A cup of tea, with Anu.

I am quite passionate about tea and because i hugely enjoy both drinking it and talking about it i have "sat down together with" some lovely tea drinking ladies and asked them a few questions about their relationship with tea. This time it is the lovely Anu and i who are having our tea-time together: 
 

V: Do you remember when you first started drinking tea?
A: First of all thank you dear Vibeke for having me chatting with you about tea – I am a passionate tea drinker and it is a pleasure to answer these questions. I must have tasted tea before I went to school but my first memories of really enjoying tea are from my school days. When I was very little my favourite hot drinks were hot chocolate and silver tea – at least that was the name my family used for adding milk to a cupful of hot water. It was nice to dip cookies to my silver tea. Sweet memories…

V: What is your favourite teas? You can mention as many as you like....*smiling*..

A: I have so many favourites *smiling back*. It actually depends on my mood and also a little on the time of day. In general I like flavoured black & white teas the most. In the morning I kind of need some black tea. Earl Grey is something I just love to have if I am having porridge. I don’t know why but I have this quirky habit of having porridge together with milk, earl grey and a couple of slices of cheese. Although I mentioned Earl Grey I am really not picky about the sort of black tea I have in my morning cup (or should I say cups? I have at least two cups usually). Often I have flavoured black tea but sometimes something else.
At work I usually drink unflavoured black tea and use tea bags. There are not so many tea drinkers among my colleagues so the tea selection in there is quite poor. Therefore I drink what’s available. Sometimes I bring my own tea and of course it is then there for anyone to enjoy, too.

At home after work I love to have teas with flavours; fruits, blossoms, coconut, liquorice, mint….I adore jasmine pearls, green tea with cherry (the one you sent me is my favourite!! Thank you again. I still have some left because it is such a delicacy and I have been saving it), and black tea with cinnamon and apple. I also like Assam FOP just as it is.

V: Favourite thing to eat together with your tea?

A: I am very fond of scones with butter with my tea. Right now, while writing this, I am having dark chocolate with my cup (black tea with apple, cinnamon and raisins)J Cake is always a good option too and because baking is one of my favourite things to do, on weekends I often have some cake or biscuits with my cup. In the evenings my favourite is to have a cup of tea with rye bread and cheese. When I think of this I can say that I drink tea without eating anything only during the day. In the morning and evening I always want to have something with it.

V: Most times, do you do something while having your tea, like fex. knitting, reading or listening to music?
A: I really like to read a book, magazine, lovely blog etc., knit or watch a tv-show or a movie while drinking tea. But I also love to have a good conversation over tea or a moment in solitude with my cup. At work I often walk with my cup, too. My students know this habit of mine and they now that while I am walking in the corridors and in the lobby with my cup, they can come to chat with me.

V: Is your country, Finland, a country where it is very common to drink tea? is there any tea traditions there?
A: Yes, it is very common although there is a quite strong coffee culture here. At offices there are “coffee breaks”, but nobody talks about “tea breaks” J Nowadays, we have tea rooms and places to get some good quality teas. Some coffee shops still have mostly basic tea in their selection but actually it doesn’t bother me so much. I must admit though that it is a true pleasure to visit a proper coffee shop or a tea room where there are several wonderful options.
About traditions, I don’t think there are any traditions concerning tea in Finland. Or wait, actually the concept of an evening tea (iltatee) is something that you can find in our vocabulary, but it doesn’t mean everybody is having it because there is also a similar word for coffee (iltakahvi).

V: Is it a good tea selection to choose from in the stores and do you sometimes buy tea on-line?

A: I think the selection is quite good in specialized tea shops here and I can actually find many nice blends from supermarkets, too. I have a habit of buying tea also abroad when we are travelling (not very often though). One of my favourite tea shops is in Copenhagen (A.C.Perch’s Thehandel). It is the funniest story how I found that shop. We flew via Copenhagen to Wienna some ten years ago. We had time for a quick tea while waiting another plane and we had some earl grey (tea bags) there. I adored that tea and saved the label from the bag. Later I googled the shop and wrote that down. Then when we went to Copenhagen I just had to visit it and, of course, buy those tea bags together with many other teas. They also have a web shop, if you want to take a look. About buying from abroad my husband sometimes brings me tea from business trips and I love that! Last time he brought Jasmine pearls and green earl grey.
Oh, and about web shops; I could also mention the finnish tea company Nordqvist. I really like their teas such as white tea with blueberry (Valkoinen karhu – White bear) and black tea with peach, pineapple and orange (Uskollinen ystävä – a loyal friend.) They also have a blend called Sadepäivän ilo = “The joy of a rainy day” – how sweet is that? I often drink that tea on a rainy day. I’m a hopeless romantic.

V: Which tea cup of the day do you enjoy the most? (for example the first (morning) or the last (evening))?

A: The last in the evening, I have to say. It is usually a cup I enjoy with my husband – just the two of us ♥ My husband often drinks juice or soda and I drink tea, lots of tea.

V: Do you drink iced tea in the summer season? In case you do, is there any flavours you especially like when drinking iced or is it the same ones as the ones you prefer when drinking hot?

A: I must admit I am not very keen on Ice tea. Many ice teas I have tasted have been quite sweet and I think that is the main reason I don’t drink them so much. I like my tea without sugar, you see. I have made ice tea myself without sugar but very seldom. In fact maybe I could try it again.

V: Do you have a favourite tea mug/cup? Maybe we can get to see a photo of it....*smiling*.... 

A: I have many favourites and I took a picture for you of some of them. There are some white cups, some pale blue ones and also a wooden cup my father made me. It is lovely when we are on a picnic outdoors. I also like many kinds of ceramic cups. I like to hold the cup between my hands and get warm like that so big cups are always my favourites, although small ones work, too (as you can see from the picture where I am holding one of my favourite white cups). . I don't necessarily need a proper tea cup and I often use small bowls for tea. In the picture there is that little bowl with white flowers in the center of the picture. It is my favourite bowl for tea. I love the colour of it and I have sweet memories of getting a collection of those cups. I have a habit of getting attached to things that hold sweet memories and that applies also for tea cups. Necessarily the style or colour is not the most important thing, although somehow I like to drink from cups I which I can see the colour of the tea (e.g.white or pale coloured cups).  

 

Anu's english blog "Bluebird's diary"
and
finnish blog "Sinkkisanko".