Afternoon Tea

When Nora is home from school, we try to go to the Camellia Tea Room at least once. We have tea sandwiches, little salads, maybe scones and a pot of tea for each. She likes the lavender blue tea best, which reeks of coconut in my opinion. I have been trying out all the green teas, since they are not so available here. Today I had the Gyokuro tea, described as "Japan's finest grade of tea".

I am beginning to think that I like the tea paraphernalia more than I actually like the tea. Teapots, tea cups, silver strainers, cute little spoons - this is the stuff that makes the tea. Slurping tea made from a teabag in a mug is not the same as sipping tea made from loose tea in a one-of-a-kind teapot.

When I cleaned out my parents house last year, I made a decision: I was taking every teapot and every tea cup. And, I did. I haven't unpacked them yet, but it is beginning to look like there is a collection beginning here. I can count 12 teapots sitting on the sideboard of the china cupboard.

You need the proper teapot for a specific tea. Japanese? Chinese? English teapot? Floral, geometric, or plain? 2 cup, 4 cup, 6 cup? These are all important factors to include in the final selection decision. Of course, the final decision is usually to use "the favorite".