A few months ago, Chris and I stopped by Teavana (due to my demand) in Valley Fair. There, they served samples of teas from iced to hot to oolong to herbal to black to flavored.

I personally enjoy the lighter teas. Green or oolong bringing back the senses. Or the lighter black teas perhaps with a touch of cream and sugar.

But Chris likes his sweet and had taste of an iced tea. “Strawberry and peach,” he said dreamily later.

So we wandered back there last weekend and I looked over the list. Just a Strawberry Kiwi Herbal. A Strawberry mint. A Peach Roobios. But nothing with strawberry and kiwi.

I browsed the displays more, sampling the teas. Pouring myself a mini cup of oolong from the classic Chinese teapots. And fingering the tins in the wall. And thrusting a popsicle stick into the honey jars labeled Honey.

Finally, I drifted to the counter where I asked about the tea that Chris had. “A few months ago, you had an iced tea with strawberry and peach…I don’t see it on the list…do you happen to have it?”

On the other side of the store, Chris looked at me hopefully. The woman at the counter immediately pulled out a large tin of Strawberry Kiwi and a large tin of Peach Roobios. By now, Chris was at my side. The Teavana woman took off the top and pushed the open tins toward us. We leaned forward, taking in the aroma of the teas.

Seceretly though, I knew sometimes the taste of the teas don’t match as strongly with the smells.

“These teas are unsweetened. You can add a bit of the rock sugar, which we also sell to match the iced tea,” she told us.

Chris murmured to me, “I have rock sugar.”

And so I gave the woman a nod and she took equal portions of each filling up a 1 lb tin. Once she finished, she took the tin and shook it vigourously up and down.

And so today, I finally found my special infusers and tea bags. At work, I have my tea. During the first brew, I added three doses of honey. And now during the second brew, the tea tasted slightly like flavored water with a strong strawberry taste.

The woman had said that we would finish the tea in less than a year—the length at which it would last. Possibly not. But Chris still has yet to try it. So we shall see.

Perhaps though, I like drinks with a strong bitter flavor or…at least with texture.

And this is why I like tonic water. The two B’s. A bit of bubbly and bitter.