I am a tea drinker. Oh, I enjoy my morning coffee, but I drink more tea than coffee.

My favorites are Earl Grey, Chai, and Jasmine teas. I also enjoy lemon with ginger, green teas, and cinnamon teas.

The habit began in my childhood. Having an Irish grandmother who consumed a fair amount of tea in her time, I was introduced to tea before I ever tried coffee. Nanny Smith lived with my family on Staten Island, and it became our ritual to drink afternoon tea together. I would come home from school, and I would make us both a cup of tea and chat about our day. Usually, we drank Lipton tea which she bought at the A&P in New Dorp.

Plus, we had the occasional cookies or bakery goods that had been delivered by the Holterman’s bakery nearby.Those were special times. Generally, we had crackers or buttered toast or tea by itself.

Tea with milk and sugar seemed the cure-all for colds, chills, fever, and the winter blues.

The idea of a coffee hour came in my late teens when I had a summer job at a bank where the entire office stopped at mid-morning for a coffee break. At that time, I worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and it was a welcome respite to pause after counting checks to have a cup of coffee, a snack of some kind, and chat awhile. Coffee began to replace my tea in the morning and at midday. Yet, I still had my tea sometime during the day.

Over the year, I had the opportunity to travel, and I learned that tea is a favored drink in many countries especially in Ireland, land of my maternal ancestors. My first trip to the Erin isle proved fun and one of an inordinate amount of tea consumption as there was tea in the morning, tea with lunch, tea in the late afternoon, and tea after dinner. Tea and sympathy is an expression that rings true as it was often over tea that stories were told, condolences made, and friendships rekindled.

I drank mint tea in a glass in Tangiers, tea and crumpets in Bermuda, afternoon tea with sandwhiches in London, a Victorian tea in Cape May, New Jersey, and a variety of teas elsewhere. I still drink the type of tea which my maternal grandmother favored, Lipton, and I think of those times we had long ago.