"When you have nobody you can make a cup of tea for, when nobody needs you, that's when I think life is over."

“Some people will tell you there is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Some time ago in the dark of the waning year, a lovely deva from afar made me a cup of tea. It was a Celon brew steeped with ginger, served with honey and cream, and offered with a smile that could tame demons; it tasted like a Nepalese morning in the courtyard of Thamel's Pumpernickel Bakery, a sweet and warm sanctuary from the earthy briskness of a Himalayan day. Now, ordinarily I thrive on morning coffee, but afternoon tea can be better, when it is brewed and served with care and a touch of magic, by another...


“Magick charge and goddess bless
This potion brewed for happiness
Tears of sadness be erased
Tears of gladness take their place”

― Celtic Book of Shadows: 

So on that winter day in the not-so-distant-past, a cup of tea was made for me with care and taste. The water was heated in the coolest clear-glass plug-in carafe that had electric blue under-lighting. It was a rolling-boil lava-lamp-like appliance that made the kitchen look like something out of Bladerunner. The loose tea was held in a clear one-cup dispenser that released its contents when placed upon the lip of the cup intended for drinking; the amber honey, local; the splat of cream, organic. Good god, it was excellent!



“Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?” 

― D.T. Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture:

I was gifted one of those one-cup dispensers, and after Christmas, I bought myself an electric carafe. Although mine does not have the see-through glass body with sci-fi under-lighting, it does allow for six different temperatures for optimal brewing, and a liquid-blue illuminated volume indicator. You see, delicate teas are best brewed at 160 degrees. Green teas do not get bitter if allowed to sit in 175 degree water. White teas, with their subtle flavors prefer 185º while Oolong gets its own temperature setting at 190º. Coffee is exquisite when brewed in sub-boiling water around 200º. And of course Black tea needs a full boil (212º). And the taste improvement of variable temperatures over boiling-water-for-all is noticeable. And, BONUS, it turns out that my new machine is efficient in a way that my stovetop is not...


“Tea ... is a religion of the art of life.” 

― Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea:

I noticed that my water seemed to be ready faster in the carafe than when I would put a kettle on the stove. I assume that the heat element is more efficiently putting its energy into the water than with a stovetop element. So I conducted a quick experiment. I prepared my water in the carafe and also with my old kettle on the stove. The carafe is a 1500w appliance and took 3 minutes to heat my water. The stove-top is a 2600w coil and took 4.5 minutes to bring my water to just shy of boiling. I currently pay an average $.23 per kWh ($.10708 per kWh for generation, and the balance in fees and transmission costs). The carafe thus makes my morning beverage for $.01725 at current price, and the stovetop for $.04485: a savings of $.0276 per use. The carafe cost me $80, and so should be paid off after roughly 3000 boils (5-10 years) 😂. What a deal! So, while I patiently wait for my financial return I will invite my friends to sit at my table, enjoy the taste of a well prepared brew, and find a little smile with each pour...