In the past couple days, the weather has become dramatically warmer here in the mid-Atlantic. It is currently 81 degrees in northern Delaware, and yesterday the high here was 82 (and it was 85 in Philadelphia).
When it is cold indoors and outdoors, I greatly enjoy the warmth that a cup of hot tea has to offer. But when it's warmer, sometimes even quite hot, I still enjoy drinking hot tea. I definitely treat a hot cup of tea differently when I'm feeling too warm...I tend to set it down a bit farther from me, I tend not to hold the cup closely with my hands, instead taking a brief sip and then setting it down. I also tend to drink it more slowly, allowing it to cool more before drinking it. But overall, the experience of drinking it is still pleasant, even if it is quite hot in my surroundings and I am feeling rather warm already.
Eventually, when the weather gets very hot, I will, at times, drink more iced tea than hot tea. But I don't generally see iced tea as a substitute for hot tea. I tend to make a large pitcher of iced herbal tea, and drink it almost like water. On some of the hottest days, I'll still have a cup of hot tea in the morning.
Tea and Herbal Teas in Tropical Climates
I find it interesting that there are so many cultures from tropical countries, with hot year-round climates, in which both tea and various herbal teas are regularly consumed. There are long traditions of drinking hot liquids in hot weather from many different cultures. Tea is widely consumed throughout the middle east, in South Asia, and various hot drinks are consumed in the tropical parts of South America as well.
Do you still drink a lot of hot tea in hot weather?
Hi AZ. I love your thoughtful and personal tea posts.
ReplyDeleteI drink hot tea everyday but if it's going to be above ~80 degrees (luckily that's rare here in Seattle) I'll usually make a large pot of something in the morning, drink a cup or two hot, then put the rest in the fridge to drink with ice in the afternoon.
On a tangent - I often hear a lot of people talking about how their tea cravings change to suit the weather or the season... but I never really feel that way... my tea cravings jump around randomly day to day.
I do drink hot tea in warm weather especially in the morning, but drink more in the winter time.
ReplyDeleteI've written a bit about this, and I still drink as much hot tea as I normally do in hot weather.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I don't drink iced drinks at all, I might more readily let a cup of hot tea cool a bit in the hottest days of summer. It might be counter-intuitive, but I actually feel as if cold things are harder to digest than hot or room temperature ones.
Yes I do, but I do about as you do - no cuddling, let it cool more. I tend to do more greens and oolongs and the lighter blacks in hot weather. However, I like to experiment with my regular teas as ice tea. I do them in the fridge, over the course of several hours and many are much more delicate that way. Some, like Lapsang Souchong, are absolutely, positively dreadful!
ReplyDeleteI just made my first pitcher yesterday and it's lovely. Cheers!
I'm with you - nothing replaces my hot tea! Iced tea is more of a replacement for water b/c I'm tired of that. ;-)
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