HTJ's Kitchen: Not for all the tea in China...

Over the weekend, my wife was reorganizing some shelves in the kitchen and the dining room, making space for some new things, when she called me into the kitchen. Now, it is no secret around these parts that I enjoy tea. I always have. I am not teetotal, but I am an inveterate tea drinker. "Tea: the drink that rejuvenates, but does not inebriate" - that is my motto. Much of the tea I enjoy is Indian via a variety of British tea purveyors. Darjeeling and Assam being my two favorites. Years ago, I had a great source for a single estate first flush Darjeeling, but that simply isn't available anymore. I usually brew from loose leaf tea, as it just tastes better than tea bags. I have a bunch of older tea tins (above) that I find it hard to let go of, and actually, many of these have the best seals, or even double lids, so I continue to use some of them for storing tea. However, I'm getting away from the story at hand: It is possible to have too much tea. There is wisdom in that old adage, "Not for all the tea in China."

After we put all of the tea onto the island, even I was surprised at the sheer amount of tea and tins that had been taking up space in the cabinets and cupboards. Some tea tins and boxes had been given as gifts by various kindly disposed folks, among them are the hard to drink "teas" with flower petals, dried fruit and even nuts. Well, as I looked at the island, it was I who felt like a bit of a nut. My wife asked me to check "expiration dates" on tins and boxes and discard what was too old to possibly be any good anymore. There were also the opened tins that seemed like good ideas when tasted at the store, but which really never made a big hit once they were brought home.

They all went into a bag, one great blend of unwanted tea. It sort of looked like something that I might rake up from under the bushes in the yard. Moral of the story: Don't over stock tea in the pantry. Keep tea fresh and purchase only what is needed. If you are ever invited to a tea lover's home, resist the temptation to give teas with fruit, flowers, nuts and various potpourri in them. Stick with the basics: Darjeeling, Assam, Earl Grey, various Breakfast Blends, etc. I told myself that the same rule should also apply when purchasing tea for home.

All of this reminds me of an article that Mike Royko, the late and well-loved syndicated columnist, once wrote about shopping and stocking the pantry in his home. Royko wrote about how he and his wife had a difference of views over grocery shopping, with him claiming that she bought things that just sat in the pantry and never got used. His great dislike were the cans of stewed tomatoes that he reported just sat ignored in the pantry, taking up space. His radical proposal for shopping (which I hope his wife did not accept) was a moratorium on shopping "until we eat everything in the house." Now, I suspect that Mr. Royko was not much of a cook, because it is just far easier to keep certain things on hand if one really wants food and the kitchen to be a part of daily life.