Care for a spot of tea?

Let's play a stint of word recognition, shall we?  (I'll help you out a bit.)

I say "India".  You say..."Curry!" 

I say "France."  You say..."Croissants!"  

I say "America".  You say "High fructose corn syrup!"

I say "China."  You say...no...not dog...no...not rice...I'll give you a hint:  they literally do drink only a spot of it at a time...yes tea!  There isn't any problem in the world that can't be solved over a nice spot of tea (and if it can't be solved with tea then a cute little vegan cupcake will do the trick, trust me).  

It was China that introduced tea to the rest of the world.  Whether it be black, green, red, plain or highly spiced, tea is an important meal component in any Asian country.  While I wouldn't call myself a definite connoisseur yet, I do appreciate how the Chinese take time to drink their tea while appreciating the taste, the friends, and the overall art of the experience.  I definitely must learn to do this. 

My memory escapes me but someone once said that "...in America, we were lonely.  So we created coffee shops.  That way we could drink our coffee and read our newspaper with other lonely people doing exactly the same thing at the table next to us and continue our loneliness together.  And then, we even had the audacity to build 'drive through' coffee shops.  Have we entirely lost the art of conversation and relationship?"  Now that of course is an extreme statement but when you travel to the east, you begin to realize just how much of an individualistic society is encouraged in the West...no one here ever goes to a tea or coffee shop to read a book by themselves.  Even if they go to study, its in a group.  And they talk...and they talk for AGES...and restaurants and tea shops would NEVER hurry you up so they can give your table to someone else.  In fact if you stay less than an hour, they think you didn't like the service or something! 

This is our Chinese friend demonstrating how ladies are supposed to hide their cup while drinking tea.

Trying to look Chinese while drinking tea...I'm not doing thumbs up on purpose...in fact I'm probably flipping someone off...

Jason drinking tea the manly Chinese way.

Ok so here's a quick lesson on brewing your own cup of tea at home.  I'm on an oolong kick right now -- oolong is a semi fermented tea, a little stronger than regular green but milder than black.  Very aromatic.

1.  Bring cold water to the boil rapidly to prevent the water being de-aerated.  

2.  Use a china or glazed earthenware teapot that will retain the heat, and warm it by swirling a little hot water around the sides and emptying it out.

3  Measure the tea carefully:  1 heaped teaspoon of leaves for each cup and 1 for the pot.

4.  Follow the old adage "bring your teapot to the kettle, not the kettle to the teapot" to ensure the water is still on the boil when it is poured onto the tea leaves (this step can be different depending on the type of green tea apparently but if it's a Chinese green tea, this should be fine).  This will agitate the leaves and release the full flavour of the tea.  Fill the pot and then promptly poor the first cup out to remove all bitterness.

5.  Refill the pot and put the lid on.  Leave for a few minutes to infuse the leaves.  Tell your friends a story about how the dragon ate the sun and then gave birth to it in the form of a pheasant.  If you add motions and body language, this will be sure to keep your crowd entertained for all of a minute.  Then sit in awkward silence till your tea is done infusing.

6.  If using milk (not with green tea!!!), add it to the cup before the tea.  The scalding tea will slightly cook the milk and blend the flavours.

7.  Stir the pot and poor tea through a strainer into each cup.  Add sugar if you are a weakling and cannot appreciate the flavour of the tea for what it truly is.  One might ask oneself...if I am adding sugar to disguise the wonderful flavour of this tea, should I really be drinking it? 

This is an example of one of the many kinds of traditional tea tables.  Often carved out of solid wood, they come in many sizes with all kinds of intricate designs and scenes carved into them.  I gotta get me one of these some day!  When I do, you can all come over and we'll have a tea party!