Sugar Bowl

Before you get excited about college football or a ski resort in California, this is about a sugar bowl which generally holds C12H22O11 (Carbon 12, Hydrogen 22, Oxygen 11; aka sucrose or table sugar).

If you asked me, six months ago, what I thought about Celestial Seasonings teas, I would have told you that I didn't like them, even after trying several different flavors. They weren't weren't my cup of tea despite their popularity. I enjoyed tea(s) from other brands ubiquitously found at supermarkets, for example, Stash, Twinings, Bigelow, Tazo, Yogi, and Traditional Medicinals. What was it about Celestial Seasonings teas? I wondered for a while and finally decided to ask the tea connoisseurs on Ravelry.

One person suggested adding sugar to make the fruit tea flavors pop. Eager to try this, I made some Raspberry Gardens tea -- a flavor I was not impressed with at all -- with a teaspoon of sugar. Boy did that make a difference in my tea drinking experience! The tea was much improved by this simple addition.

I drink a tremendous amount of tea on a daily basis, however most of my teas are consumed unadulterated with any sweeteners or milk. I was never in the habit of adding anything to my tea and I can enjoy many black teas plain, even the ones which most people drink with milk in it.

After this amazing discovery of what I've been doing wrong with the Celestial Seasonings teas, I decided it was time for me to dig out the sugar bowl. I should mention here that we don't use much sugar in our house. It is mostly used for baking, so we just measure out what we need from the 5 lb bag from the store or a large container if I have stored it in one. This is quite cumbersome when one only wants one teaspoon of tea. So I went in search of our sugar bowl, which was still packed in a box since our move to this new house back in September 2007.

Mom's sugar bowl

This is my mom's sugar bowl, it's part of a set of china which I "inherited" when we moved to the new house. The rest of the set is still packed up in boxes, along with a second set of china also "inherited" from my mom. The second set is a fancy Chinese style set which is not very practical for using, so it will most likely remain packed in boxes for a few decenniums.

Sitting next to this sugar bowl is my new love. Celestial Seasonings Sweet Coconut Thai Chai tea which someone on Ravelry recommended. It is not sold at my local Safeway, however I managed to find it yesterday at Target. I made 3 cups yesterday. And Miss M enjoyed drinking half of my tea.

As I was out shopping today, I managed to pick up more tea: Celestial Seasonings India Chai Spice Tea; Celestial Seasonings Fruit Tea Sampler; 2 boxes of Stash Chai Spice Black Tea. I have had the latter before, consumed plain. I intend to try it with some sugar and milk added.

I have a modest tea stash in my new home. I have managed to allocate one drawer for tea, and both tea bags and loose tea are packed in quite densely. The drawer is only 58.5 cm x 52 cm x 21.5 cm (23 in x 20.5 in x 8.5 in). To make the most of the space, I have consolidated individually wrapped tea bags into boxes. I found this a better use of space than having several boxes each containing 4 or 5 tea bags in them. It may sound like a disorganized mess, but I actually know where my teas are since they are grouped by like kind. Well, sort of.

Teatime now .... I am enjoying a cup of Celestial Seasonings Wild Berry Zinger. It's almost time for Miss M to wake from her nap -- yes, I actually got her to nap today!!! -- and then it'll be time to start dinner. We made Russian Tea Cakes earlier this afternoon, a little surprise for DH when he returns from work...

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