"Polly Put the Kettle On"

I have always been a lover of hot tea. Even in summer I am more likely to drink hot tea than iced tea. I began drinking hot tea at a very young age. During the winter Mom always made a pot of hot tea to drink with the evening meal, which we called supper. My cuppa' was probably more milk than tea. A spoon of sugar was added to about a half cup of tea then the cup was filled up with milk. As I aged, the tea increased and the milk decreased. I was in my mid-twenties before I quit putting milk in hot tea.

It is impossible for me to read a book in which drinking tea is mentioned more than once without making myself a cup of tea. I'm currently reading "The Jasmine Moon Murder" one of the Tea Shop Mysteries by Laura Childs. And I just finished a cup of Lipton Tuscan Lemon tea. Very good, but my favourite tea is Ahmad's English Tea No. 1.

Several years ago friends of mine brought me a selection of Ahmad Teas from their trip to London. English No. 1 was my favourite of the four samples. But how to get more? That was before the internet. When my brother went to Ireland and England, he brought some back for me. And a couple times I found some at TJ Maxx, once in West Des Moines and once in Louisville, KY. That was a lucky find because the tea came with a grayish-green Ahmad teapot.

Then my brother told me about a store in Lawrence, KS called "Brits" which stocked all things British including Ahmad Tea. I began ordering it from there, stopping by a couple times in person to purchase supplies when we were on our way once to Colorado and once to Texas. Now that I'm on the net I can order from anywhere; most recently from Tea With Grace in Minneapolis, MN.

The health benefits from drinking green tea got me to try it again. I say again because green tea was what my Grandmother Lynam always drank. I remember the first time I stayed with her when she asked if I wanted hot tea with supper. Well, of course. That was what I drank at home. I thought when she made it it looked awful pale compared to the amber tea Mom made. Then I tasted it. Yuck! I probably drank it as I had been raised to be polite. But I certainly didn't ask for any more!

When drinking green tea began being touted as a natural way to lose weight I thought there might be something to the claims as Grandma Lynam was always a thin woman. Something else she did was drink tea from her saucer. I never knew the reason for that unless it was to cool the tea so she could drink it sooner.

I keep sampling different teas, white, chai, flavoured, Stash's, Tetley's (their British version isn't bad), Celestial Seasonings', Tazo's. I really wanted to like Bewley's Tea of Ireland. It is ok. Just not as good as Ahmad English Tea No. 1. I'm not trying to replace my favourite, I just like trying new things.

I have another Tea Shop Mystery to read after this one. Looks like I'll be enjoying hot tea for awhile. What is your favourite tea?