You do not know how I suffer

I stayed at the Catholic center after Mass tonight to work on my paper or whatever else I could get done. At about 10:30, I decided it was time for a tea break. How wrong I was.

First of all, I was reminded that I always mean to bring tea bags with me up there when I was compelled to brew up an icky perfumey Bigelow bag of no particular blend. I went hunting in the kitchen to see if I couldn’t rustle up some milk, and had a moment of joy before realizing that the milk in the fridge was two weeks past its date and totally rancid. Four words: ring around the jug.

With this sorry cuppa came a melty puddingy lemony bar and a sort of cake with some congealed cherries embedded in it. This combined with a lack of internet was almost enough to send me home. However, I have a lot to do and not much time to do it in, so I had to persevere.

Stiff upper lip, and I will BMOT next time.

Better than a smelly candle

This morning I woke up with wonky sinuses, and I’ve had a headache all day as a result. This, combined with an inexplicable physical tiredness, and the general chilliness of my room lately, meant that I had a cup of tea before 1pm today — very early.

I poured the hot water over the tea bag and left it to steep as I went to refill the Brita pitcher in the bathroom. As I opened the door to my room, I was struck — a good eight feet away* — by the smell of the tea. I had never thought it was a very aromatic blend before, but it made me very happy.

*Here’s how out of it I am today: I actually just laid down on the floor to get a good estimate.

Ahhh

Peckish + tired + demoralized = perfect time for a tea break.

Tea stymie

I was hoping to buy some milk at the shop downstairs, so that I could have some tea and also some of the cookies I have been hoarding for the purpose. However, all the bottles have the date “March 28” — this in spite of there being no milk available at all last night. This is very inconvenient, but it does allow for the above pun.

Good news!

My beverage of choice is tea; not even a semester in Italy could convince me that coffee is worth drinking. A nice cuppa constitutes my mid-afternoon caffeine boost (actually, my only caffeine infusion generally, since I’ve more or less given up soda this quarter).

Giving up evening snacking for Lent has not, as of three days into it, eliminated that point in the evening when what I want more than anything is to have a break and eat something. What it has done is resurrected the feeling that a tea break might be just the solution in this situation.

But what to do? After about 7pm, my sensitivity to caffeine goes through the roof, or at least gets much more recognizable; an 8pm cup of tea has kept me awake until 2am. The only thing to do is try… decaf.

I was a little unsure about it. I know coffee drinkers get all uptight about decaf, and being scientifically clueless, I don’t even know how decaf comes into being. Would it taste different? Would it be unpleasant somehow? My mom preempted these concerns and sent me a box of my favorite blend, decaf, for Valentine’s Day.

Yeah, I like the good stuff. :) I generally like all black teas, and happily drink any of them (milk, no sugar). But this is my current favorite blend; it has a nice subtle citrus smell, and it’s not too foo-foo. Good for my purposes.

Anyway. I decided to give it a try tonight, and it’s very good. I can’t taste how it’s any different from the regular stuff, and it’s a very good pickup!

So there you go. The verdict is that decaf tea (at least in this blend) is just as good as the “real” stuff. Totally worth a whole post.