The month of January is National Hot Tea Month. I suppose our legislators had nothing better to make decisions about on the day they resolved that. However, I guess it would excite me if I were a member of a Tea Cartel.

I’ve been meaning to post about tea all month, but I’ve had a hard time getting too worked up about it. My daddy always said that hot tea was a “sissy drink,” and I’m my daddy’s daughter. I’m a coffee drinker, myself. I like my coffee strong enough to walk over and climb in the cup all by itself.

It’s not that I don’t like hot tea; actually, I do. It’s just not the first drink I reach for when I’m thirsty. Hot tea was something momma gave us to soothe a sore throat. I just don’t think of having a cup of tea unless I’m feeling poorly.

Now iced tea is a different story. When I was growing up, I thought it was one word: “icetea.” Really what we drank was “sweetea.” Sweetea is one word. If you are from the South, you know that. You also know that to make it, you brew the tea and put the sugar in it while it’s hot. That’s the only way it tastes right.

I did get the opportunity once to “take tea” at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia. It is an experience not to be missed if you are in the area. The hotel is very elegant, but they allow tourists into the dining room in “smart casual” attire. Bubba can’t go in his tank top and torn jeans. The food was marvelous. I don’t remember the actual tea, because I was too busy trying to elbow my way to the fruit tarts. Yummy!

I thought I was taking “high tea,” but it turns out I was taking “afternoon tea.” There’s a difference. Jane Pettigrew wrote an excellent article for The Tea Muse to explain afternoon tea and how it got started in the 1800s. The difference between the two is simple. “Afternoon tea” is more of a ladies social diversion with delicate desserts and hors d’oeuvres and “high tea” is served later in the evening as more of a manly meal with meats, fish, eggs, bread, and cheese.

I found a blog called Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea and Chocolate in Between that is an interesting site. She has a lot of recipes and many links to other sites of the same ilk. I actually found her site when I was researching something else. Er, umm, I was trying to find out what “Spotted Dick” was. I’m not being a potty mouth (and I don’t know anyone with a “condition”). It’s actually a suet pudding with dried fruit that comes to the surface and looks like spots. You know it’s from England, because the Brits are the only people who can use a name like that with a straight face. You can find it in cans at World Market if you don’t believe me.

But, I digress. Green tea is supposed to be healthy for you to drink, but that’s not going to get my attention. Liver is supposed to be good for you, too, and I’m not going to consume it either.

I’m told that if you save your used tea bags in the refrigerator you can put them on your eyes for about 10 minutes to relieve puffy and fatigued eyes. I’ve also heard that tea will soothe a sunburn or an insect bite. Recently I ran across an article that said you can soothe tired feet (and remove the odor from stinky feet) by soaking them in a tea bath. I’m sure there are lots of other uses.

If you are a tea drinker, have a cup of tea, or a tea party, to celebrate National Hot Tea Month. If you aren’t, you can join me for an RC Cola and a moon pie.