Heck no. Tea time if you are from English descent is a given daily sacred ritual.
But in the USA coffee beans dominate the drive through hard to understand outdoor microphone requests. Gotta have a hot cup of Joe to go. For some make it ten sugars. Just black as the inside of a Maine cow. And okay. Dash of Holstein or Guernsey. Add a pinch of turbo expresso could ya please? I’m dragging. Need the NOS blue bottle fast and the furious tap tap jug shot.
The hot tea not so much asked for in the eenie meenie miney moe. But the cool iced version gets it’s share of the liquid refreshment total score.
Like it’s coffee cousin, the pause for tea gives comfort, reflection on a lot of levels.
Something hot in your hands can warm them during a Maine winter. The process of a whistling tea kettle singing loudly on a Maine wood cook stove. Asking, then hollering for a tea bag, inviting it to take a swim. The water’s just fine for soaking, relaxing.
To round up a cookie to go with it as an afternoon break companion. Whether first thing in the morning with a muffin, a bagel, some oatmeal. Or mid afternoon stop to gear up for the final heave ho of a busy day in Maine. Doing whatever it is you need to for that pay check. Or in retirement where they keep coming in on their own. You hope.
Rocking chairs in motion add to the spot of tea, conversation experience in Maine.
Whether kicked into gear on open or glass with screen porches. Or in Maine home kitchens the proximity handy to that wood fire companion. Being as close to Canada as this Maine blog poster is, Red Rose tea with the comical chimps seemed to be the brand reached for if it was tea please.
What is the value of tea beyond the social, snacking, something warm to gurgle, siphon and funnel down your throat? Medicinal, Maine teas for wellness are reached for sometimes. Others are peddled, owned and operated by Maine native hikers who scaled Mt Katahdin, offering Maine gourmet teas.
Or the warm and fuzzy Sleeping Bear tea which would not be what you brew, pour and store in a thermos for work, for that long drive of many miles. To nip from, slurp to help enrich, improve the experience it is tag teaming. What is the nutritional value of tea, whatever color? Helps with blood pressure.
Catechins, antioxidants to prevent or reduce the incident of cancer drinking tea.
Getting high amounts of vitamins B, C, D and K from daily habit of tea. Over 300 nutrients from tea are hard to ignore too. I always ask for the Chinese tea to fill the way too small handle-less teeny weeny cups.
You never see the Big Gulp, super sized version of once and done applied to tea beverages.
But there are lots of neat ways to put your loose tea in containers, vessels to steep the beverage. Get your spot of tea without the bag that some reports say is not good for you.
So just the tea makes the seep, leap into the clean Maine water to give it the color it does.
To know that particular favorite shade like a Maine tourmaline means you are ready for the next step in the tea drinking process.
All the kids, cousins too got exposed to the tea time ritual with Nana. She was a two fisted drinker of her caffeine. Morning coffee with my Dad, afternoon tea with the grand kids. After school when they got off the bus at the Maine farm a mile and half out of town. For fresh baked cookies, squares, fruit breads. Whatever was whipped up from scratch for the day home made treat out of the Maine farm house kitchen pantry.
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com