10.17.07
The Ten Commandments of Tea
posted by T Ching | 8 comments
1. Thou shalt place no tea bags before me.
2. Thou shalt not mention tea and coffee in the same sentence.
3. Remember your daily tea time and keep it holy.
4. Honor the Mother and Father of tea (India and China).
5. Thou shalt use filtered or bottled water to make tea.
6. Thou shalt not sugar thy tea.
7. Thou shalt not put milk in thy tea.
8. Thou shalt not charge excessive prices for tea.
9. Thou shalt not sell fannings as whole leaf.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s teapot, teacups, or tea stash.
October 17th, 2007 at 11:25 am
Bless me Mother, for I have sinned! No.s 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10. In my defense, I am a Tea Pagan, ignorant of the ways…..that means there’s a special place in Hell for me, right? Perhaps a cozy table by the window with a cup of properly-made tea?
October 17th, 2007 at 11:32 am
AMEN!!…..pjf
October 17th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Well Anne, Since we are confessing. Here are two of my biggest sins against HOLY TEA.
Numbers 2 and 7. Oh Mother and Father may I please be forgiven!!
Remember Anne we are only human….PJF
October 17th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Paul, milk?! Did you grow up in the Church of British Tea Rituals? Bless you, “to forgive is divine” (not that I am ordained or anything)!
October 17th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Anne, If you dig back in the Archives, you will see a little story I told about my days in Merry Ole England. Also about my love affair with the deep, rich, black British Cuppa, loaded with creamy milk and raw sugar. Hmmm!!
From which I was duly chastised by either Ankit or Rajiv, I forget which. I also don’t remember which month it was. I know I’m useless at times. Ha!…..PJF
October 20th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Being a Roman Catholic Priest myself, I’ll confess to also occassionally (and I do mean only once in a while) enjoying a black British cuppa tea with some LOVELY whitening agent (OK since I’m not British and my doctor recommends soy, well you know how it is…) but NEVER NEVER sugar!!!!!!! OK so I love raw sugar as much as Paul does but…again, well doctors are GREAT people but at times not so much fun with the necessary restrictions.
Seriously, I do love STRAIGHT tea of many varietals and from various plantations and regions of the world (usually Japanese Greens but I’m open) and Ann and Paul yes I am ordained minister but as far as I know, these particular 10 commandments don’t apply to Christian Spirituality (however much the might apply to our tea tasting palates!!!) No need to say mea culpa, no need to do penance and again no need to worry (unless of course you’re going against number 10 which is also in the original set of commandments and a case could also be made for numbers 8 and 9 based upon theft for “bad” merchandise and overcharging).
Peace be to you all!
Fr. Patrick a.k.a kinghazzah
October 22nd, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Other than 8 and 9 (since I don’t sell tea) I think I’ve sinned in all regards.
Nothing’s wrong with milk in tea!
November 10th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Sorry, I’m not giving up my milk and sugar in some teas. This is comfort food to me! Why must we insist that there’s only one “right” way to enjoy tea? Just as the wine industry is finally getting away from “white with fish, red with meat,” the tea industry should move away from rigid rules, too. There’s a book by Mutsuko Tokunaga, called “New Tastes in Green Tea,” where she provides recipes using green tea in everything from cocktails to spreads to entrees. Let’s educate about tea traditions, but also have some fun with it!