to coffee, but just as something different to drink under different circumstances, just as one might drink wine and beer under different circumstances or with different foods. I would never drink tea as a morning stimulant, I want coffee in the morning and I wouldn’t even like the smell of tea first thing in the morning, but tea can be useful in the afternoon or after a spicy meal, e.g., after eating Indian food, or with a dessert. I don’t have much of sweet tooth but I do like (some) dessert foods and I find that after eating something sweet I need a strong-tasting bitter drink to counteract the sweetness and the tannin of tea tends to work better for me than the bitterness of coffee in that case (except with chocolate desserts when I prefer coffee, because chocolate and tea don’t go together).
I love tea, reading in the bathtub, doing housework, and running! I don’t mind driving cars, and could take or leave breakfast in bed.
But I wish I liked knitting.
I drink both coffee and tea but if I had to give up one it would be tea. I really need the boost coffee gives me in the morning…tea just doesn’t cut it. I don’t mind a cup of tea in the afternoon though.
Mudmama, I’m the same way about crochet. I’d like to like it enough just to be able to make crocheted edgings on some knitted stuff. But I have a mental block about crochet.
Grace, maybe you’re lucky. Liking dessert is a double-edged sword.
Abby, me too, me too! I wish I could enjoy seafood, and I’m totally envious of people whose idea of a perfect day is to stay in their pajamas. Me, I feel like a sloth until I get dressed. As for crowds, though, I’m happy enough not liking them.
Lucy, yes, there ARE people who like housework. They actually enjoy it. I can’t relate in the least, but I’m deeply, deeply envious.
Jo, I love your comment. (Lately I find I enjoy knitting more while listening to podcasts…)
Bonnie, you’re a hybrid! Do you prefer dogs or cats?
I like coffee during the day … specially fond of The Man’s cappucino. But I do love a nice cup of tea.
I’m with the Jane Austen crew… in fact, I kind of feel that way about a lot of classic literature (with a few exceptions.) I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m just not that smart.
Haha! Yes, I know. In fact, I like housework, but it’s more because I like the end result, rather than the process. Now I have to go and do some sweeping….
The biggest problem with tea is that it is not coffee. Or so I like to say whenever i am offered tea by a friend who knows better.
Love the blog,
V
I wish I could enjoy alcohol, but I don’t. I hate the taste of beer (and the smell!) and don’t like wine either. I have never been drunk and I stopped pretending I was enjoying whatever drink was given to me on nights out a long time ago.
The worse part is that I’m French. Not liking wine back where I grew up was… unusual. Most of my friends started drinking around 10 years old!
I really don’t like tea, but I agree, I wish I liked it. People have a really hard time with me not liking tea too I find. I’m sure I’ll continue to try to like it every now and again, but I doubt anything will ever change. I don’t like baths, let alone reading in them either 😉 And I REALLY wish I liked doing housework. sigh.
Maybe tea is an old lady’s drink. I loved coffee until coffee decided it didn’t like me. Now I drink about one cup of coffee every week or two. If I try to drink more I regret it. Mud Mama thinks I make dishwater tea, but strong tea is as hard on my stomach as coffee is. I get up in the morning and drink an entire pot of weak tea while I wake up at the computer.
I really wish I liked Salmon…just can’t do it. I try once a year and it never works.
I like tea.
I also like lattes. 
Just figured I would share that…
I’m a tea person who can handle a cup of coffee once in awhile just like I’m a dog person who has befriended and adopted a few cats in my lifetime. I wish I liked shopping or talking on the telephone. My sister thinks I’m odd because I email, text and meet in person but almost never place a call. I hate shopping but I try to support local businesses by ordering from their internet sites. It isn’t the spending money I don’t like, it is the crowding in stores.
Until fairly recently, I was a milk and juice drinker, but due to a sluggish pancreas (aka diabetes), carbohydrate-free beverages are top on my list. Water, of course, herbal tea (iced in summer), stevia-sweetened soft drink powder, some Shasta pop. Coffee by itself isn’t on the list, but I’ve been adding a bit to hot cocoa in the mornings as it jump-starts my brain. I’ve a peppermint plant in my garden, so I often make peppermint tea. Chamomile tea is starting to appear in flavored versions (honey, vanilla, “harvest,” etc) that are tasty. If you like robust flavors, leave the tea bag in longer!
When I had a 5-foot clawfoot tub, I used to read there all the time. No eating anything in bed, though the recliner is fair game, especially with a book. Housework is also something I wished I liked; I get the most satisfaction cleaning up bad messes because there’s a bigger sense of accomplishment. I don’t mind driving during the day, but not just to be driving; there must be a purpose.
I’m a PC and a Mac person. I’m also a tea & coffee person, although I treat coffee more as a drug (to stay awake) than a “ritual” experience like tea. Have you tried “chai” tea? It’s spicy and strong and awesome.
I love all kinds of tea, but often wish I liked coffee. I never read in the bath, hate housework, driving cars and breakfast in bed. But I love running. I also wish I liked sewing because it seems like such a very useful thing to do.
I make tea that is as dark as coffee. I guess I am bi-caffeinal (?). I like tea and coffee equally …
zoom, I can introduce you to a few kinds of tea I guarantee you’ll like. I am one of those coffee/tea hybrids, and I also can’t stand weak tea.
Hit me up!
I’m a big time dog person but I do like other peoples cats. Does that make me more of a hybrid or wishy-washy??
Sorry Deb about the salmon…
Tea is an adventure. Try all the different varieties, not just orange pekoe – eg, Darjeeling, oolong, assam, nilgiri. Use honey to sweeten for floral overtones.
You don’t stick to just one kind of wine, do you?
tOM