The Meaning of Tea

Back in October, I gushed over my birthday presents from Stacy:  a beautiful glass teapot with glass cups, The Tea Companion, and a sampling of Teavana teas.  What I haven't shared is how much a part of my life tea has become.  I've since bought more tea (my favorites are Earl Grey and Almond Biscotti), hosted a tea party, introduced my older daughter to tea (my younger daughter is a lost cause as she only wants Lipton tea bags), scheduled my weeks according to when I can drink tea, and plan my next trip to Teavana.

Why the obsession?  It's been clear to me that brewing old-fashioned tea leaves in beautiful pots is a luxury and a ritual.  It's not a quick thing.  You boil the water, but you have to pull it off the fire before it hits boiling.  Then, you pour the hot water over the tea leaves in whatever beautiful or efficient tea brewing vessel you might have.  You let that steep and then sweeten to your heart's content.  Nothing beats sitting down and drinking tea.

However, yesterday it was more than the ritual.  I haven't been feeling well, and I lost all energy about 2 p.m. I had planned it out perfectly.  I'd work until 2:00, fix myself some tea, and cross-stitch.  After working all day (cheerfully, I might add), I hit a wall right at tea time.  I went ahead and made my tea, but instead of cross-stitching, I just sat there and drank my tea.  No DOing, just BEing. 

In a year of DOing, it's nice to just BE.  And tea is a part of that.

Comments

[Anne Ferguson]

Dawn, my Scottish grandmother always swished some hot water around in the teapot before adding the tea to heat the pot up!

[Word Lily]

We were given some Teavana teas for Christmas, and it's been fun tasting! One of the ones we received is a display flower tea! I'm really infatuated with TeaNoir's offerings, though — http://teanoir.etsy.com

I'm slowly using up my store-bought teas so I can indulge in more nice tea as ritual more frequently.

Tea as ritual: Seems a few other cultures figured that one out long before we did. That doesn't make it empty for us, though. Tea as being: A good thing.

[Dawn Goldberg]

As far as tea as ritual not being new, oh, absolutely. Ever since I could read and gravitated toward British authors, I've been fascinated by the British ritual of tea time. I'm happy to have created my own ritual (that probably looks nothing like traditional tea in England), but I would never presume to think I was being innovative.

It's just innovative for me to be taking consistent time to myself and BEing. Tea is helping me do that. :)

[Laura West]

Hi Dawn,

Marrying a Brit, I too have discovered the beautiful and relaxing tea ritual. Especially when his mom visits - she gets out all the cups and assumes you want tea at this time! We sit and be together. (no Wii or anything!)
I've taken up adding tea time to my day as well. There is something so comforting about waiting for the water to boil, the tea to steep, the water to cool....and the fun of selecting a tea based on my mood!
My friend Karen, from Redwood Advisors, sent me a beautiful Tea Forte set for Christmas. It's amazing...little trianglular tea bags, they have their own ceramic tea holders (not sure what they are called...but basically a place to put your bag once you take it from your cup and are sitting at the table - no more dripping across the floor!)
Enjoy -
Laura