In some
countries tea has a real place in social relations, it almost become a way of
living. England, China and Morocco have a strong tea culture; 5 o’clock tea,
Chinese tea ceremony or Morocco mint tea.
茶藝 (Art
of tea in China if you don’t read chinese)
The native
country of the second most drank beverage is still cultivating the tea
traditions and mystery. Nowadays the
ceremony can be done to celebrate humility and respect for nature. The philosophies of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism
have blended together giving birth to the magical Chinese tea ceremony. It used
to be religious and it became social to honour the royal family.
 |
| Traditional Chinese tea set |
The Chinese tea ceremony
is composed of six elements:
- State of mind: Everyone needs
to focus on the good things of life and relax
- Tea: Oolong tea is
usually chosen for the event, it need to correspond to certain characteristics.
- Water: The purest she
is, the better.
- Tools: The items need
to be esthetical and practicable. China is very well known for its small
accessories.
- Relaxing room: Quiet and clean
- Good server: His technic need
to be perfect, the serve as gracefully as it’s possible. He also needs to wear
traditional ceremonial clothes
What does drinking tea means?
- Respect to older people
- Apologize
- Family gathering
- To express thanks to your elders on one's wedding day before getting
a red envelop to get luck
Tea has such a
big influence in Chinese culture that it also move to Japan.
Morocco
Mint tea is the
most common beverage in Morocco after water, it’s drunk every day and at every
time.
In the 18
century, Sultan Moulay
Ismail came back from China claiming he has found the best beverage, which could
ill. Mint tea became very popular so cultural habits started at the same time.
Morocco is the bigger consumer of green tea; they usually add mint and sugar.
The tea has as
much importance as in China or in Japan. There is specific crockery, process,
and culture.
To do a real
Moroccan tea you need to respect a few things:
-
The crockery: the teapot needs to be a certain way to
pour the tea into the small cup.
 |
| Traditional Moroccan tea set |
The
recipe: At the end, your tea needs to have foam on the top due to the gesture up
and down of the teapot.
Ingredients:
- Tea
‘seed’
- Water
- Sugar
- Mint
To make a
real mint tea there is two main steps, the first one is to put the seed onto
the teapot and to pour the boiling water on it. Then you need to eliminate the
water, this step is supposed to wash the tea. The second step is to add mint
and sugar to the mix boil water/tea.
A guest can’t
refuse tea, it would be an offence, the
beverage show the hospitality.
England
 |
| Traditional tea set used for the 5 O'Clock tea time |
« It’s Five O’clock, let’s take a tea! » Afternoon
tea is more than a moment in England, it’s a ritual!
Before the introduction of tea, there was only 2 main
meals, breakfast which look like a brunch and diner, but the Bedford Duchess
was always hungry at 5, and she invited her friends for a tea. All social
classes followed her, and it became very popular.
The tea was done in a certain way: the servant brings
the first teapot to the hostess who pour the tea in an other teapot which is
on the fire, to keep the tea warm. Nowadays, nobody is doing it anymore, but
like before English still eat biscuits, scone, clotted cream at the
same time so does the five o'clock tea.
There is a staging of the english tearoom.
Everything is done to glorify the tea.
There is one question remaining, do you add the milk or
the sugar first?
Sources:
http://www.tanargan.com/blog/comment-faire-le-the-marocain
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