Happiness is a Drawer Full of Tea

I have a special drawer in the kitchen, full of all my tea & tea paraphernalia. It’s my Happy Place.

First thing in the morning, I have a cup of Market Spice. The jar for that tea is so big it doesn’t fit into the drawer, however – so it goes on the counter next to the stove. Lauren gave me that jar back when she was probably 12 years old: she carried it on her lap all the way from Seattle! I love that jar, and buy my Market Spice Tea directly from the factory to keep the jar full.

All the rest of the tea I drink throughout the day come from the drawer, each cup a different flavor depending on my mood.

• There’s smoky teas (Lapsang Souchong, Russian Caravan, Malawi Mountain Moto)
• There’s plain black teas (Spring Laoshan Black Tea, Connoisseur Tea, Rare English Breakfast, Qianjiazhai Hand Fired Black Tea, Yulu Yan Cha Black Tea)
• There’s flavored tea (Spiced Pear Black tea, Orange Nutmeg Tea)
• There’s Oolong teas (Milk Oolong, Aged Se Zhong Oolong)
• There’s some Pu’er teas (Golden Leaf Shu Pu’er, Gong Ting Shu Pu’er)
• There’s even a green tea although that’s not exactly my favorite (Genmai Cha Green)

The companies I buy my tea from are mostly all on-line, although I do shop at Summit Spice when I’m in Anchorage. As mentioned earlier, I shop at MarketSpice (based out of Seattle) but also buy from Verdant Tea and The Rare Tea Co. as well.

As I’ve no doubt you all noticed, I drink loose leaf teas almost exclusively. To contain the leaves in the water, I use this tea basket from The Republic of Tea. I’ve found that the nylon mesh is easier on my fingers than a metal on (the metal ones get HOT!) and I love how they fit perfectly into my mugs, allowing the tea lots of room to steep!

Of course, the right mug is almost as important as the right tea! Sadly, my favorite mug (the middle one) got broken in the earthquake a few years ago. It’s glued together for now, but it can’t last forever. It is a goal of mine to find The Perfect Mug to replace the broken one: the blue one pictured to the left is a good second choice, but it’s just not quite right. I thought the green one pictured to the right would be a good one, but it is too small.