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Tea

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Call me a bag lady; I drink tea. I drink every type tea that I am aware of. Tea can warm me up on a cold autumn day and it can cool me of in the middle of July. I love the taste, the texture, and it's color. I love every aspect of tea!

I grew up in the south, swigging tea from a Mason jar. This cliche is true. We really do it that way. Our family would gather on the porch to swap stories and drink sweet tea. My grandmother would brew it all day in the sun out in the backyard. Relatives and friends would come from miles around for my grandmother's ice tea. No, it wasn't "iced." Maybe it was up north or somewhere else, not on her porch.

I also grew up drinking hot tea. With or without honey and lemon, it always had sugar in it. In college, I found this wonderful form of tea - herbal tea. If I had a dime for every time I curled up with a textbook and cup of mint or chamomile or Earl Grey or lemon zinger - every flavor for my many tastes and moods, I would be able to buy all the tea in China. Others drank coffee in the little cafes all over the college town, but I preferred my tea. My east coast friends didn't understand my preference to tea. To me, although different from the sweet tea of the south, it was still a little cup of home.

As an adult, I learned of the health benefits of tea. I'm sure all the sugar we put in it and the fried foods we ate with it, canceled out any health benefits, it was nice to know it wasn't deadly. Containing all sorts of antioxidants and other medical/scientific "goodies" I don't understand, I like knowing I am making a healthy choice. Sort of healthy, I still like it sweet, very sweet.

Tea doesn't make me jittery and nervous like coffee does. I like the taste of coffee, but I don't like the side effects. Tea seems to calm me. I know that tea and coffee both contain caffeine (except some herbal teas), but there is a difference. At least there is a difference to me. I don't know what that difference is, but tea doesn't make me crazy like coffee.

Tea brings back wonderful memories of home and college. It is healthy. Tea has a calming effect on me. Most of all, I like the taste of it better - cold or hot, sweet or unsweetened, regular or herbal - it all tastes better. Tea has been and always will be the better choice for me.

Learn more about this author, Emma Riley Sutton.
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