I definitely get my rabbit hole obsession trait from my father. The man may not have liked Lee at first but he introduced him to tea so now they are practically family.
He desperately wants to go to Vietnam and see the tea farms but he also knows the war would not make that the wisest decision.
Did that stop him from looking into other options? Of course not.
He started ordering teas from all over the world. He was proudly buying exotic teas from the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, India and sharing it with anyone he could. He bought a magazine subscription for tea lovers to be shipped to his door so he could order exotic teas from the phone. He even bought a special tea pantry.
When my dad brought home the big tea pantry, Lee's exact response was "What have I done?"
He obviously did not know this would happen but I know how my dad acts. When he decides he likes something, he will obsess over it.
My father is still obsessed with Japanese sake from his time in WW2. He swore it was the only drink that didn't give him a hangover. I tried it. To me it tastes like how nail polish remover smells but my dad swears that my taste buds will change.
My father loves guns, sake, books, foreign currency (do NOT ask to see his penny collection. Just. Don't) and now tea apparently.
My father was at first ordering teas from East Asia, Eurasia, and the Middle East but then he realized he couldn't go there with communism growing and travel restrictions, so he started branching out into more European stuff.
He tried English teas but apparently the flavor bored him. He said "no wonder they eat so many pastries with it. It is to mask the taste of this swamp water."
Then dumped out his glass and Lee made a face that clearly said "That was so mean and yet so accurate."
Then my mom chimed in with "Fine. More swamp water for me."
Nothing compared to my father's reaction to discovering Portuguese cha tea for the first time.
He was flipping through the pages of his magazine and ordering teas from this month's magazine. One of them was chai tea from Portugal.
When he bought the tea it came with a little information packet on how to brew and drink it. He then learned it was typically drank with milk like coffee. We are all sitting at the dining table while my father reads the packet to us. My mom stands up and makes us each a cup. She places it in front of us. We all take a sip. It was creamy, spicy, sweet, and down right amazing. I made a satisfied sigh and automatically sank down in the dining chair further.
My father did the same and said "This drink is a gift from God."
My father did some research and learned there are no travel restrictions to Portugal. He practically did a happy dance walking in the door to tell us where we are going for the family vacation. Now he is planning a big trip through a travel agency to explore Sao Miguel Island to explore the tea farm with a mountain view. Lee of course was invited to join us because that is just the type of person my father is and I think he secretly wants Lee to be his son in-law or something. Maybe it was the "When you 2 get married comments" that gave it away. Lee and I both laughed at that because there was absolutely no chance of that happening