Christina / BooksandTea Send Message

I think I’m just going to make the Sunday Tea and Books thing a Steepster-only thing, and get rid of it from my blog.

The Tea

So today’s Sunday Tea and Books tea is Kenilworth Ceylon Black from Simple Loose Leaf. I’ve probably had Ceylon tea in blends, unknowingly, but I’ve never had one by itself before.

The smell was so nice when I opened the package – just a really comforting, fruity smell. It reminds me yet again of my mother’s avowed preference for “plain old Orange Pekoe” whenever I make tea. This smells like a plain old Orange Pekoe (though not so drab). Fruity, sweet… just… tea-y. I can’t really describe it otherwise.

I let the pot sit for 4 minutes and was greeted with a nice deep red brew that smelled fruity and bready and just…Orange Pekoe-y. Considering the past few days have been hectic in a good way, I think I made a good choice to go with a tea that seems fairly old-school. Something to lean on and relax against. Something warm and furry and comforting.

The Book

So, I’m cheating here a little bit today, because the character that this tea makes me think of is not technically from a book. Instead, he’s from a now-in-reruns webcomic that I absolutely LOVED called “Little Dee”.

http://www.littedee.net

Here’s the story: Dee is a little girl lost in the woods. She’s rescued by three animals living in the woods – a bear, a dog, and a vulture – and the four of them live in a cave together. The trick is that the animals can talk and are all quite mature with developed personalities, while Dee, the human, is mute. There’s Ted, the bear, a gentle paternal figure who cooks and leads the cave. There’s Blake, the runaway dog, who is loving but rather dim. And finally there’s Vachel, the smart-ass, caustic vulture.

This tea is definitely a Ted: warm, caring, fuzzy, big…just relaxing, and comfortable to hold onto.

Here are a few of my favourite Little Dee strips involving Ted:

http://www.littledee.net/?p=4915
http://www.littledee.net/?p=817
http://www.littledee.net/?p=851
http://www.littledee.net/?p=855
http://www.littledee.net/?p=2213

Warning: I claim no responsibility if you decide to check out the rest of the Little Dee archives and become completely charmed. I totally will not be responsible for you finding out about this absolute gem of a comic strip. :-D