Welcome to the REAL Tea Party
Nothing says style and elegance quite like a proper tea service. It's a timeless tradition that many aficionados consider something of a cure-all. Serena Altschul invites us to tea time:
Welcome to the Tea Party … the sort of tea party people have been enjoying for a very long time.
"Tea really is the most popular beverage in the world, right next to water," Takeshi Watanabe said. He teaches the culture of tea at Connecticut College.
"Tea actually is drunk all over the world. And it's so interesting because it really, I think, symbolizes the common elements of human civilization, while it unifies all these cultures, disparate cultures together," Watanabe said. "However, what's so interesting is that while it unifies different human populations, it also distinguishes them so that, you know, each culture had its own ways of drinking tea."
Tea drinking as a cultural practice originated in ancient China. Chajing, the first book on tea, was written by Lu Yu in The Tang Dynasty around 750 A.D.
"When tea drinking arrived to Japan from China, it was used as an aid for meditation, for it's caffeine that aided concentration. Otherwise meditation can induce sleep," Watanabe said.
Anyone who stayed awake during history class remembers the most famous tea party of all, the one in Boston in 1773.
"Tea was so popular, it was a convenient vehicle to tax on the part of the British," Watanabe said.
On the evening of December 16th, a group of angry colonists disguised as native Americans boarded three cargo ships and dumped the tea overboard. The rest, as they say, is history.
"After that, there were more and more people getting into the business," Michael Harney said. His father started Harney and Sons, makers of fine teas.
"A&P was the great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, so, there was this whole thing where they got into the tea business and broadened into groceries. Same thing with Lipton, he actually was a grocer in Scotland and then got into the tea business. Like a good Scotsman, he was a little cheap, so let me make my own tea so I can lower the margin for myself," Harney said.
Lipton has long dominated the American market, mostly with tea bags. But with U.S. tea sales around seven billion dollars and rising, no wonder other companies are getting into the act.
"I think Tea is hot!" Joe Capp said. He is head of the U.S. division of TeaGschwendner, a German tea company that has recently extended its reach into the U.S.
"Tea was the sixth most consumed beverage in the United States. It is now number five. It is growing in popularity. Actually, the ready-to-drink, the iced teas, seem to be really fueling this," Capp said.
That, and the rapidly growing menu of exotic teas consumers have to choose from these days.
"I think that it's the flavors that are really driving people to take a look at tea, besides the health benefits," Capp said.
Making your own tea the proper way is fun. Still, nothing beats having someone else serve you tea with all the goodies.
"The English have a wonderful expression. They say, 'Tea tames tears and thirst.' It's the original comfort food," Afternoon tea expert Elisabeth Knight said.
This is about pampering.
"It's taking a minute to have some sweets and sandwiches," Knight said. "And the whole rest of the world can wait. One hour, it can wait.
"You could rush it. But why would you? It's a real treat," she said. "I think what's wonderful about doing something lovely like this, you know, how you send a cranky kid to his room, because he needs a time out? I don't know any adult who doesn't need a time out once a week. Just time to sit down, unplug from all of the electronics, and do something the way it's been done for hundreds of years, just to settle down."
For more info:
teawithfriends.com
stregis.com
"The Meaning of Tea" (Tea Dragon Films)
TeaGschwendner
About Chajing, by Lu Yu
Harney and Sons