Tea teaser

To tea or not to tea. That is the question. Or rather, to spill the latest gossip I had learnt over a cup of tea, knowing full well I had been explicitly warned not to do so. But it was such a juicy bit of news..

I had always been terrible at keeping a secret. You would have thought my friends would have caught on by now but I was adept at playing the innocent so I had always managed to get away with spilling the beans in the past. Nobody had ever suspected it was me.

Now I stood in front of my kitchen bench top, the kettle gently whistling as I contemplated what sort of tea would be appropriate for the day. One of my best friends, Anna, was due to turn up in ten minutes time. We regularly met up for a hot cup of tea and a natter, and usually without even realising we would become so comfortable we would often tell each other things we had been forbidden to talk about. It was never conscious or done with any malice. It just happened to be the perfect environment for secrets to be spilled. The serenity of the countryside outside my window, my little wooden table with the comfy, soft chairs in the corner of the kitchen, the quietness of the house when it was just the two of us. The comfort of the hot mugs we held in our eager hands and the steam that arose gently wafting up our noses then escaping out of the open kitchen door.

And the tea! The tea. Always lovingly chosen that day, always leaf tea I had carefully sourced from one ethnic company or another. My intuition seemed to pick out the perfect tea every time we met, and it would work in with our own moods on the day.

Sometimes we would be energetic so I would have an energising blend picked out - a green tea, or yerba mate or perhaps peppermint tea with some extra help for our digestion.

On certain days we would feel moody, and I would subconsciously select a women's blend tea of some description. And if we felt anxious and needed to calm then a tea containing chamomile, lavender or St John's wort could be very effective.

Today I knew I had some beans to spill and I really didn't want to but I was doomed because there was no way I wasn't going to, unless I abandoned our tea date completely and I could never do this. It was our one unspoken rule. No matter how each of us was feeling we absolutely, never ever, could cancel on tea morning.

So.

What would be the optimum tea for the occasion today? Did I perhaps have a blend which would help me to stay quiet and more private? Maybe something here could prevent me telling the news that Jessica had begged and pleaded me not to tell. I scoured the shelves knowing full well I was only half heartedly searching for the right tea, because in truth I was absolutely dying to blurt it all out to Anna and I had quite the headache with the pressure of abstaining from dishing out Jessica's secret.

I took a long, deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment trying to bring myself to the task at hand. Anna would be here at any moment and I needed to have the tea picked out and sitting ready in the tea pot for her arrival. My hands moved along the top shelf of their own accord and without any control from me had picked up a box sitting jam packed among the other teas. I brought it down reverently and had a look at what I had decided on. Black rose tea. Oh lord this was going to open my mouth more not close it, but I couldn't return it to the shelf. Once the tea was picked, it was non negotiable. There was no going back.

Anna arrived and we greeted each other warmly. We flopped down into the chairs, with the teapot in the middle of the table, the tea gently steeping. I had our usual chocolate and banana cake to go with it and we began to catch up.

'So what's new in your world?' Anna asked me as I began to pour the tea into the two mugs, the aroma of the rose permeating the air between us. I breathed it in and immediately wanted to blurt out what Jessica had told me but I refrained and chatted inanely about my own life, filling Anna in on where we had left off in our last catch up. She caught my eye while I was talking and I knew she could see the agitation and excitement inside me. She knew I had a secret to share.

We both sipped at our tea, waiting for the moment to build, allowing the heady scent of the tea to fill our hearts and enter our souls. We allowed our shoulders to soften, the slight awkwardness of our initial greeting to vanish, our heads to come closer together as we started to talk more conspiratorially. It was amazing what power tea had for spilling secrets.

I was softening around the edges now, the aroma of the rose seducing me into a state of security and ease as my guard came down completely. Anna was reacting the same, we both felt light with no resistance between us. I poured myself a third mug and did the same for Anna as we chomped through the last of the monster slice of chocolate banana cake we each had in front of us. A slight breeze wafted through the kitchen door and blew the rose tea further up our noses.

'So Anna,' I finally blurted out. 'I heard some pretty juicy news the other day, but you must promise not to repeat it to anyone.'

Anna nodded at me eagerly, and leaned closer in. This was the moment she had been waiting for the whole time we had been chatting.

'Oh do tell.' She smiled, her face alight with anticipation. I knew I was born a sucker as I completely caved and proceeded to divulge the forbidden information I had learned from Jessica just the other day.

Once again, the tea had worked its magic.