There are coffee people, and there are tea people. I am a Coffee Drinker. I'm not myself until I've had my first cup. I get irritated and remain groggy without it. The first thing I do every morning is start the water for my French press. (I encourage you to try your coffee "unplugged"....it changes everything.) Tea Drinkers, I've noticed, are a different sort. They sit and wait while their tea steeps. They can let their tea brew and smile at the same time. They don't excuse their behavior because "I haven't had my tea yet today!" No, I've never heard that one. They are Zen.
Tea, they say, was discovered serendipitously by a Chinese emporer relaxing under a tea tree. A sudden breeze whooshed a tea leaf into his cup of warm water and "Eureka!" ...there was tea. Whatever! Those British wanted their tea fix so bad they infiltrated China and started an Opium War, created a corporation to do their dirty work, and ended up occupying India first as the East Indian Trading Company and later as Great Britain. All for a cup of tea...
Tea sneaked up on me. My mother did the Sun Tea thing--Lipton tea bags (they are my standard! Don't knock Lipton!) and gently sang: "If you don't like the taste of tea, don't drink it." So I learned to drink it without sugar. Summer is not Summer to me without my iced tea in the fridge. I brew red tea with chocolate, green tea with apricots, black tea with berries. We won't talk about my mother's Russian Tea, even though I have such fond memories of that concoction. (Thank you, Astronauts!)
What fascinates me most about tea is the fact that, despite the various colors and flavors, all tea derives from the same leaf. This tea leaf is found in China, Japan, Sri Lanka, and India. This tea leaf can transform into green tea, black, white, lapsung, bird's nest, oolong...one leaf! It's all about the journey. The Japanese tend to just dry it: that's green. The Chinese like to dry it and smoke it: that's black. The Indians drink that black tea with milk and spices: that's Chai. Pick that tea leaf when it's just a baby: that's white. And here comes the fun part: Take any of these leaves and add dried something, toasted something, smoked something, and you change everything. Some nobleman in England found his favorite tea infused with dried orange peel (bergamot, acutally): that's Earl Grey. Even cooler: Take any edible flower or herb and dry it, smoke it, toast it, and you get a Tisane. Chamomile is just a little daisy-like flower. Mint! Hibiscus! Add hot water to that dried chyrsanthemum and watch the petals unfurl for its last time. Such beautiful magic!
Tea is still surprising me. I add loose leaf oolong into the steam bath for my halibut. I infuse my creme anglaise with earl grey for a subtle, flowery creme brulee. Lavendar ice cream (oh, yes!) and lapsung suchong in my handmade burgers for a smoky background. I stuff my roasting chicken with a lemon and push green tea under the skin.
Tea gives my French man and I ten minutes or so every day for just the two of us. Tea Time is our chat about whatever, a one-on-one that lasts as long as it takes to sip our tea face to face. We wait for the water, sometimes quietly, sometimes ready with our list of rants or sweet nothings, and then choose our tea depending on caffeine, taste, time. If we argue, I drink fast. If we are conspiring, I sip slowly. Sometimes it's in the early morning, sometimes the last thing before bed. It's our Zen Moment, we two. In a busy, chaotic day full of children, dog, chauffering and cooking, this is our Time Out. It keeps us together, on the same page, caught up. Tea is the perfect Pause Button.
Coolness!
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