There are some things that are non-negotiable in life like day and night or the fact that there would be rains and dry seasons no matter what, that’s if you live in tropical regions like I do, and most of all, tea in the mornings for children.
I honestly don’t know any family or person that didn’t have that as a staple breakfast meal. It was like the standard. Tea with toast and scrambled eggs or omelette every morning for all children before going to school. I don't know who invented that as the ideal meal but over here, we carry it on our heads like the Gospel. I remembered the first time my Mum gave us jollof rice as breakfast and my sisters and I screamed in outrage. Rice for breakfast? What happened to tea?
But my Mum would laugh and say that tea wasn’t the prerequisite for a successful morning and rice was just as light and just as ideal for breakfast. We didn’t believe her for a minute but we didn’t have a choice. We couldn’t go hungry anyways, now could we?
So that’s how it was. The legendary tea, which you could eat with toast, crackers, cakes and so on. Quite a legend to me back then. But as I grew up, my love for tea grew into an active distaste, especially in the early mornings. I realized that even the mere mention of tea in the mornings made my tummy churn painfully and so I stopped taking it in the mornings, coffee becoming my true love.
But then I was reading a book one day and got the shocker of my life. What we over here referred to as tea was not actually tea but was called hot cocoa. And it felt like my whole life had been a lie or something. And what I saw my Mum and other older members of the family drink was not just Lipton but it had a generic name. And that was the real Tea.
I haven’t had a lot of teas in my life. Apart from Lipton tea which is made from regular tea leaves and which I drunk mostly to take care of period cramps, and then lemon grass tea that was my Uncle's favourite, I discovered that tea is just not my cup of tea. Yeah, I said it Milly.😂 There’s really no mystery to it and it just lacks that sense of je ne said quoi for lack of a better expression and I’ve mostly associated constant tea drinkers with prissy, uptight people. Although that may just be a stereotype because of the kind of tea lovers I’ve encountered in the past.
However, for the first time in a really long time and in honour of the International Tea Day Contest, which I was happy to partake in, I bought a pack of Lipton tea and while I brewed it, I took a whiff of its aromatic flavour that brought not many memories but good ones nonetheless. I also got myself a little loaf of sardine bread from the bread factory and decided to treat myself to a taste of goodness. Hoping that the experience would make me reconsider my initial inhibitions towards it and make it my new love.
To be honest, I wasn’t disappointed. I did put a cube of sugar to sweeten it a bit and the mix with the bread was quite nice. I was still basking in its wonderful flavour when my sister waltzed in from work with a cup of coffee in hand. And I mentally shook my head from the misleading fog. Was this tea legit trying to steer me away from coffee?
I smiled to myself and finished the tea. Yeah, it was good and I honestly hope to find a brand of tea that would make me an official teal lover but till then…..hehe.
I got this really cool image courtesy of @millycf1976 that describes my feelings towards coffee at the moment. But no hard feelings, tea lovers, I just may become an ardent fan myself one day. Happy International Tea Day everyone.❤️
This is my entry to the International Tea Day Contest and if you’ve not hopped onto it yet, you could check it out. Really fun.
All images are mine unless otherwise stated.
