SOL7...Making Tea

Making Tea

     I opened the pantry door and scanned my eyes across the middle shelf. The shelf was loaded, and I mean loaded, with different types of tea. I love tea. Hot tea. Iced tea, loose tea, bagged tea...everyone knew it, so for every holiday and birthday for who knows how long, I've gotten tea for presents. I don't mind. I really do love tea and haven't had to buy it myself it months, win-win situation. 

     The first decision was whether I wanted to make loose leaf tea or use bagged tea. I had a lot of yummy loose leaf teas that I didn't often use, but it was more work than bagged tea. I had a lot of yummy bagged tea flavors too, but I used them all the time. I decided it might be wise to make use of all the loose leaf teas I have. An added bonus, the flavors were definitely more varied and had mixture options. They all smelled amazing too. I started pulling out ones at random, giving them a sniff. The raspberry-lemon one smelled good, but so did the blueberry-orange one. I smelled each again and decided today I preferred the raspberry-lemon. 

     I already had the kettle going to boil my water, so I rifled around the silverware drawer looking for  the contraption I put loose leaf tea in. It was a little metal ball that hung out the side of the cup by a chain. It was extremely useful and easy to clean and reuse, which was definitely a perk. I found it shoveled all the way to the back behind the can opener and pizza cutter, shows how often I use it, huh? It took a minute for me to open the ball so I could even put the tea inside. It was a small latch you just hooked and unhooked. Sometimes I got it, sometimes it stuck. Today it was sticking. Just as I was about to give up the latch gave and the ball swung open. 

     I grabbed a spoon and added one spoonful of the loose leaf tea into the ball. I thought about it for a second, and then added a second. Happy with the amount, I secured the latch back in place and hung it from my mug. So far so good. Behind me, I could hear the water boiling and the kettle beginning to whistle. Before it could start screaming, I grabbed it off the stove and poured it into my mug. The water steamed as it came out of the kettle and I could smell lemon start to permeate the air as the water mixed with the tea. 

     I put a cover over the tea to let it sit for a minute, making the flavors ever stronger. I used to have an actual lid meant for covering mugs in these instances, but it was long since lost. I'm not sure where. For my "lid" I simply used a plate. It works the same, so I don't feel any pressure to change it now. 

"Hey Charlie, wanna go for a walk while we're waiting?" I called out from the kitchen. I didn't see him yet, but I heard him shuffling around. He was in my bedroom, probably passed out in bed. I tried again, stressing the walk. "Charlie, wanna go outside? Go for a walk?" I heard him moving around in the bedroom. I could just imagine it. He would stand up, lean forward and stretch, and then give himself a good shake. It was a pretty common routine, and even as I imagined it I heard his name tag moving side to side, meaning he was currently mid-shake. 

"I'm going outside, you better hurry!" I called back as I walked to the door to put my shoes on. I heard him catapult off the bed and make his way into the living room. I smiled as he ran circles around me ready to go. I couldn't wait to get back inside and relax with my cup of tea, the smell was already seeping out of the kitchen into the living room. However, I also knew it was going to be at least another 20 minutes before I could drink it because of how hot it would be, so I might as well take my time walking with Charlie. I added my coat, just in case, and grabbed the keys. "Alright, let's go mister!"