We have all heard of love at first sight, but what about love at first taste? Whether or not you believe in love at first sight, love at first taste is an entirely different kettle of fish…or pot of tea, as it were. Have you sipped a tea for the first time and been completely enraptured? Have you just known that this is a tea you would drink all the time, and have to have a tin of at home? Has this tea maintained its allure for you?

Falling in love with a tea at first taste has happened to me several times, both for entirely new teas, as well as for a particular brand or blend of a tea that I was already familiar with. There have been different outcomes; for some my first reaction has stood the test of time, but for others my taste buds changed their mind somewhere along the way.

There are many factors that may affect that first passionate response: how the tea is brewed on that particular day, what you are eating it with, your energy levels, specific cravings at that time, and so on. A change in these factors may affect whether or not you remain as entranced with a tea as when you first tried it. Of course, it is hard to analyse these variables, so sometimes the best way to decide if a tea really is for you is to see how you feel about it on another occasion. If you still love it, then perhaps this is a tea you want to invest in and keep some at home. However, the repeat taste test is not always a fool proof option—sometimes you many enjoy a tea for a few months and then suddenly fall out of love. Taste buds can be mercurial things. Still, chances are that if you’ve enjoyed a tea several times, you’ll continue to enjoy its taste.

But at the end of the day, whatever the outcome and whether or not it is a tea that you end up trying again, tea love at first taste is a wonderful thing to experience.

See more of Elise Nuding’s articles here.

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