The kettle is on. There are a few minutes before the cup is ready. Usually that is just enough time to reach for the phone and disappear into something else.
Once in a while, leave it where it is.
Take a look instead at what is going into the cup. The Market’s Cretan mountain tea is prepared from dried stems and flowers. Diktamos, or dittany of Crete, brings a different aroma and character. Both belong to the selection of herbs Gregory gathered and introduced through the Market, but they deserve to be tasted as individual ingredients.
Start with one on its own. Follow the preparation guidance, let it steep, and notice the fragrance as the water changes. Honey or lemon can come later. There is something useful about meeting a flavor before deciding what to add to it.
The pleasure here is modest. It does not depend on a health promise or on transforming the way you live. You are making a warm drink. Perhaps someone will join you. Perhaps the house is quiet and you have the cup to yourself.
An unfamiliar herb can also begin an easy conversation. What do you call it? Have you tasted it before? Did someone in your family keep something similar in the cupboard? The answers may lead to a village, a relative or a kitchen that has changed since you last saw it.
Or they may lead nowhere beyond a second cup. That is enough too.
The next thing on the list will still be there when you finish. For these few minutes, there is water, an herb with a Cretan origin, and the chance to be present while it becomes tea.