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I love that you were served tea as a toddler! Now, there’s a story…

Moving along to the files of serendipity, I gifted an advent calendar with a different tea bag for every day to a fellow tea-freak and she’s been loving it!

https://www.vermontcountrystore.com/twenty-five-days-of-tea-advent-calendar/product/87807

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What a great gift! I love that my mother put it in the bottle 🤣 she was a tea freak, too! Nothing like a caffeinated toddler tearing it up! 😂🫖❤️

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What a great friend you are, Amie!

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I could talk/listen to people’s tea and coffee rituals all day long….I find them very comforting. So what time is your afternoon coffee generally?

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I’m the same! Afternoon coffee is usually around 3pm, but the other day I was busy with writing and I went downstairs (there’s a Starbuck’s on the ground floor of my building) and it was already dark out at 4:45 and I sat in the window looking at a Christmas tree outside. Heaven! ☕️ 🎄 xx

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I'll have to check that out as one of the branches of "my office" or "my coffice" when I'm next in Chicago. Even if there's no Christmas tree outside.

I go to Starbucks daily to write, not because I love coffee (if I did, I wouldn't go to Starbucks) but because the baristas are so nice to me and they give me a venti when I ask for a grande.

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“Coffice” love it!!

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Tea is definitely my favorite beverage too! Every morning it’s Lady Grey for me. I’ve never tried Barry’s though so excited to investigate 🍵

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Let me know what you think, Sabrina! It’s so nice to see so many tea lovers here in the comments! ❤️🫖

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I’m partial to black tea with milk too—never lemon unless I’m ill (a throwback to my mother!). I’ve never tried Barry’s but was just eyeing it at World Market the other day. Now I think I’ll have to give it a try.

In Japan my son introduced me to some really excellent green tea, brewed from loose leaves in a pretty little cobalt blue and white tea pot. I love coffee, but I’ll never give up tea—and you’re so right, Jolene: it IS a comfort and a joy!

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Ooh, try it, Ruth, I’d love to know what you think. Your description of the tea in Japan your son introduced you too (in that pretty pot!) makes me want to try green tea 🍵 again 💚🫖

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Interesting. My mother served me hot toddy’s as a sick child. “Just a thimble full!” of whisky to break the fever. The 1980’s were different.

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Erin, you never fail to make me chuckle! 😆Cheers! 🍼 🫖 🍼 🥃

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There’s so much that makes sense in my upbringing 😂

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😂

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I'm a sucker for a pretty tea cup, although I drink my morning coffee from a mug. Love the tea in your bottle as a toddler story!

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I’m a mug in the morning, too, Vicki! (But love the pretty cups, too — just not big enough for the morning!Yes, my mother introduced me to being highly caffeinated early 😆🍼🫖

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I agree that salad can absolutely be a comfort food. I’m in Atlanta and Houston’s Traditional salad with Thousand Island Dressing and a side of cheese toast brings me so much joy. I’ve been a fan since the 1990s. Thank you for your lovely words. I love to start my day off reading your posts. Happy Holidays to you.

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Thank you so much, Callen, what a lovely thing to say. ✨

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Sweet tea in a bottle! Love that detail, Jolene. Time for my first cuppa of the day.

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Merry Christmas, Wendy!

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Thank you, Jolene. Merry Christmas to you. (Woken at 4am and not a peep from anyone!) Back to sleep for a bit now...

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A "side of comfort" sounds wonderful! Would you like to come for tea? ❤️

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If only I could, Pam! 🫖❤️

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Yes, Jolene!! Barry’s is my favorite for the mornings also, with milk and a heaping tsp turbinado sugar 😉. I always remember Nancy Mitford’s slam of MIF - “milk in first” - to insult someone 😂. Having said all that, yesterday I switched to Marks & Spencer tea for Christmastime. It’s heavenly, rich, dark and malty. (It’s actually at Target this month in the most darling house-shaped tin that lights up!) Also love Thomson’s “Punjana”…have you tried that one? I’ll think of you tomorrow with my cuppa!! 🎄🎅🏼🍪🫖

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Ooh, thank you for this information, Daphne, I’m going to get online and see about ordering some, I love the idea of the house-shaped tin that lights up! Looking into the Thomson’s, too. I didn’t know the Mitford slam, brilliant! 😆 I’m actually drinking a cup of Barry’s right now, so cheers from Chicago! 🫖 🎄❤️

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One of the things I came to really like about Midsomer Murders was how often some one was preparing or serving tea. Most times it was for the comfort, but often it was also to get someone out of the room to protect their innocent ears or just to give them something to do so they'd feel useful. Such a useful tradition. I honestly drink a lot more tea since I've become a British murder watcher. But one thing I do not understand, what is the deal about milk in first?

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I don’t know how putting the milk in first started, but I’ll find out! It’s just WRONG 😂

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You teach. By sharing your knowledge as well as appreciating of traditions as well as celebrations of certain days.

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Huh. I saw Barry's Tea at my supermarket for the first time recently and was thinking about trying it.

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Definitely try it, Bob!

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Barry’s Irish Tea 💚

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The best, Caroline! 💚

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I'm a fellow tea lover (and like you, one coffee a day, but mid morning) and while I don’t consider myself a particularly ritualistic type of person, I seem to have a few that involve tea! I'm very specific about what tea is brewed in what pot and which cup it’s drunk from!

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It has to be just right, or it’s all wrong!

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Exactly!

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You make the everyday into something exquisite. 🫖 Going for a cup of tea now!

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What a sweet comment, Melanie, Thank you! Wish I could join you! 🫖

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