The TEA in Teas o Rama

I enjoy a good cuppa in the middle of the day. It is delicate, girlie, and sweet. Tea has its own aesthetic that relaxes me and makes me feel like I'm Alice in Wonderland.

Elevenses, say hobbit Pippin- such a dear term for tea break. Here in Texas there is no discrimination between tea time and any old moment of the day- we drink our tea in giant vats with plenty of ice, a long spoon, a straw, two sweet n’ lows and usually a quarter of a lemon floating mid-glass. It is poured sideways out of a plastic pitcher and is a muddy orangey-brown color. Cups are most often huge plastic vessels and could have served as fire buckets or umbrella stands in a former life. There is nothing dainty about Texas tea but there is a ritual. Well, maybe not a ritual, but there is an expectation of sorts. Tea should be cold, sweet, and served in a sweaty oil barrel-sized tumbler to be refilled as soon as the drinker has replaced cup to table. And it is never,

NEVER....

green.