A cup of tea, with Magdalena.

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 Magdalena and i who are having our tea-time together:

Magdalena's own drawings

V: Do you remember when you first started with drinking tea?
M: I drink tea since I can remember. It has always been my basic beverage. But I started to enjoy it genuinly in my late school times I think.

Now I am keen on tea not only in terms of drinking it. For me it is a theme inspiring in many aspects: beautiful tableware, interesting design of packaging or even art. I use tea inspiration in some of my drawings, I like pretty tea cups, and I collect tea tags.

V: What are your favourite teas?
M: My favourites are ginger green tea and quince green tea. I constantly discover different tea flavours and types, but green tea is my all time favorite for years. Quite recently a taste of white tea turned out really likable for me too. 

V: Favourite things to eat together with your tea?
M: The perfect match for tea is an apple pie :) But mostly I eat some biscuits with it (of course I dip a bisquit in tea just like a child) or drink just a tea.

V: Is your country, Poland, a country where it is very common to drink tea? Is there any tea traditions there?

M: Tea has always been very popular here as ordinary daily drink. Which means black tea poured with hot water, often served with lemon and sugar or with raspberry juice (especially in a wintertime).

I think a greater awareness for what is tea and openness to taste it and try different types and flavours has come quite not a long time ago. We still usually drink tea to breakfast and supper. But during the day we enjoy tea as well for pleasure, for taste or for relax.

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

M: In grocery shops there are quite good choice of basic teas. For a larger selection I need to go to special stores. I’m not a fan of on-line shopping, so I prefer buying by the way, when I’m in different stores or cities. However it could be a good idea to come around web shops as I would like to try some well-known tea brands (e.g. Kusmi, Yogi, Stash or Pukka) which are not available here in the local shops. As you know I’m a fan of tea swaps too. Sharing new tastes with other people as a lovely surprising gifts is a great enjoyment.

V: Can you tell us about your tea bag and tea tag collection?

M: I started collecting tea tags and tea bags somewhat by chance. When I’ve tasted some delicious tea, I saved the wrap ot tag as a reminder. Then the collection was growing, because some packaging was just so pretty ;) And you know, all these tea tags together looks like fun and the box with tea wraps smells so good! :) so I couldn’t resist keeping them. My collection isn’t very big but enjoyable. I have bags and tags from teas I drink and also sometimes people from different countries send me some as a very nice small gifts.

V: Which tea cup of the day do you enjoy the most?
M: I’m fond of the first cup I can enjoy in the morning. At summer I drink it on the balcony, savoring first sun rays and bracing morning air. I’s kind of keeping the moment of silence and calmness before starting a new day. I also like to have a mug of tea with my daily blogs reading or afternoon tea with a good book. Well, it turns out that I have more than one favourite tea cup of the day ;)

V: Do you have a favourite tea mug/cup? Maybe we can get to see a photo of it?
M: I have a couple of mugs and cups which I like. I usually use my everyday mug with oriental pattern, big, light and handy. But from time to time I’m in the mood for a little change and particular cup, which I choose with a pleasure for celebrating small moments. In my cupboard there’s, among others, delicate pale mug with Winnie the Pooh watercolor which I adore maybe quite childishly, my grandmother’s white vintage mug with flowers, and lavender cup from World Of Jet company (I love their flower series pottery).

Actually I’m a little bit crazy about tea cups/mugs, which you can see on my secondary blog/project: cupcollect.blogspot.com.

Link:
Magdalena's main blog.