Tea Time With Miss Liz

I know I said I wasn't going to be posting very often, but I suppose I'm just unreliable that way. Actually, the thing is that I discovered I love writing on my columnar pad. Makes everything I write look so much cooler. Way better than notebook paper. And I get bored in Accounting I. At least I look like I'm working...

Moving on.

As the days are getting chillier, I'm finally able to enjoy my favorite beverages without bursting into a sweat. I am talking about TEA of course. My favorites are white and green teas, followed by herbal teas, followed by black teas. I tend to brew my black teas a bit weaker and my green teas a touch stronger. I prefer fruit flavored herbals, most of all peach and pomegranate. I love tea.

Thanks to November (yes, I'm going to talk ab out NaNoWriMo again, deal with it) and a general lack of sleep, I've been favoring the more caffeinated black teas for the last few weeks. My current favorite is a spiced apple chai that is absolutely perfect for an early morning drink. If I'm not going to school, then after breakfast I will follow it up with a cup of Darjeeling, which balances out the sweetness of the apple. If I'm going to work in the afternoon, I'll drink earl grey or some spiced chai, both with a little creamer and sugar.

I used to not care for black teas at all, but ever since I learned how to properly prepare it, I've really developed a taste for them. I like to over-steep green tea, but doing that with black tea will make the drink very bitter. I also started using a real tea kettle instead of microwaving the water. It does make a difference in the taste, believe it or not. (I'm not so intense that I use loose tea leaves. I'm writing a novel, I don't have time for luxury. Tea bags are fine for me.) For black tea, bring the water just barely to a boil, remove from heat for a few seconds, then pour over the tea bag. Let steep for no more than 3 to 5 minutes. Squeeze bag to get full flavor and enjoy. I personally don't mind using each bag twice, but I don't mind weak tea.

For green tea, I like the water a little cooler and the tea steeped a little longer (5-6 minutes). Herbal teas fall between the two temperature-wise, but only steeped 3 to 4 minutes. Herbal teas are also the only kind of tea I won't reuse for more than one cup (the bags break too easily).

Well. Now you know all about my tea drinking habits. No doubt it was something you were terribly curious about.

I better quit wasting my time here and get to work on my novel. I'm still thousands of words behind. I'm catching up, though! If I keep plugging away at it like I am, I could be ahead by week three! Fingers crossed!

Look out, November. I am a tea-sipping, word-spouting machine, so get out of my way.