by Cameron Graf ’13 

There is a wondrous, beautiful thing in this world. It is a drink, subtly sweet and teasing the tongue, soothing the throat.

This drink is tea, and it is beautiful.

 Now, I’m not talking about any of this wimpy green tea I see people drinking in the hallways; no, I speak of grey tea, the kind of tea that you brew with a pot of boiling water, then pour over a teabag in a mug, filling it to the halfway mark then doing the rest with cold milk.

I am talking about the kind of tea that you make with sugar, three spoonfuls poured in then mixed with the same spoon, the kind of tea that you drink with the spoon still in the mug, tucked beneath your pointer finger, the middle and ring held in the mug’s ring-handle-thing. Yeah that thing, while your pinkie rests on the underside, supporting it.

There’s a beauty to that tea, that wondrous, grey, British-style tea. So simple in its brewing, so beautiful in its nature that it could move a man to tears with but a sip.

Come to think of it, I recently brewed just such a cup of tea while eating at a seafood restaurant.

The water in the mug was hot, almost to the point of boiling, and the teabag came on a plate beside it.

 I inhaled the aroma of the mixing tea as I lowered the bag within, bouncing it lightly by the string to help the flavor mix.

As I did so I took up one of the spare straws, dropping it into my brother’s glass of milk and placing my finger upon the tool, the mixing of water and air pressure keeping the plundered milk within as I withdrew it.

Plonk.

Plonk.

 Plonk.

 And a final one, five strawfuls of milk granting my tea its filmy, light-tan quality that signified the perfect mix.

 Turning then to the final ingredient, I raided the table’s sugar compartment, taking only the packets of real sugar for my delectable concoction.

 So there I sat, brewing my own tea, a plate of shrimp linguini alfredo, and a lobster-meat laden baked potato untouched in front of me until I finished.

 Life is alright, sure, but it sure is better when you have a good cup of tea.