Tea improves concentration, sharpens the eyesight, and tickles the imagination. It strengthens verbs and nouns and enforces correct punctuation. Words come more easily to the tea-inspired writer, and the writing flows.
“There is a subtle charm in the taste of tea which makes it irresistible and capable of idealisation… It has not the arrogance of wine, the self-consciousness of coffee, nor the simpering innocence of cocoa.” – Kakuzo Okakura
Tea is an elemental drink. When we drink tea, we drink sunlight and clouds, earth and flowers, wisdom and health. Drinking tea is a way for us to show our solidarity with the raindrops on a rainy day, or in winter, to soften the cold. In summer, it helps us refresh and relax.
Tea calls for a certain sensibility which not everyone possesses. It calls for the patience to boil the water, steep the leaves, and wait for it to cool.
“Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage. In China, in the eight century, it entered the realm of poetry as one of the polite amusements. The fifteenth century saw Japan ennoble it into a religion of aestheticism – Teaism.”
Tea will neither quench your thirst nor will it exalt your senses. But in its modest simplicity, it can awake you to the wisdom of nature and remind you of your indissoluble connection to it.
Once upon a time they boiled tea with onions, but fortunately we know better. Vanilla, rose petals, cinnamon, mango, pineapple, papaya, forest fruits, hazelnuts, and so much more – they can all be distilled into into your cup together with your tea.
“Like Art, Tea has its periods and its schools. Its evolution may be roughly divided into three main stages: the Boiled Tea, the Whipped Tea, and the Steeped Tea… The reason why the Western world is innocent of the older method of drinking tea is explained by the fact that Europe knew it only at the close of the Ming dynasty.”
Tea bags are convenient, but loose tea often has a richer fragrance – you can steep it longer and more thoroughly, for a fuller taste. And, if you store it in a small tin or wooden box, you can pick it up, bring it close to your ear, and shake it gently – you’ll hear whispers of its taste before you taste it.
Tea is good when you drink it alone, and it is also good when you drink it with others. It keeps the conversation going.
If everyone would drink a cup of tea every day, the world would become less stressful, more patient, a little wiser.
Give tea a chance.
Do you drink tea? What’s your favorite?
All quotes are taken from the Penguin Little Black Classics 2016 edition of Kakuzo Okakura’s The Book of Tea, first published in 1906.
boy with a hat 
A lovely thought, “And, if you store it in a small tin or wooden box, you can pick it up, bring it close to your ear, and shake it gently – you’ll hear whispers of its taste before you taste it.” Enjoy the day, take good care Vincent. ~ Mia
Do you drink tea Mia?
I do, my very favorite is Peppermint Tea. Do you have a favorite tea Vincent?
Peppermint tea is popular in Romania – it’s what your grandmother would give you after jam, if you were Romanian. It’s also one of my favorites, together with green tea tinged with vanilla and coconut, and with a rose petal or two thrown in.
Vincent, that sounds like a delightful cup of tea, especially with the rose petals. Please have a lovely evening. ~ Mia
Amen to your post.
I love tea, I live on tea! I prefer a strong builders brew. I also enjoy lemon & ginger tea with an added bag of Calamine. ☕️ ahh!
I love this post! I also love Chamomile and Lavender tea.
My father was a tea drinker, and I never took to the taste of coffee. In college I worked for a tea importer/exporter and learned quite a bit about tea and properly serving it. Through the year I find myself brewing less loose tea and have taken to several brands of bagged tea including: Numi (good black tea blends) and Steven Smith. Smith’s No. 47 Bungalow is by far the best Darjeeling I’ve ever had for it’s price. At very special times, that is the tea I reach for.
I’ll keep those names in mind, though I’m sensible to caffeine and can’t handle black tea as well as I’d like.
You’re lucky about the teabags – here in Romania you have to search a bit to find smaller shops that import the good varieties. On the other hand, we have delicious fruit-based teas grown on home soil.
I love drinking tea, great read!
I drink tea because it is a very grounding drink that is a direct gift from the earth. I like coffee but I brew tea when I need comforting from a cold, or emotional stress, or to warm me on a cold blustery winter day, or in the summer to cool me down. I meditate on the aroma of loose tea. I prefer loose tea to the stuff in bags. Teavana is my candy store 😉
How nice to come across your lovely post while drinking a mug of fragrant black tea! I enjoyed the journey…
Ooh I love tea, especially ginger tea for the winter!
I am inspired to go steep a pot of oolong tea (my favorite.) Thank you.
I love your post. My favourite teas are Violet tea, Rose tea, Lady Grey and Earl Grey. However a good cup of Breakfast tea is very refreshing and calming. 🙂
Unfortunately for me, I’m not very fond of tea. I was drinking Master Shakespeare’s sonnets tonight. One sip of Sonnet 17, and I could feel tears welling in the eyes.
Perchance you’ve read it?
“Who will believe my verse in time to come,
If it were fill’d with your most high deserts?”
Try a bit of tea sometimes, Kanika. It makes Shakespeare easier to digest. 🙂
I drink copious amounts of Harney & Sons Green Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea daily. It was how I kicked my coffee habit. Highly recommend any of their teas! Loved this post!
Tea for me is a drink reserved for when I am of ill health. For the times I need something hot that is more restful than coffee and less filling than soup. In these cases I usually pick a raspberry tea, or perhaps chamomile.
To my mind, tea is personal. My tea is my tea. I make it in my way; I take it in my way. The taste lingers on the tip of my tongue is exclusively mine. So must be yours. Where should I put your tea-table, dear?
On the balcony, where the autumn wind can cool it gently.
I have fallen by the wayside. Tea was always my drink of choice but only if prepared in a teapot and never directly by teabag in mug.I like my milk in the teacup first (also with coffee). As more and more people started using the mug method and teapot less, I made a move over to coffee.
Maybe it’s time to return to the fold with a nice breakfast tea first thing in the morning.
Hugs
Excellent! And timely. Just when I’m trying to increase my coffee to tea ratio. Thanks.
Ah! This is the most poetic way to explain tea it’s importance. I am falling short of words here. I loved this article and craving for tea now..
Hi Vincent
I love Jasmine tea. This is my poem about tea,
https://mhartuti.wordpress.com/2014/04/08/jasmine-tea/