When I was a child, my grandmother introduced me to the proper times of day for coffee, tea, and beer. I learned the difference between black coffee and cafe au lait, I knew how long a pot of tea should sit before drinking, and I could pour a headless beer from a bottle all by the time I was 10 years old.
Let’s focus on the tea.
I wasn’t formally introduced to the Eastern ritual of tea until my 30′s, and since then, I’ve taken great pleasure in tea shops. One thing I really like about the shops I have encountered in China is the lighting. Often indirect, it sheds light of different sorts on the mystery and history of the tea, the tea accoutrements, the ritual, and the people involved. Please enjoy my gallery below – photos taken from three different shops I’ve been to and enjoyed in China.
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I opened this just as I was making a cup of tea! How cool is that!
Considering I’ve only known you to mention coffee, I think it is extremely cool, and I think you are in for a very special day
Morning and early afternoon coffee (with a late morning glass of red wine to toast my friend today) and then herbal tea in the evening. Tonight’s choice is a delicious and aromatic blueberry blend. Indeed it will be a fantastic evening, we are about to watch Robin Cook’s Coma. Loved the book and loved the movie. Haven’t seen it since it came out in 1978. I was 13! Movie’s starting, gotta go!!!
That is a beautiful line up, indeed.
A toast to your friend and what sounds like an incredible life – a beautiful photo of him, btw.
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RE Making the perfect cup of tea. Do tell
Oh man, I find it very relative. For my gramma, it was the cheapest black teabags on the market, and she didn’t even heat the pot first. (And, I must say, if I’m travelling rough and end up in a hostel with free tea bags, making a cuppa gramma-style can be the best thing in the world at that time.)
I once was audience and drinker at a tea ceremony. Very interesting.
It really is. Every movement has meaning.
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You granny taught you all that by the time you were ten? I look forward to reading more about her.
Your photos are fascinating – some of them look more like bars selling alcohol than tea shops.
I’d love to go to a tea ceremony! I love tea and have always drunk it British style – strong with milk at 4 o’clock – while Chinese tea is weak and black …
Oh yes, I also was in charge of rolling her cigarettes as well!
You are exactly right! These places function quite a bit like bars – the social part of it. But all the ones I’ve been to seem to have this retail component, in addition. You can by the dry tea as well as the pots and bits and pieces that any sophisticated tea drinker might need.
It sounds like you need a good tour through Chinese teas! There are so many classes of them, and some are actually quite strong, like lapsang souchong or one of the gunpowder green teas.
I have not yet experienced a Japanese tea ceremony, which would be fascinating
of course I forgot about Lapsang Souchong. Its an acquired taste but I don’t mind it – though I prefer it mixed with a plain assam type tea. (I think Sainsbury’s make the version I like)
It is definitely an acquired taste, and I know I haven’t gotten there myself. I suspect that the stronger the taste, the better it is for you…
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