My Life in Tea

It occurred to me the other day, as I was reading through a blogpost from a tea drinker that I have not shared with you my love of tea....and its place in my daily life of essentials!  You may not find that at all surprising, given my love of all things teabag in terms of making art, but I'm not a drinker of tea made from teabags, unless I'm in a real pinch....I almost always drink loose tea.  This makes it rather difficult to procure enough used teabags to fill my needs, so I will sometimes make a cup of Tazo Awake tea just for the teabag. When I'm in a group setting for any length of time, I get people to save their teabags for me, which is a huge help. A number of years ago I spent a month-long residency at the Vermont Studio Center and for much of the time there, scores of people were saving their teabags for me and I would come to my studio each morning to find a small, damp pile of teabags awaiting my attention....but what a boom for my teabag collection!

But, back to the topic at hand....my very essential tea drinking proclivities!  I sometimes think of myself as a tea evangelist, as I would say to those that who profess not to like tea and even to those who can take it or leave it, that unless you've had a cup or pot made from loose tea, you've not really had tea.  And I will actually go further to say to my tea drinking friends (or those about to be converted or willing to two-time their coffee drinking habits) that unless you've had a cup made from tea ordered from Upton Tea Imports in Holliston, Massachusetts, you're probably still missing out.  I've never been there, but I've been ordering my tea from their amazing catalog for over a decade.

I've had tea from tea shops and tea catalogs from all over the country and have never had anything that was as good as my beloved Upton Tea Imports.  The most wonderful thing about them is that you can order absolutely any of their 40+ pages of tea from all corners of the earth in a sample size, which gives you enough for a couple pretty good size pots.  

This enables you to try any tea at a very affordable price to see if you like it.....that's how I found my daily tea, Halmari Estate CTC BOP, described thus: "a bold CTC [cut-tear-curl]  style tea with rich flavor.  The dark liquor will readily take milk. Especially suited as a bracing morning tea.".....oh, yes.

It's rich and malty and one can't describe it in terms of anything else....which can be frustrating.  So, while I continue to order samples of their various teas, which include new ones in each issue as they become available, I now order my Halmari Estate (catalog #:TA27H) through a standing order, which means that every other month, like clockwork, there will be a 500 gram (17.6 oz) bag of tea waiting for me in the mailbox....and not a minute too soon!

Cut-tear-curl tea is tea leaves curled into tiny pellets...

I'm always just about down to my last bit in the tin and starting to sweat it out that I'll have to go without....and then the tea arrives!  Yesterday, just in time, there was the package waiting for me....saved.  My daily ritual continues uninterrupted.  You can order online from Upton Tea Imports, but I love their quarterly catalog, which includes a running history of the tea trade.  

I think I'll have a finished piece to show to you tomorrow in the slow hand stitched work, but here's the last few dailies in the meantime.  Thanks so much for your wonderful comments about these daily pieces....it's very encouraging and much appreciated!

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1-25-12

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Sorry for the poor quality of these images.....turns out I'm not becoming any better at photographing the pieces....I'll need to work on that for the new shop!

I'm very excited to see Bryan Bowers, the amazing autoharp folk musician, at the National Music Museum brown bag lunch concert tomorrow.  He comes through about every other year and it's always an amazing treat!

Hope you're having a great week.