As an ex-Mormon, I have an enduring fascination with beverages forbidden by my old church–coffee, alcohol, and tea. (I’m talking real tea made from tea leaves–even Mormons are allowed to drink herbal stuff like chamomile or mint.) My first love was alcohol, and since I wasn’t a great Mormon I started exploring this one long before I officially resigned from the church. Even long past my experimental teen years I was drawn to the history and romance around various drinks, but flavorwise I’m a whiskey lover. From smooth vanilla-inflected bourbon to light, clean Irish to weird peaty single malt Scotch, I find almost all of them delightful. Over the years, though, my digestive system has started to disagree with me on this and I’ve had to slow way down. Some St. Patrick’s overindulgence reminded me forcefully of this fact; my stomach wasn’t right for a week after.

If I can’t guzzle whiskey like a philosophical English gentleman or a badass cowgirl, that leaves coffee or tea. I guess my stomach would do better with wine or beer, but I’ve tried plenty of both and just don’t love them the same way. So that leaves coffee and tea. I enjoy a morning cup of coffee, sure, but I can barely tell the difference between roasts and origins. A friend of mine runs a coffe shop and roasting business and whatever she’s tasting in all those different beans, I’m not tasting it. She makes great coffee but one cup tastes pretty much like the next to me, and none of it tastes that great without milk or cream. I guess I’m not subtle enough for cofee.

So now we’re down to tea. It’s got history, variety, I can taste the difference between Assam and Irish Breakfast and Lapsang Souchang . . . it’s time to explore the world of fancy tea. I’m now the proud owner of an electric kettle and a real teapot and many sample sized bags of loose tea. I bought a sample box from a very fancy French Canadian company called, appropriately enough, Camellia Sinensis and a variety of herbal teas from an organic Michigan company called Arbor Teas. For the past two weeks I’ve been happily trying them all, and of course I prefer black teas. Like any good goth would. I’ve found a few potential favorites so far. I’ve also fallen in love with peppermint tea, which I guess I never really had before, and discovered the delightful blue of butterfly pea tea and suffered the beautiful pain of Arbor’s ginger chili tisane.

But the best cup of all was when I figured out that honeybush herbal tea with a small scoop of smoky Lapsang Souchang reminds me a whole lot of smoky, peaty Islay Scotch. What a perfect way to blend an old love with a new one.

The Arbor teas came first and they recommend storing the tea in glass jars. I got so excited about opening and smelling them all I forgot to take any photos. I hope they aren’t mad that I cribbed one from their website to show you.