the bermuda tea party

People are often surprised that I am not a coffee person but a recent tea addict. They think that growing up in India & Dubai would have cultivated me into an at least moderate tea drinker years ago. 'But you're from India, you're supposed to like tea.' Says who? Just because most Indians are huge tea drinkers & the Arabs have quite the penchant for Arabic style black tea, I was expected to be addicted to tea as well? I was in my late teens when I moved to Canada & teenagers are not addicted to tea no matter where they live. Well, after my move to the Great White North, I eventually caught up to the stereotype. The weather made me.

When we moved to Bermuda in 2005, I didn't re-locate with any tea. I'm talking about the good stuff like Tetley's Orange Pekoe. 'Bermuda will have good tea. It's a British territory & the Brits love their tea' was my thought. I thought wrong! Like chocolate, the American imported version of Tetley, whilst cost effective to import, somehow didn't quite cut it. It wasn't strong enough for a man, nor made for a woman.

Why would I need to drink tea in Bermuda, anyway? Well, we do have cooler months (we call it winter) & March was cool enough for a hot cuppa. I was so glad when a month later our stash of long awaited necessities arrived. The first thing I did was grab the box of 216 Tetley teabags & checked to see what the heck made it so different & much more potent than the American import. Voila, the Canadian Tetley is made exclusively in the UK & exported to Canada. That'll do it.

So, if you're relocating to Bermuda in the near future & are addicted to tea, then I suggest you bring some of the good stuff with you. The same goes for you Java lovers. Since I am not a coffee drinker, I can only draw on the experience of others. Many tell me that they miss the coffee they're used to & vow to bring some with them on their next trip.

FYI, there's no Starbucks here, so don't go looking around for one.