The countdown to Christmas in on, and your time to assume the role of Santa Claus (or one of his helpers) is drawing near. It may even be affecting your tea time. How can you tell? Here are some signs to look for:

1 Vocabulary Morphage

This can be a bit deceptive where you think you are just going along with the normal holiday lingo. But it goes a bit deeper than the occasional reference. You will find that everything you say, not just one or two things, has a Christmas theme to it. For example:

• You start referring to your guests as your “toy-making elves.”
• You rate everything as either “naughty” or “nice.”
• You rename the dog “Rudolph.”
• And you refer to the tea and scones as “milk and cookies.”

2 Tea Preference Changes

Speaking of tea, the change here can be pretty dramatic. Even I, who in the past couple of years have found my taste for flavored teas to have virtually vanished with a few exceptions (such as a nice masala chai), find myself enjoying some of the flavored teas that pop up this time of year. Holiday Spice Tea is one such choice. Most of the time it can be a bit over-cinnamony, but this time of year that higher level of cinnamon seems to hit the spot, especially with milk … and cookies … yum! … big, fat, chocolate chip filled, moist and chewy cookies … droooooool! … uh, sorry, where was I? Oh yeah, tea taste changes. It isn’t just the seasonally flavored teas that will suddenly take on appeal to you but also teas that are stronger in flavor in general. Lapsang Souchong comes to mind here. If you have a fireplace or woodstove, that smokiness is naturally part of Winter and the holiday season, so why not in your tea, too? Or a nice rich and hearty Keemun, a peppery Yunnan Gold, or the ever popular Assam?

3 Preparation Alteration

As your preference gravitates to those stronger tasting teas, so your steeping method changes so that you find yourself using a bit more tea leaves to give that tea extra “oomph” and take away the chill. And of course you serve it piping hot with milk and sweetener — guaranteed to steel you up for those long Winter nights ahead and all the tasks of preparing for the celebrations to come, not to mention that long sleigh ride through the sky.

4 Physical Changes

Unlike Tim Allen, you don’t actually go through a complete physical metamorphosis. But you do develop a laugh that is less of a titter or even a chuckle and more of a lower toned “ho, ho, ho!” You guys may find yourselves stroking a non-existent long white beard and walking around trying to look like you have a belly the shape of a bowl full of jelly and just as wiggly when you do those “ho, ho, ho’s!” The gals will be getting a good chuckle out of that!

5 Wardrobe Changes

Red will become your favorite color. Plus black accessories (belts and boots) and a hat of the long, pointy variety that you mom used to try to get you to wear so you wouldn’t catch cold (but you wouldn’t wear because it made you look dorky and so caught cold after all). You may also find yourself toting around a very large dark-colored velvet bag full of fake gifts — empty boxes (to save you from an aching back by the end of the day) all wrapped up in glittering wrapping paper and bows.

Well, have you gone all “Santa” yet at tea time? Don’t worry, you will!

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

© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.