Tea drinkers are a bit of a snobby bunch. I know this because I recently have become one. A tea drinker, that is, not a snob. Though, perhaps actually now that I think about it I may b
e sort-of a snob. But not really… it’s like coffee snobs. If you say you like coffee they appraise you physically, arch an eyebrow and ask “what kind of coffee maker do you have?” because to them that tells them every thing they need to know about who you are as a person. My cheapest-coffee-maker-on-the-shelf-at-Wal-Mart makes them chortle at me then mutter, “amateur,” under their breath while smiling at my face. *Clearly* I could write an excellent post on coffee snobbery as well.
SO, I discovered recently that I actually like some tea. Also, I discovered today that I like tuna after 15 years of despising it but that isn’t what this post is about. Because I’m such a great humanitarian and all, when I get coffee or tea these days I go to Mama Carmen’s to do so because the proceeds go to benefit needing children down in Guatemala where my friends worked helping to get production up and running and brought me back free coffee swag. I hate to say this, because it’s a humbling thing, but I don’t actually like the coffee… I KNOW! It’s super high quality, custom roasted bean goodness and I prefer my plastic tub of Foldger’s. I can’t help that I like cheap coffee any more than I can help the fact I only like cheap champagne and have massive amounts of stretch marks! In desperation to ‘fit in’, my perpetual struggle, I ordered an iced specialty tea from this coffee shop that was highly recommended on Facebook by a friend. I cringed, I usually hate tea but figured it was kind of like a chai latte, but not chai, so it’d be sweet and so there was a chance. It was delicious! So, automatically I became a bit of a snob, just liking tea other than the southern tradition of sweet tea which I’ve always seen as a bit white trash but I’m judgy like that. And kind of an idiot because I’m addicted to Dr.Pepper which is KIND OF the other southern tradition.
Since this time I have bought- get this- BOTH a GREEN TEA with blueberry and a Madagascar vanilla box of tea for my house. For home brewery. And I
use my French vanilla coconut milk coffee creamer in the tea to make a delightful afternoon delightful drink for myself at a highly reduced rate. So now I’m not helping the orphans, but I’m saving money… wait… this seems bad now. I was trying to be all thrifty but it’s at the expense of the children? I’m going to have to think about this a little more…
On a separate note from my dysfunction, I love being able to say to guest when they come over, “Would you like some tea?” because I feel all grown up and British and despite my being a coffee wanna-be, just owning tea makes me cool. To myself anyways. And other tea drinking snobs. I think coffee and tea snobs are like snow skiing and snow boarding (a great post idea…) as in it’s easy to learn how to down-hill ski, but to get better the learning curve is pretty steep whereas snow boarding is pretty hard to get the basics down but once you do the acceleration to getting good is quite quick. To clarify this rambling point, tea drinking is easy. All I need is a mug, a tea bag, some hot water and the ability to read directions on how long to steep. The learning curve to tea drinking once you think you master it is steep (ha ha no pun intended)- to be a “real” tea drinker with loose leaves and utensils I don’t even know the name of gets complicated really quick like skiing! Coffee drinking is much more complicated in the beginning: Should I buy pre-ground coffee or whole beans? If I buy whole beans then I need to buy a grinder- if the fancy schmancy coffee maker I’m thinking of buying doesn’t have it built in. WHAT IS A POD? But once you get past the initial intimidation of coffee, it seems pretty easy.
Being a tea newbie, I’m somewhat ignorant in my snobbery. If you are a tea drinker, what is your favorite brand and flavor of tea? How do you serve it? Are there any common faux paus that I should avoid? (I’ve already done the let’s-add-creamer-AND-lemon and curdled my tea) Is there anything else I should know so I can impress all my friends?? 
I’m mulling over the idea of having a tea party for adults where we can all share our favorite tea and sweeteners…