In their book Chai-The Experience of Indian Tea, author Rekha Sarin and lensman Rajan Kapoor share how the brew has played its role in giving rise to splendid craftsmanship, besides creating landmark customs
Over the, ages, tea drinking, as a habit, has permeated almost the entire world. In eastern lands like China, Japan and Korea, the brew still carries its aura of philosophic origins with tea ceremonies that are conducted as art forms. Influenced by their own peculiar history, several countries in fact, have developed their own cultural nuances that are associated with the beverage. The brew has influenced the creation of some beautiful teaware across the world. It is believed that to begin with, the first kettles were said to have been used in Mesopotamia, between 3500 and 2000 BC, possibly for cooking, rather than boiling. Over passing time, the brew has inspired the development of chinaware and delicate porcelain so imaginative and intricately decorative that certain tea accessories can rank as collectors’ items. Tea, therefore, has played its role in giving rise to splendid craftsmanship, besides shaping lifestyles and creating landmark customs.
Tea ceremony in China
The art of preparing and serving tea, with its underlying philosophies, remains intrinsic to Chinese culture. The hostess in a Chinese tea ceremony conveys these values through delicate hand movements and facial expressions. She may employ the Gongfu Cha method: A clay teapot and bowls are rinsed and placed on a special tray that provides for drainage of water spillage during the course of the tea preparation. One-third of the pot is filled with tea leaves and hot water poured over them to the point of overflow. The pot is then drained, boiling water is poured once again over the residue of wet leaves and the lid of the teapot is closed for 30 seconds. The aroma of the tea is further sealed by pouring more hot water over the closed pot. It is now ready to be dispensed into the cups. Sometimes the tea may be prepared in the same manner in agaiwan or wide bowl that is covered with a lid through which the infusion is slipped through to be poured into the cups. Several infusions can be derived from the same tea leaves. In essence, tea, for the Chinese, is a drink to be had throughout the day.
Tea ceremony of Japan
Despite Japan’s leap to techno1ogy Sen no Rikyu’s traditions of Cha-no-yu are still alive, and remain a cultural hallmark of the country. The three main schools of the tea ceremony that exist today still proclaim their filial ties with the family name Sen — Omotesenke, Urasenke and Mushanokojisenke. Mastering the fine art of the tea ceremony can take years to learn. Its rituals are both fascinating and meditative.
Take, for instance, Midori Uragami, a tea master of the Omotesenke school. She is a frail and gracious lady in her mid-80s, who demonstrates the ceremony in her Tokyo home to her following of young students. Her four-and-half sized tatami tea room or cliathitsu (in Japan, traditional room sizes go by the sections of a tatami or mat) is specifically measured. It has a tokonoma, a recessed alcove, with a beautifully calligraphic scroll and a chabana, a simple flower arrangement. Together, they depict a theme that usually represents a season.
In a corner stands the daisu, a double shelf display for the tea utensils. Here, Uragami-san sits in a typical seiza posture with legs folded under her knees, and heats the water in a furogama over a portable burner. She uses a chashaku to scoop a small amount of powdered maccha green tea in a bowl, pours water and whisks it with a bamboo chasen until it is thick and frothy.
In winter the tea preparation may be shifted to a central portion of the tatami so that the iron pot sits inside a ro in the floor, a cut-out which serves as the hearth.
Uragami-san moves with experienced precision. Some of the tea bowls she uses may be priceless and hundreds of years old. Her collection could include Wabi style bowls that were introduced by Sen no Rikyu and these are usually irregular and simple in shape to represent beauty in austerity and imperfection.
Other tea masters might use low fired unglazed Raku style bowls that are named after the great tea master Raku Chojiro (1516-1592) and continue to be produced by the 15th generation of potters in and around Kyoto.
Guests must drink their tea in a particular manner. They turn their cup to take two-and-a-half sips, admire the cup and wipe it clean to pass on to the next guest before it finally goes back to the host.
Tea drinking in Germany
OstFriesland in the lower Saxony district of Germany has the world’s most impressive number of tea drinkers. Typically, Frieslanders prepare a strong black tea that is a blend of several kinds of tea sourced from different countries. The tea is brewed in a fine porcelain teapot that is embellished with the characteristic Friesiân rose. It is then served in a manner that is rather unique. First a rock candy sugar, called kluntjes, is placed at the bottom of the cup, and this is used to sweeten multiple cups.
The tea is topped with heavy cream and served without a spoon, as it is meant to be drunk unstirred, to be savoured in stages. Elsewhere, in Germany, despite the coffee habit, tea holds good ground and tea shops proliferate everywhere.
Drinking tea in France
With the re-emergence of the popularity of the beverage, tea rooms or the Salon de The became a fashion by the late 17th century and they continue to be so. These usually have a delectable patisserie that is offered along with tea, served often in a beautifully furbished, elegant setting, complete with ornate mirrors and chandeliers. The long standing Manage Freres Company that was founded in 1854 by two tea merchant brothers, Edouard and Henri Mariage, have highly rated tea salons in Paris, the French capital.
courtesy Niyogi Books