Lately I have been drinking tea in the evening. My favorite tea is “Constant Comment.” I recall that it was
the first taste of tea I had as a kid on a Sunday night when my folks had friends over for dessert after evening services. Sometimes she had an exotic tea made of leaves from the orient. She put the leaves in a metal ball and dropped it into the porcelain tea pot.
My mother had these delicate English Bone China cups with saucers. Flowery patterns, very light weight compared to the coffee cups. Now that I think of it we didn’t have coffee “mugs.” Mugs came later and they had no saucers. And they are bigger and clunkier and took up more space than the our every day cups and saucers. Quality cups feel so good on the lips when you drink from them. People who designed them knew what they were doing – just the right thickness, curve and flow. The whole experience makes drinking tea or coffee a simple pleasure.
Mom worked at Jensen’s gift store. Lots of folks registered there for wedding gifts. So she had very good taste when it came to table wear. She knew how to set a table even if it was just for a dessert party. Nothing cheap looking in our home. So there wasn’t much clutter either.
I still have a few of her china cups. Classy. I think when I drink from a china cup I am serious about what goes in it. Has to be a special time not ordinary. Good coffee. Real cream and sugar cubes in matching china bowls. Maybe that is why she took the good china out of the hutch when we had company. It was special and so were they. Royal, upscale, and delicate – just like friendships.
I drank lots of tea when I spent time in England and they did not have Styrofoam cups or clunky large mugs. But they had nice tea cups. And at 4 PM everything stopped for tea and usually some sweet cookie they called a “biscuit.” Everyone took a break and “chatted” for a few minutes. It held us until we had supper later on and then tea in the evening sometime. There is quite a proper way to do “tea” with the Brits!
Coffee in the morning and tea at night. Life is good. When is the last time you had coffee or tea with a saucer?
The startled look on your face says, “Oops, caught drinking tea from a MUG!” So much for delicate cup and saucer – and extended pinkie to round out the image.
Lump sugar! I’d forgotten all about that childhood treat, one lump soaked in my Dad’s morning coffee. And saucers – where a teaspoon was placed after stirring so as not to soil the tablecloth.
We had two sizes of Lenox china cups and saucers, the larger for coffee, the smaller more delicate for tea. Our teacups were dust collectors – coffee reigned at our house.
Thanks for the memories. Now it’s time for coffee in a Covenant mug.
I can’t say I’m a real fan of “quality” cups and saucers — though I haven’t had much experience with them or tea either. In our family growing up, it was all about the coffee. I can still smell it, percolating on the stove in the morning when mom got us up for school. Of course we all know now that percolation is not the preferred manner of brewing, but it sure filled the home with a fragrant aroma.
Like you, I am very particular about the cups or mugs from which I savor my coffee in the morning. Some mugs have terrible handles, so small that if you put your finger through, the rest of your fingers come to rest on the hot side of the mug. Other mugs are too thick, and don’t feel right on the lips. I own many mugs, but I have two or three favorites that always seem to be in my hand — like right now as I pause in this writing. It’s my Chicago Blackhawks mug, and the Kona tastes just wonderful in it!
Mike
My mother-in-law has many beautiful tea cups. They ARE a pleasure to drink from. It seems to be a tradition at their home to sit around the table for a couple of hours, drink tea or coffee and chat about what comes to mind. Maybe adopting that kind of lifestyle would solve some of the world’s problems. Slower pace- less greed. Howard brought some lovely tea cups back from China when he went there for work many years ago. I should use them more often.
Linda
It was fun to watch you taking your own self-portrait of drinking from a mug…………….. while I was sitting just a few feet away.