A First Class Cup of Tea

The NY Times had an article today about high-end teas and how they are now being sold in teabags. These aren’t the usual tea dust that we have come to appreciate in America, having for centuries been drinking the dregs from the holds of tea clippers after the good stuff was offloaded in England.

These are whole leaf teas, put into nylon pyramid shaped tea bags that can set you back two bucks apiece. I was fortunate to have been given some of these treasures for Christmas (in a tin box, of course) from Wilhelm's folks, so after reading the story in the Times I went upstairs and made myself a cup of the best tea I’ve had since the last time I made myself a cup from one of these tea bags a month ago.

Of course you know where this leading: to a book. I pulled off the shelf a book I had begun reading a while back, The History of the World In 6 Glasses (2005), by Tom Standage, the technology editor of the Economist. But I had read only only the beer section before my attention was drawn elsewhere.

However, judging from the beer and tea sections the book is a treasure. (The other glasses are wine, spirits, coffee, and Coca-Cola.)