Invitation to Contribute / Tea and Circumstances

(Photo courtesy of http://www.dreamstime.com/).




Though I have no shortage of ideas for material to post, this blog will be a lot more interesting if you, "gentle reader", will participate!



I welcome submissions of the following:

• Tea photos, or "tea-inspired" photos


• Guest entries "in the spirit of tea"


• Comments, ideas, thoughts, challenges, questions, contradictions, disagreements, or love

If I use any material submitted to me on this blog, I will reference you and post a link to a website of your choice. If you do not want to be mentioned, or if you do not want me to use material that you send me, please let me know!

I am also looking for other websites that promote this "spirit of tea" idea - not necessarily tea-themed, but that promote the idea of gentleness and intelligence and well-being. If you have recommendations, I'd love to link to those websites.

Kindly send all words or photos to theteasnob {at} comcast {dot} net.

The first of every month I'd like to use to encourage reader participation. I won't be able to run forever on my own steam! If you enjoy this blog, please support it by sending me ideas/material/feedback/anything.

And now, our feature presentation:

Tea and Circumstances

This is one of those topics I keep meaning to write "just a paragraph" about in other posts, but the paragraph somehow grows and I have to end up deleting it before I get too far off the original topic!

The truth is, you will find that some teas just seem to taste better when you drink them in the morning, rather than at night. Some teas will soothe an upset stomach. Some will make you happy; others will put you to sleep. Part of learning to love tea is learning to know yourself.

Again, tea is not a set of rules. I would like to claim that black tea should only be consumed in the morning, but that's only because I like black tea in the morning, and at no other time of day. I also avoid black tea when I have an upset stomach. Certain teas are reviving purely because of the caffeine they contain, though for some reason green tea puts me to sleep!

Experiment. Get recommendations. Try different teas and different methods of preparation. Develop a library of your favorites. When you want a cup of tea, you will know from past experience which tea suits best your present circumstances - mood, time of day, life situations. It's like having a medicine cupboard of flowers. Drink up and savor.