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| Everything stops for tea |
So what do the English and the Chinese have in common? We are both nations of tea drinkers. Tea, wonderful tea: the English drink 165 million cups every single day. The Chinese drink many more, but they use tiny cups (and the Chinese population is huge compared to that of England). But it cannot be denied the people of both China and England love tea.
I visited the TenFu Tea Museum（天福茶博物院） at Pantuo（盘陀） to find out more about the history, ceremonies and culture of tea in China . There I learnt that tea was discovered by accident four thousand years ago by a Chinese emperor and introduced to the British about three hundred years ago. They took to it with a passion. Unwilling to pay the Chinese growers the high prices they demanded, the British established tea plantations in their Asian and African colonies, where the black tea which suits the British palate is still produced today.
When I was a child every family, rich or poor, was very proud of their beautiful, delicately made bone china tea service. This comprised a teapot, milk jug, sugar bowl, six cups, saucers and tea plates. You always knew when important visitors were arriving as the special box containing the precious tea set would be carefully taken from its safe storage. The very elite sometimes had a two or three tier sandwich or cake stand that dismantled for storage in their tea service.
So how does making and tasting of tea in China differ from the British way? The Chinese prefer the semi-fermented, lighter, more delicately flavored oolong teas, served without the addition of any sweeteners or milk. The British have a liking the fully-fermented strongly flavored black teas, which are rendered drinkable by the addition of milk to reduce the tangy taste and sugar to sweeten.
The English afternoon tea ritual is still a cause for debate: do you put the milk into the cup before or after the tea? Which way should the teapot face? To make tea you must have freshly boiled water. You warm the tea pot by rinsing the inside only, and then add the tea leaves and the required amount of boiling water. Cover the teapot with the hand knitted or quilted tea cozy and allow the tea to brew for five minutes. Add a little milk to each cup and fill nearly to the brim with tea. After passing the tea to your guests, you would offer the sugar bowl, asking politely, “one lump or two?” (Traditionally, sugar cubes were used).
Today over ninety percent of tea sold in Britain is in the form of teabags, and there is little or no ceremony involved in the making of a cup of tea. You throw a teabag into any old mug, slosh it about for a minute with a spoon, remove, add milk and sugar to taste and it is done.
Watching the Chinese make tea is a reminder of those bygone days when the presentation was as important as the taste. They wash the teapot inside and out, add the tea and cover with boiling water. They use the lid of the pot to gently tease the tea leaves. Rinse the tea cups with boiling water and then again with the hot contents of the teapot; refill the teapot with water; empty the cups; and you are ready to go. Delicious!
I would love to write more, but I am sorry, it is time for a cuppa. Cheers!
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