Good morning Hive!
We're almost reaching the end of the 30-day the not-so-ordinary ordinary items challenge. Before I've moved in with 
So in today's post, I'll be observing the ordinary item that most of us consume: tea.
Tea-Time
Tea is for many of us an ordinary thing, and drinking it is an enjoyable moment shared with someone else, or alone, just to warm up and relax, or chit-chat. I can't help but think about the UK when I think about Tea. I picture old ladies chatting with each other while drinking tea with milk. Since Lackofcolor is a heavy tea consumer, I bought her a cool-looking teapot. She uses it a lot, and you'd be surprised how many times she fills up that pot with some hot steamy tea.
Hot water with some herbs
China is also famous for its tea. There are traditional and ancient ceremonies being held in China just to serve and drink specific tea. It's all about the herbs that we put into it. This allows the mind to dive into the properties of herbs that we put into our hot steaming water, doesn't it? The quality of the product that is put in it, the drying process, what combinations, and so on. This makes you think that there should be unlimited combinations of tea. But, with the proper care and research, I do think there is some sense in drinking tea with specific herbs.
My oldest brother is also a big tea drinker, while he used to drink coffee a lot, he is now equally a big tea drinker and is someone who researches what tea and herbs are good for him.
It makes you think and wonder. A blast to the past; how our ancient ancestors drink tea isn't that important, but perhaps we should wonder more about why they drink tea instead.
Tea versus Coffee
While there is a wide variety of coffee beans, the variety in tea is wider in both depth and theme. Coffee is limited to coffee beans, whereas teas are only limited to dried herbs or even fresh herbs. With this logic, we can be certain that there is a whole world of tea. We're just scratching and looking at the surface when we buy tea, right? At least; I am, but I'm sure that after I've finished this post, I will have to see for myself how important I think tea is in my life, and what ingredients to use. I can see myself drying herbs, or trying some improvisation with existing herbs in my kitchen to make tea. Whereas; I always see myself drinking coffee from just the bean.
Health benefit
I haven't read much into the studies of tea or its health benefits, but I'm sure there are health benefits when you drink tea. It's logical if you think about the properties of herbs. As I mentioned earlier in my fruit post; the properties of garlic help with our blood flow. I don't think garlic in tea is good, but just an example. With healthy properties plus the tastiness of fruit, I can see why tea is globally popular.
Personally, I started to enjoy and appreciate tea more.
The creative process
For this photograph, I wanted to get a lifestyle photo, similar to the knife and the glass of water photograph. It's always a hassle to create a setting for glassy objects. At this point, I wanted to see if I could use a reflection screen to create a soft backlight. The highlight on the pot, for example, is only because I placed a reflection screen in the back of it. If I didn't do that, it would be slowly fading away in the background, and I wanted to make sure that the pot was also a part of the entire photograph. Working with 1:1 formats can be a challenge, but I want to stick with it, so I have something nice to show at the end of the challenge. I added some chocolate cookies right next to the glass, I mainly chose chocolate due to its brown color, and wouldn't be much of a diversion since the backdrop is made of brown wood. The use of wood is because I wanted to create a warmer setting.
Technical details
| Camera | Sony A7 MARK II |
| Lens | Sigma 105mm f/2.8 |
| Shutterspeed | 1/60 |
| Aperture | f/2.8 |
| ISO | 125 |
About the challenge
Photograph and write a little bit about 30 ordinary items that I used a lot in 2022. You can read more about the challenge, and join yourself here. This challenge is just a little experiment.
Did you ever think about the herbs that you put in your tea?
I rarely think about herbs that I put in my tea. I only know that chamomile represents "Friendship Tea". I never knew why, or what the properties are of chamomile. Maybe it would be fun to do something with lackofcolor and experiment with some herbs to make our custom-made tea :D. Last year, I dried some citrus for the Christmas tree, so maybe I can do something similar again, and cut some little pieces to make orange-flavoured tea.
Cheers,
Ruben