May I introduce myself: I am Lucy and I am really proud of being a tea bag. Of course not any tea bag! As I am a Darjeeling Earl Grey tea bag, I am something special. Some tea experts say that my flavour is the best, the most classic of the world and without being arrogant - that is absolutely correct! I only consist of the finest, hand selected tealeaves, carefully dried in a special way to keep all this extraordinary taste that is so typical for my home country. Today there are thousands of different tea flavours.
My family is absolutely enormous. Have you ever thought of the wide range of different sorts of tea? Just take the variety of black tea. Assam, Broken, Darjeeling or Ceylon-just to mention a few. People who are more aware of their health prefer green tea because it is said to have less caffeine what is all rubbish in my opinion. Since green tea became famous and people make such a fuss of it with exact brewing time and that the water mustn't boil to get the right flavour, the green tea bags became arrogant, really stuck-up indeed. But there are also nice characters above us. There are the social-minded health tea bags which sacrifice almost their whole live to serve ill people who have a cough, a cold or a stomach upset. These tea bags, I am talking about, carry healing flowers and herbs like peppermint, balm camomile, sage or fennel, which have already been used in alternate medicine for hundreds of years. There are also special mixtures of tea like the good-sleep-tea or the apple-aronia-cherry tea with an extra pinch of vitamin C.
Next to the ordinary breakfast fruit mixes like strawberry-vanilla or cherry-orange tea, there are also these modern instant teas especially lemon tea, where you only have to add hot water. This is the result of a hectic world with its hustle and bustle everywhere and people who do not even have the time to brew their tea the normal way. Strictly speaking, I think that these instant teas do not even deserve the name tea. There are also absolutely brilliant mixtures for special seasons of the year, for example the Christmas tea with cinnamon flavour. Is there anything more beautiful than sitting in a cosy living-room near the crackling fire with a hot cup of delicious tea warming your hands while it is freezing cold outside? You can watch the white landscape through the window with powdery snow all over the countryside and the frost gleaming and glittering on the treetops like thousands of diamonds when the sun is shining. These are the moments when people really estimate tea.
I must admit, there aren't many occasions like that. A tea bag's life is not an easy one and you can really believe an old tea bag like me. It already starts with the brewing of the tea. There are some philistines who just shove you in a cup of boiling water and after carelessly hurling you around in it until you almost become seasick, they quickly squeeze you out and throw you in a waste bin. Fortunately there are other people, too. Some really make a daily ceremony of their 5 o'clock tea. Some of them do not even use these ordinary tea bags. They use infusers or special tea filters with loose tealeaves so that the tea is able to develop its whole flavour and aroma. These tea experts precisely pay attention to the exact brewing time and the different water temperature for each sort of tea. I have even heard of some having a special teapot with a thermometer to get it right. It is most agreeable to have a bath in water with the right temperature. That is a real comfort for us tea bags!
When the tea is finished, it is served in a beautiful teapot with a matching tea service and of course with some delicious biscuits. That is what creates this wonderful atmosphere you need to enjoy your tea. It is said that the real tea experts can be found in England which is famous for its traditional teatime, but that might possibly be only an English stereotype that is not true at all. I wonder whether only elderly people stick to these traditions who are used to drinking tea from childhood on, whereas younger people who grew up in a lively world of stress and hectic do not even have the time to enjoy their world, sucking a mug of delicious tea dreamily lost in thoughts.
Hopefully, I gave you some insight about our life as tea bags and of course tea in general and you will probably think of that when you are having a nice cup of tea the next time!
