July 6th, 1978: On Tea

Tomorrow I'll make myself a pot of tea.  I save it for special treats because it's hard to drink a whole pot by myself before it gets cold or steeps too long, and I don't like warmed-over or stewed tea.  My favorite is Earl Gray.  I like the delicate fragrance, almost like a perfume.  I like English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, and Russian Caravan.  These are especially good if you add milk (who can afford cream now?) to your tea.  I like Jasmine with the little yellow flowers tucked in among the tea leaves, and I like herbal teas-the smoky Yerba Buena (mate) tea-in moderation.  I once found to my cost that, drunk in large amounts, it causes hallucinations-followed by violent headache.  I like the astringent chamomile tea (what Peter Rabbit had instead of berries) and the mild peppermint.  But any tea has to be made with really boiling water in a bot that's been heated first. 

I have an English china pot, with a hollow handle that fills with tea an burns your hand, but I prefer my Japanese metal teapot-with a high, bamboo wound handle and a strainer basket so the tea leaves can be removed before the tea gets too strong.