Spring is historically a time of year when people think of deep cleaning their house or, better yet, selling it and moving to a new house. If you’re undertaking that latter option, that is, moving to a new abode, don’t forget to take some tea along for the ride. Moving can be a very thirst-inducing activity. Trust me, been there, done that.

For you bottled tea drinkers, the solution is simple: stock up. Duh!

The rest of us need to put forth a bit more effort. That can be as simple as carrying along a package of your favorite tea to as complicated as toting your Tea Princess Kit, your gongfu tea time equipage, or a whole box of everything for tea time, including an electric tea kettle and some jugs of water.

For a Fairly British Style Moving Tea Arrangement

Being one who relishes her Assam tea, steeped a proper five minutes (as opposed to some who prefer a wimpy steep of only two or three minutes) and served with a splash of milk and a dash of sweetener or even masala style, I find the British style arrangement most suitable. Of course, it will work equally well with just about any black tea such as English Breakfast Blend No. 1, a personal favorite. Here’s all you need:

• A supply of your tea of choice.
• An electric tea kettle.
• A sturdy teapot of the appropriate size (since I’m usually steeping for hubby and me, a 4-cup pot is best) in a sturdy material (here’s where a stainless steel teapot is a great idea).
• A strainer (unless you are a teabag user).
• Sweetener of choice.
• Some of those no-refrigeration-required non-dairy creamers (a bit of a sacrifice of taste is needed here under the circumstances).
• A sturdy container to tote everything.
• Some bottled water.

For a More Asian Style Moving Tea Arrangement

Since I tend to switch over to green, white, oolong, or pu-erh as the mood strikes me or my tastebuds demand, some Asian style implements are also good here. If you tend to follow a more gongfu style tea preparation method, you might want these things along to facilitate satisfying that urge for tea en route to your new home.

• A supply of tea.
• Either an electric tea kettle or a cast iron kettle (good for both heating the water and for steeping the tea).
• A gaiwan or Yixing clay teapot.
• Sipping cups.
• Some bottled water.

When You Get to That New Abode

Loading all the bits of your life into a truck at one end and then out and into your new house/townhouse/apartment at the other end is more than a journey of distance. It is a journey of life. No matter how that new place compares with the old (bigger, smaller, older, newer, etc.), it will be a fresh space in your life that you will fill and in a way be filled by. The tea implements that traveled with you and that kept your tea hunger satisfied will also be one of the first things you will add to that new space. They will also be the ones that connect your past to your future. Give those teawares, therefore, a place of honor in your new home.

Safe journey!

See more of A.C. Cargill’s articles here.

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