Tea of choice

I'm not a 'real' tea drinker. My Mum says that's her big failure as a parent; that none of her children will sit and have a cuppa with her. (She's joking.) (I think.)

I'm not a coffee drinker. That is my husband's greatest disappointment in his choice of wife. (Which is odd because I could think of a million other reasons he should be disappointed.)

But, in recent years, I've managed to get used to herbal tea.

Peppermint has been my tea of choice. It's helped me calm down through anxiety and pain, and lately it's stopped me eating excessive amounts of chocolate to settle my poor old pregnant stomach. (The term 'excessive' is open to interpretation.) (And I never said anything about ice cream!)

But this pregnancy is messing with my mind. Just as I get used to being okay with something, it all changes - including my liking for peppermint tea. Now I just have to smell it and it makes me gag. This fussiness thing is KILLING me.

And so I do what I always do when I think I'd like to be adventurous with my tea drinking: I head to the hills' best (only?) tea shop. I wander, pick up various concoctions and have a good sniff and wonder if it will sit gathering dust in my cupboard, like many have before, or whether I'll drink it.

This visit, the test was easy. If the smell didn't make me want to spew, I bought it.

Whoever said I'm not a tea connoisseur?

I came away with three to try:

Raspberry leaf - I always thought this was just for the last trimester, but I've been told it's good for aches and pains. For that reason alone, I expect to be drinking this by the litre. I'll even put up with the fact it looks like cobwebs, and tastes a bit like how I imagine cobwebs would taste when mixed with hot water.

Chamomile - I'll try anything to get a good night's sleep. The only worry is that drinking tea before bed will have me peeing all night, and thereby (hopefully) (semi, at least) awake.

Herbal chai - This is purely for the YUM factor. It's gooood, and should help me warm up on cold wintry mornings.

And I'm enjoying the ritual of it. It takes me back to my childhood, watching Mum carefully and precisely prepare the tea. Using it as a time to sit down quietly. I've even found myself trying to do the same brainwash I was subjected to as a kid, giving my Abbey a little cup of cool herbal chai as we have a 'tea party' together.

Meanwhile, Steve, our resident coffee snob, watches on in horror.

What's your tea of choice? Or a you a coffee addict like my man?