It is the wrong half of the year to even be talking about iced tea. I get it. I’m wondering if my Esteemed Editor will even be able to read through another piece that addresses my slightly offbeat tea-related quirk. I won’t go over the basics of it again, since I already did that here, but suffice to say that I’ve totally forsaken hot tea in favor of the iced stuff. Yes, totally. I can’t even remember the last time I drank hot tea.
But it’s time to pause for a quick definition of terms. To be honest “iced tea” isn’t really even suited to this situation. It’s a term that, for me at least, conjures up visions of those tall glasses, full up with ice cubes and tea and then there are those long spoons and of course there’s (cringe) plenty of sugar and perhaps a slice of lemon.
Blah. For my purposes “iced” tea is really just tea that’s not served hot but is kept on ice. I actually find that it tastes best when I’ve let it warm up just a bit. But “cool tea” just doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
In any event, I realize that this puts me way out of sync with the rest of the northern hemisphere, where the cold winds are now blowing and the snowflakes are doing what they do and so forth. I know that I should be huddled around the wood stove with a cup of hot chocolate or perhaps some warm cider or mulled spiced wine or perhaps even some (double cringe) coffee, but it ain’t gonna happen. My cool tea works just fine for me, thank you very much.
No, it doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that I live in the relatively balmy environs of southern Arizona. It’s winter here for us as well, although those of you from more brisk climes might not quite recognize it as such and might even scoff at calling it that. But the fact is that when you’ve spent a good chunk of the year acclimating to temperatures that are only a few degrees cooler than the surface of the sun, what some might call a balmy winter takes on a totally different perspective.
In closing, I’d like to say that I’ll come to my senses at some point and start drinking hot tea again but I have to be honest. I don’t see it happening anytime soon. Sorry, Esteemed Editor.
[Note from the Esteemed Editor: Aaaaaaack!]
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