I used to be a coffee addict. I drank it black, and I drank it often. The stronger the better. Coffee fueled the world, I said. Coffee was strong and glamorous. Coffee cafes were full of energy and lively music and successful writers with their laptops.
Tea, on the other hand? Tea was anything but glamourous. Tea was too boring. Too flavorless. Tearooms were too silent and too proper, and crowded with florals and china and fragile handles that didn’t sit well in my hands. Tearooms practically mandated I break something.
I still find myself a bit uncomfortable in overly-done tearooms but oh how wrong I was about the taste of tea! I discovered that tea is more varied and rich than I ever imagined. As I discovered quality teas and learned the art of brewing and blending them, I found that tea is anything but flavorless. Tea has its own edge. It’s grounding and ethereal at the same time. It can be fierce, yet gentle.
Like a woman.
I discovered that tea is infinite possibility. It pairs well with solitude or conversation, with Norah Jones or Elvis, with chocolate or nothing. It can bring energy or sleep, warmth or calm. It does not ask much of me. The only thing it asks is that I give it my time. It does not pair well with hustle. I would venture to guess that’s why it’s not been a popular drink in the West.
Tea tempers the spirit,
harmonizes the mind,
dispels lassitude and relieves fatigue,
awakens the thought and prevents drowsiness.
– Lu Yu, The Classic Art of Tea
The Tea Ceremony
One day I picked up Makoto Fujimura’s book, Silence and Beauty. It’s a beautiful book in its own right, but it also performed one of those lovely literary tricks that books do at times. It pointed me to something I hadn’t considered before – the Japanese tea ceremony. It was a passing comment he made, but my interest was immediately piqued, for the rituals and traditions of other cultures are beautiful opportunities to see the world in a different light.
Now I’ve never been privileged to take part in a Japanese tea ceremony, so I feel like I should not attempt to describe it. But in The Book of Tea, Kakuzo Okakura goes into deeper detail on the tea ceremony and the life philosophy of the famous tea masters. Simply put, it’s the ritualistic making of a cup of matcha tea, and then ceremonially presenting it to the guest. It’s vastly different from our concepts of the English-influenced tea party. The Japanese tea ceremony revolves around simplicity and humility.
The ceremony takes place in what is called the tea room, which is a small space about ten feet square. The entrance itself is small, about three feet high. This requires guests to bend as they enter, symbolizing that all people, no matter their social standing, hold the same value. As the guests sit waiting, Okakura wrote, quiet reigns with nothing to break the silence save the note of the boiling water in the iron kettle. The kettle sings well, for pieces of iron are so arranged in the bottom as to produce a peculiar melody in which one may hear the echoes of a cataract muffled by clouds, of a distant sea breaking among the rocks, a rainstorm sweeping through a bamboo forest, of of the soughing of pines on some faraway hill.
The tea room is always completely void of any permanent decorations. The idea is to bring in something from nature for each occasion, something that reflects the current season. A poem is chosen to hang on the wall for each occasion, varying with the occasion and its mood. Both of these aesthetic approaches symbolize the impermanence of life, and the constant changes that are a part of our existence in this world.
During the preparation and serving of the tea, every sequence of events and every movement of the tea master’s hands is guided by ancient rituals. All is done with the intention of nurturing a feeling of silence and sanctuary from the outside world and in honor of the four principals that are essential to the tea ceremony – respect, harmony, tranquility, and purity.
More Than Tea
This story stayed with me as I went about my days. I thought more about my journey into tea, or what I like to call The Tea Life.
I realized that I had been learning about more than just tea. With my interest in tea, I had also become interested in its history, and that history is full of ancient wisdom. Tea was the springboard into so much more. Tea had been teaching me about life unawares.
As Okakuro Kazuko said, Tea is a religion of the art of life.
Tea had been teaching me to walk through this wild and heavy world with a tea room in my soul – a small space with a low door. In this space I was learning to live with respect and compassion – for the earth, for others, for my own body and mind and soul.
I still like coffee, and it has its place in my life. Throughout the day, tea is my drink of choice. When it’s blended with adaptogenic herbs it’s a wonderful way to drink health and energy into my mind and body. But around 9 PM, when the kids are in bed and I have writing that’s calling, there’s nothing quite like a hot cup of French-pressed coffee. So as usual, I find myself walking with a hand in both worlds.
One word of warning: if you’re going to end up falling into a teacup like I did, it’s not easy being a tea drinker in coffee-loving America. Finding a good cup of coffee is a cinch no matter the city or the social situation; but if you ask for tea, there’s a high chance you’ll be presented with a few wrinkled tea bags and a shrug.
As for fun tea quotes they are rarely to be found, while coffee quotes adorn everything from hoodies to wall decor. As Heather Dockray said in What It’s Like to Live as a Tea Drinker in a Coffee Drinker’s World:
“No one understood us when we said,
‘You don’t want to see me
without my Irish Breakfast!’
– Heather Dockray
However, if you can get past those two minor annoyances, the world of tea is a wonderland that will both delight you and teach you.
