A simple cup of tea

We’re a week into the new year and It. Is. COLD. (As if you didn’t know that already.) I hope you’re staying warm wherever you are, maybe with something brewing on the stove or in the oven–a pot of soup, a roast chicken, homemade bread, a pan of brownies. Or, my preferred method, a big pot of tea.

Tea is really simple enough–hot water+tea+optional honey and milk–but there’s a ritual to it, especially on sub-zero days, that adds an extra cozy factor and, I think, is a nice way to welcome the new year here. This is how I do tea.

Loose leaf black tea is my favorite, especially the chai blend from my local tea shop, with a little honey and milk. This teapot is great because it has a built-in strainer so the leaves don’t end up in my cup.

Adding boiling water from the kettle to the empty teapot warms the pot and keeps the tea from getting cold too fast. Once the pot is warm, I pour the hot water into my mug to warm it as well.

I like about 2 heaping teaspoons of tea per cup added to the now-warm teapot.

Fill with more hot water and let tea steep at least 4 minutes. In the meantime, I pour out the hot water from the mug and add honey and milk. Adding these to the warm mug means the honey melts quickly and the milk is less likely to curdle when I add the tea.

Tea is served, blankets are found, and I’m warm inside and out.

Thankfully, with the -20 degree windchills, I have been the happy recipient of two (count ’em, TWO) snow days this week. Turns out snow days are awesome at 30 years old as they are at 10 (but at 30 you can add something “extra” to your hot chocolate), but I’ll miss my tea ritual tomorrow when I’m back at work!