Every tea drinker has a story. Here’s mine.
I grew up in the deep south, and if you know anything at all about the deep south, then you know sweet iced tea is a not just a drink … it is a birthright, an expression of southernness as accurate as any genetic marker in one’s DNA. As such, like all true southerners, I drank it from a bottle before I was even old enough to hold a sippy cup. It was an addiction that blossomed into at least a half gallon per day after school.
I also drank coffee with cream and sugar. Every morning before school.
Then I hit junior high. It was either fall of 1980 or spring of 1981. My science teacher was Ms. White. She had long black hair, was young and beautiful, and every single boy had an incredible crush on her.
In class one day, she talked about the effects of alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine on the body. In my hormonal, love-inebriated, coffee and sweet-tea saturated brain, I clearly heard her say, “Eric, I am begging you, my love. Give up those foul things so that when you grow up you and I can be married.”
That day, I walked home from school, walked into the kitchen where my mom was, and announced calmly, “Mom, I can’t drink coffee, tea, or soda anymore. Ms. White said it was bad for me.” Like any good southern mom, mine patted me on the shoulder and replied, “OK, son.” She knew, of course, that the very next day I would have a cup of coffee before school.
She was wrong. It may have been the only time she was wrong, but boy was she wrong that time.
For next 20+ years, I drank only water, and on rare occasions a glass of milk or juice (or maybe even hot chocolate if I was really cold). Yes, you read right. Over 20 years. That, my friend, is commitment.
Fast forward to 2005. I was struggling with a sore throat. Water is absolutely no help when you have a sore throat. A guy can only drink so much chicken broth. Hot chocolate is also no help. I had attempted on two occasions in the 20-year span to re-try coffee and nearly lost my lunch both times. I needed something hot. So I complained. A lot. To anyone who would listen for more than five seconds.
Some dear soul whose name I can’t even recall suggested that I try hot tea, specifically something called “Throat Coat.” I was suspicious. First of all, tea is suppose to be iced. With a bucket or two of sugar. And second, tea was supposed to be iced. With a truck load of sugar. But I was desperate, so I went to the grocery store and grabbed a box of Throat Coat.
That day, my life was changed forever. The herbal tincture of Slippery Elm Bark and various other oddities was like a miracle healing balm on my aching throat, and I was hooked.
I began experimenting with all sorts of grocery store teas, and within two years I had become a true hot tea fan.
Fast-forward another couple of years and I found myself on a business trip to Denver. While on a break, walking through a shopping mall, I passed by a store called Teavana. What?!?! It can’t be. A store all about tea?! How is this possible? Coffee is everywhere. Tea: nowhere but grocery store isles. I had to investigate.
It literally blew my mind. What do you mean, loose leaf tea? Where are the bags? What sort of voodoo is this? Obviously, I bought a glass tea tumbler with a removeable strainer and four different kinds of teas, including a blooming tea. The difference was absolutely incredible, like a guy—whose only taste of beef had been fast food burgers—eating his first gourmet steak.
For the next 10 years, I didn’t just consume a lot of tea (3-5 cups a day), but I consumed every bit of information I could find about tea. I quietly earned a reputation among those who know me as a sort of amateur tea aficionado. I found that I often had a greater knowledge of and enthusiasm for tea than some of the people I was buying from.
Nearly 15 years into my tea journey, I realize that there’s a boatload of info out there if you want to go deep with tea. But for me, it was a world that literally took me years to even learn that it existed. It may be the world’s most popular drink, but in many ways, it’s still like a secret society, especially in the United States, and especially-especially in the southern United States where sweet iced tea still reigns supreme.
I want to help change that. I want to use my professional skills to help educate, entertain and inspire all those who are new to tea but don’t know that there’s more to tea than those few boxes of tea bags from the grocery story. Think of this like your Bachelor’s degree in Teaology. And if and when you are ready, I’ll point you to the real tea gurus who can help you go deeper into this fascinating world of tea.
