My Own Quaint Little Tea House

How often have you had that one moment where you're struck completely with the desire to know everything about something almost to the point where you feel like either a stalker or a private investigator? Well, I have had it plenty. It sounds terrible, right? Barring doing anything completely ridiculous to obtain the information - such as staking out the library shelves wearing giant, suspicious glasses, a large trench coat, and a fedora, and stealing the books from other patrons after they get them off the shelves - I've done my fair share of obsessing.

I've read a ton of books from the library, and earned myself a ton of library late fees as I decided to read them again and again before returning them. By now, I'd say I do a pretty good job of supporting my local library with monetary contributions. What do I stack up late fees on? Lately, not fiction. I've had trouble sitting down and consuming a fiction book, but I blame generalized content for that. I don't want to read any stories about vampires, werewolves, and zombies (Oh my!). Mainstream YA seems to have taken a huge turn toward that, and even the urban fantasy/science fiction/romance genre are taking a cue from "What's Hot" and publishing book after book of it. With all that, I don't feel like browsing the new stuff as often.

Luckily, I manage a local bookstore, so I get to order and see all the books as they come in (and stack piles of books under the counter for myself as they come in!) So, not only does this help me find good books to read that aren't mainstream, but I can also find books related to my current obsession: Tea.

I know, it takes me a while to get to the subject I'm talking about, right? I went to a tea house down in Lawrence, Kansas during my (too) brief stay down there. House of Cha was a wonderful place to get a cuppa, or a pot of tea if you had time. Being served a pot of tea and a cute little tray of sugar, honey, and milk pretty much had me sold on the idea already. Coming from a small town, population less than 10k, such a place was not even thought to be possible. I had, and still have, a small town mindset. This place was the epitome of "Small Town Shop in Big City". I loved the cozy atmosphere, and looking at the tea pots and tea accessories for sale. For a while I was buying my tea from them in bulk and having the loose leaves shipped but their website link no longer seems to lead to their website (which makes me very sad).

So while I cannot get that particular bulk tea right now, there are still plenty of other places to get my fix for my obsession. I haven't yet had to buy a trench coat, shades, and hat and meet shady tea dealers in back alleys. There are places to learn the history of tea, whether I pick books from my own library, the city library system, or even online. Colleges all over the world are offering courses to become a Tea Sommelier. The American Tea Masters Association offers the opportunity for Tea Master Certification.

Opportunities are out there to learn about Tea, but whether one is motivated enough to look for them or not is entirely up to the individual. For me, its simply amazing to sit down with a cuppa, smell the aroma of the tea whether it is sharp or delicate, woodsy or flowery depending on my chosen flavor, and think to myself, "I know about you... What more can I learn?" The books I've read lately, as I said, haven't been fiction. They've been non-fiction, and all about tea. Hopefully someday I can open my own quaint little Tea House. For now, I'll settle with just sharing a cuppa with anyone whether its at my kitchen table or through my new blog. So feel free to settle in with your tea, whether its hot or iced, bagged or loose. You know I'm having a cup!

Note: This was the only blog post on an old blog. I decided to transfer it here so I could remove the old blog. :)
©2012 Jaimie Gross

Post Note: A few days after I originally posted this on the other blog, someone opened a tea shop in my town. So I promptly accused them of stealing my idea and followed that up with asking for a job. I no longer work at the bookstore, as it sadly had to shut its doors in September 2013. I'm also not any closer to being a tea sommelier. This is all quite sad.