Tea for One

I’m not a big tea drinker. I don’t like heavy, strong teas and I can’t stand tea with milk. But the one tea I really do like is the light and aromatic Earl Grey. A few years back I was very much into aromatherapy and it was the essential oil of bergamot in Earl Grey that enticed me.

Rob is a fan of the stronger English Breakfast tea, which he likes milky with sugar, so we have opposite tastes where tea is concerned. To make things easier and to accommodate our different tastes we use tea bags. Most mornings I have coffee anyway.

But every now and then I like to indulge in a small pot of loose Earl Grey tea. I bought myself a pretty china ‘tea for one’ pot which makes me feel rather elegant. I like the ceremony of counting out the spoonfuls of tea into the pot, pouring on the hot water, stirring it, popping the lid back on the pot and leaving the tea to brew. I feel like I’m winding back the years and embracing the very English tradition of making and drinking real tea. On these occasions I like to sit back in the afternoon with a book and the tea pot on a table beside me, taking a little time out to be still whilst sipping the soothing drink and inhaling its beautiful scent.