Tea ceremony
A slight mishap while Maggie was, ahem, enthusiastically sweeping my kitchen floor (children have their uses!) has seen the demise of my favourite mug. Curvy in profile; thin white bone china; comfy handle and a tasteful picture of camomile and borage, it was perfect for herbal tea – and, in fact, I never drank anything else out of it (and rarely drank any truly herby tea from anything else). Cameron’s aunty kindly gave me some very nice, thin, new mugs for my birthday – indeed, I have a cupboard-full of mugs of various shape and size – but I can see I will have to hunt for the perfect replacement. I feel more sad than is reasonable (I’ve had it a long time) and this has made me wonder about favourite mugs and hot-drink rituals. I have a few – see below – and would be (really!) very interested to hear about other people’s. I’m not on my own with this am I?
Coffee is best, if I’m on my own, from a large, heavy, slightly chipped yellow and blue mug. If there is two of us I have a matched pair of tall, straight, red and white mugs, which are rather elegant (and, unusually, suit both tea and coffee). If these are unavailable, a conic blue-and-white striped pair. Any more than two requires the wedding denby or the six blue and grey toning-not-matching mugs I bought in Japan.
Lady Grey tea, which is only drunk mid-afternoon, comes in a hello kitty mug: not a cheap and nasty pink one but a quality white one with line drawings, which was issued to mark her 30th birthday. Or a asymmetric one with a duck.
Normal (Earl Grey) tea is drunk from whatever comes to hand, but usually the denby again. Unless it is first thing, in which case it warrants a squeeze of lemon and a glass mug or a tall thin one with Robert the Bruce on (don’t ask: I hadn’t realised until I started typing this how set in my ways I am), or (a new addition to the list of favourites) a black and white “Beatles” mug, presumably Cameron’s, that has thin walls but a chunky shape. If we are doing jobs,a chunkier, more square sort of a mug, possibly from a museum or similar, is required. And if we are gardening or doing DIY (ha ha as if) then it has to be a very thick small grey one with blue flowers, which I got 3-for-a-pound when I was a student.
Hot chocolate comes in the Denby – but the green vase-like Denby not the blue curved ones. And If Maggie is having a warm drink, she has a small two-handled bone china cup with cats on. Fab. Reassure me.
April 18th, 2008 11:07
First coffee of the day comes in a light blue very boring straight up and down mug (this is during the week at work). If at home on my own I use a white bone china mug with a waist and a line drawing of a cat on it. For more people I have matching curvy mugs of various shades with cirle patterns on.
Cappuccino comes in a glass Habitat cup with a metal handle as does espresso (just a smaller version).
I don’t drink tea – therefore no specific mug, guests can choose from a variety of company and museum mugs. The occassional hot chocolate gets a big almost round blue mug with a cupcake on it!
Phew – I didn’t realise how serious this was!!
April 18th, 2008 15:59
You’ve inspired me! I’ve just taken a bunch of pictures of my favorite mugs/cups to share sometime.
April 21st, 2008 13:28
Oh you freak. So, obviously, I have weird cup habits too, although my china isn’t as posh as yours.
Every morning, Pete makes latte. His is served in a black and white cup and saucer combo; mine comes in a tall mug with the word “chocolatier” on the side. I don’t love the mug but it is apparently the right one for the job.
Later on I have a cup of tea, (I try to stick to one per day), and again the mug is assigned by Pete. I do have a favourite mug (with sheep on), but it only seems to get used if the big chunky Kelloggs mug is dirty.
If I drink herb tea, it comes in a mug that says Brain Surgeon on it.
April 22nd, 2008 12:04
Long thin mugs for normal tea when I really need to make every grain of sugar count (tastes sweeter as less liquid/sugar ratio).
Hot choc or lemon tea needs to be in a big fat mug though.
My favourite mugs are ones that have memories attached (of a website/meet or just a person).
May 5th, 2008 17:12
A massive tall pint mug for coffee (sometimes pictured over at my place) is my favourite followed by a cat mug and a hippo mug. Herb tea is ceremonially brewed in its own little pot that fits snugly over a cup, so the cup is always warmed up. At the moment I’m drinking loads of fennel tea harvested from the plot last year and I think this special pot is just the job for one of my crops 🙂