Tea and Mood... What shall I drink today?

Today's post is going to be of more a contemplative nature than an informative one. I hope you enjoy it and find it interesting and thought-provoking.

Every tea lover knows that there are a great number of teas available for consumption. Many tea drinkers, however, select one or two different types of tea, and then just roll with that day after day, never changing their routine, and remaining constant with the type tea that they select.

I, on the other hand, find that there is something to be said for using tea as a mood device. Certain teas taste differently according to moods. This works psychologically due to the fact that everybody has their "comfort flavors" that they have become accustomed to. Additionally, most people have flavors that they associate, for one reason or another, with pain, sadness, misery, celebration, or any assortment of feelings. Because of this, depending on the mood they are in, their mind is going to pick out a different aspect of that tea's flavor profile.

Many people will choose a tea contrary to their current mood in the hopes that it might remind them of some other experience and change their mood, or that some flavor or substance in the tea, or the fact that they have a hot cup in from of them in the first place will do something about changing the mood that they are in.

It is philosophically interesting to note that different people drink different teas for different reasons, and that the flavor of a certain tea for one person might be experienced entirely differently in another person. This is because taste and the perception of flavor are relative. There is also something to be said for the idea that fragrances can trigger certain modes of thinking, and the same thing that has just been noted for flavor can be doubly noted for fragrance. The olfactory sense, or sense of smell, is linked to our strongest form of memory. Our sense of smell triggers memories better than any of our other senses. Hence, one might select a tea of a certain fragrance depending on what mood their in.

But whatever mood your in, and whatever your reasons for selecting a tea, it is almost universally agreed upon that tea is a comfort food, most often used for relaxation and to bring consolation.

Draw from this whatever conclusions you may like. I personally find that I often have more of an emotional connection to the tea I am drinking that I am willing to admit. If you, also, feel emotionally connected somehow to the teas that you drink, please let us know! I welcome your comments to this post!

Thanks for reading.

Signing off,
Relznuk