Tea Time in the Summer

For those of us who are raised in the South, or anyone who has spent a significant amount of time in the South, or just anyone who is familiar with Southern stereotypes, the drink of summer is sweet tea. This is not so unusual as summers in the South can be somewhat... intense. Case in point, it was 90F by 10:00 AM yesterday, with the humidity hovering at about 83%. This is my kind of weather. Yes, I realize I am in the minority. I am truly sorry that more people cannot appreciate the heat and thickness and heaviness of the air outside. It feels so much more alive than the air produced by air conditioning. Anyways, this is not a post about weather, believe it or not; this is a post about tea. Another way in which I am a minority is that I do not like sweet tea and never have. Give me hot tea or no tea at all. Just because it is shimmery with heat and humidity outside does not mean I stop drinking this elixir of the gods.

I have discovered two new teas that have made their way into my top five all-time favorite teas. Whether you can drink hot drinks in the summer or not, you need to know about them. Both are from Harney & Sons, though one I have only found at The Fresh Market and the other one I have found at The Fresh Market, Publix, and Barnes and Noble. Both are black teas because that is the best, in my humble opinion. Someone once told me that green teas are better gateway teas because their flavor is not as strong. If you like the taste of grass then by all means, please, go with green teas (Just kidding. There are some pretty good green teas out there, they just aren't my favorites).

The easier to find of the two, and the one more likely to be a gateway tea, is Hot Cinnamon Spice. This tea is the only tea I have ever had that tastes exactly like it smells. If you love cinnamon then you will love this tea. The flavor is so strong that it does not need any type of sweetener.

The second tea is called Paris. This one I drink with a bit of milk and honey. There are several flavors that make up this tea, giving it a robust fullness that is wonderful. A couple of friends have tried this one and loved it so you do not have to take just my word for it :)

I also have two tea-related items to share, though you might hate me for one of them. In Romania there is a sweet old man (actually, I do not know if he is sweet. He seems sweet) that sells honey with these awesome pump tops. He is brilliant and should go on Shark Tank because everyone knows how messy honey is. This top prevents any of that, barring human error. Honey is a wonderful sweetener and much healthier than most other options.

The second is this diffuser. My sweet mother-in-law found this for me at Bed Bath and Beyond, I believe. It is awesome because the shape allows you to use it to stir your tea. I am sure there are hard-core tea enthusiasts who would frown on this but I really like the convenience of it.

Whether you wait for colder weather or, like me, enjoy hot tea no matter the season, I hope you try one of these teas. If you do not like tea, thank you for your patience with this post!