Wednesday July 25, 2007 | 8 comments
I received an interesting email from a T Ching member. He brought up a few very interesting points which I’d like to put out there to readers of this blog. He was actually asking for some recommendations for selections of tea bags, which he would like to offer to his guests. He did mention how he recently began a foray into whole leaf teas, but that he still uses tea bags. I think he used a reasonable, but flawed example.
His question went like this about his typical after meal routine: “I brew a pot of coffee and offer tea as an alternative, which means I bring a selection of teabags to the table to offer a choice.” Let’s stop right there. Why is it that there’s no mention of brewing many different pots of coffee? In most cases, the host selects their favorite coffee blend and just brews up a pot for their guests… (some might have a second selection of decaf perhaps but let’s not miss the point here). The host offers ONE delicious blend of coffee for their guests. Why do we as tea lovers and drinkers feel the need to offer our guests multiple selections? If we can get in the habit of sharing our current favorite, won’t that provide a wonderful opportunity for any guest or tea novice? I personally consider the guest. If they’re a staunch coffee drinker, I’ll serve a tea with a bold flavor. My current favorite is Matcha Genmaicha, which I find new comers to tea seem to enjoy the aroma and taste. Before that, I often chose a favorite jasmine tea. I’m adamant about one thing however……NO sweeteners of any sort. NO milk…just “straight up” or “neat” as the saying goes.
I believe that offering many types of tea is a reflection of our own insecurity about serving tea. Perhaps it began as a custom that higher-end restaurants have adopted and we fell right into it. I must admit that 7 years ago, I did exactly the same thing. I had a beautiful chest that I whipped out with individually wrapped teas, ready for my guests to select their preferences. And yes, I had sugar, honey, lemon and milk on the table. As the wife of an herbalist, we did not provide artificial sweeteners, so I’m grateful that I avoided that trap. My suspicion is that the more we become steeped in tea culture, the less variety we offer our guests after dinner. Of course I’m just talking about the typical dinner party and not talking about a tea tasting where many different varieties of tea are provided.
Check back for a more interesting question that I will answer next time: Is there a place for supermarket packaged teas?
Brilliant! I’m always frantically brewing multiple pots of tea when guests come over – based on what I think they might like. No more!
Looking forward to your thoughts on supermarket packaged teas!
I agree with the 1-type-of-tea-for-everyone-at-a-time approach, unless circumstance calls for 2 different types to be served. For example when a pregnant friend is to be served with a lighter tea.
This post reminds me of the advise given by Mr. David Clifton in his post here on T Ching on how to host an Afternoon Tea session. To quote:
“Accommodate, don’t capitulate. You’re the host, and what you pick is, by default, what they will have. They have no choice, you’re the boss, and you shouldn’t pander to their every anticipated whim. Believe in yourself and have the confidence to understand that they are obliged to enjoy what you serve, as long as it’s carefully done with no obvious tat (shop cakes, rough mugs, unpleasant teapot, and poor setting).”
Another great post! I hope many people found it inspirational!
Our friends, family and casual acquaintances already know us as “the tea connoisseurs.” Serve them your current favorites! My guest don’t expect coffee.
Well, I suppose it depends also a little on the level of tea-specific knowledge of your guests.
My experience has shown that if your guests are new to tea or weren’t exposed to any tea beyond the regular blends, it’s best NOT to offer any options. They usually tend to choose whatever they know (that’s the reason why many people choose a masala chai in our teahouse: the name is familiar!).
If – on the other hand – your guests are knowledgeable about tea, let them choose. They’ll know best whether they feel like having a Yunnan hong cha or a Tie Guan Yin. Of course, it never hurts to ask whether they would want to go with your recommendation…
This member has asked a very good question and obviously wants to get into serving loose leaf teas. I always compare tea in bags to coffee in bags. There are ‘coffee bags’ on the top shelf of most supermarkets but I doubt they sell many. Yet people have been ‘sold’ tea bags. It’s all about marketing. Starbucks really made whole bean coffee a ‘reality’ in this country and someone here or someone here will, hopefully, do the same for tea.
When I think of coffee drinkers who want to ‘convert’ to tea, I serve a strong, black Yunnan. I even call it ‘the coffee drinker’s tea’.
Just about a week ago, I tasted a smoky green from India that would make most coffee seem ‘wimpy’.
Some of you here are so far ahead of me in tea knowledge I am nervous about even posting my opinions; however, the more I learn and taste good tea, the more of an evangelist for it I become.
The term ‘tea as an alternative’ shows where we are in the U.S. on tea. It is still looked at as an ‘alternative’ beverage in its hot form. However, in its iced form, it is now neck in neck with coffee in restaurants/foodservice and growing at a fantastic pace. When we show people how incredible good hot tea is (brewed correctly from quality loose leaf), I think it might be coffee which will someday be thought of as an ‘alternative to tea’. I may be dreaming, but change is in the air! ;)
I’ve seen a dining ware set that comes with gaiwans (this is made by some Western company that’s rather famous — and a pretty expensive set as well). They’re more like sipping gaiwans — big, thin, unwieldy for brewing, but good for putting a little tea in with hot water and sip from — just like how they used to be used. In that case, it makes serving loose leaf tea to different guests pretty easy.
There’s also a practical consideration here, I think — very few people have multiple coffee-infusers, but it’s always possible to offer multiple kinds of tea as long as you have enough mugs.
Since I’m the member that inspired this post, I thought I’d offer my reactions to both Michelle and respondents. Reading them all together has suggested to me, a hybrid approach: Announcing to the assembled guests your intention of brewing the specific tea for everyone and asking their persmission….that’s what I would do. Something like “I’m going to brew a pot of my favorite jasmine green tea. It has very little caffeine but if any of you have problems with that, I can make us some wonderful Rooibos which is an herbal tisane without caffeine.”
For me, having a dinner party is about making one’s guests feel comfortable and pampered. While I might suggest that I highly recommend trying the tea without any milk, lemon, sugar or artificial sweetener, I want people to enjoy themselves without feeling forced to follow my own preferences. I’m not wanting to be their food cop. Those who love sugar in their tea would likely be irritated (rightly so in my opinion) if it was not offered. That’s the last thing I’d want at a party……do unto others right? What if your Sweet-N’Low lovin’ buddy served you a pot of tea laced with articifical sweetener? Wouldn’t that be uncomfortable to you?
I select the meal to please the guests not to educate them. I also inquire of guests beforehand if they have any dietary restrictions which prevents me from serving something they cannot or just don’t want to eat.
Also, I’ll admit it, sometimes coffee is my preference after a meal. So why not offer an option to a tea lover who would really prefer tea?
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