I have, alas, become a drinker of tea, in addition to my vocation as coffee-drinker. I had settled into a rut of coffee, finding no more pleasure in exploration or variety.

For me, there is only one way to take coffee, only one way in which I will take coffee: Italian Espresso, pulled from the hopper the day of roasting, .70lbs put through the grinder set between "espresso" and "Turkish" (even finer), two tablespoons into the filter, 20 oz. of water dripped through, taken 10oz. at a time with a fair amount of sugar, all of this before 10am each morning. If I vary from this pattern--nay, ritual--at all, then I take it early in the afternoon, mostly the same, but run through my espresso machine.

The other day I tried to drink some other sort of coffee, and I was appalled at how much I hated it. It was unauthorized, you see, and could not approach the standards which I have achieved with my Italian Espresso coffee ritual.

Tea, I have discovered, is a discipline which allows for constant exploration and variety. Tea is tea, wonderfully enough, and can be taken (as tea, not as an herbal drink, which can be taken quite late) until the early evening, as late as 8pm, without any ill effects--if taken 8 to 10 oz., and no more.

At the moment, I am exploring the fineries of Earl Grey tea, that wonderful little bit of bergamot spicing up the whole body throughout. Oh, and for certainty's sake, the reader will understand that I have thoroughly abandoned the tea bag; we are a tea-infuser culture at Nachmu headquarters. Life is ugly enough, you see. We should not contribute to ugliness, except for medicinal purposes, by "steeping" tea using a tea bag. After all, who knows what's actually inside those things? How do I know that the teabag-making company has not "cut" my Earl Grey with a certain percentage of grass clippings or bark?

I've worked through a little bag of Earl Grey I picked up in my second-favorite tourist town in the world, Frankenmuth, Michigan (Innsbruck, Austria taking the top honors), at a little store called "The Hapenny," a remarkable little store tucked among several fudge shops, t-shirt shops and candle stores, remarkable because it features the name of an ancient British coin. "Well, that's different," I said to Mrs. Nachmu, and we ducked inside, emerging with several items, including the aforementioned Earl Grey.

After that little bag is exhausted, I have a fair-sized can from the Adagio company to test.

So now I'm burdened with this freedom: should I continue with Earl Grey from different companies, or should I move along to another venerable tea flavor? It is this burden which has put me in this new vocation; therefore, I will pursue it toward excellence, as in all things, and it should take a lifetime to master.

Look for many more comments on tea in the time to come.