Today’s Make Something challenge called for tea in any form—leaves, bags, liquid.

Tea is my fuel. As I typically drink two to three pots of it per day, we have tea in abundant supply. Loose and bags. Pyramid and plain. Name brands and artisan blends.

I poured some Lipton black loose leaf tea on a paper plate and jiggled it into a level oval. As I inhaled, the sweet, earthy aroma perked my mood and brought up the corners of my mouth. But now what? What to make? And in keeping with my theme for these 365 days, what word?

Spread out on the plate, the tea was … Dark. Aromatic. Textured. Crisp. Variegated.

But not satisfying. Dry leaves do not live up to tea’s potential. Tea is of little use to me until it is soaked and saturated in hot water—creating the clean, woodsy liquid that occupies my porcelain teapot and warms a circle on my desk, filling cup after cup to energize my senses for a day at the office.

It’s got to steep.