A Cup of Tea

Trying to decide on a tea to brew the other day, the choices before me brought back old experiences, habits and memories. Being a new year and all, I reminded myself to reach for the green rather than the black tea that I’ve always loved. In fact, for the longest time, the only kind of tea that I would actually drink would be Punjabi-style tea or chai. When I was growing up we always used a loose-leafed black Ceylon tea and it would be brewed with milk and sugar. Sometimes, a spice or two like cloves or cardamom would also be thrown into the kettle. We would have it in the morning, afternoon and even in the evenings.

My absolute favorite aside from our home brew, was the tea served at street stalls or open air hawker centers in Singapore called “teh sarabat.” The best of these I thought was the ginger tea. Although I find these brews too sweet now, I still love them! Just the thought brings back so many good food memories.

I’m not a collector by nature, but I do have a small collection of loose-leafed teas. I had a small cabinet especially made to display these little canisters in a space where I could get to them easily. They are well-used and are not for looks only. Since it’s winter, and I’m more home-bound, I’m also traveling vicariously through the various teas that I see displayed before me. The wonderfully fragrant jasmine tea leaves tightly rolled up in a small ball – a visit to a Hong Kong teashop comes to mind, tasting, learning and relaxing in surroundings soothing to the soul; a collection of herbal blends from Australia – a gift from a thoughtful niece we hooked up with in Melbourne some years ago and an Oolong/ginseng blend from Taiwan, also a gift, from old friends we saw in Hong Kong.

What should I drink? Perhaps I’ve already had my cup just reflecting on such trivialities.