“The hottest hit of the Beatles… tea. The first thing the Beatles asked after arriving at London’s airport was a hot and enjoyable cup of tea. More and more young people discover that tea is the drink for the modern person.
“La-isha”, 12 Jan 1965, Israel

The First & Ultimate Tea Taster
In the first ever treatise on tea, “Tea Classic” (AD780), Lu Yu, the Chinese patron saint of tea not only took pains to narrate the proper techniques for growing, preparing, & brewing of tea but also emphasized on the use of cleanest water. Tea gardens being grown in the Yangtze valley & along the coast, it was the water from River Yangtze that made its way into the tea pot. Such was his mastery of tea from growing the plants to tasting the beverage, Lu Yu was said to be have acquired an incredible sensitivity in his taste buds to the extent of being able to distinguish water samples from the midstream & the bank of the river.

Lester A. Mitscher, Victoria Dolby, Victoria Dolby Toews in their masterful guide to Green Tea, “The Green Tea Book: China’s Fountain of Youth” narrates: on a trip down the Yangtze River, Lu Yu spent some time as a guest of a high-ranking dignitary. While visiting, he was asked to taste a jar of water drawn from the center of the river, which was said to be the cleanest & tastiest. After taking a small sip, Lu Yu, with disgust, declared it to be low-quality water drawn near the bank of the river. The man responsible for drawing the water denied that it was from near the bank of the river, so Lu Yu took another sip. He then conceded that it could be water drawn from mid-stream, but it must have been diluted with inferior water. At this point, the man admitted that while he was returning to shore some of the water he had drawn from the center of the river had spilled & he had replaced the lost quantity with water from near the river bank. The man added “Master Lu, you are clearly an Immortal”.

So is the beverage Tea. A hot cup of tea never seized to gather steam throughout the history. The sharply contrasting cultures of East & the West found their common beverage of Black tea anchored to the virtues of warmth, hospitality, beauty, tradition and ritual.

Tea Ceremonies in Japan

“Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage.” Katkuzo Okakura

In spite of the popularity of the beverage Black tea in the West as well as the East, in no country has Black tea contributed to the traditions to the extent as those of Japan. The preparation & enjoyment of Tea has been elevated into a ritual of aesthetic significance. Harmony in all things being the paramount aesthetic concept in the Japanese culture, the tea ceremony has adopted most graceful manners that could be conceived.
The tradition of Tea ceremony evolved through Buddhist priests in 9th century to Samurai in 13th century. The ancient art form of tea ceremony has taken root to such an extent, even in the Modern Japan, the study of same is still considered part of the ‘proper’ education of any aspiring young ‘Japanese lady’.
Sen Soshitsu, Ura Senke Grand Tea Master XV:”Chado write the Way of Tea is based upon the simple act of boiling water, making tea, offering it to others, and drinking of it ourselves. Served with a respectful heart and received with gratitude, a bowl of tea satisfies both physical and spiritual thirst. The frenzied world and our myriad dilemmas leave our bodies and minds exhausted. It is then that we seek out a place where we can have a moment of peace and tranquility. In the discipline of Chado such a place can be found. The four principles of harmony, respect, purity and tranquility, codified almost four hundred years ago, are timeless guides to the practice of Chado. Incorporating them into daily life helps one to find that unassailable place of tranquility that is within each of us.

U.S. Regional Tea Traditions

Iced tea may not have as much wisdom as hot tea, but in the summer better a cool and refreshed dullard than a steamy sweat-drenched sage - leave sagacity to the autumn! ~Linda Solegato

While in the Northern United States, “tea” generally means the hot beverage, in the core Southern United States “tea” means sweetened iced tea.

Boil it to make it hot, and then put it over ice to make it cold, and then put in sugar or corn syrup to sweeten and then add lemon to make it sour! There goes the sweetened iced tea in U. S. A.

In Texas and much of the Western United States, iced tea means freshly-brewed unsweetened tea, served in a tall glass and garnished with a wedge of lemon. Sweeteners are then added by the customer according to taste.

“Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea.” –Henry Fielding

Tea Time
Tea suits all weather, all time, all locations & all occasions. Tea time is set up in anytime of the day: morning, afternoon, or evening. Tea is enjoyed outdoors as well as indoors. Tea is sipped in wilderness, in solitude, in the boisterous gathering of friends & in the formal conversation with business associates. tea goes down well in all occasions: if you are cold, tea will warm you; if you are too heated, tea will cool you; if you are depressed, tea will cheer you; if you are excited tea will calm you.

“Tea is the perfect accompaniment to all the moments of our lives. Rest a tea cup on the arm of a chair, and the balance of life immediately improves. Offer a cup of tea to an acquaintance, and discover a new friend”- William Morrow & Co., UK.

Afternoon Tea

Another novelty is the tea-party, an extraordinary meal in that, being offered to persons that have already dined well, it supposes neither appetite nor thirst, and has no object but distraction, no basis but delicate enjoyment.
Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste

Having tea as a fashionable event is attributed to the queen consort of Charles II of England, Catherine of Braganza (1638 –1705), who brought in the largest ever dowry in the annals of history: two million golden crusados, Tangier and Morocco in North Africa, Bombay in India and also permission for the British to use all the ports in the Portuguese colonies in Africa, Asia and the Americas, thus giving England their first direct trading rights to Black tea.
However, it was only during the time of Anna Russell nee Anna Maria Stanhope (1783-1857), Duchess of Bedford, the afternoon tea was elevated into a stylish social event. English nobility was satisfied with two meals a day: a sumptuous breakfast & lavish dinner. In 1840, the Duchess, who regularly got hungry in the afternoon, began inviting her friends to join her for a light meal of cakes, bread and butter sandwiches, assorted sweets, and, of course, tea on a low table. By 1880, Low tea became of the rage among the upper classes and vogue in tea shops across the country. Soon the middle and lower classes of England followed suit. So did the United States of America. The concept of afternoon tea took root in the New World to such an extent, American novelist Henry James (1843-1916) wrote that there were few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.
Today the tradition of afternoon tea has almost vanished leaving remnants in the form of tea break at four o’ clock. The safest stuff in demand for tired mind & body of the modern day worker is caffeine. And tea emerges the winner with just the right amount of caffeine together with tea tannin to the boot to perk you up in the tea break.

“Bring me a cup of tea and the times.”
Queen Victoria’s first command upon her Accession to the throne.