Best places to buy tea
This article really is about tea. It is about brewing tea, types of tea and the best places to buy tea. I will get to all of those things but first let me share my story with you.
Ireland is a tea country
My brothers and sisters recent took a trip to Ireland. We traveled to Ireland to visit the old family farm. We got lots of advice from friends who had been to Ireland before us. Everyone who knew me said the same thing, “A coffee drinker, like you, had better bring some with you.” “The coffee in Ireland is terrible.” “ You know that Ireland is a tea country.” Black tea, Oolong tea, green tea, and even White tea. .Adagio Teas
I took their advice to heart and off to Starbucks I went. I was such a coffee freak I even left a pair of shoes behind to make room, in my luggage, for a pound of coffee.
All tea all the time
It was early September and the weather was unseasonably beautiful. Every place we went was all tea all the time. Whether in a restaurant or a pub, if we weren’t sipping a pint, we were sipping tea.
We had a hand-drawn map that was supposed to lead us to the cottage. We needed more help but found that traditional Irish directions were not as helpful as we would have liked.
We stopped a man on the road for directions. He said, “Go down to the road that isn’t really a road and you will see Paddy’s barn. Go past that barn and through the town and turn left at the red barn…”
What we found was not a town but a single house, the barn was red thirty years ago but is definitely not red now. Now it has a beautiful silvery patina.
We had better luck with the next person we stopped. This gentleman lives on the farm adjacent to my Grandmother’s. He drove us there and gives us boots to wear, it was muddy, and showed us where to go.
It is hard to describe the emotion we felt as we rounded the corner and the cottage came into view. The thatched roof was, of course, gone, but the walls were still standing. The soil around the tiny house was strewn with large chunks of rock. It is hard to imagine what it must have been like to farm this soil. What a difficult life.
In the cottage itself, with its dirt floor, stood a giant hearth that burned peat. Attached to one side of the hearth was a smaller firebox. The firebox was used for the tea kettle.
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Cast Iron Tea Kettle
The traditional Irish kettle was made of cast iron and was always kept hot. The weather is so cold and so damp that I imagine coming into the cottage and pouring a hot cup of tea to warm myself and take the cold out of your hands. Before we reluctantly left the family cottage we each wrote a note and tucked them between the rocks that made up the walls.
Our next stop was the farm where our Grandfather lived. His family is still working the land. They have a modern house which includes a big peat stove in the kitchen.
Maggie, my grandfather’s sister, sat at the kitchen table. She is 92 years old. She still rides her bicycle two miles into town most days. On her stove was a cast iron tea kettle. She says it is always hot. Things never change.
We shared many cups of tea and enjoyed each other’s company. Pictures are taken, photo albums came out, stories were told and retold, memories revisited. We were rooted once again.
Maggie told us that all the world’s problems could be solved over a nice strong cup of tea in front of a warm peat fire.
Now, when I think back on that day and the visit we had, I believe that she may be right. We might not solve the worlds problems, but what a nice way to visit. Tea Time. http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/image/Teavana/XCI%20KO%20TD_d?$cses$
As an avid coffee drinker, the switch to tea is a little baffling to me. Black tea, Green tea, White tea, blended tea, infused tea, flavored tea…. Where should a new tea drinker start? Where can I Buy Tea? Where can I find the best tea?
Join me on my tea adventure!
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Adagio Teas is the most popular destination for tea online, with superb customer-service marks, and free shipping on orders over $50.