Please forgive me for trying to be clever with the title. While I have not done a scientific survey, anecdotal evidence that I have collected from family and friends suggests most tea drinkers like to keep a variety of teas on hand, rather than drinking only one type. I usually have no fewer than three types of tea on hand at any given time. Although I occasionally drink black tea, most of my stash consists of herbal and decaffeinated teas. Chamomile tea is actually great to have on hand for those nights when I have trouble sleeping. One cup of chamomile, and I am asleep within the hour. For nostalgia's sake, I also keep some Constant Comment on hand. As alluded to in an earlier post, this was the orange-spiced tea of my childhood sick days. I still drink it, but now only in the decaf version. Although I do not like to consume caffeine, I do keep one tea that contains a small amount of caffeine. The flavor is so mild and fruity, and the amount of caffeine is so small—about 15 mg per cup—that I do not mind drinking it on occasion.
Going through my stash today, I found that I currently have five different teas, six if the two different chamomile brands are counted. My mother always has at least four or five different varieties, as do my tea-drinking friends and other relatives. Maybe I should ask the readers of this blog to get a better survey sample, so to speak. How about it High Tea-ers? Do you keep a variety of teas on hand or do you prefer to rely on one or two go-to teas?