Flashes of Panic

There’s something about tea drinkers, that we accumulate the stuff. I filled most of a (smallish) box with various bags, boxes and tins of tea when we last moved, which is silly considering that my habit has been to get a box of Twinings at the grocery store.

A few months ago, I resolved to drink more than I bought for a while. Aside from regularly marveling at my own pack-rat tendencies, I’ve learned a few things. For the most part, I liked bags because they were convenient, but my little two-mug Bodum pot is actually more tea-efficient than bags. By making pots at a time, I get more beverage from roughly the same amount of loose tea, and it’s easier to clean than one-mug infusers. Once the tea is brewed, I can take the infuser section out and re-heat the pot in the microwave, as well.

I’ve also discovered that the little sampler tins from Adiago go farther when I make pots than if I was going cup by cup.

I’ve managed to clear out one tin and get pretty close to finishing off a second. The first was Fortnum & Mason “Millennium Tea,” which was OK; the second is actually from Harrod’s, a box of their “Kenyan Tea” emptied into a previously-used F&M tin (Keemun, I think,) with the box panel then taped on the tin. Both date back to the week or so I spent in London after the 1999 World Championships (aka my trip to Seville,) so I’m not entirely sure why they’re still around, especially considering how good the Kenyan tea is. I suppose I’m worried that once it’s gone, I’ll never find any more, but this defies logic: if I don’t drink it, what good is it? It might as well be sawdust.

Next project: some of the tins, particularly the F&M one, are quite decorative. I can just recycle the little Adiago tins, nifty as they are, but it seems like I need a use for the F&M tin. Maybe I should move the “found money” collection in there?

Now Playing: The World At Large from Good News For People Who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse