Cup of Tea

Tea.

Warm. Comforting. Aromatic. Earthy. Relaxing.

I love tea. I haven't always loved tea. In fact, it wasn't until fairly recently that I've enjoyed drinking tea. Tonight, this is my cup of tea.

I'm one of those weirdos that drinks tea all different ways. I like it plain, with sugar, with honey, with milk (soymilk), and iced. It's tasty just about any way, especially in the cold winter months of the midwest.

This is my favorite kind of tea. I'm more of a fan of darker teas, although in the summer and during the day I enjoy green or white tea. I tend to appreciate more of a bitter taste, and I leave my tea bag in my cup the whole time. My favorite part of drinking tea is at the end, when it's chock full of left over flavors and fairly bitter.

It is my understanding that different people enjoy tea a diverse number of ways. I was recently looking up some information on how to drink tea in straight up milk (a lot of folks said they didn't drink it that way, because it never is able to get strong enough).

There was a big debate on that forum about the many different ways to prepare and drink tea. Some people say water should be poured just before boiling. Others say it needs to boil 10 minutes. (I simply boil mine until I notice it's boiling, then I pour it over my tea bag). I thought it was interesting the different things people do with teas, and the fact that so many were adamantly against certain ways of preparation, etc.

I'm curious... how do you drink tea? Why do you prepare or drink it that way?