Tea in My Blood

Since I have cognition of memory, tea has always been in my life.

In some way in 1965/66 tea was in my blood. As a conscript of the Argentine Navy in those years I discovered a forgotten feature of the military regulations that stipulated that if one donated blood this resulted on a day off on the next day.

Every couple of months I would go to the British Hospital in Buenos Aires to donate blood. The hospital provided all donors with a “thé completo” which was tea with scones, cream and jam. With proof of my donation in hand, Cabo Moraña (of the Argentine Marine Corps) would smile at me and give me the next day off.

Canadian breakfast tea with my Argentine cousins 
A quotidian custom

In Mexico after I married Rosemary in 1968 we found that tea of any kind was unavailable. By tea I mean the variety that comes from Camellia sinensis. Any other tea, to me isn’t. I will drink green tea only in Japanese or Chinese restaurants. For me its black tea, with a spot of milk and sugar.

We survived on Americans we knew who would give us Lipton Tea Bags which (the horror!) we would re-use. I swore that if we ever left Mexico (we did in 1975) we would drink the best tea money could buy. And we have.

Some years ago when I went to London on a magazine assignment I purchased in Harrod’s a pound of St. James Fannings for 85 Sterling. It was gloriously good to the last.

Up until about a month I would have chosen on any given day from one of my 10 different varieties of Ahmad Tea loose tea (imported from London in English style tins or when from my frequent insomnia I did not feel to well in the morning a strong Yorkshire Gold).  That has changed since I discovered Pegah Black Label (in Earl Gray and in extra long leaf black tea) in my neighbourhood Kits Persian store. The tea is not expensive. It is from Sri Lanka and distributed in Vancouver by Persia Foods.

This tea is strong and it has lots of flavour. The Earl Grey beats any Twinnings or any other brand I have had in the past. The long threads enable me to fill my very large tea ball with my finger.

I steep the tea for four minutes but I never overlook putting my large mug, full of water, for three minutes in high I the microwave.