We used to drink a lot of tea.  We had a whole drawer in the kitchen devoted to tea.  We would have a dozen different types of tea in that drawer at any given time.  We don’t drink so much tea anymore.  It is too bad, really.  We drink coffee in the morning every day, not tea.  The drawer has turned into a plastic box.  The prominent location has shifted to inside the pantry closet.  Tea has taken a back seat.

I used to drink coffee only sometimes.  My wife spurned it, so I mostly drank it when she was not around.  Occasionally I would make some when she was home, but most of the time we both drank tea.  Then I got a good coffee maker.  I drank more coffee.  I then I turned her, somehow, into a coffee drinker.  Now she drinks coffee daily.  Some husband I am.

I still feel that tea is more civilised.  It seems more pure.  That is bogus, of course.  It is merely that I make it that way, like we make more of fancy jeans and colorful cell phones than is warranted.  Coffee has certainly become more chi-chi, but tea still has its quiet nobility.  It is healthier and simpler.  With coffee, you pick beans, dry them, roast them, grind them up and then pour water on them.  With tea, you pick leaves, dry them and then pour water on them.  In these dire times, who can waste all those extra steps?

Not that I am switching to tea.  I still drink some tea, and I have considered drinking tea instead of coffee.  Really, I don’t need to drink either, but a hot drink on a cold day sure is a fine thing where I come from.  So I will brew on.

I like the idea of drinking more tea, however.  I am going to start that right up.  I am going to have some tonight, in fact.  It is chilly.  The fire is out and I won’t start one this late.  I could use some hydration and coffee won’t do that.  I did have a foamy espresso drink this afternoon.  Boy was that good.  It was decaf, but still, it’s not filling the well, just flushing the pipes.

Anyway, I have been thinking about tea.  It is good stuff.  I wonder, if I can manage to take the kitchen real estate required to start the tea drawer back up, will I drink more tea?  That is an experiment worth trying.  But is tea more important than pot holders?  I’ll have to think about that for a bit.