The sleepy November sun basked our flight over Hesse in the approach of twilight when the captain announced his welcoming remarks. Our flight from Frankfurt to Riga would be a short hop, but would stay aloft long enough for Lufthansa to serve our last meal before setting down in the mists of the former Soviet Union. For those of us who hadn’t been among Russians, we braced for whatever we might find behind the newly torn Iron Curtain.
The pilot spoke both perfunctory German and good English, telling his passengers of the luscious salad to come and an offering of which he spoke in loving intonations, “…and tea.” In fact he said this more than once, with the “ee” drawn out as if his heart had softened with the warmth of friendship or of meeting a soft puppy. While Lufthansa had good understanding of vegetarians like me on the flight from America, in this part of the world I was left picking out the shrimp. But the tea was classic Lipton.
It’s easy to see how the pilot would speak so lovingly of tea. The English invented its “high tea.” Japanese served it with full ceremony. Diviners read the remnants of tea leaves in cups. Merchants schemed for the right to trade for it. Of all things served that speak ambiance, coffee may have taken its top spot among Americans with lusty brews. But for the world, tea exudes its character even more, bringing peoples together from young to old and refreshing them without respect to sex or gender.
TEAS AND TEAS
One might (and should) question what kind of tea we’re talking about when we speak of tea. Most of the time when we speak of tea we refer to a specific plant: Camellia sinensis. The type of tea one has, whether black, oolong, pekoe, red, white, or green largely depends upon the time spent in curing. Black tea has taken the longest time in processing and so will have the highest concentration of caffeine and tannins. It also takes longer to steep. Lesser refined versions like green tea will have the lowest concentration of these factors and best lends itself to infusions taking less time. Each version has its own set of directions for preparation.1
Green tea has had numerous health benefits attributed to it including antioxidants, weight loss, and aid for digestion. One study attributed a 20% reduction in heart attacks and 35% reduction of stroke in patients drinking 1-3 cups of green tea daily.2
Of course, Americans since before the time of the Boston Tea Party made teas from various plants, bequeathing a legacy of herbalism for generations. Roots and barks typically must be prepared by decoction with simmering times that could run as long as an hour. Sassafras root, the original foundation for root beer, is such a plant. So is sarsaparilla, the foundation of a common soft drink in the 19th century West. A couple of medicinal herbs also fit this type like cats claw, used to boost immunity; and valerian, a root used to induce a deep sleep.
Most herbs, however, work well in hot infusions from leaves or flowers. Some of these fit nicely in social settings. Camomile, the mints (peppermint, spearmint, lemon balm), and catnip (used also to induce a dreamy sleep) fit this category so well that they don’t even necessarily require heating on a stove. One could place some of the herb into a jar with water and let the infusion take place in the rays of the morning sun.
Some ingredients for teas could include grated ginger or citrus peelings, the former excellent to help digestion, and the latter to make use of the bioflavanoids and essential oils. Rose hips, grown in Scandinavia for use in Vitamin C tablets worldwide, can also be grated and made into a pleasantly tart tea. Almonds and certain mushrooms have also been used in teas this way.
As a general rule, one would employ a tablespoon of tea for each cup of hot water (8 fluid ounces), allowing it to steep anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, with greater amounts for stronger teas.3 In terms of weight a tablespoon comes to 2-5 grams. A dime weighs about 2-1/2 grams. A nickel weighs about 5 grams. What about the teaspoon? That’s typically for adding sweeteners when served. Some teapots come with stainless steel strainers of some sort for placing tea leaves, though many simply allow the leaves to pour out into the cup, a preferred course for a diviner.
Decoctions often are best prepared in bulk, kept just covered with water to brew them into a syrupy fluid that one could add to water at a later time.
The recipes one could put together for the preparation of teas are legion and experimentation is always part of the art of the teas. But one component often overlooked is as important as the dry components themselves.
THE PREPARATION OF WATER
We typically think of water as something from the tap without much consideration of the amount and type of dissolved solids exist in it. Total dissolved solids (TDS) are usually measured in parts per million calibrated as a function of electrical conductivity. Perfectly pure water doesn’t conduct electricity. But what comes from the tap isn’t perfectly pure. Metropolitan water systems typically run between 300 and 800 parts per million (as referencing individual molecules) with a slight alkalinity (usually around 7.8 pH). Good filtration cuts the amount of dissolved solids as well as solids held in suspension. A demineralizer can bring this level down much further. A strong reverse osmosis system like what’s used in renal dialysis can bring impurities down to within a few parts per million. Distillation can bring impurities down to practically zero though a few compounds may carry over. This level of purity is measured not in parts per million but parts per billion.
But perfectly pure water isn’t the best for drinking either. Place an animal cell under a microscope in distilled water and it will break up through diffusion and die because, unlike plant cells, it doesn’t have a cellular wall made of cellulose. Some minerals are good to keep. Even rain water doesn’t drop from the sky without airborne dust particles providing seeds for condensation of water vapor. If one must obtain water from distillation, it’s good to run the water across clean stones. Not only can a happy low-TDS balance be maintained, but the flavor of the water improves much like water in running streams far from lowlands and fens.
Minerals aren’t the only component to good tasting water. Dissolved oxygen gives good water much of its zest. It’s one reason many taps on kitchen sinks include an aerator. In steam plants, deaeration units are installed as receivers to provide a water column for boiler feed water pumps. A deaerator runs at low pressure, using steam to maintain a temperature just below boiling while eliminating much of the dissolved oxygen through a vent. The remaining oxygen is controlled through the addition of a chemical oxygen scavenger. This prevents the dissolved gasses from forming groves in the pipes. However, what’s bad for carbon steel pipes is good for the human body. It’s as much a matter of health as it is for taste. Oxygenated water is the best for infusions.
You can see how deaeration works in your own home. Set a pan of water on your stove and watch it as it you bring it to a boil. Notice the bubbles that form all over the pan. Those bubbles aren’t water vapor. The water vapor rises up later. Those bubbles are gasses that had been dissolved in the water, released in a cycle of deaeration because freshly boiled water can’t hold them.
So for the purpose of infusions, it’s often best to steep herbs in water taken off the stove as soon as deaeration begins so that as much oxygen stays in the water as possible. If roots or barks have been decocted, it’s best to bring up the temperature of water up to the point of deaeration, then add the decocted syrup to the water. That way one can assure the tea doesn’t taste flat.
THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF TEAS
Our time spent in the former Soviet Union taught us much about the practical as well as the social value of teas. I had thought my home in metropolitan Los Angeles had the hardest water in the world. I was wrong. Los Angeles took a portion of its water from the Colorado River. If one drives along Highway 40 from the Central States and tastes the water at Needles, that person might grimace at the flat taste of the extremely hard water of the Colorado.
But where we were staying for a month, water was so hard that it clogged up my own filtration unit on the first try. Roommates had more forgiving filtration systems. We not only had to filter our water, we had to boil it each evening for the following day. It became a ritual for us every evening we returned to our flat after speaking at the local theater. One thing we had brought with us made the water much more enjoyable: bags and bags and bags of herbal teas.
You can guess what happened. When we prepared water we also prepared teas… lots and lots of teas. As we did this we laughed and laughed and laughed into the night before settling into our couches to sleep amid the noises of the nearby bus station.
Our Russian hosts took notice. We took time for each of them and invited guests for meals and, of course, tea (which we called “chai” after the manner of the locals). On our last weekend we were stricken by a profound gesture. As soon as I arrived from the theater on the final evening, a roommate called me over, saying, “Look at this.”
Our Russian hosts who struggled after the fresh breakup of their country had set up the table with plates and vases of carnations for a feast. “They can’t afford this,” I said.
“I know. But we don’t dare refuse lest we offend them.”
I nodded. Sure enough, our hosts all arrived with teary smiles as well as a conference official who was proficient in 5 languages who served as translator. Food and embraces were shared as well as cups of… you guessed it… tea.
Then at the close the head of the house lit 3 candles including a central red candle and called for the electric lamps to be darkened. He spoke through a translator:
“This candle stands for light, warmth, and hope. You brought light to this city and gave it hope. You also lightened our hearts with your warmth and laughter. When we conclude our time together, this candle will be extinguished and given to you to take back to your country. When you come together in your own country, light the candle again and remember us as we will always remember you. And when you come together to meet and drink your chai, we want you to drink them from the cups and saucers we present to you now.”
At that moment some of the Russian women came in from the kitchen with chocolate-glazed ceramic teacups and saucers for which their city of Daugavpils claimed fame and distributed a set to each of us. We prayed together, each in turn, every eye heavy with tears.
My cup and saucer remained one of my most cherished items for years afterward, though I would eventually lose the set in a divorce. But I never forgot the kindness of those Russian friends. Neither do I forget them every time I drink tea… perhaps the greatest single non-human contributor to international relations.
THE T-BREAK
I’m reminded of other times teas played a prominent role during seasons spent with my grandparents on Lake Tenkiller south of the Cherokee capital of Tahlequah. My grandparents largely communicated with people all over the lake on the Citizen’s Band, monitoring Channel 13. One Sunday every month the CB friends gathered from home to home in what they called a “coffee break.” It was an interesting way to put it because hardly anyone drank coffee during those visits that would last well into the humid evenings. Instead of coffee, iced tea was always the preferred beverage.
Those “coffee breaks” not only commanded gatherings of perhaps 30 people at once, but served up a potluck that mostly consisted of cakes and cobblers, though some served hamburgers, chicken, and rabbit as well. The people delighted in conversation and exchange of long stories in hours they wished could last forever.
I’ve sometimes thought about those “coffee breaks,” or “tea breaks” as they should have been called. In fact, when bringing together transpeople, “tea breaks” could just as well be “T-breaks” with the “T” as a double entendre for “tea” and “trans”.
The concept is simple. People can come together on a Sunday afternoon over the ambiance of hot or iced teas, contributing their own potluck items. As they gather they can share their music, their poetry, their stories, and their aspirations in conversation.
If conversation is difficult, one could ask questions from “Tell It Like It Is” cards from The Ungame. The cards come in progressive sets from light-hearted questions to deeper questions that foster personal understanding. A Christian version of the game includes cards with open-ended questions for Christian belief, but these should be reserved for groups exclusively Christian.
In cooler seasons, hot teas for a T-break could be heated on a Coleman stove if engaged outdoors. Any tea should be labeled concerning its content because some may suffer allergic reactions with certain types of teas. Teas should be served unsweetened since some of us may have diabetic issues. Sweeteners could be added by whoever wants them, whether honey, stevia, or raw sugar. Fruit and breads always go well with teas. Any tea should be consumed within 12 hours of when it’s made. After that it flattens into staleness.4
FROM THE HEART
Perhaps the better part of teas, besides the warmth and ambiance they provide, comes from the way one prepares them. No matter what kind of tea you select, prepare it with love and meditation, and serve in tranquility. An advance mindset of joy will go a long way toward calming the grumpy and advancing peace for all. It’s like what a Vietnamese Buddhist writer and peace activist advised:
“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.”5
Perhaps that’s the best that teas provide: a cup of warmth, cheer, and quietness. Unlike alcohol, scarcely any tea can inflict harm when taken abundantly. Perhaps that’s what our airline captain recalled when he referred to tea with such affection.
The same would apply to the growing and drying of herbs. Remove from the ground or plant with gratitude and hang to dry with care where dry air can circulate and away from light. If packed in a humid environment, mold could sprout on an herb you’re trying to dry.
For what you put into anything, that you will reap manyfold whether for good or bad. If your purpose is for the unification and healing of peoples, nothing could be better. The teas are ever waiting to serve their purpose, brief for the moment, but enduring in their effect as a blessing in their substance.
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REFERENCES:
Featured Image: (Clockwise from the upper left) the typical ceramic pot of tea with depictions of peppermint and chamomile flower. (adapted from Wikimedia commons)
Unless otherwise noted, all statements arise from the author’s experience with teas. As pertaining to water chemistry, she relies upon her experience as a licensed steam engineer in critical care medical settings over 20 years.
- Linda Caroll. “Drinking tea may improve your health — here’s what to try” Today (January 3, 2018, accessed February 20, 2018) https://www.today.com/series/one-small-thing/top-10-health-benefits-drinking-tea-t81111.
- Ibid.
- (n.a.) “Herbal Teas” (Mountain Rose Herbs website, accessed February 20, 2018) https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/learn/herbal-teas.
- Juliet Blankespoor. “Herbal Infusions and Decoctions – Preparing Medicinal Teas” Chestnut Herbs (from “The Roots of Herbalism,” Journal of the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy, accessed February 20, 2018) https://chestnutherbs.com/herbal-infusions-and-decoctions-preparing-medicinal-teas/
- Thich Nhat Hanh (Quote by Blankespoor), Ibid.
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