Tea / Tee

When we went to England at Christmas time, we walked into our cottage and sitting on the table was a teapot, a cake, and a few teabags as a welcoming treat. As soon as I saw them, I started craving tea, a craving that continued throughout our week there. Tea in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening just hit the spot. Britain is a tea drinking nation, but why should that make me want to drink tea?

When we got back to Salzburg, I bought myself a teapot at Ikea so that I could continue the tea drinking, memories of it being so enjoyable. I even bought myself some British tea, which is quite a bit more expensive than the Austrian or German varieties you can buy. It wasn’t the same thing at all, however, drinking tea in Austria. And after a few pots, I lost interest.

As it turns out, Turkey is another tea drinking country. They brew black tea in silver pots that stay on a hot plate getting stronger and stronger the longer it sits. People drink it without milk out of glass glasses. We’ve seen lots of Turkish men finish their breakfast and take a glass of this strong, strong tea out to the restaurant’s balcony where you can see the sea. They drink their tea staring thoughtfully out at the horizon. There’s even a tea trolley that delivers tea (and coffee) out to the beach side, serving it to those sitting on the upper viewing deck and then coming down to the actual sand, so you can sit and drink your tea right there.

I think it’s funny how some places are tea drinking places and some places are not, and how those tea drinking places make me want to drink tea just because I am there. We tried the black tea, but it is far too strong, no matter how much milk and sugar you put in it. Instead, I’ve become quite taken with another common Turkish tea: apple. I don’t think I’ve ever had apple tea. The Turkish fruit teas are served in tea cups, not glasses, though I broke the rules and made a cup in a glass today. The tea bag packaging lists the ingredients as apple, hibiscus, blackberry leaves, lemon peels, and cinnamon. It’s a red tea, sweet but tangy at the same time. It tastes somewhat like hot apple cider, and a glass of it is quite a treat. Even Nikolas enjoys it, choosing to have a cup with afternoon cakes each day. He says that it’s quite “Perfect!”