When one takes to the etherwaves these days, particularly on Twitter, one reads an awful lot about the weather, from exultant cries of delight to pure bellyaching.
I always think these things are an interesting cultural reference. For example, some guy this morning said “Easter will be colder than Christmas this year”.
My obvious first thought was “Christmas is ALWAYS hotter that Easter. ” I mean, we are talking mid-summer versus mid-autumn. What a daft tweet.
And then a millisecond later, it occurred to me that this person didn’t live in Adelaide, South Australia, as I do, with one of the most agreeable climates in the world, but somewhere else, like the Northern Hemisphere, where they even sometimes get this stuff called ‘snow”, which I have been assured is a real thing.
This time of year, as we have the air conditioner off for the first time in months, I keep reading about how people are looking forward to iced teas and summer drinks. In the same way, as we head into summer in October and November, all I see is people claiming that the approaching cold is an “excuse” for a lovely, milky chai.
Quite frankly, what is wrong with you all?
Seasonality is gone. All day we have conversations where one leg is in sleet and one is in the tropics. People who have never seen snow exchange thoughts and ideas with people who vaguely remember the sun.
And yet, so many people let the weather outside the window dictate whether they drink a steaming Harmutty Assam Golden Lion or an iced Buddha’s Tears.
I say: stop this nonsense now!
I can’t argue that if you are hot or cold, a tea of the opposite persuasion might well be a great idea. In summer, there is genuine desire to drink iced tea, and certain teas ice better than others.
But I don’t understand the idea of putting away some teas entirely.
Some people objected when we had some photos taken for our site last year. They were “all wintery” and “we are coming into summer’ . Apart from the fact that here is Australia we were heading into winter, ask yourself this:
“If a cup of tea looks good in front of a roaring fire which makes you hot, why is it not good when the burning midday sun is making you hot.”
So break those boundaries. If someone says “it’s hot, would you like an iced tea” , be a rebel. Say “ No thanks, I’ll have a Margaret’s Hope SFTGFOP1 Autumnal, Second Flush, and a crumpet if you have one”. Sit around a winter fire drinking iced Jasmine tea. Greet the summer’s dawn with a milky chai.
You are the Captain of your Soul. Mother Nature is not your Tea Sommelier. You are a Tea Drinker: the finest creature this planet has to offer. So act accordingly.
I’m not a fan of icy cold things any time of year – although the past few weeks did see me actually drinking iced tea, it was just THAT much of a heat wave – but I regularly drink hot milky tea in the hottest of weather, a hangover of my father’s British past I believe, which sees those hardy Brits crack out the teapot any old time. Admittedly their hottest weather is substantially more tepid than ours, but still. Bring on the tea.
People who live in Melbourne are a special case, Verity, as it can go from heatwave to snowing in the time it takes to boil the kettle. And back by the time you’ve selected a tea.
Great post, I shared it on twitter.
There’s no seasons in my country because it’s located in the equator. What’s this “snow” that you were talking about?
Where do you live, @riccaicedo ?
In Colombia, South America.
@bram said Easter will be colder this year in a reply to me on Tea Trade 🙂 And it is indeed quite unusual for us in this half of the world.
I remember it was me who pointed out the roaring fire pics coming up during a boiling hot summer. For me, it’s got nothing to do with only drinking hot tea in the winter. I love tea anytime of the year, summer or winter. I never put one tea away because it’s out of season. On the other hand I don’t drink iced tea.
I just thought the pics should best look seasonal for the same reason store catalogs feature models eating melon and lounging around on deck chairs in their summer editions, and not in their Christmas catalog.
Wait, that probably sounds normal to you, deck chairs with Santa. Funny world you guys have there down under.
Great post, I enjoyed it. I agree, “be the Captain of your Soul”! hear, hear! 😀
The rest of us can’t help that your weather is wrong there.
Honestly, it is a given in our part of the world that the weather will consumer most conversations. People often remark that without the weather, people in New England would have nothing to talk about.
My tea cabinet knows no seasons, but I do occasionally switch up my teas to match some psychological comfort I’m seeking. Yes, a snowy wintery cold day may trigger my mind to think of chai. In the summer I’m more likely to turn toward blends with fruity scents as I’m not as partial to them hot, but love them iced.
I drink hot tea on the hottest of days. Happily.
Am not particularly a fan of hot weather, so tea is sometimes the only tolerable thing on such a day.
Why is there so much tea (and curry) consumed in India – which has some very hot weather? Because a hot drink is actually more cooling than an iced one in hot weather; something to do with core temperature and pores I expect. Drink what you like, when you like.
I’m not sure who goes troppo. Is it Australians, or everyone else? Could be you, you know, Robert.
‘Mother Nature is not your Tea Sommelier.’ Anyway, I’m with Ken, Verity, and Jackie. It just isn’t very exciting if it isn’t hot.
@lahikmajoe is alive?!!
He might be, @jackie, or perhaps his ghost occaisonally breaks through with some bon vivantry from another realm.
I’m with Lahikmajoe and Vsopfables on this one. Having said that, I did switch teas half way through that 40 degrees (celsius) afternoon we spent together in McLaren Vale because the Lady Devotea blend felt better for those temperatures than the Lord Petersham… But @theDevotea, were you not the one who had iced tea that day?
I had both a hot tea and an iced tea that day. I was not playing favourites.
I drink hot tea all year long.
Great content here, I learned at the same time of being entertained, great read!
And nothing is more important than promoting my own blog. Hence the really generic link, It’s not like the moderator can take out my links. Oh crap, that happened.
And you should not infer from my poor grammar than I am not a native English speaker. I could just be a moron.