OTTUMWA — I know this confession will cause problems with a certain segment of society, but I have never liked coffee.
I grew up around it. My parents drink it daily. The smell still reminds me of those thermos cap cups they poured when we woke at 4 a.m. for the 12-hour drive to see relatives in Baton Rouge. I like the smell.
I just hate the taste.
That dislike is, I suppose, what led me to tea. I drink huge amounts, mostly green tea. But there are a couple more familiar teas that find their way into the oversized Dallas Cowboys mug I use. I’m partial to Earl Grey. I bought lapsang souchong the first time I saw it, maybe six years after I read about it in “Centennial.” I’ve never run across anything else quite like it.
My first experience with loose tea was in college, not long after a small shop selling loose tea opened on the town square. I never liked tea bags, but loose tea was something new. I bought a few ounces of green “gunpowder” tea and took it back to my dorm room. I dropped it on my bed and went to supper.
My roommate was there when I returned, looking a little bit concerned. His question when I walked in held the most eloquent combination of skepticism and curiosity I have ever heard, with just the slightest hint of concern: “Why?”
I’d like to say my response was something more than “Huh?” but it wasn’t. He got up, walked over to my bed and picked up the plain brown paper bag which the shop owner had helpfully labeled gunpowder.
“Why?” he repeated. It took several minutes to convince him it was something to drink, and that I wasn’t about to try my hand at homemade fireworks in the confines of our dorm room. I suppose I’m fortunate he asked me instead of the police.
Gunpowder is still one of my favorite teas and I always have a stash near at hand.
Tea tends to follow a basic pattern for me. Start drinking at around Halloween and switch to cold water when the Cardinals start playing for real. There’s something about drinking a hot beverage in the spring and summer months that I just don’t get. I’m already sweating, no need to get my stomach into the act. But for the fall and winter tea is usually one of the first things I attend to when I get to work.
My wife is more relaxed about tea than I am. She buys what smells good and what she thinks she’ll like. She has a maple tea that that turns pink and will drink chai when she can.
She doesn’t worry as much about how to brew it or always having some at hand the way I do. She doesn’t measure her daily consumption in liters.
But, then again, she also drinks coffee.
Features
Related Photos
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Not all teas are black or green. This maple tea produces a deep pink color and has a scent similar to maple syrup. There are also red teas available. Courier photo by Matt Milner.
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If you've ever heard of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, this is probably the tea the participants used. Matcha is a tea made from powdered leaves. Hot water is poured over the powder and mixed with a bamboo whisk to produce the lighter green froth. Courier photo by Matt Milner.
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No one is sure where gunpowder tea got its name, but the most common explanation is that europeans saw the tightly rolled leaves in China and thought it looked like gunpowder. It's a popular green tea and produces a light flavor. Courier photo by Matt Milner.
Mad about tea
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