Maybe what Americans need is a hot beverage
A steaming beverage and good conversation mend most worries and heartaches, or at the least, lighten the emotional burden. Every fall and winter, I move into the hot drink season where a plethora of soothing beverages in mugs accompanies me through the day. It begins with coffee then transitions to various teas and hot lemon water until the evening is met with my new favorite liquid consumable, adaptogenic mushroom cocoa — not the hallucinogenic variety.
As I make my final cozy drink of the night, I always ask the rest of the family, “Would anyone else like a warm beverage?” To which, one or more always say yes.
For me, coffee, tea, hot lemon water and cocoa not only warm my hands but also my soul. They calm my nervous system the same as a fire or blanket. Our bodies respond well to heat — it’s a primal, deeply-engrained healing source.
The world of hot beverages is vast, but until one grows curious, the short list includes coffee and hot chocolate, especially in America where hot tea isn’t highly revered on a collective level. But for me personally, I'm fascinated by the scope of tea selections. When I venture into a new grocery store or market, I peruse the tea aisle, my mind ablaze with intrigue. Living in a small town, I’ve memorized the tea varieties in the local stores so anytime I find myself in nearby Asheville at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods or The Spice & Tea Exchange, I stock my supply.
Dobra Tea in West Asheville is my favorite tea room. With a book for a menu, it would take months of visits to try each item. My go-to is Sweet Smell of Jerusalem. The description reads as follows: “A black Assam tea spiced with cinnamon is a traditional recipe from Eastern Europe inspired by the sights and smells of Jerusalem. This tea blend produces a mildly uplifting, calming brew. Cinnamon is thought to have spiritually protective qualities against negative energies.” It’s served with honey and your choice of milk. I prefer whole or oat.
I’m currently reading a book set in England and one of the characters jokes about an American, saying the “yank” is too intense, too worried about productivity and achievement. He resists playfulness and refuses long, languid lunches. While this is one character in a book, I can't help but apply the description to many Americans. Are we too worried about achievement and productivity? Are we resistant to being playful? Perhaps we need to kick back for a few, make a hot beverage and allow life to come to us instead of forcing, pushing and controlling.
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Let’s take a page from the British playbook and institute an afternoon tea ritual or at least some type of resting and regrouping between lunch and dinner. This daily routine began in the 1840s with Anna Maria Russell, the Duchess of Bedford. She would get hungry between lunch and the late Victorian dinner and began requesting tea with bread, butter, and cakes in her private room. She invited friends and family to join her. Her idea caught momentum and moved into other social classes until it became a beloved national pastime and a way for people to connect, celebrate and simply be together.
I’m a Sheldon Cooper fan, enjoying both “Young Sheldon” and “The Big Bang Theory,” the two shows where he’s the main character. In “Young Sheldon,” he’s a prodigal child scientist and in “The Big Bang Theory,” he’s a theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). It was during a scene in Young Sheldon when a family member was struggling and Sheldon said, “You seem upset. Would you like a hot beverage?” This line struck a chord because while I’ve known for decades how comforting warm beverages can be, I’d never used the suggestion in an overt way to help people I care about. It was around this time that I started offering my family hot beverages.
There’s a Scottish term called hurkle-durkle which means “lingering in bed long after you should’ve gotten up.” A long while back, my husband and I found ourselves doing this on weekend mornings over a cup of coffee and found it so delightful that during the week, we wake up earlier than necessary, just so we can hurkle-durkle before the daily grind initiates. It’s often during these quiet mornings over a hot beverage that we discuss the things that truly matter. And now that our kids are older and drink hot beverages themselves, we often have a cup of coffee with them once they wake up to catch up on their lives.
There are innumerable opinion topics I could’ve written about in this week’s column, but when the political pendulum swings to a fever pitch, I’m compelled to come back to center and regroup, to focus on a single simple pleasure. If life is overwhelming, sit down with your favorite hot beverage and let everything unfold from there. I think you’ll see that it doesn’t have to be an occasional treat but should be a part of your everyday life. The warmth and steam hold a magic that’s hard to explain unless you experience it for yourself… and be prepared, if you accompany your drink with conversation or stillness, you’ll likely find the answers and peace you seek.
(Susanna Shetley is a writer and editor who lives in Haywood County. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)
