Tea: a love story

Thank god i work at a coffee shop, because if I had to buy my own tea, I'd be broke in a week. My love affair with tea started long before my current state of manically addicted. When I was a child, my mother would brew me earl grey in the microwave and sweeten it with sugar and milk. Blowing steam off the surface was just as calming as taking my last sip of the sweet drink.
Today, i do things a bit differently. I take a strong black (single origin, obviously) loose leaf in a tea pot. No sugar. No milk. I pour a little into my mug before I set the timer, to let it cool a bit, and I wait. It takes me about thirty minutes from when the water first boils until I take my first sip. For the next hour or 3, I am back an fourth from the stove to my cozy spot on the couch as i enjoy my pot(s) of tea and the morning news.
While this is the first thing I do in the morning to energize myself for the day, I am certain that this is also my most relaxing routine as well. I find myself waking up early then I need to in order to ensure I get to drink my tea and I am constantly searching for night time replacements for my glorious black and occasional green. As of now, only my rooibos will cut it.
Every now and then, when I need a little bit of comfort, I go back to my earl grey. Those are my roots.