Tea Lovers Be Warned!

I felt so loved – better, understood – when Beloved gave me the ultimate tea-lover’s gift: a fancy glass teapot (you know, with the thingy in the middle for the tea leaves so you’ll never have to catch them between your teeth again) and a selection of very cool, very expensive teas to sample. Perfect! Now I could upgrade to gourmet tea guzzler while I slaved over my hot keyboard.

I quickly learned my caffeine lesson when I tried Vanilla Black Tea. I whipped up a pot, slurped down a first cup, loved it, and went back for seconds. Then thirds. (Well, it was
delicious.) Imagine my consternation when, come midnight, I was more awake than I’d felt in weeks. 1 am and I was rearing to do an all-nighter. That’s when I knew Vanilla Black was not a good option after dark. Not unless I wanted to be very energetic – and before you start sniggering, folks, let me tell you those days are few and far between now there’s Master Seven and The Destroyer to contend with.

Romantic Rose Tea was delicious – though I did begin to worry about my sanity when I caught myself eating it straight from the packet.

But the tea that most upset my equilibrium was Coffee-Flavoured Tea. I love tea and I love coffee, so coffee-flavoured tea sounded like the best of both worlds. I brewed it with love, hovered over the teapot to savour the aroma, and poured my first cup with anticipation. It all went downhill from there. Until that moment I hadn’t realised that part of the coffee experience is texture. Coffee – even black coffee – has a more oily consistency than tea. As in, coffee’s not quite as – well, watery.

I know, I know, sounds nuts, right? But I was drinking something that tasted, to all intents and purposes, just like coffee – but in my mouth it felt all wrong.

Needless to say, the Coffee-Flavoured Tea isn’t in very high demand at our place. Any takers? Ooh! Let’s do a poll! E-mail me and I’ll post out samples.

How about you? Have you ever tried a specialty tea that left you begging for more – or wishing you’d brewed your old socks instead?