We entered the “no snow, just tons of tiny pieces of gravel that you feel and hear at every step” phase here in Berlin. Today we went to Kreuzberg, an area of the city I visited a lot back in the days (even lived in for a while), but, these days, haven’t been to in ages. (Ages are years, I guess. Or at least months.)
I started drinking green tea. I have five different kinds at home, three of them open, and haven’t touched them at least as long as I haven’t been to Kreuzberg. (So, you know, ages.) They’re delightful. My favorite is the Oolong. Second place scores a Kukicha Karigane, which I was absolutely mind blown from when I tried it at a tea saloon at the Chaos Communication Congress in December 2014 or 2015. It tasted so nice, so sweet, so light, I loved it. I ordered the exact same tea from France…and that’s the one I still have, and enjoyed so many times. The use-by date is long (long!) past, but the taste is still there. Third place is a cheap Genmaicha, which always tastes nicely like popcorn, and what else do you want.
I’m very close to opening the two still sealed packages of green tea. They’re waiting for me. But I’m afraid that my green tea phase will end so soon that opening them will be a mistake. It also feels greedy: Can’t I enjoy my three nice kids of tea that I have? Why do I need more? Then again, yolo, and maybe opening those green teas will be the reason this tea phase won’t just be a phase.
There are two great things about drinking green tea that I haven’t considered before (besides the amazing taste, that is, and the health benefits).
The first is the water temperature. I’m one of those people who pour cold water into their fresh tea because it’s too dann hot and I’m too impatient. I made myself a beverage? I want to drink it NOW, and I don’t want to burn my tongue while doing so. Green tea understands: It’s often happy with 70 degree warm water anyway, which, I learned in the past days, is a tea temperature that’s immediately possible to enjoy.
The second, more obvious advantage is that green tea just keeps on giving. You pour hot water on it once, drink it, pour hot water again, then again…you can make yourself not just one tea, but three or four. And it’s always a mini ritual. It’s very, very nice.
Even if this green tea phase will be over in a few weeks, I’ll make sure that I won’t let so many more ages pass again before I start another one.