Ever have one of those days when your alarm clock becomes an endangered species as you fling it across the room for waking you too early and your eyelids go on strike and refuse to rise except to locate the alarm clock that survived its encounter with the bedroom wall so you can smash it again? Me, too. That’s when it’s a “2 cuppa” morning. And quite frankly it’s not the caffeine that is at issue here. Tea doesn’t really have enough to affect the average person that much.

The purpose of the two cups of tea is more to ingest additional fluids. That’s what gets me going, at least. I make a 6-cup potful, usually something strong like PG Tips, Typhoo, straight Assam like Borengajuli Estate, or a Ceylon black tea like Sylvakandy Estate. The first cup is downed with breakfast. These teas go with any of the typical American breakfast foods: eggs, sausage, biscuits, muffins, pancakes, and so on. Of course, chocolate-covered bacon, a treat I’ve seen posted on Facebook numerous times, is less traditional but certainly a great day starter (and mid-morning snack, lunchtime treat, afternoon snack, dinner, and bedtime treat). There’s also French toast bacon. Yum! They all go better with that first morning cuppa.

Time for the second morning cuppa. This one will be enjoyed on its own, savored for its warmth, for its aroma, and for its comforting flavor. Ah, tea as “comfort food.” I’ll have to add it to the list I showed in this article. But that second cup isn’t just comforting, it is an important focal point for a moment to yourself, a moment to reflect, to plan the day’s activities, to coax those eyelids upwards into a more perky position, and to gather steam for tasks ahead.

How can one simple cup of tea do all that? Magic. Well, not exactly, but pretty close. Tea is pretty calming by itself with its brainwave altering theanine. When it comes to a cuppa with milk (whole or 2%) in it, that milk adds to the natural calming affect of tea. The “comfort” in comfort foods is usually the warmth and, believe it or not, fat content  and protein, and so it is with a cuppa that has milk in it. Some claim that foods rich in calcium will help boost our mood, and people who are depressed are often advised to take a calcium and Vitamin D supplement or drink 1 or 2 glasses of milk a day as a natural mood booster (helps you feel happier and be more productive). Many of us recognize that simply holding a hot drink in both hands spreads the warmth and makes us feel happier.

It’s no wonder that on those slow mornings, a couple of cuppas is what I need — one wakes me up while the other sets that happy mood. After that I can handle anything! Well, almost. Time to go buy a new alarm clock and patch that dent in the drywall.

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

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