Tea

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.  ~ C.S. Lewis

This is the Chinese character for tea, pronounced "cha" in the second tone, meaning with the speaker's voice rising slightly.

For the love of tea
I love tea. I love drinking tea, and I love that even though all tea comes from the same plant, Camellia sinensis, how it is enjoyed varies greatly from culture to culture.

When we lived in China we drank green or jasmine tea with nearly every meal, as was the custom especially in the north; I brought a glass jar of jasmine or green tea with me to class nearly every day. In China tea is everywhere--it is in every home, in cute or amazingly beautiful tea shops in every town and city--and in train stations and on trains, one can always find a giant tank of boiling hot water for refilling one's tea thermos. The health benefits of drinking tea are numerous (although of course, organic is best and I buy organic and Fair Trade whenever I can).



Tea for sale in a shop in Guangxi, China

Buying tea in a local shop in Xinjiang Province, western China. This man mixed the same tea for me, mainly from flowers, that his mother preferred. It also included saffron.



Woman picking tea in Guangxi, China
 

Tea is a vital aspect of many cultures. In Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson describes his initial frustration with the local people's emphasis on tea drinking when discussing important business. In China, one of the first things a Chinese host will do is offer a cup of tea. 请坐！请喝茶！(Qing zuo! Qing he cha! which means, Please, sit! Please drink tea!) Of course there are many varieties of tea but they all come from the same plant, and then are prepared in different ways (except for red tea). Tomas and I learned about tea when we visited a tea plantation in Malaysia, Boh Tea Malaysia.

Tea growing at Boh Tea Plantation in Malaysia

In Tibet, Tomas and I sampled the local Yak Butter Tea, which was cooked on the stove and included yak butter. This was difficult for us to drink, but a staple for locals.

Local Tibetans offering Yak Butter Tea

Usually when I am at home, however, and in Sweden or the US, I drink black flavored tea. One thing I love about Uppsala is its tea shops. Unfortunately, one cannot yet visit a tea shop such as the one described in the Tea Shop Mysteries by Laura Childs, but there are three (soon to be four) tea shops in Uppsala where tea is sold per 100 grams, and there are many delicious choices. Favorites right now include many of the Kusmi brand teas, such as my personal favorite, Violet Tea, but also other Earl Grey-type teas and fruity flavors as well. Recently I have also been drinking teas such as hallonkyssar "raspberry kisses," a lovely, fruity tea, great for afternoons. The pleasure received from sitting down to a hot, delicious, fragrant cup of tea from a lovely mug or cup cannot be described in monetary terms. On a summer's day, tea is a lovely complement to dessert, and in the winter, what could be better than the first hot cup of tea in the morning, or after coming in from a cold winter's walk in the frigid air? I have found that sharing a pot of tea with a friend or a few friends creates a warm, cozy atmosphere and encourages conversation.

I also love the idea of Afternoon Tea. For a birthday party a few years ago I hosted an Afternoon Tea where I offered several different kinds of tea, in different pots, chosen to complement the various foods served. (I paired little smoked salmon sandwiches with a smoky black tea bought in Uppsala, called "Sir William", for example). One could pair a cake with a fruity tea such as strawberry, or else one might like to choose a more neutral tea. At the end of each of Laura Childs' Tea Shop Mysteries she offers "Tea Time Tips" which I find fun to read. In Uppsala my mother and I indulged in a delicious Afternoon Tea served on a Saturday afternoon at Villa Anna. It was delicious.

Here I will share tea quotes as I find them in literature or elsewhere. If you have a favorite tea quote or story, I would love to hear about it in the "Comments" below!

Tea Quotes
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"A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

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"There is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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"All true tea lovers not only like their tea strong, but like it a little stronger with each year that passes." ~ George Orwell

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"There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea."  ~ Bernard-Paul Heroux

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After meeting a difficult situation...here is a discussion between Mma Makutsi and Mma Ramotswe in Alexander McCall Smith's The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection:

Mma Makutsi looked up. Her voice, when she spoke, was half choked with sorrow. "Yes, Mma?"

"I am going to make some tea. We shall drink a cup of tea."

Mma makutsi nodded, and sniffed. "It is always the best thing to do, Mma."

It was, of course. The sound of the kettle boiling was in itself the sound of normality, of reason, the sound of a fight back against the sadness of things. And the making of tea--ordinary black tea for Mma Makutsi and red bush for Mma Ramotswe--was the first step in restoring a sense of order and control into their disturbed universe. Then, sitting close together for company, nursing their mugs of tea, they began to discuss what they should do. (124-25)