Shelob, I hope you feel better soon!
I'm not working right now, but when I was I'd take a huge travel mug of tea with me. At my last job it would have been impossible for me to make tea, as I was out in the community all day.
I've got some lovely single-estate Assam in my cup right now. It's really good. It's the Mokalbari Estate FTGFOP1 from TeaSource. With a bit of milk it's a great morning brew. I'm on my second infusion right now, and it's just as good as the first.
Other
I had to mark "other" as I am retired, but truth be told, it is harder to make a pot of tea here at home than it was at work.
Step 1: Fill the kettle, turn it on, scream naughty words at Pookie as she climbs up my back.
Step 2: Attempt to dislodge Pookie who by step 2 is usually hanging from one of my boobs.
Step 3: Begin the search for the tea teaspoon, shriek loudly as Teddy climbs up my back to sit on my shoulder. Teddy weighs about 15 pounds.
Step 4: Fill pot with boiling water, put more water on to boil. Invent new, colorful invectives for cats who think I am a tree.
Step 5: Forget how much tea I've put in the strainer ball, add some extra just in case. Go to the fridge for cream, Pookie jumps into the fridge to help herself to anything she can get.
Step 6: Drain pot, put tea filled ball into pot, fill with boiling water, step on Rufus 2.0, shake him off my leg, step on Dot Com, appologize to her, dance around Frank the Bunny who is curling around my ankles, then remember that I've left Pookie, the Queen of Evil, in the fridge. Remove Pookie from fridge, put her and the bowl of potato chowder on the floor.
Step 7: While the cats are distracted by the chowder, I grab the tea tray and shuffle to living room, trying to dislodge cats,and try to keep from falling over the dogs.
I'm ready for a nap.
Oh,yeah, in my cup is my morning favorite, Irish Breakfast Blend. Once this pot is empty, I'll have some Lapsang Souchang or Darjeeling, followed by Adagio's Christmas.
Step 1: Fill the kettle, turn it on, scream naughty words at Pookie as she climbs up my back.
Step 2: Attempt to dislodge Pookie who by step 2 is usually hanging from one of my boobs.
Step 3: Begin the search for the tea teaspoon, shriek loudly as Teddy climbs up my back to sit on my shoulder. Teddy weighs about 15 pounds.
Step 4: Fill pot with boiling water, put more water on to boil. Invent new, colorful invectives for cats who think I am a tree.
Step 5: Forget how much tea I've put in the strainer ball, add some extra just in case. Go to the fridge for cream, Pookie jumps into the fridge to help herself to anything she can get.
Step 6: Drain pot, put tea filled ball into pot, fill with boiling water, step on Rufus 2.0, shake him off my leg, step on Dot Com, appologize to her, dance around Frank the Bunny who is curling around my ankles, then remember that I've left Pookie, the Queen of Evil, in the fridge. Remove Pookie from fridge, put her and the bowl of potato chowder on the floor.
Step 7: While the cats are distracted by the chowder, I grab the tea tray and shuffle to living room, trying to dislodge cats,and try to keep from falling over the dogs.
I'm ready for a nap.
Oh,yeah, in my cup is my morning favorite, Irish Breakfast Blend. Once this pot is empty, I'll have some Lapsang Souchang or Darjeeling, followed by Adagio's Christmas.
Jeanne - I never met a tea pot I didn't like.
Making tea at work is easy if I bring a thermos of it from home, microwave it innto warmth, can find a clean mug.
Making real tea--leaves, boiling water, etc--is impossible.
Enjoying it is difficult. I MIGHT have time to gulp a mug. I do not ever have time to sit and sip and think.
Making real tea--leaves, boiling water, etc--is impossible.
Enjoying it is difficult. I MIGHT have time to gulp a mug. I do not ever have time to sit and sip and think.
Although my neighbors are all barbarians,
And you, you are a thousand miles away,
There are always two cups on my table.
--Tang Dynasty
And you, you are a thousand miles away,
There are always two cups on my table.
--Tang Dynasty
Re: Other
Haha!! That made me laugh out loud!treazure wrote:Step 6: Drain pot, put tea filled ball into pot, fill with boiling water, step on Rufus 2.0, shake him off my leg, step on Dot Com, appologize to her, dance around Frank the Bunny who is curling around my ankles, then remember that I've left Pookie, the Queen of Evil, in the fridge. Remove Pookie from fridge, put her and the bowl of potato chowder on the floor.
Making tea at work is relatively easy, since I mostly rely on my IngenuiTea and UtiliTea, and both sit on my desk. The hardest part is cleaning the leaves out of my IngenuiTea, since they often like to stick to the sides and cause havoc.
Enjoying the tea is pretty easy too, since I work evenings when there's no one else in the office. I usually just recline my chair, sip away at my tea, and scroll through TeaChat or investigate new tea things to buy.
Enjoying the tea is pretty easy too, since I work evenings when there's no one else in the office. I usually just recline my chair, sip away at my tea, and scroll through TeaChat or investigate new tea things to buy.
I believe drinking tea makes me a better artist. But hey, I also believe I'm completely sane.
At school, tea prep is a breeze since I make enough tea to at least fill my travel mug and possibly my thermos before I go to classes or work. I made the mistake of trying the water at the cafeterias a while ago, which doesn't work well at all for tea since the hot water carafes have all been used for coffee previously. Yuck. Ease of drinking is not quite as good though. Lectures are easy to enjoy tea in, but the more hands on classes, like the drawing class that I thought would be fun to take, do not make it quite as easy to enjoy tea. Neither does my on campus food prep job. I have to keep the travel mug on a shelf where everyone throws their stuff and steal sips of my tea in the passing.
treazure: thanks for the good laugh this morning.
In my cup: Malaysian Highlands Black Tea. I learned that the Nilgiris taste metallic if left in my travel mug or thermos too long, but the Malaysian Highlands seems to keep quite well for a few hours.
treazure: thanks for the good laugh this morning.
In my cup: Malaysian Highlands Black Tea. I learned that the Nilgiris taste metallic if left in my travel mug or thermos too long, but the Malaysian Highlands seems to keep quite well for a few hours.
At work I don't have a fancy set up. A simple electric kettle heats up my water and I use the paper filters from Adagio to steap my tea in (I know, go ahead and gasp). Or I fill up a thermos before I leave. So making the tea is fairly easy and I always enjoy it.
No tea for me today yet. Woke up late and had to skip a morning cup and a work thermos! I hate Mondays.
No tea for me today yet. Woke up late and had to skip a morning cup and a work thermos! I hate Mondays.
Hi all (before I begin, let me just say Salsero your photos continue to be lovely)
Tea for me is an integral part of my work process. I don't do a 9-5 job, in fact I don't do any sort of regular job. I study and I do so on my own, and I'm lucky I'm now in a place in my life where I can do that (I have worked a lot of different jobs in my life). I study and write all day long, basically - my interest is a particular field of theology. So I approach it like a 9-5 job.
My workday, however, starts with tea. I consider it part of a structured ritual of beginning work. I don't make a huge production out of it, but I make it in my kitchen and it sits in a tray beside me at my desk, part of the way I sit down to work and focus on writing and thinking. As I replenish my cup the process of the tea continues to form a part of the structure of work and thinking.
Today, a fenghuang shui xian from harney's (a sample I got when I drove up to their tasting room). This is a nice phoenix. I don't usually go for the "apricot" variety of phoenix flavor because there is an astringency that tickles my throat and can give me a headache (also found in other teas, not just phoenix). But this is a nice variety of that particular type of phoenix oolong IMO. I just don't usually go for it as a matter of personal taste in general.
Tea for me is an integral part of my work process. I don't do a 9-5 job, in fact I don't do any sort of regular job. I study and I do so on my own, and I'm lucky I'm now in a place in my life where I can do that (I have worked a lot of different jobs in my life). I study and write all day long, basically - my interest is a particular field of theology. So I approach it like a 9-5 job.
My workday, however, starts with tea. I consider it part of a structured ritual of beginning work. I don't make a huge production out of it, but I make it in my kitchen and it sits in a tray beside me at my desk, part of the way I sit down to work and focus on writing and thinking. As I replenish my cup the process of the tea continues to form a part of the structure of work and thinking.
Today, a fenghuang shui xian from harney's (a sample I got when I drove up to their tasting room). This is a nice phoenix. I don't usually go for the "apricot" variety of phoenix flavor because there is an astringency that tickles my throat and can give me a headache (also found in other teas, not just phoenix). But this is a nice variety of that particular type of phoenix oolong IMO. I just don't usually go for it as a matter of personal taste in general.
I just happen to be having Tea Fortè in my cup too.Smari wrote: This morning, nothing fancy, just African Solstice herbal from Tea Fortè.
My co-worker and I gave their holiday tea a try this morning -
Sweet Orange Spice -
It's a nice light cinnamon. I was surprised, it was pretty good.
- Victoria -
http://victoriasown.blogspot.com/
http://victoriasown.blogspot.com/
Last year I would have said "Tea Prep is fairly easy and so is enjoyment" but this year the answer is "Tea prep is difficult as is enjoyment"
Last year I had all what I needed in my classroom (I even had a fridge).
This year it became more difficult because I now work with kids with greater disabilities so it would be quite dangerous to have boiling water in my classroom. As a result I seldom drink tea at work.
Yame gyokuro (o-cha) in a few minutes.
Last year I had all what I needed in my classroom (I even had a fridge).
This year it became more difficult because I now work with kids with greater disabilities so it would be quite dangerous to have boiling water in my classroom. As a result I seldom drink tea at work.
Yame gyokuro (o-cha) in a few minutes.
Nov 10th, '08, 16:22
Posts: 17
Joined: Oct 28th, '08, 13:48
Location: Montclair NJ
Contact:
jasonowalker
guess that tea
I used to work in places that had water coolers with hot and cold taps. That made prep fairly easy, but still didn't like filtering leaves through my lips/teeth.
Also, couldn't get used to the plastic cups/infusers. They tended to absorb flavors to the point that you could nearly forget what you were drinking.
I envy those of you who can use a pot or gaiwan- nothing beats the warm touch and shining glow of a well-used yixing.
As for my drink of the day- my avatar/icon should give a clue as to kind of tea.
Jason
Also, couldn't get used to the plastic cups/infusers. They tended to absorb flavors to the point that you could nearly forget what you were drinking.
I envy those of you who can use a pot or gaiwan- nothing beats the warm touch and shining glow of a well-used yixing.
As for my drink of the day- my avatar/icon should give a clue as to kind of tea.
Jason
Tea at my work is really easy to prep & enjoy. On top of my 3-drawer vertical filing cabinet sits a traditional Western-style serving tray with an electric kettle, IngenuiTea, clear glass pot with gold-tone filter when making tea for more than me, scoop, spoon, timer, English-style cup, bottle of stevia. Half of bottom drawer of same cabinet is filled with 25 or so tins and various bags, an extra pot, tea cozy, couple of extra cups, stirrers, etc.
Sometimes I forget how good I've got it.
Darjeeling 22 in cup at work so far, but now on to some TKY.
Sometimes I forget how good I've got it.
Darjeeling 22 in cup at work so far, but now on to some TKY.
"Top off the tea... it lubricates the grey matter."
(Jerry Ledbetter, "Good Neighbors")
(Jerry Ledbetter, "Good Neighbors")
Nov 10th, '08, 18:05
Posts: 995
Joined: Feb 8th, '08, 14:22
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Contact:
auggy
I voted that prep was difficult (though not as difficult as treazure's!) but enjoyment was easy. There is no space at work that I feel confident won't be riffled through mightily when I'm not there, so I try to keep minimal personal items there. Which means I have to think ahead to have all of what I need at work to make tea and take most of it home that afternoon. And I'm just not that forward thinking in the mornings nor do I want to lug even more stuff around. But the few times I do it, it has been pretty easy to enjoy the tea, though differently than I do at home. At home, tea enjoyment is fairly solitary while at work, people usually stop by to talk to me and see what the heck I am doing.
Pouchong in my cup today. Wet, dark and rainy here. Kind of a blah day. Tea's good though!
Pouchong in my cup today. Wet, dark and rainy here. Kind of a blah day. Tea's good though!
Nov 10th, '08, 18:26
Posts: 219
Joined: Sep 13th, '08, 04:26
Location: Florida, USA
Contact:
caligatia
Treazure, I laughed so hard over "leaving the Queen of Evil in the fridge" that my husband came over to investigate what had me in stitches. Thank you! I don't have it nearly as rough as you do, animal-wise, because I only have two cats. Dahlia only likes tasting iced tea when the glass is on the coffee table, but Juhani insists on helping me make the tea in the kitchen. It's very odd to be scooping tea into the infuser basket when the latter is being held under a cat (who keeps walking over it, back and forth, going "pet me pet me pet me stop doing stuff with your hands and PET ME!!!"). The sink doesn't phase her either -- she wants to help fill the kettle. Crazy kitten.
I am having a very materialistic TeaDay -- FIVE packages came in today. Eek! I didn't think I'd ordered that much... One was a swap with Cinnamon Kitty (thanks again!), but the rest were purchases. Small ones, but still. One small padded envelope of pu-erh samples (the ones recommended by Shogun), one Adagio box of samples, my gongfu tea set, and a pair of Bodum glasses (as seen in Salsero photos, which is what tempted me to buy them).
So many teas to try now... Squee!
I am having a very materialistic TeaDay -- FIVE packages came in today. Eek! I didn't think I'd ordered that much... One was a swap with Cinnamon Kitty (thanks again!), but the rest were purchases. Small ones, but still. One small padded envelope of pu-erh samples (the ones recommended by Shogun), one Adagio box of samples, my gongfu tea set, and a pair of Bodum glasses (as seen in Salsero photos, which is what tempted me to buy them).
So many teas to try now... Squee!