All my life, since I was about 15, I have been a coffee drinker - nay, a coffee lover and an ardent one at that. I buy whole beans which I grind immediately prior to brewing and make only one cup at a time so that nothing is hanging around getting old and bitter - well, besides me, that is :) As I try to keep my caffeine intake balanced, that initial morning cup is usually all the coffee I have - but I enjoy it enormously.
And then a few years ago, a required prescription did strange and funny things to my taste buds. Some flavors disappeared entirely. Sour things were always “tasteable” - pickles, lemon and so forth. But my beloved coffee tasted horrible. After trying three or four different coffees, I was forced to admit that the problem wasn’t with the beans, but with me.
So I turned to tea which, oddly enough, tasted just fine. I had never been much of a tea drinker before. I liked the stuff well enough, but I loved my coffee. I guess it had also seemed to me that one was one thing or another - a tea drinker or a coffee drinker - but not both. I’m not sure where I got that idea but I can now tell you from personal experience that it ain’t so :)
Once I no longer needed that particular medication, I was able to enjoy my coffee again but I had developed a fondness for the afternoon cup or two of tea and that has remained with me. For a long time I made my tea a cup at a time - as I had always made my coffee but recently I began to obsess over being able to have a second cup of tea without having to go out to the kitchen again to make one. Hence began the search for a teapot!
This is my teapot. It holds about two of these:
After I brought the teapot home, I tried it out a few times - always with the same result. The first cup was wonderful and the second cup was stone cold. So, reluctantly, I put it away and went back to making tea one cup at a time and wishing there was a better way.
Turns out there is :)
I had seen tea cozies before (and there are many patterns for both knit and crochet versions available on line) but wasn’t quite sure what their purpose was. Surely not just for decoration? I couldn’t imagine that this layer of fabric would actually help the tea stay hot…would it? Hmmm…wool definitely helps me stay warmer. I wonder…
So, entirely in the nature of scientific inquiry, you understand, I knit a tea cozy :)
And this afternoon, after the top had been knitted and knotted, the sides tacked together and the last end woven in, I tried it out. I made a pot full of tea, encased it in its new sweater, and brought it into the living room with me (where the temperature was a balmy 66.3ºF) along with a mug, a small pitcher of milk (yes, I’m one of those barbarians that puts milk in their tea), sweetener and a spoon. When the tea was ready, I poured the first cup - steaming, strong - perfect! I then proceeded to read blogs for the next 45 minutes.
When that time had passed, I finished the last swallow of the first cup (pretty cold by now) and poured the second cup. It wasn’t boiling hot - but it was still steaming! Plenty hot enough to be enjoyable :)
Further notes: I hadn’t done much in the way of modular knitting before so making this was interesting. The first set of pieces (at the bottom of the pot) are knitted individually and then tied together. Subsequent pieces are picked up from there - in fact the whole procedure bore more than a passing resemblance to entrelac. Adding to the fun, there wasn’t a photo of the finished item so it was kind of like assembling a picture puzzle for which you lacked the box - the pieces are all there but you can’t see what you’ve got until you’ve put everything together - a productive and entertaining adventure!
Thanks again to all those who dropped by Chatters last night - whee!! - what a good time :)
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I miss my old tea cozy. I used to drink a lot of tea in the mornings. Now, it’s a cup or two of coffee and perhaps a to-go mug of tea on occasion.
I like your tea cozy. Colour and all!
Chatters was fun; I’ll certainly try to make it more often!
What a darling tea cozy! I’m so sorry to hear you lost your taste for coffee though. I’m a die hard coffee drinker as well.
I love the teapot and its darling cozy. Funny you should mention losing your taste for coffee. I have too and now I’m wondering if it’s one of MY medications. Hmmm.
Awww, I just love it!
Nice cozy!
There’s one more thing you can do that will help prolong the warmth of that second cup. That clay pot starts out cold, and the warmth of your tea gets immediately sucked into the cold ceramic.
Before you start brewing the tea, fill the teapot with hot water and let it sit for a few minutes to warm the pot.
Then, pour out the “warm the pot” water, add your boiling water and tea leaves, and proceed as usual.
Ev - I really couldn’t function without my morning coffee - but it’s been tea for the rest of the day for quite a while now :)
It was great to see you last night. Please join in whenever you’d like!
Opal - It was awful :) I couldn’t believe my tastebuds had turned on me like that and turned something I love into something unpalatable. I think I enjoy my coffee even more now than I did before!
Joan - You know, it’s a possibility. The worst side effect I usually have is dry mouth and anything I take (even allergy stuff) does that. But this was just adding insult to injury :) Ask your doctor. He might be able to help you pin it down and maybe even offer an alternative?
Nat - It’s exactly the right size too - which amazes me more than almost any other aspect of this exercize. When I started it I thought, this is going to be way too big. But when I put it together this afternoon, it was perfect!
Who says there’s no such thing as magic!
Folkcat - Thanks for the advice. I’ve been doing that with my tea and coffee mugs for quite a while now so it seemed like a natural to do it with the teapot as well :) In the fall and winter, my kitchen is cold and I want the drink to be hot - so pre-heating the vessel is a real necessity!
Rob you should come visit us in OZtralia ... most of us are barbarians that have milk in out tea ... even Earl Grey!
Tea Cosies rule!
and yes ... heat the pot first ... it makes a huge difference.
:]
Catsmum - I would absolutely love to come visit Oz. I can’t say it seems likely, but I keep my fingers crossed anyway :)
Nice to know I’ve got a whole continent backing me up on the milk-in-my-tea thing!
oh, i have always *wanted* to be a genteel tea-drinker, but one swallow is like a spoonful of ipecac- i can drink the herbals, but that always seems like missing out on ‘the real thing’- your cozy is nice and also quite an example of using techniques you’ve learned to create something you both want and need-
stay happy-
Barb - Well, I guess I can cop to being a tea drinker, but genteel will be forever beyond me, I’m afraid :)
I do also like some of the herbals “teas” - lemon ginger is a favorite and Celestial Seasonings makes a very good blueberry tea!
I used to have to take a medicine for my epilepsy that made everthing I drank and ate taste like rancid meat. Not fun.
TMK and I are big tea drinkers so it’s nice to know we are in such good company!
Ryan - Rancid meat?!?!? Ewwwww… You have my complete and utter sympathy - how gross :(
Someday we’ll all have to get together for tea! I’ll make the scones :)
