Connie on a camel in Mongolia

Connie visited Inner Mongolia in 1979. The region at that time was very primitive; likely, it's still much the same way. One of the memories she brings back home from there is Mongolian Tea. Tea there is made hot, from a very strong, earthy tea leaf, the Pu Er brick tea. Hot brewed tea is then mixed with goat milk, half the amount of tea, then a little salt, and butter. Yes, butter! Fat is very important in cold climates. As an added touch, a kind of dried crispy chow mein noodle is floated on top of the drink.

Connie and friends in Mongolia

Hong Kong

"The typical Hong Kong style beverage blending the cultural essence of the East and the West reflects the identity of the cosmopolitan city of Hong Kong - unique yet diversified and traditional yet modernistic," said Acting Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Choi Suk Kuen at the opening ceremony of the exhibition in Hong Kong on February 11, 2004 (Xinhua News Agency).

Ireland

Even though coffee is becoming more popular, tea is still the number one beverage drunk in Ireland.
"Come in and have a wee cup of tay"
"Aye sure, I'll just have one in my hand"

These are typically the first words uttered to any person visiting in Ireland. The reply to just 'have one in the hand' is traditionally an informal response meaning a mug will do, don't go to any trouble by getting the best china out. China tends to be reserved for special occasions although some people will use it daily as they prefer the taste of the tea drunk from it.

You will sometimes find the older generations in Ireland still talking about a dish of tea. This refers back to a time when tea was poured from a cup into a saucer, when the cup was a jug and the saucer a dish. Unlike today, when it is more fashionable to drink tea hot, weak, black or sometimes with a dash of milk and sugar, tea used to be drunk lukewarm, very strong with plenty of milk and sugar. This was because it was common practice to make a pot of tea in the morning and put it on a trivet beside the fire to last all day. After every cup poured it would be topped up with more water. Consequently the resulting brew would be thick, strong and bitter - in other words "stewed" - which today would be considered unpalatable.

Tea drinking in Ireland became so popular that the evening meal became known as "tea", tea being the beverage of choice. The modern equivalent is probably soda. 'Afternoon tea' was hugely popular, a tradition we still have today. Served at around 4.00 pm with either a biscuit or scone, it bridged the gap between lunch and dinner. A 'plain tea' in Ireland refers to dinner consisting of a cup of tea and an assortment of breads and jam. There are a wide range of breads served with tea - soda bread, wheaten bread, potato bread, barnbrack, pancakes or scones. Plain tea would usually be served if a main meal had been taken earlier in the day, i.e. Sunday lunch. 'High tea' refers to the main meal of the day, a substantial early evening meal also served with breads and a cup of tea.

On extra special occasions, for example at a funeral wake, a drop of 'the crayter' was offered in the tea. The crayter in Ireland refers to the creator's spirit.....whiskey!

United States Southern States
courtesy of Tricia Walker, volunteer of Ten Thousand Villages, Houston

Iced Tea in the United States

There are two traditional iced teas in the United States. The only variation between them is sugar. Southerners swear by their traditional sweet ice tea and drink it by the gallons. In the South, ice tea is not just a summertime drink; it is served year round with most meals. When people order tea in a Southern restaurant, chances are they will get sweet ice tea. Outside of the southern states, iced tea is served unsweetened or "black," and most people have never even heard of sweet tea.

How it came to be

It was at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis that iced tea was popularized and commercialized (not invented). A group of Indian tea producers from India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) organized a special tea pavilion under the direction of Englishman, Richard Blechynden. As it was a very hot summer day, people ignored the tea and went in search of cold drinks. In a desperate effort to sell the tea, Blechynden packed ice cubes into glasses and poured the tea over them. As word got around, customers started lining up to buy the cooling beverage. This cold tea was an instant success and changed the way the rest of Americans thought of tea, thus popularizing iced tea. Richard Blechynden, being a tea merchant, might have visited the South in his travels and remembered drinking the popular iced tea.

The Southern Interpretation..

Iced tea is the sacred beverage of the South and has been ever since ice became readily available in the late 19th century. The varieties are endless. Plain old "ice tea" is nothing but carefully brewed orange pekoe, but there's also sugar tea (highly sweetened), mint tea (with bruised fresh mint leaves), lemon tea, and sun tea (a gallon container of cold water and tea placed in the hot sun for three or four hours to develop ultimate flavor).

Traditional Southern Sweet Tea Recipe

Bring 3-4 cups of water to a boil. Add a pinch of baking soda to the water and add 3 family sized tea bags. Remove from heat and cover. Allow to sit for at least 10-15 minutes. Pour into gallon pitcher and add sugar. Then fill with cold water. Refrigerate. Add lemon wedges if desired.
*the soda takes out the bitterness and darkens the tea....this small amount doesn't change the taste.
Enjoy!!

Russia
courtesy of Jessica Stoll

Russians first make "zavarka" which is highly concentrated tea, in the teapot. You pour a little bit of the zavarka in each person's cup, then add hot water to each cup afterwards so everyone can have it the strength they like (this is why some places have samovars--they hold hot water so you can keep drinking tea all day long). It's hardly ever drunk black. It's traditionally served with milk or cream and lemon. Instead of adding sugar, usually each person is given a little jam on their plate. Some add the jam to their tea, but often they take a little bite of the jam before each sip of tea to sweeten it. It's almost always served with bread or cake and pastries ("pirozhnaya" are general little pastries served with tea).

South Africa
courtesy of Corinne Hanna

The nomadic Khoi and San people were the first to harvest the fragrant Rooibos bush. The plant grows only in the Cedarberg area of the Western Cape, South Africa. The locals harvested the fine, needle-shaped leaves of the Aspalathus linearis plant for a tasty, aromatic tea. They chopped the leaves with axes, then bruised them with hammers. The leaves were left in heaps to ferment, before drying in the sun. Processing is still done much the same way.

The tea contains no caffeine and very little tannin. It is rich in vitamin C, calcium and iron. It is popular in Japan. It has no oxalic acid, making it a good drink for people with kidney stones. It also contains copper, iron, potassium, calcium, fluoride, zinc, manganese, and magnesium.

The plant is in the legume family, a shrub-like bush with a central, smooth-barked main stem. Near the ground the stem splits into a number of strong shoots, followed by fine side branches bearing soft needle-like leaves 10 centimeters in length. The plants grow about 1.5 meters high in the wild. It requires specific climate conditions, and only grows at a certain altitude in deep, sandy soil.

The plant requires winter rainfall, but grows during the spring and summer. It produces small, yellow, pea-shaped flowers in October. Each flower produces a single small seed. The plants take 18 months to reach maturity. They can be cut for a period of 3 to 5 years before replanting.

The cuttings are gathered into low heaps and moistened to start the fermentation process, when oxygen sets up a reaction between the tannin and enzymes in the Rooibos. The herb changes from green to its characteristic amber color and develops its distinctive, sweet aroma. The Rooibos is then spread out over large drying yards to dry in the sun.

STEEPED IN TRADITIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

" If man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty."
-Japanese proverb

True "teas" are made from the dried leaves of the Camellia sinensis, the tea plant, which was first cultivated in China and found growing wild in India. Chinese monks and European traders introduced it to Japan, Sri Lanka and other countries. Today there are more than 3000 varieties of tea, each having its own distinct character and named for the district in which it is grown. Green tea is produced by steaming fresh-picked leaves before heat-drying. Black tea is produced by allowing picked tea leaves to completely ferment before firing. Oolong teas are only partially fermented. And rare white tea is the least processed. It is not oxidized or rolled, but simply withered and dried by steaming.

The Essentials of Brewing Tea
(adapted from Internet, www.stashtea.com)

Good quality water and proper brewing time are essential for a flavorful cup of tea.

Start with a preheated pot or cup (simply fill your teapot or cup with very hot water and let it stand for a moment).

Use fresh cold water. In areas with poor tap water, use bottled or filtered water. Never use water from the hot water tap. Let the tap water run for a few seconds until it is quite cold; this ensures that the water is aerated (full of oxygen) to release the full flavor of the tea leaves.

Bring water to a rolling boil. Don't let it boil too long, as it will boil away the flavor releasing oxygen and result in a flat tasting cup of tea. Pour boiling water on tea leaves or tea bag.

Brew 3 to 5 minutes (for green teas, water should be a bit cooler and only steep for one to three minutes).

TEA TRIVIA
(courtesy of Martha McDonald, adapted from Internet, wwww.stashtea.com)

• Experienced tea pickers collect up to 70 pounds of tea a day by hand.
• A single tea bush will produce tea fro 50 or more years.
• Fields where lightning has struck or which has been otherwise disturbed requires years of recovering before tea will grow again.
• Until the Sixth Century, tea was consumed primarily as a remedy for headaches, kidney trouble, poor digestion, ulcers, and to guard against "the noxious gasses of the body and lethargy".
• A single pound of tea will yield about 180 cups of brewed tea.
• Earl Grey (1764-1845) was an actual person who, though he was prime minister of England under William IV, is better remembered for the tea named after him. Tea legends say the blend was given to him by a Chinese Mandarin seeking to influence trade relations.