(no subject)

[senoritafish]

(Warning - tea purists may be offended...)

Tea at Home:

1. Fill kettle with filtered water. Set to boil.
2. After water is boiling, add some to teapot to warm it.
3. Pour out warming water (if you are good, you'll water plants with it). Add preferred loose tea to teapot; one spoonful for each cup and one for the pot.
4. Add water to tea, allow to steep for five minutes (my father goes so far as to use a timer to the exact second; I am a filthy heathen who likes strong tea, and I've been known to let it sit for half an hour. The Australian family I once spent the holidays with referred to this brew as "poison.")
5. Pour tea into fine bone china cup, add sugar, milk or lemon if so desired.
6. Enjoy. Scones and lemon curd are nice, classical music, literature, or possibly the New York Times optional.

Tea at Work:

1. Dig box of tea bags out of bottom desk drawer.
2. Grab giant two-cups-worth mug from next to computer and head down the hall to break room.
3. If dish soap is available, wash coffee dregs from mug. Otherwise, rinse thoroughly.
4. Rip open tea bag packets and add 2 tea bags to mug since it's so huge - one will result in a dilute solution suitable only for watering your pothos.
5. Run hot water tap until glasses fog up. If glasses do not fog up, you're pressing the cold water lever; fine for your water bottle or pouring in the coffee maker, not so good for tea.
6. Peering over your now-opaque glasses, run hot water into mug, preferably directly on top of tea bag for maximum soakage.
7. Allow to steep while walking back to your desk and while you run to the mailroom and the restroom.
8. No lemon or milk available, so unless you want creamer, sip while spacing out during a conference call or analyzing fishery data trends...or procrastinating by writing an LJ entry.
9. Enjoy the astringent feeling your teeth get. Dig around again in bottom desk drawer for your toothbrush and discover you are out of toothpaste.
10. Leave tea bags in cup until finished with tea, then squeeze out and chuck in waste basket, unless your office is progressive enough to have a vermicomposter (mine isn't).

Brought to you by late afternoon Bigelow Constant Comment and Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger. Because Folgers, especially weak Folgers, is nasty.