Wanderer

Photo copied by permission.

If you like to drink tea or coffee, hot or iced, this entry may be of interest to you. Today, accompanied by a few friends, I stepped into a shop I had never before visited.

Not only is the café stocked with a great variety of whole bean coffees from all over the world, but their supply of tea, loose and bagged, is equally impressive. The aroma of coffees from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Brazil, India, Jamaica, and Italy tempted the olfactory nerves. A colorful array of tea packages bore exotic labels from England, China, and Japan. There were the usual black teas, herbal teas, and the clean Green teas, but also the brown Oolong Teas, and the rarest of teas, the delicate and subtle White tea.

I love drinking hot tea. My husband says I enjoy the idea of drinking tea more than the drinking because I seldom finish a cup. I attribute this to the fact that I sip tea slowly. I hold the tea more than I drink the tea. I relish the warmth of the tea cup cupped in my hands, especially in the fall and winter, but also early in the summer and spring mornings. By the time I get to the bottom, or even half way through a cup of tea, it is cool, and by then, I no longer require the drink. The first few sips, perhaps even half the cup, are all I need to get started in the morning. For my evening cup of indulgence, I select a non-caffeine tea like White or Oolong, and sometimes Earl Gray.

Tea is light and undemanding. It calms and relaxes, even when it has caffeine. Dark teas, in my opinion, require cream or milk and sugar to enhance the flavor and texture of the drink. I adjust the amount of sugar by the strength and flavor of the tea. For generic, any grocery store variety black or orange pekoe tea, I will add about two teaspoons of 1% milk and a half spoon of sugar (not sugar substitute). For the White or Oolong, I might add honey or sugar, but no milk. It is all a matter of taste.

I started drinking tea when I was about five or six years old. I know this because that is when my father, an Air Force serviceman, was stationed in England, and during the three years we lived there, I remember every morning my mother made hot tea with lots of milk to cool it off for her kids. There were four of us old enough to hold our own cups by then, and a baby. I don’t remember if she poured the tea into mugs or cups, but my guess would be cups. She would steep it in a teapot, just like the ladies of England, and she would serve it with our oatmeal and peanut buttered toast for breakfast. I think she started making tea because “everyone in England” drank tea, and, when you acclimate to a culture like military families often do, like we did, we began drinking tea. Not only drinking, but enjoying the tea. When we returned to the States, I was in third grade, and our morning breakfast ritual of peanut butter on toast, oatmeal, and hot tea with cream and sugar continued.

I don’t know if my brothers and sister still drink their hot cup of tea and eat their peanut butter toast, but to this day, it is one of my favorite go-togethers.

Back to the tea shop I went to today... the little courtyard behind the shop, enclosed by trees and shade plants, invited us to come in and sit down. We could have been in Italy or France, or even Charleston, South Carolina. It did not feel like Greensboro the City. Inside, the mixed aromas of coffee and tea begged for our attention, so we ordered our drinks from the menu. I was surprised that I had ordered a coffee drink despite the fact that my initial intent this afternoon, when I set out, was to enjoy a cup of tea.

I am not writing this to sell anyone on coffee or tea, as most folks already have their favorite morning beverage routine, or to plug a café, although this I am certainly doing because the hour we spent there talking and browsing was relaxing and friendly, but to note that for awhile, I learned about the varieties of tea (while drinking my coffee, I might add) from the owner of the café, Robert Hedrick, who graciously answered my questions, which I’m sure revealed my ignorance of the subject matter. Remember, I said I liked to drink tea... I didn’t say I knew much about it. In fact, he learned from me what I liked about tea, how I preferred it (with milk and sugar), which teas I had already experienced, and what I wanted from the drink. From what I told him, he was able to recommend a robust dark tea from England. And because I enjoy the ritual of making the tea, he showed me several items that would enhance the process. There were tea cozies, tea pots of various styles and color, tea cups for every hand size, Japanese tea sets, accessories in silver, ceramic, and stoneware. There were coffee mugs and brewers and other related paraphernalia, but I didn’t even look at them. I finally selected a bag of loose English tea, Yorkshire Gold, and a brewing basket in which to steep the tea leaves.

He also explained to me that when steeping green or white tea, one must start with hot water, but not boiling water, and with oolong, black, and herbal tea one should use boiling water. Steeping times vary with the variety of tea, and all the teas come with instructions for the perfect cup. Generally, steeping too long will result in a bitter, unpleasant taste. He suggested that if I wanted a stronger tea to add more tea leaves rather than steep for a longer time.

After we finished our drinks while sitting at the wrought iron and stone-top tables at the Carolina Coffee and Tea shop, we thanked the owners, and left out the back door into the country villa courtyard once again. We spent the next hour walking from store to shop to store that lined the street in this little community of what appeared to be renovated and remodeled homes. It may even be an historic district, judging by the age of some of the homes. We browsed in an art gallery, a consignment shop, an antiques shop, a couple of ladies clothing stores (one for plus size women), an eclectic shop with candles, incense, music, and other meditation aids, and a gift shop of accessories from around the world.

I will go back to State Street and the Carolina Coffee and Tea cafe, but first, I have many cups of tea to drink. If you happen to be in my neck of the woods, come on over for a spot of tea!