Coffee, Tea, All Neat, Sir!

I have for a while not had any coffee. I have lately suffered occasionally from a sore throat, and what I had heard for a long time was that a particular brand of tea was fairly good for that. I decided to switch from the coffee that I'd been drinking to that very tea, known as Throat Coat. It has been an interesting change. The coffee is prepared in a manner that I have done so many times that it is not exactly a thrilling operation.

The tea is a little different. With the coffee, I would of course insert the coffee (possibly grinding it from beans) into a filter (probably made of paper), dripping through that water which I would pour into the proper chamber after measuring it in the very carafe which ultimately contains the finished coffee. I would then pour the coffee into a mug, adding cream and sugar. It's a process as boring for me to type as it must be to read.

The tea is simpler in a way, but novel anyway. I boil the water and then pour it over the tea bag, which lies nestled in the small cup. I use a cup and saucer for the tea. It steeps for a period of ten to fifteen minutes, finally reaching a point of readiness only then. There's a certain formal ritual to it that I find appealing. The clinking of the cup in the saucer, the sipping of the tea and the reuse of the tea bag for a second, weaker cup are all aspects of it.

If I stay with tea for a while (and I do tend to stick with things for a long time), I will hopefully begin to get beyond the beginner's methods as I have touched on here. I have got to get a proper tea kettle, and perhaps I will learn to use loose leaves in the little metal ball. I will perhaps even sooner explore the use of cream and sweeteners for tea as I would coffee. Honey would be nice. Yes, there's plenty in tea to stimulate me for a while.