Hi! I’m Kristin and welcome to Sweet Steep! I’m so glad you’re here! Can you guess that I love tea? It’s probably pretty obvious; I mean, who would devote an entire blog to a single type of beverage?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a tea drinker. As a matter of fact, I even remember my first sip of tea. Crazy, right? My childhood best friend and I were playing school and we needed a hot drink in hand to play the role of our real teacher. With no idea how to brew coffee, Lipton black tea with milk and lots of sugar, seemed like the perfect substitute. It helped that I watched my mother steep a cup every morning.
That first sip of tea was delicious, warm and sweet. Contrast that to the taste of my father’s bitter, black instant coffee (Sanka, I believe) and my allegiance towards tea was born.
Now that you know why I’m on team “tea,” let me tell you just a little about me personally. I’m a wife to Steve and mother of two adult children. We all live in the Chicago area, but I am from the little, but great state of Connecticut.
Luckily for me, my daughter is a barista who is passionate about her craft! Not only has she taught me some of the hows of drink-making, but the why’s, too. In turn, I have a greater appreciation for the finer points of drink recipes and brewing a proper cup of tea.
While my degree is in Marketing, I’ve worked in web design for many years, back to the days of typing html line-by-line (yikes)! In other words, I got into web design long before WordPress and Squarespace.
In recent years, I’ve really gotten into photography and am quite passionate about it! I can’t even explain how much I enjoy it and the challenge of capturing pictures. The combination of the technical and creative suit me perfectly. My only regret is that I didn’t get serious about photography years earlier.
So, of course, all the photography on Sweet Steep is the work of yours truly. Right now, I’m using a Nikon D3300; its latest version is this D3500. While this is a starter DSLR, it’s the perfect tool to learn this art form and create some really amazing pictures. My favorite lens right now, is this prime lens: Nikkor 35mm, f/1.8.
One thing that’s helped my photography a ton, is my new tri-pod. Let me tell you what I love, love, love about it (was that enough loves?). Not only does this Manfrotto tri pod have an arm that swings out to a horizontal position for overhead shots, but with the separate ball head, I can rotate the camera for vertical shots.
So my advice: if you’re thinking about taking up photography, go for it!
About Sweet Steep
The Sweet Steep blog is the place where I share my love of tea through informational articles, photography and tea recipes.
And what’s a cup of hot tea without a sweet pastry on the side? Here, you’ll also find recipes for pastries and desserts that pair well with tea, or are just plain delicious on their own! And since I’ve spent the long Chicago winter binge watching The Great British Baking Show, I’m inspired to try out some new recipes and share them with you guys.
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Happy tea drinking!
Kristin