Black Tea & Red Wine

Black tea is like red wine in that both contain tannins. Fruits like peaches, pomegranates, cherries and cranberries are all high in a micronutrient called polyphenol, and result in tannins when dried, steeped, or otherwise extracted. These tannins lend that acidic, bitter and yet strangely enjoyable component dark teas and wines are known for. These molecules give the drinker a reason to feel posh by saying the word “mouthfeel.” But, they can also make the drinker experience a nasty bout of nausea when drunk on an empty stomach, especially when there is nothing to help absorb the acid.

So, say you’re an avid tea-drinker; you drink a cup in the morning, a splash with lunch, an afternoon sip, and top it all off with a nightcap. Still, if you drink a cup of strong black tea on an empty stomach, you might find yourself kneeling at the foot of the porcelain throne.

Isn’t it odd how you can be so familiar with something, and yet your body will still reject it?

If black tea is like red wine, then love is like fire.

Love is like fire in that both are usually, for lack of a better word — pretty hot. Love is passionate, kind, and honors your emotional boundaries which is pretty much the hottest thing on earth. In the same way, thermal energy from combustion is produced in the form of light and heat when something burns, which also makes fire literally hot.

Love is also like fire because sometimes we get burned. You’re no stranger to love; you know of childlike infatuation, the naiveté of a first romance, and the gravity of what you thought you wanted forever.

You even brewed it just right!

You steeped your love in adoration and affection, stirred in some charm, and sweetened it with inside jokes and knowing looks — secrets the world would never hear. And yet it’s just a bit too acidic. There’s nothing in your stomach to help you process and absorb. Your body can’t take it, you purge, and here you are: burned and kneeling at Life’s metaphorical porcelain throne — Heartache. Because just as one cannot pour from an empty cup, one can not be fulfilled by something else if they themselves are empty.

Before you drink what others have to offer, make sure you are full on your own.

Because the reality is that when you are full and complete by your own making, you will find a cup that agrees with you. It won’t be too strong, too malty, or too tart. It’ll soothe you and warm you and smell just like home. So despite the burns, bruises, scrapes, and scars, may we merrily drink of what life has to offer.

Down robust black tea, sip mouth-puckering red wine, get lost in the throes of love, and have no fear of flames.

Your tea is brewing and your wine is aging; pour generously.