A Sticker, a Label, and a Moment of Pause

The quiet joy of not being an expert

Something interesting happened recently. I was opening a box from a new (to me) tea company — a mix of loose-leaf teas, a few tea bags, and a diffuser — when a sticker fell out. It read: tea snob.

I paused. How could someone like me — who still double-checks steeping times and water temperatures and is only beginning to understand the differences between black teas — be considered a tea snob? And maybe more importantly, was that something I even wanted to be?

I’ll admit, for a brief moment, a small part of me was a little thrilled. Had I ordered the kinds of teas seasoned tea drinkers usually choose? Had I unknowingly crossed some invisible line into expertise? But the larger part of me felt something else entirely — hesitation. Do I actually want that label? Is that what I’m working toward when I read tea books or visit tea houses whenever I get the chance?

I don’t think so. Learning about tea — how it’s grown, processed, and enjoyed — is genuinely interesting to me. I love talking with people in the tea houses I’ve visited, listening to their stories, and picking up small bits of knowledge along the way. But expertise, at least for now, isn’t the goal.