Since I was about 10, I've loved tea. I LIKED it before—preferred it iced, not oversweet most of the time; if it was to be sweet SWEET tea it had better be strong enough to knock over a godsdamned house, that's to be sure. I've been basically fiending on it since we accidentally discovered it would work on my ADHD instead of the drugs.

I couldn't focus, and one day my uncle asked me if I'd tried this tea right here, this green tea that was just really freaking strong that he couldn't figure out how to make potable to save his life, and in the week it took to figure out how to brew Ceylon teas (remember, we're Black Americans living in Black America, and this is the mid 90's at the time, there aren't resources in our area for tea at the time other than the occasional Claudia-centric Babysitters Club book), the both of us were so mellow and focused that my dad--his brother--wondered if we'd been replaced with pod people. This same week was my appointment for my suspected ADHD. Having heard about this alphabet soup my uncle comes with, as does an aunt. My doctor notices how much more mellow and focused I've become, and Unc and I mention the tea adventure. That's where we learn the beginnings of tea research, and how stimulants (like the ADD/ADHD pills and caffeine) work in managing this thing.

We take one look at each other and go, "Makes sense."

Dad and the aunt that went with us take one look at each other and go, "Whut?"

Since then my tea fascination has only expanded, from strictly "this is delicious" to "So if this ails you I can throw this that and the other into a pot and have a fix for you, yeah?" That brings us to the bonus section here: a tea review!

BHOT: All Day Blend

No, this is not a comically large spoon or a comically small cup. I typically drink my tea from demitasse-sized or espresso-sized cups, and if I sweeten it I don't use much—excepting my Lousiana-style iced tea, which is strong enough to knock a house over and sweet enough to convince an idiot not to blackmail your friend. The clarity is very nice, and the scent is crisp, almost coffee-like.

At first I thought it was my brewing method—

But I'd run a cycle of CLR through the thing, which removes hard water deposits from the brewer, and the carafe had received the same treatment. Little tip: when you use this cleaning method, run a second full carafe of plain water through the machine before you brew anything, to prevent any chemical from getting into your cuppa.

Little known trick: If you own a little four-cup Mr. Coffee-style brewer, you have one of the best ways to brew loose leaf tea out there already. Because the water is never AT boil, it's nigh impossible to cook your tea to death and overbrew it. Further, your leaves have plenty of room in the filter to expand, and you don't have to monitor temperatures quite as obsessively.

Oh, right, don't forget to use a filter. Otherwise you have a reeeeeeeeeeeeal bitch to clean up. As an added bonus you can get a second full-strength brew out of those leaves, just like if you used a tea ball or other more traditional infusion method.

This is only a teaspoon and a half of leaves. The general rule is a teaspoon of leaves per person per pot and an extra for the pot (assuming you're brewing traditionally.) I like strong tea but decided to go with the usual strength. They expand like whoa, and you can see why I said to use a filter if you're going the Mr Coffee (renamed Mr. Tea for me here) route. In fact, the presene of Ceylon in this blend means you have wicked tannins, and they'll bake up as hot tea tends to do to them. If you want to minimize the staining in your mugs and the amount of tannin floating around (because it does aggregate), double up. Use two filters. (No more than two. You'll flood the brew basket.)

Taste 1, straight: STRONG. assertive and coffee-like almost. It's potent, and has this light but sweet air that almost doesn't need anything.

Taste 2, with monkfruit sweetener: This is a VERY EASY TO OVERSWEETEN tea. I only used a slxth of a packet and it was overdoing it. If you sweeten this, make it a strong cup.

Taste 3, with sweet cream and a little sugar: OKAY, STOP. WHAT GAVE YOU THE RIGHT.
This is delicious. Sweetening it by itself is NO for me. It just DOESN'T WORK. But with cream, OH GOOD GRIEF. I'd brewed the entire four-cup (translation: four-person intended) thing and drunk two thirds of it like this, just shotgunning one after the other in disbelief. Adding cream to this tea gives it a nutty, almond-like richness. It becomes like a dessert that you want to eat.

Here, have a glamour shot of cream tea with tiny spoon in a tiny cup.

Verdict: If you like a black tea for all occasious, aren't frightened off by loose leaf tea, and suspect that you might be a liiiiiiiitle bit of a tea snob (I will willingly admit that I am), GET THIS TEA. If you're curious about what good tea tastes like, GET THIS TEA. If you like te, GET THIS TEA.

TL;DR: GET THIS TEA.

I’ll admit it right now: I’m not one of those girly girls who shops for the pleasure of shopping or ‘just because.’ I don’t get it. I mean, you’re spending money that could be put to other things that are actually NECESSARY!

I don’t have the stereotypical fascination with shoes or makeups, either. As a kid, I was hard to shop for because—with the exception of the Barbie Corvette—I wasn’t into the ‘girly’ things.

Which makes the fact that some of my favorite stores have some of the GIRLIEST things I’ve ever seen.

Chocolate Chocolate Store.

There’s a store called the “Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Factory.” It specializes in…chocolate. I realize that sounds a little obvious, but the fact is that this place specializes in the GOOD stuff—we’re talking the $5/pound stuff. I don’t go there often because I can and WILL eat an entire 1-lb brick of chocolate in a single sitting if you let me. The place also serves excellent chocolate-covered bacon—lean, meaty, applewood-smoked bacon coated in the smoothest mid-dark chocolate you’ve ever had. I can’t have it often but when I do, I savor it.

Teavana

In the local mall, there’s a Teavana store now. It’s located in what used to be a Panera/St. Louis Bread Co. store. At first I was mad because the place had closed down that restaurant, and then I found out that there was a tea store coming. My first experience there was memorable. I was looking or something completely unrelated to tea when suddenly I smell this light, sweet and fruity scent. I literally follow my nose and before I know it I’m standing in front of a ‘free sample’ dispenser tasting things. Their tea isn’t cheap, but it’s one of the higher end places—the highest end brand is Republic of Tea, I believe.

I can’t go into Teavana and come out empty-handed. Even if it’s just a tin of tea cookies, I leave with something.

Huh? How much tea have I got? …I don’t have an hour to do inventory. I’ll guess that in total I have about 3 pounds of various kinds on hand. (Guesstimating up, here.)

World Market/Cost Plus.

Around here it’s World Market but in other places they go by Cost Plus. However you butter that piece of toast, it has a wonderful selection of international fare. This was the first place I ever went that carried Pocky. And if I remember right, this was one of the first places I ever cut classes to shop at (Yeah, I know, but it was a college course I was already doing well in—and then it turned out that class had been canceled anyway).

The place has saved me from several interesting craving situations. I can now have a Vegemite or Marmite sandwich WHENEVER I WANT. …now, granted, I usually just dunk a spoon in the stuff and eat it like a salty lollipop, but still. It’s also got some of the cutest dinnerware I’ve ever seen. As my hand-me-down plates slowly lose their structural integrity (Microwave a potato! Watch the plate explode!) I’ve begun planning on what I’m going to replace them with—all things that can be found here at World Market. In addition to food things, the place also has some of the coolest furniture I’ve ever seen. I have my eye on a minibar/standalone cabinet thing that I will PROBABLY not be able to afford this year, but ONE DAY *fistshake*

The Arcade.

(I know the arcade doesn’t seem like a store but you spend your money to do things that normally don’t do. Ergo, store!)

I know what you’re thinking—There’s still arcades? But there are, even though there aren’t really a lot of them anymore. I usually go to arcades to play DDR (That’s Dance Dance Revolution, for the half-dozen of you who don’t know) because there’s just something about going there and cracking a few records. And even if you don’t crack a record, it’s kind of fun to showboat for the audience. (I do a badass “face the back of the machine when that last note pops” thing. Works better when I actually DON’T MISS the notes.) They also have some of the best racing games. I remember my first time playing Maximum Tune in the arcade, tricking out my vehicle and saving my records and junk on my Tuning card. A lot of those records still stand, even though the arcade that the machine was originally in has gone under.

I got to class today, and since apparently no one was able to keep an attention span of more than three seconds we broke early once for ten minutes.  I decided to have dinner (pizza rolls) and a beverage.

After some thought about it I decided to have a Red Bull.  I'd never had one, but I figured if not now, when?  Besides, it contains a lot of caffeine, and since caffeine is actually a pretty good decongestant, I figured it wouldn't be a bad choice.

I didn't mind the taste at all.  Actually I thought it was good. There's just one problem.  A couple of 'em.

I had a cup of matcha before I got here.  After that, I had a cup of strong black tea.

Uh…yeah.  I'm hyper now.  Not sure how I'm getting to sleep.  rofl