TDG: Diet-ribe: Joining the Cult of Tea

[jhlurie]

Andrew Levinsky is entranced by a Cult.

Is it really possible to tell the difference between Chanel No. 5 at $180 (US) an ounce and a 3.3 ounce "jug" of its knock-off, Classy Lady, for twelve bucks? Millions of women and their suitors who have made Chanel No. 5 the number one fragrance in the world apparently think so.

In the US, tea has finally joined that coveted product category in which consumers either get it, pretend to get it, or know enough to keep it to themselves. These days, admitting you don't know black from green is like saying you can’t tell red from white.

Read the ravings of the new High Priest of the Cult of Tea, here . . .

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[Gary Soup]

Editor's Note: Since this piece was written, Helen Gustafson passed away. Her tea books are available here and here on amazon.com

I hope there's no cause and effect here.

[cdh]

I'm glad that tea is getting some attention now... though I've not seen the ubiquity of tea services implied by the article.

I love tea for its huge variations from one type to the next. I just hope that the snobbish frippery about "only good china" and raised pinky fingers go away. The shamanistic sounding incantations about time and temperature for each tea are actualy necessary information if you want the get the best out of each particular type of tea... pouring boiling water over green tea is a sure-fire recipe for a bitter astringent disaster... let the water drop 30 degrees, on the other hand, and you've got a fine cuppa there. Try brewing black tea with water at 180 and you'll certainly get a different cup than if your water was boiling... depends on your tastes which you prefer.

Edited May 25, 2004 by cdh (log)

[LNorman]

I wish tea would get more appreciation in restaurants. My husband and I went to a nice Italian restaurant, Mulberry Street in Woodbridge. The entrees were great, the foccacia was right out of the oven, the desserts were wonderful. But then I get a Lipton tea bag for my tea.

I've been to well-known restaurants all over and tea service is abysmal. I know it's because the US is mostly a coffee-drinking nation and tea isn't ordered that often.

But come one! Can't tea drinkers get some respect?

[Gifted Gourmet]

Tea and Water give each other life," the Professor was saying. "The tea is still alive. This tea has tea and water vitality," he added, "...Afterwards, the taste still happens... It rises like velvet... It is a performance."

-Jason Goodwin, The Gunpowder Gardens

I find that it is indeed a rare restaurant which does proper respect to its tea service. My husband is an avid tea enthusiast and always finishes his meals with a cup of some variety of tea ... more often than not, it is, as someone here related, nothing more than a Lipton tea bag which is offered. It is the barometer by which he "measures" a restaurant .. the way in which the tea is approached ... he did revel in the tea he had at Fortnum & Mason in London and I think he must want to achieve that same experience here in the States ...

[contrarianvegetarian]

I'll bet you have better iced tea in restaurants there, whereas we have better hot tea. In the Northeast, you ask for iced tea and it's often from a mix, or bottled. In the south, you asked for brewed, or loose tea, and more often than not, you get stares. But take heart: a mini-chain of "real tea" shops called Teavana has made its way to your region, and remember, they used to serve Sanka instead of brewed decaf, too. It's an evolutionary process.

[Gary Soup]

I wish tea would get more appreciation in restaurants.

Here in Northern California all the attention is given to fussing over wine pairings, and stiffer caffeine drinks than tea are chosen at the end of a meal in hopes of avoiding the attention of the Highway Patrol with one's driving. If you like Chinese tea, however, there's at least one restaurant that gives it due attention. Here's the tea menu at Koi Palace, in suburban Daly City:

[contrarianvegetarian]

Editor's Note: Since this piece was written, Helen Gustafson passed away. Her tea books are available here and here on amazon.com

I hope there's no cause and effect here.

Not a chance, with all those anti-oxidants!

[contrarianvegetarian]

I'm glad that tea is getting some attention now... though I've not seen the ubiquity of tea services implied by the article.

I love tea for its huge variations from one type to the next. I just hope that the snobbish frippery about "only good china" and raised pinky fingers go away. The shamanistic sounding incantations about time and temperature for each tea are actualy necessary information if you want the get the best out of each particular type of tea... pouring boiling water over green tea is a sure-fire recipe for a bitter astringent disaster... let the water drop 30 degrees, on the other hand, and you've got a fine cuppa there. Try brewing black tea with water at 180 and you'll certainly get a different cup than if your water was boiling... depends on your tastes which you prefer.

I think it depends where you live. Here in Boston, there are quite a few places devoted to tea: TeaLuxe, Peet's, and at least a dozen independents. I hear Washington D.C. and New York have some good choices, too. If you don't have a place that serves a serious cup of tea, maybe it's time for you to open your own.

[phaelon56]

I've been to well-known restaurants all over and tea service is abysmal. I know it's because the US is mostly a coffee-drinking nation and tea isn't ordered that often.

But come one! Can't tea drinkers get some respect?

Hopefully they'll get respect along with discerning coffee and espresso drinkers. The quality of the brewed coffee in some of the hoitiest fine dining restaurants in the US ranges from below average to decent but not great. The pity is that it's really not that tough to make great coffee. Don't get me started on espresso - I don't bother ordering it in restaurants anynore because I am consistently and routinely disappointed.

[Gifted Gourmet]

article on tea books

Just found this article at boston.com and felt it might stimulate the minds of you tea afficianados out there.

The Empire of Tea: The Remarkable History of the Plant That Took Over the World

By Alan Macfarlane and Iris Macfarlane

Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and EmpireBy Roy Moxham

Both books succinctly cover tea's early history and timeless mythology. The tea tree -- and yes, in the wild it is a tree, which the requirements of mass production have resculpted into densely branched bushes carpeting magnificent hillsides -- evolved in the jungles of the eastern Himalayas. The leaves, originally chewed to encourage wakefulness, were eventually brewed. Spreading into China, the drink was adopted by Buddhist monks, who prized it as a way to concentrate the mind. At the beginning of the seventh century AD, it entered Japanese monasteries, where, according to the Macfarlanes, ''it constituted the mystical centre of the rites of withdrawal, self-abnegation and the attainment of nothingness."

The authors also address the perennial question: Did tea tame English folk? ''From aggressive, belligerent, red-meat-and-beer sort of people, did the British become gentler, less volatile?"

[andiesenji]

I find that it is indeed a rare restaurant which does proper respect to its tea service. My husband is an avid tea enthusiast and always finishes his meals with a cup of some variety of tea ... more often than not, it is, as someone here related, nothing more than a Lipton tea bag which is offered. It is the barometer by which he "measures" a restaurant .. the way in which the tea is approached ... he did revel in the tea he had at Fortnum & Mason in London and I think he must want to achieve that same experience here in the States ...

I can sympathize with your husband. I am a tea fanatic, so much so that I make my own teabags from the generous-sized herb bags available at most health food stores.

They are filled and a flap at the top is ironed closed. (I bought a curling iron just for this purpose, never has been used on hair.)

I explain that I will be happy to pay for the service, i.e., hot water but they can keep their teabag. I insist the water be freshly drawn and boiled, not out of a tap and I tip my server when I make the request.

I get excellent results most of the time. One restaurant, which I visit at least every other week, has a small vacuum 3-cup carafe that that keep for me, into which I can place a larger tea bag and have my own pot of tea.

Many times the servers are very interested in the varieties of teas that I have with me, all kept separately sealed in their own ziploc bag. At least two have become tea aficionados in their own right and every time I go in we have a discussion about the new teas we have tried. They are trying to convince the restaurant owner to begin offering better teas. So far he is very hesitant, although the espresso bar they added four years ago has been a great success.

Tea is just too exotic, according to him.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Tea is just too exotic, according to him.

[gus_tatory]

i too am glad that tea seems to be getting more attention. i quit coffee a few years ago, and now drink green tea. there's something so contemplative and relaxing in having a tea--coffee does not compare, IMHO.