In praise of Kusmi Tea Essentials

Product photo from Bloomingdale’s

Whenever people come over, I offer them tea. Also tap water or, when we have it, Spindrift; and other drinks at other times of day. But it always feels special to offer tea, and people often accept. 

I was looking for a way to offer abundance without filling our pantry shelves full of rickety piles of cardboard boxes, each holding twenty tea bags apiece. I don’t drink tea that often when it’s just me—and when I do, I mostly just drink peppermint. (I like Teapigs for that.) So however I offered abundance, it had to be in a way that was compact and would last.

I found my answer one day at Bi-Rite: the Kusmi Tea Essentials collection. Twenty-four elegant, ornate packets across a whole range of flavors. I can array them on the counter and offer friends novelty and range; delight in what the pick; then, pack the rest away and put them to sleep until the next visitor arrives.