RHYS BOWEN: Do you have a morning tea or coffee ritual? We do at our house. Tea is made in the ceramic teapot with boiling water and tea leaves mixed by the lord of the manor himself: Darjeeling, Ceylon, short leaved Indian and Keemun Chinese. It is steeped for six minutes. We take it with milk and a little sugar.
This is our regular choice of teapots. We do have the silver one, the antique Georgian one and the Wedgwood wrapped up and stored for special occasions.
But recently a second ritual has joined the first: the choice of mug. My children and friends have given me so many mugs that I adore that it’s hard to choose the correct one for a particular day. The latest is the Jane Austen mug. It has quotes from her books and the box it came in said: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man, in possession of a fortune, must be in want of a mug. How can you not love that!
I’ll use this mug when I’m feeling content with the world and easily amused.
When I’m feeling in a more feisty mood I’ll switch to another Jane Austen quote:
Obviously that daughter knows me well.
And this one is equally feisty!
And who could resist this one from my ultra feminist daughter?
I have lovely mugs that I don’t often use: 
the elephant is too heavy,
the unicorn puts me in danger of poking an eye out and my favorite is the little hedgehog cup my daughter Jane brought back from Germany. It’s too small and I don’t want to risk breaking it.
I do have a Wedgwood tea set that I use for special occasions but the cups are so small. Did people drink less tea in those days or did they have to keep refilling the cups?
How about you? Does it matter which mug you drink your tea or coffee in? Or are you elegant enough to use a bone china tea set?
LUCY BURDETTE: I’m caffeine-limited, so I can afford only one good cup of coffee in the morning. I want it to count! I don’t grind the beans, but I choose high quality, hopefully organic coffee and make it by pouring the hot water through a filter. We became so spoiled after having a cafe con leche every morning in Key West, so we must have hot frothed milk when we aren’t there. Milk frothers are notorious for breaking down so I have a brand new one.
PS I have beautiful Emile Henry mugs in green, red, blue, and yellow. At the moment, I will only drink from the yellow ones:).
JENN McKINLAY: I am a bean grinder. I buy them whole from a local fair trade shop. Like Lucy, I am caffeine limited to two cups and I’ve been a milk frother since my trip to Italy in 2008 because it just feels like more of a treat (although now I use oat milk). I do have a cup of tea sometime between 3 and 4 in the afternoon to power through the last of the day, but it’s not fancy. I order PG Tips in the pyramid shaped tea bag and drink it with a dollop of honey. I have no preference in my mugs so long as they accommodate my beverage.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Morning tea ritual here, too, Rhys. I also, like the lord of the manor, mix loose leaf teas. The morning blend is a tea called Lover’s Leap, a Ceylon variety, with a malty Assam (commonly used in teas like English Breakfast.) I use tea sacs and steep the tea in my biggest Liberty mug (photo) then top with frothed milk. (And of course I have a milk frother!) But when the tea needs to be rewarmed, I have to pour it into a microwavable mug. My current fave is a William Morris pattern, bought for 4 pounds at the hardware store at Notting Hill Gate. Irreplaceable.
When I occasionally switch to coffee, it’s one shot of espresso in the same big mug, frothed milk, then mug topped up with hot water.
HALLIE EPHRON: I rotate through chai tea, coffee, and cocoa. All sweet, heavy on the milk. And as it will come as no surprise, my favorite mugs feature birds (Hoopoes, Grebes…) and Minions.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Tea drinker here, though without the ritual of a home-blended mix: like Jenn, I’m a PG Tips fan. No milk, way too much sugar (you know those infographics that show Americans consume 34 teaspoons a day? That’s me.) I drink it all day, adding boiling water and making a fresh pot as necessary.
Mugs are chosen for size, not design. They need to be large enough to hold a generous 12 oz. of tea, but not so large that the tea cools off before I get to the bottom. I like mine at roughly the same temperature as magma, so heat-retention is important to me.
RHYS: So how about you, dear Reddies? Favorite mugs? Morning ritual?
Coffee is definitely the go-to drink here. Everything is set up and put on automatic before going to bed so the coffee is ready and hot when we get up. Any mug will do . . . .
ReplyDeleteI grind my dark organic roast coffee beans fresh every morning, enough for two cups, all I get - or want - for the day. (Hugh drinks what I think is a despicable light roast, so we make separate pots) I add whole milk to a Contigo travel mug and take it upstairs to my office, the lidded travel mug because I like my coffee hot until the last sip. The first cup usually gets me through my perusing of the internet - email, blogs, Fb, reading HCRichardson, say good morning to Dru Ann, and Wordle. By the time I go down and heat up the second cup with milk, it's time to start work for the day.
ReplyDeleteYour Use of the travel mug to go upstairs makes me smile, Edith. My office was upstairs too…and I used the lidded mug to avoid a trail of drips from kitchen counter to desk! Neatness counts. Elisabeth
DeleteI also grind my organic dark roast coffee every morning. British Columbia Kicking Horse Company's kickass coffee blend. I do a pour over with a reusable filter cone into my Yeti travel mug to keep it hot. I drink it black.
ReplyDeleteGRACE: I grind my coffee too. I have seen the Kicking Horse coffee beans at my local grocery shop. I think I will try that the next time I shop for groceries.
DeleteDIANA: The Lavazza coffee group acquired Kicking Horse coffee a few years ago, so now it is widely available outside of Canada, including several US states.
DeleteI love your mug collection, Rhys! And your teapots. I don't drink a lot of tea, but years ago a British friend served me the real deal, brewed the way you described and I could see it as the original comfort food: All those English novels I read where, following some traumatic event, someone says, "Come in and have a nice cup of ta ..." You have to understand, I grew up in teabag America, and teabags just don't promise much comfort.
ReplyDeleteBut at heart, I'm a coffee lover. Istart the day with a cup of cappuccino (instant, but oh, so good) in a mug with a picture of and quote by Pessoa, a very unique Portuguese poet and considered one of Portugal 's greatest. I like to joke that I start each day having coffee with Pessoa.
It's true that any traumatic event in England is countered with a cup of tea! When you have a baby the first thing they bring you is a cup of tea.
DeleteThat was supposed to be a nice cup of tea, not ta.
ReplyDeleteI perk my pre-ground coffee (the coffee grinder would wake Irwin who sleeps 2 to 3 hours later than I do.) I have to wait 1/2 hr. each morning before drinking it with a splash of cold skim milk. I love perked coffee. Homemade bread makes breakfast.
ReplyDeleteI have many beautiful mugs, including a Jane Austen quote mug. My very favorite mug is one I bought from the National Wildlife Federation catalog and has a moose on it. It's beautiful.
A couple of years ago, we thinned out the mug collection and our cleaning lady took the bulk. Ifelt better knowing they were going to a good home. LOL
I just got back from a long weekend at my CT sister’s house. I reached into a cabinet to get a mug for my coffee, and discovered that they now have a Jane Austen mug. They are huge Austen fans! (But I didn’t use it because I have a long-time favorite mug that I use when I visit.)
DeleteDebRo
Rhys, I’ve been puzzling over your undersized Wedgewood teacups and am wondering if they’re tiny for the same reason Japanese sake cups are tiny? Here in Japan (and maybe among traditional tea partiers too!) it’s considered bad form to fill up your own cup, so everybody has to be thinking about their neighbor, keeping an eye on their cup and generously keeping it full. It’s a funny little social rule that weirdly helps build community, giving everyone practice thinking about others before themselves!
ReplyDeleteThe ritual of morning coffee has always been special to me. It started when I was old enough to share a cup with my mother who was a serious coffee drinker. She had to have her coffee every morning and then again at 3:00 in the afternoon. She perked her coffee in a Farberware coffee pot and so did I following in her footsteps. When I no longer lived at home we would often "share" a cup together over the phone at precisely 3 o'clock. After I was married a coffee ritual also continued with my mom-in-law who lived on the first floor of our two-family home. On weekends I would send down a carafe of freshly-perked coffee so she could enjoy a cup or two throughout the morning hours. During the summer season we always had Sunday brunch together in the garden and I would haul the breakfast goodies, china (!), silverware, and a coffee maker down two flights of backstairs. The reward behind all that hard work was a leisurely morning chatting over cups of coffee while enjoying each other's company. The perfect Sunday morning brunch was when my mother and mother-in-law could spend that time together; they were good friends who loved each other. My husband Rudi was outnumbered in the gender department but they both loved fussing over him and vice versa. Often other siblings and nieces and nephews shared in our Sunday morning brunch ritual...there was always fresh coffee. Nearly four decades into our marriage my husband never had coffee until his doctor told him it was good for him. Now he joins me every morning in a cup over breakfast. I like my coffee in a Royal Worcester Wrendale mug with "The Hare and the Bee") design and Rudi has his coffee in his OFGA mug ( which stands for Old Farts Golf Association started with 3 other friends he has known since grade school.) Coffee is still perked in an electric Faberware coffeepot and on my late mother's and late mother-in-law's birthdays we always raise a cup in their honor. Thank you for letting me share my story with you; it brought back so many wonderful memories.
ReplyDeleteAnd lovely memories they are, Evelyn. Thank you for lifting my day!
DeleteThank you for that, Karen...I'm happy I helped lift your day!
DeleteThat is a lovely story!
DeleteThank you, Lisa. Cheers!
DeleteLovely story, Evelyn! My mom always used a Faberware pot--I'd forgotten that. And I brought my granddaughter (Wren) a Royal Worcester Wrendale mug from London when she was just old enough to drink from it.
DeleteLovely memories, Evelyn! This is the perfect place to share them. One of the authors will probably ask if she can borrow it for a story. I'd put it into a cozy or a romance, if I were an author!
DeleteAwwwww that’s so sweet…
DeleteOh, Deborah, those Farberware coffee pots lasted forever back then. When I had to sadly breakdown and sell my childhood (parents) home a friend (who was also the professional mover) upon seeing me overwhelmed processing what to keep and what to let go stepped in and gently told me to go into Mom's kitchen and choose a few of her items to keep for memory sake. I ended up choosing her rolling pin (a reminder of her scrumptious apple pies and their luscious smells hot out of the oven), her Paul Revere stainless steel pot she only used to steam corn on the cob (and now that's all I use it for as well), her tin recipe box with all her hand-written recipes (some scribbled on the back of envelopes), and, lastly, her Faberware coffee pot which remains with me to this day. My apologies for that last run on sentence. I'm guessing both you and your editor would not approve...lol. As for the Royal Worcester Wrendale mug it's so nice to meet another person who loves Hannah Dale's whimsical animal designs! I was hooked when I purchased one of her cards with the "Hare Brained" bunny print on the front. That rabbit with a blade of grass hanging from his mouth looking all frazzled made me laugh out loud. I bought that card a decade ago and never used it because I couldn't bear to part with it. Eventually it was framed and is now hanging on the side wall overlooking my work desk in the kitchen. P.S. What a wonderful treasure to give to your granddaughter; she'll have it forever!
DeleteThank you for your kind comments, Judy! You're right...This blog is such a wonderful place to share stories with each other. I love how each author comes up with very interesting and often nostalgic ways to share these stories. I would be thrilled if any of my treasured memories found their way into a Jungle Red Author's future book. :)
DeleteHank Phillippi Ryan ~ Thank you! Welcome home.
DeleteI have an idea for your next book...It involves a Farberware coffee pot...LOL!
DeletePerfect. Loved the story and all these comment.
DeleteSince I retired, I have a cup of tea (Earl Grey is my preference, but I drink many kinds) while reading this blog, then Dru Ann’s, then the news and games. By then the tea is either gone or cold so I either reheat it or make one more cup before starting the day. — Pat S
ReplyDeleteXxxxx someday we will need to have a big blog about Earl Grey. :-)
DeleteFrench Truck coffee beans from NOLA, freshly-ground for a French Press and topped with steamed milk, in my zombie mug: Never sleeps, responds in grunts, roams the earth in search of coffee.
ReplyDeleteZombie Mug! And I love French coffee. Does it have chicory in it?
DeleteI buy locally roasted coffee beans at our local farmers market. Or I have an especially excellent organic blend shipped from Portland, Or (yes - the mecca of great coffee LOL). I have a coffee grinder and use a stove top espresso maker. I sometimes use my milk frother but most often just pour in the milk.
ReplyDeleteSince I am retired, I often will go to a local coffee shop and read, or chat with others.
I should add (see above) that the best tea is drunk in England. I don't know why but the tea doesn't taste the same here in the states, even if I buy the tea in England and bring it home. Maybe it's the water? Or maybe the milk (English cows?)
ReplyDeleteI agree. I always enjoy my tea more in England. Maybe they make it stronger?
DeleteWater, maybe? I always bring my favorite teas back from England, but agree it never tastes quite the same.
DeleteCoffee is my most important drink of the day! I've been buying Colombian beans from a place in NYC for decades, I grind them and have one large (24oz) cup a day. More than that and I can't sleep! And I enjoy a mid-afternoon cup of tea in the cooler months, mostly Darjeeling or if I feel the need to control myself, decaf Red Rose! And I only use my large bluestone Kennebunkport mug that I bought on vacation years before we moved to Maine! I have 2 of them in case I break one, but so far that hasn't happened!!
ReplyDeleteAnother Red Rose drinker!
DeleteDo they still have the little figures inside?
DeleteTea and tea paraphernalia have become my vacation souvenirs, so every morning I brew a pot and reminisce. I have a carafe that I pour it in and can enjoy 4 hot cups until noon. (Which reminds me --I used to take this carafe to work, so Happy Labor Day, Americans! Thanks to my union, I retired at 60 with a good pension and can read and drink tea all day! )
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to buy mugs to remind you of vacations!
DeleteI’m the outlier here as I do not drink coffee or tea. I downsized a shelf full of mugs to 3 and then I received a new one for my birthday. I use them occasionally for hot chocolate or cider and more regularly for EmergenC which I prefer hot. I think I am going to have to start using them for cold beverages. I am wondering anew why I am moving 12 place settings of China including all the cups and saucers.
ReplyDeleteRe: moving china…because it feels wrong to part with it. And, channeling my mother, use it every day, don’t save it for someone else! Mother loved different dishes and had multiple sets of china … both “fine” and “every day”. I use mugs for hot and cold, easier to hold and, for me, they have longer lives than glasses! Cheers. Elisabeth
DeleteElisabeth, we received the entire set of China as a wedding gift from my grandparents 40 years ago. It was a set my grandma won as an Avon sales rep. I do want to use it more than just the major holidays as I have in the past.
DeleteI'm the oddball sister--my mom had to have her coffee first thing in the morning, perked, and Dad had his first cup then as well. All of my sisters are ardent coffee drinkers--oldest sister buys the beans and distributes them seasonally--they all grind their own, etc. Coffee gives me massive headache, tea makes me crazy. Which is a pity because I love tea and would drink iced tea all year round. I allow myself one cup of hot tea (just bags) with sugar and milk if I'm sick, served in a bone china cup.
ReplyDeleteWondering if it is the caffeine or some compound in the tea, Flora?
DeleteDeborah, I wish I knew! I don't think it's the caffeine, because coffee doesn't do that, nor does anything else with caffeine. And I do love tea!
DeleteI have to give a shout out to my sweet husband, who completely handles our coffee routine, save for buying the beans. We have fallen in love with Sumatra coffee (grown in Indonesia.) I buy those beans and each night before bed hubby sets up the coffeemaker (with built-in grinder) for the following morning, and pushes the button as soon as we head downstairs. During our working years, he would bring a cup up to me while I was showering, but in retirement our ritual usually involves lingering over a cup while we do our online morning reading.
ReplyDeleteA quick note to say I have been absent from the blog a lot lately and will probably continue to be for another week or so, as we are in the mayhem of downsizing from our 4-bedroom home of 29 years to an aging-appropriate condo. We are excited and things are going well, but wow, has it been all-consuming!
Susan, you'll need lots of coffee!! Good luck with your move. After the hard work is done the new place should be exciting!
DeleteSusan, that is a J.O.B. And mayhem is probably the perfect descriptor, alas. It will be worth it, though. Just take lots of rest breaks, with or without coffee.
DeleteGood luck, we did that purge 5 years ago.
DeleteWishing you a happy move, Susan. Whenever I think of downsizing John says "we can't. We have too much stuff."
DeleteGood luck, Susan! I feel like John about that prospect, hoping to put it off for a few more years!
DeleteSusan, we just moved back into our house after it was renovated and it has been a HUGE project. The new cabinets are not the same as the old, walls were removed and some furniture did not come back so we are trying to find spaces for many things. If it doesn’t fit, it’s going on Buy Nothing! — Pat S
DeleteI’m right there with you Susan! Downsizing from 5 bedroom home of 23+ years. It is a lot of work!!
DeleteRelatives and others are now gone, so I am enjoying a double mug of coffee with a pkt of Splenda and a dollop of whipping cream (in silence). This mug is tall and has a rubber bottom – safer standing up with skidding kittens! Will probably only drink ½ the mug and then forget or misplace the mug, or it is lunch time. I used to like tea in the afternoon or after the kids were asleep, always black, but that doesn’t happen much anymore. We (group of old people – I was the youngest at 75) attend Tea by the Sea all summer where tea is served in proper pots, poured into proper cups and saucers that all match at the table with cloth table cloths and cloth napkins, and delicacies are served on a three-tiered stand. It is always acknowledged that someone poured just in case there is a social write-up in the paper. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteBest tea – Book Club tea which might be called Brewer’s tea. Many tea bags, probably Tetleys but whatever is donated, stuffed in a coffee maker and made long before it is served usually lukewarm in a mug. You can walk home!
Now if any of you come to visit, I will make the tea in a pot – never a tea bag in a mug. I will probably serve in the mug…
I am envious of Tea by the Sea, since drinking tea and being at the sea side are favorite things of mine., Margo
DeleteYou need to wear a hat!
DeleteI'm sitting here with my first cup of Yorkshire Gold. I use tea bags; it's just easier and it's mostly just me drinking tea in the mornings. I weaned myself off sugar many years ago and now add a driblet of half and half. I mostly use my biggest mug, which is white and brown pottery and has an indigenous-style arty design of people. It was left behind by a friend who rented my parents' house. Today I'm drinking from a lovely hand painted mug I bought in Mexico. It has a blue background and shows people working and a lake scene, clouds, trees, cacti and swans. Ahh I do feel connected with my parents when I drink my YGT.
ReplyDeleteThat is so true. I still have simple household items that belonged to my parents and I think about them each time I use them.
DeleteFair Trade coffee in the Morning. I ask Alexa to start the coffee. I use whichever mug suits my fancy that day.
ReplyDeleteTea in the afternoon. This morning drinking coffee with my scones on the porch.
Alexa to start the coffee. That is genius. However I unplugged mine after she kept commenting on things when nobody had spoken to her.
DeleteI’m a coffee in the morning person. I drink it in my favourite mug made by a friend of mine who is a gardener and a potter. Pete’s dark roast coffee for us. This summer, due to watering restrictions, I get up, pour my first mug, and go out to water my flower beds. When I’m finished I have my second mug and a little breakfast. Rhys, I love the photos of your mugs.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteMy morning coffee ritual is usually spent reading JRW! I had winnowed down our mug/cup collection to less than a single shelf; then Steve's Polish relatives--in a nod to his annual gifts of bird calendars--gave us sets of mugs and teacups in Polish pottery, each depicting a different European bird.
ReplyDeleteMy current cup is an insulated metal one from REI, because I use freshly ground beans, boiled water from an electric kettle, and an AeroPress filter. The filter is ingenious, and makes a single serving of the kind of strong, espresso Americano-type coffee I prefer, all in less than three minutes. The filter requires some muscle to express the steam, which is why I use the metal cup. Insulated because I take my time drinking the coffee, along with my single piece of dark chocolate.
Steve uses a Mr. Coffee and I detest the vile brew he makes with it, while he thinks mine is too strong. I miss the days when he had a cup of joe waiting for me every morning, the price of being picky.
Tea is for later in the day, or herbal in the evening. It's always better made by someone else.
My mom's family were all huge coffee drinkers. Everyone gathered at my grandparents', and coffee was essential. Mother was the same until recent years limited her to a cup or two a day. Oddly, I'm the only one of my siblings who drinks it. My brother is an ardent tea drinker, and my sister only drinks soft drinks!
I am a fellow member of the electric kettle + Aeropress club! With my beans from Greenwell Farms on the Big Island.
DeleteIsn't it brilliant, Lisa? I love that it makes almost zero waste, while taking no more time than waiting for a Keurig to heat up and brew.
DeleteLisa, Kona coffee, sigh. Best coffee ever!
DeleteBeautiful mug collection, Rhys! I have one of these mugs too. It was a birthday gift from relatives. With the onset of menopause, there is a limit of caffeine these days. I use 3/4 cup of decaf Beans and 1/4 cup of regular Beans for my coffee. Sometimes I have tea when it is chilly and I want something warm to drink without the caffeine.
ReplyDeleteWe have quite a collection of mugs at home too. Probably too many! I would drink coffee or tea from whichever mug is not chipped. Our mugs keep on breaking and luckily, there are plenty of back ups! I had this beautiful Torte mug and the handle broke off in the wash! Now I am more careful washing the mugs. My current mug is from a local coffee shop and so far so good. Knock on wood!
I’m not a coffee drinker, I never acquired an interest in it since I don’t like the taste whether it is in tiramisu or a cup.
ReplyDeleteMy mother was primarily a coffee drinker, perhaps several a day, she preferred it to be a good cup of coffee, freshly brewed, though usually she had instant because of its convenience since she would not drink coffee that was reheated. She mainly enjoyed a cup after a meal.
She did not have tea very often, it depended upon what type of meal or food was being served.
It always had to be in a thin china cup. She would never drink tea from a mug.
Outside of tea in a Chinese restaurant, the only tea I drink fairly regularly is hibiscus because of its beneficial effects for blood pressure.
I do like to go out to restaurants that serve an English tea, but have not done so for quite a while.
Great fun to hear everyone's hot drink rituals! Thanks for sharing. Like Julia, I drink my tea very hot, and like Debs, I miss loose teas (Assam and Darjeeling.) My teas are organic. I'm not obsessed with organic food (even though I wrote a lot about it in PESTICIDE!), but I drink so much tea that I decided to take the safe route there. I don't start on coffee until after lunch, just when I risk getting sleepy. No special mugs--I have a set that matches my blue and white china.
ReplyDeleteFor years and years I thought of myself as a tea drinker who occasionally drank a cup of coffee. At some point I started drinking more coffee and less tea. I don’t remember when I became primarily a coffee drinker. I still enjoy tea!
ReplyDeleteHaving my morning coffee is important to me. I grind the coffee beans (Peet’s Major Dickason) and brew the coffee in a one mug coffeemaker. I use the travel mug that came with the coffeemaker. Since I drink slowly, I’m often still drinking it after lunch. If I want to reheat it( I don’t always) I pour it into a mug and reheat it in the microwave. I usually grind the beans and set up the coffeemaker before I go to bed.
Mugs: I have MANY! A few months ago, when I was cleaning out cabinets, I donated all the mugs that I bought or won as door prizes. The remaining mugs were gifts, and when I use them, it gives me an opportunity to think about the people who gave them to me.
DebRo
Debro, I also have memories associated with mugs. That's why it was so difficult to winnow them down. I'm not sorry that I did it because kitchen shelving is minimal here.
DeleteAs I said somewhere above, my parents drank perked coffee make in a Farberware electric pot, black, and I grew up thinking coffee was the vilest thing on earth. Tea only from the time I was a teenager, except the summer I spent in Mexico City where I learned to drink cappucino. It was only years later, in England, weirdly, that I discovered the joys of espresso with lots of steamed milk. I add hot water, too, so I think technically that makes it an Americano rather than a latte?
ReplyDeleteThing is, there are very few public restrooms available in London (or the UK in general) and as anyone who drinks tea knows, it's a powerful diuretic. Learning to love a latte has made my time spent there much more enjoyable:-)
On my first visit to London an online friend took me to Liberty of London's tearoom. After which she asked for the "recycled tea" room!
DeleteKaren, LOL.
DeleteOh, love, love love this essay!
ReplyDeleteI am finally back in the swing, and back in focus after my Bouchercon travels. I am a coffee girl, through and through, every morning, it’s the first thing I think about when I wake up, ridiculously. I love my mugs, and cycle through favorites, sort of based on how they feel to hold, I guess. Or if they have a lovely memory. For a long time, I used my Tamron Hall show mug, sleek and substantial, with shiny gold words. Beautiful, and a wonderful memory of a fun day. I also use my Lions Club mug, because our event was so hilarious and adorable. William Martin – – you know him, right, who wrote Back Bay and Cape Cod and etc., has a daughter who is a ceramicist, and she makes gorgeous mugs one of which I am using now. It’s especially wonderful, because often ceramic mugs are too chalky and heavy, but hers are gorgeous.
So much fun to hear about all of yours! And hi to everyone, I won’t list you, because I’ll forget someone, who I saw at Bouchercon! You all bring tears to my eyes!
Love this! I'm a coffee drinker most days - beans from Carrabasset Roasters and then into the MoccaMaster for brewing. I take it with half and half. My current favorite mug is a Florida one from Bed Bath and Beyond - not for sentimental value, but because it holds about a gallon of coffee - okay, 16 oz! It's great and the ceramic works well to keep it warm. When I do drink tea these days it's Tetley British Blend and I drink it from a hand thrown pottery mug that keeps it steamy forever. Don't tell the Brits, but I drink that with half and half as well. No sugar. When I'm feeling leisurely, and if I have loose tea on hand, I pop out the tea ball and the Brown Betty pot. There's something about a proper cuppa that puts relax into the day.
ReplyDeleteBy the time I finish honest sharing, y'all will either be a. laughing incredulously or b. barricading your door so I never prepare drinks in the morning. The morning beverage is usually left over from what was brewed in the Mr. Coffee around 3 AM. You might remember someone is always awake on Nome Street. After a while a carafe of tea is cold brewed in the fridge (32 oz) along with another carafe of of tap water. I grew up with Red Rose, my parents drank coffee in the morning and Red Rose at night. One pot of hot water with on shared tea bag~~a recipe I do not follow. Any coffee, decaffeinated usually will be sipped through a straw in a iced tea glass. The left over coffee is stored in a 64 oz carafe in the fridge. I only drink hot beverages in the winter, most of the time am hydrating with cold or lukewarm liquids. So there you have it. over brewed liquids becoming stale in the fridge. And to think, I used to sell coffees and teas. Which leads me to recommend Ahmad tea. They are London based, and carry some lovely Sri Lankan teas and tisanes. Bottoms up!
ReplyDeleteDrinking tea from my tall white Crate and Barrel mug as I write this! I should have added another of my morning rituals (much more recent than tea drinking) is water. Last year I made an effort to consciously up my water intake, and to that end, I have one glass while watching the dogs do their post-brekkie perambulations and another while I'm making my tea.
ReplyDeleteI am evermore NOT a morning person, but I have come to see the value of "get it out of the way first thing."
I don't drink tea or coffee. I do drink some juice with breakfast. Otherwise, I'm a water drinker only.
ReplyDeleteI love how we all have different rituals for greeting the new day. Fabulous.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, I'm the tea boss in my house. Actually, I am the only tea drinker here. I have a 2 mug size pot - it comes from a catalogue in many colors. Inexpensive which is a plus as I am a klutz and inevitably will break it. Boiling t water in a heated pot. 3 tea bags of PG Tips or Taylors Yorkshire Gold, usually. Yes, I am looking for serious caffiene. On a lazy morning I'll indulge with loose tea. Skim milk and a little sugar. I have a collection of handsome mugs from craft shows and trips, but my favorite is from a Scots govt craft store somewhere in the Highlands, hand painted choices depicting scenes of sheep in the hills, lobsters on the beach and lovely sky and mountains. And I only bought one! (sky and mountains). Why not a set of mugs and a pot????What was I thinking???? Some day I will drop it, I am sure. (Then I will need another trip to Scotland, I think) Thanks for letting me share my wake up obession with all you other tea drinkers.
ReplyDeleteI have a mug that doesn't hold 8 ounces, at the office. I found it in the cabinet. I used it because I hate coffee after it has cooled off. The office supplies a coffee pod machine and the pods. I use the 6 ounce setting and if the dark roast is gone, I'll use the "stronger" button for the medium roast pods to make those 6 ounces and add sugar and coffee "creamer." Coffee is more of an office or out to breakfast thing.
ReplyDeleteAt home, I have a choice of mugs with teddy bears because I used to collect them and the niece and nephew liked finding bears for Aunt Deana, for my tea and that occasional cup of coffee. I still tend to used the smaller ones because I like to think the tea stays hot, longer. Honey is preferred to sugar, it I want a sweet cup of tea. I like Irish breakfast tea and recently rediscovered Good Earth tea, which I like to drink when I have a cold with honey, and a squeeze of fresh lemon or orange juice, and maybe a tablespoon (or so) of brandy so I can sleep.
I love loose teas, although I don't mix my own. I have a mug that my sister got me, and I use it every day. Don't have a pic of it, but the message on it reads, "Victoria, this is God and I will be handling all your problems today." A gentle reminder that I am loved both by my sister and God. Many times, this is what has perked up my mood. I don't have to handle things alone and I am loved. Powerful message there. -- Victoria
ReplyDeleteI used to be a heavy coffee drinker, but I'm down to one, maybe two cups a day. I got a Kuerig single serve coffee maker and use it. But, I'm beginning to miss fixing a whole pot of coffee. Husband putt the 12-cup coffee maker away, and I rather resent that he did so without asking me. I know it was perfectly reasonable, but too much change in one's life can make a coffee pot seem important. I do enjoy tea, and I especially enjoy a real tea with little sandwiches and cakes. I think that's why I would love England so much.
ReplyDeleteI love mugs, but I've slowed way down on collecting them. I have a collection of Star Bucks mugs from different cities, but they are all in their boxes. Now, how does someone enjoy something packe away in boxes. I think I need a mug house-cleaning and say goodbye to some. I have a vintage Batman cup that I got for Kevin who told me to just keep it here for a while, and I'm glad I did. My daughter isn't very sentimental about cups. I attach too much meaning to them.
I was just thinking that the best coffee I've ever had came from the old-fashioned percolators, the fancy silver ones. And, remember the days when the not-fancy restaurants would bring you a carafe of coffee and leave it at your table. Things I miss.
Oh, and I went to two days in Nashville last week. Philip and I arrived Monday afternoon and left Wednesday afternoon. I went to the the Tuesday all-day Laurie King 30th anniversary of the Beekeeper's Apprentice event, and Wednesday I spent time in the registration line for Bouchercon so I could pick up my free books and bag. I also bought a few books. I donated a basket this year, full of Clue character Funko Pops, a couple of games based on Clue, Agatha Christie playing cards, a Clu character (Mrs. White) ornament, another mystery card game, some tiny plastic crows, some bookish pins, and two copies of Catriona McPherson's Hop Scot (the book she dedicated to Kevin). The last someone checked for me, it was up to $250. I'm trying to find out what the final bid was and who bought it. I saw a lot of people when I was up at registration and the book room, people I so enjoyed hugging after too many years. I had some lovely lunches and dinners with people. I covered quite a bit in such a short time, but I knew my limits this year. I'm sorry I missed Hank and Lucy. My last meal there was a great lunch with one of my favorite authors, Canadian Jen Danna (also known as Sara Driscoll).
Oh, rats! I am so sorry I missed you--and I know Lucy is, too! xoxooo
DeleteOne cup of coffee a day….stovetop espresso maker with Bustelo coffee and warm frothed milk….can you tell that I used to live in Miami?
ReplyDeleteAlso love tea…PG Tips is a favorite but I acquired a liking for Twinings Smoky Earl Grey…impossible to find here except on lineš„“
I use a tall mug (about 3 cups) of dark roast with honey. No sugar here. You all are big tea drinkers. I enjoy tea the rest of the day. Rhys, Patricia Raybon mentions you in her end notes as a major influence.
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