I think our 13 year old is a “super taster.” She doesn’t eat much in the way of variety because the flavors all seem so strong to her. And her sense of smell is crazy. One day I got a big box of tea in the mail and she sat with me as I opened the pouches and smelled them. She (at 13) was saying thing like, “It kind of smells like a mix of hay and raisins,” or “Its got a bit of caramel flavor, but I also smell something really earthy,” while at the same I’m thinking “I smell tea.” But she hasn’t had much interest in actually trying anything that wasn’t a fruity hibiscus tea (yuck). Anyway, she returned home from a trip to Nepal with her mom (I’m her step mom) and told me she really likes Jasmine tea. She knows I drink a ridiculous amount and always laughs when the mailman brings me “another” box of tea in the mail so she asked if I would get her some jasmine tea. I don’t normally drink much jasmine, but I am happy to have someone in the house to drink tea with and something to continue my connection with her as she heads into increasingly tough ages (I hated 13-15).
So today, she and I brewed up small batches of a variety of tea. I bought a few more glass test tube steepers (i just love them) and we made the yunnan full leaf, this, and the laoshan black rose bergamot thing, I’ll look that up later. Regardless, this was the clear winner for her. And surprisingly, it was for me too. The glass test tube steeper let us watch the little pearls unfurl and turn into bright leaves and we had a great time just talking about a variety of topics.
Tea. Magical.
I love my test tube steeper!
You sound like an awesome stepmom!