a quotidian pleasure: a fine cup of tea (‘for this impossible thing we know as life’)

Tea is yet another one of those little addictions that shapes my every-day-full-of-minor-eccentricities life.

My daily several cups of tea sieve into the core of my existence cup by cup, drop by drop.

I do love coffee, and good strong dark coffee, since coffee, save rare occasions, is a one-time-deal thing in the mornings, and do I appreciate the coffee culture as much as the tea culture, yet that goes in another cup (or later blog), yet tea…

o tea tea tea (and I am not referring to herbal infusions, which I really thank & appreciate specially on tardy nights) but tea is one of the best traditions that one can find in humanity, no wonder has been around for years, lustra, decades, centuries, millenniums, I would dare to think?

So knowing this, my cousin, who just arrived from London, brought me some Harrods KnightsBridge English Breakfast No. 14 bagged tea. Is there a better present from London for a tea-fiend?

I had one this morning, and it was good, yet! O and sorry my cousin but it wasn’t as fresh and rich as the tea I get from the better-than-british-just-from-Connecticut tea page www.specialteas.com

Their teas are the freshest, delicate and excellent! Their selection is also so rich, you can delight yourself with some subtle Nilgiri tea (Tiger Hill is for much my 3 or 4 cups a day favorite!) among the single state ones. Or, you can select a classic blend like English high-grown leaf, or some Five o’clock tea, and not to mention my favorite among the flavored blends the Holiday Dream, which I have consider my holiday nightmare, since refusing to drop it at night (even if caffeinated) has been cause of many late nights of tea-drinking-induced insomnia, and without any regrets!

Now this tea comes usually loose, then I get some tea bags at any asian store for less than 2 dollars or they can be ordered from special teas as well, almost as comforting as the tea itself, is my almost every-night routine of bagging my own tea, fresh and ready for the next day. So sorry England, but for tea, I stay with the Connecticut one!

It is worth to mention that a precious petite jewel of tea-literature is the ‘The Book of Tea’ by Kakuzo Okakura. This little book apart from giving information on the different kinds of teas, their lovely development and history, and its peculiarities and preparation, also enlightens your heart with little pieces of philosophy of life, as we can read here in a little excerpt from the first chapter, A cup of Humanity:

"Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life." -Kakuzo Okakura

now if you don't want to buy the book, well just visit this link here and read it online courtesy of Project Gutenberg