Today in our IIW class, the only certified tea master in Texas came to our class and told us some of the benefits of drinking certain variety of teas. For example, white teas are the most anti-oxidant rich of all kinds of tea, and they have properties that help prevent cancer. Green teas help to prevent Alzheimer and they help with cognitive functions. I learned today that tea is the number one suspected source for DDT, which is a pesticide which can kill tigers. In some countries monkeys are trained to pick tea. These teas are often high in the mountains, and there for are more expensive than normal teas because of the fewer number of “flushing”. When brewing tea, you should not let the water come to a full boil, instead you should get it to approximately 190 degrees Fahrenheit or so. Then let the tea brew for two to three minutes for green and white teas. And three to four minutes for black, oolong, and roobois teas. We tried five kinds of teas today, a white peach tea, a lemony green tea, an oolong strawberry tea, a coconut black tea, and a butterscotch roobois tea. All of these teas were organic teas and they all tasted good.
There is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, Letters and Social Aims
On our first day, I honestly did not expect for us to do as much as we did. Not only did we have a guest speaker, but she was the only certified tea master in Texas. After listening to her lecture, these are some of the facts that I found interesting, funny, and downright amazing: - Not every leaf put into water is real tea, only the leaves of plants in the camilia family create "real" tea. - In tea made from leaves that have been sprayed with DDT, the brew can be toxic enough to kill a tiger. - In certan parts of Asia, they have trained monkeys to pick tea. As far as the actual tea goes, I have to say I drank more tea that day than in 2010. My favorite tea was actually the only one we tasted that was not technically tea. For some reason, the rooibos bush tea really stood out, perhaps due to the fact that it was one of the most aromatic drinks I have ever had, as well as the infused butterscotch? For whatever reason, here is my tea-ranking chart for day 1:
If man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty. ~Japanese Proverb
I actually did not think that I would be in class this morning, due to the fact that I go to Guthrie first period. Imagine my surprise when I learned that today was going to have another morning entirely devoted to the study of tea. Today we drank three teas, two in class and one during the tea ceremony. The white tea was my favorite for today, while the Earl Grey - probably because it reminded me of black licorice - was my least favorite. The green tea served at the Japanese tea ceremony was bitter, however I found that I actually enjoyed it, despite my usual avoidance of all things bitter. As for the actual ceremony, the ammount of ritual and detail put into this is astounding, and anyone who can retain the knowledge of simply what needs to be done at certan points has my utmost respect. Research on our assigned areas also began today, and here are five facts that I found involving tea in the country of Egypt: - Tea is the natonal drink of Egypt - Green tea has only come to Egypt recently, and is not well liked - The Egyptian government consideres tea a stratigic crop - Egyptian tea generally comes in two varieties: Koshary and Saiidi - Most people in Egypt cannot function without a cup of tea in the morning, and tea after lunch is almost compulsory.
In the first day of my IIW about tea, a lady from a shop called “The Path of Tea” came and talked to us. She told us she is the only certified tea master in Texas, and said a little bit about the process she had to undergo to become one. She had us sample 5 types of tea, the White tea, the Green tea, the Oolong tea, the Black tea, and the Rooibos tea. My favorite tea was the White tea, because it had a very soft taste in comparison to the other teas we sampled, and I also enjoyed the slight peach flavour it had. The lady also told us about some of the health benefits of tea, and I learned it's much better at waking you up then coffee is, but if you put milk in it, all the health benefits are negated. She also told us about how in some parts of the world, monkeys are trained to pick tea, and she also warned us to be careful with the types of tea we buy, because the leaves can be sprayed with a chemical that is strong enough to kill tigers. Overall it was a very interesting and informative experience, and I'm enjoying this IIW much more than I though I would. -Christian Frau (Words: 217
The only known tea master in Texas came to class to talk to us about her craft, sharing many interesting and somewhat humorous facts. For example, non-organic tea is sprayed with DDT, a chemical fertilizer deadly enough to kill a tiger. We also learned that monkeys are trained to pick the tea, which made me want a tea picking monkey of my own.
We were also treated to 5 different kinds of tea: a white peach tea, a green strawberry tea, an oolong lemon tea, a coconut black tea, and a Rooibos butterscotch tea, although Rooibos is made from peas, and isn’t actually tea. My rankings of the tea are as follows:
White Tea – 4.5 / 5 Green Tea – 4 / 5 Oolong Tea – 4/ 5 Black Tea – 2.5 / 5 Rooibos Tea – 3 / 5
We also learned about the effects of the different kinds of tea. For example, green tea helps memory, and oolong tea is helps break down fat. White and green tea won’t stain your teeth, while darker tea will. We learned that the most expensive tea is Darjeeling because it is high in the mountains where monkeys won’t pick it.
Overall, it was a great experience that made me more interested in tea, a great start to a week of learning about tea in various cultures.
Day 2 Today in our IIW class about tea, we watched as a traditional Japanese tea ceremony took place. It involved making precise controlled movements that are meant to show the guests how honored the host is to be having the guests over for the ceremony. First one must remove their shoes, go kneel on the mat, bow to the little doorway, slide through it on their knees, and then bow again. Then go to their mat. The tea is made with water and a powdered version of the tea, which tasted extremely bitter and tasted slightly like seaweed to me. The color of the tea was the color of green algae. The ceremony is a very slow and precise act, with each motion designed to bring honor, show respect, and meditate. During the tea ceremony, it is customary to eat sweet things; this is to offset the bitterness of the traditional green tea. When you drink the tea first you must bow to it, pick it up, turn it three times in your hands, then drink. The tea ceremony came from the time of the samurai, when after battles they would go and meditate, in a tea ceremony everyone is equal, with no one having any status or rank, because the door is so small that the samurai had to remove their swords, which were their symbol of rank.
There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea. ~Bernard-Paul Heroux
After another lack of Guthrie, I was in class the entire time once again. While researching, we were offered two types of tea. Unfortunately, I was only able to try the white tea, which was reminiscent of the tea we were served the first day. As far as facts go, here are five more facts about tea in the middle east.
- Saiidi tea is more common in the upper part of Egypt. -Koshary tea is more common in lower Egypt. -Tea came from India to Iran and soon became the national drink. - Iranians have the highest amount of tea consumption per capita. - Traditionally tea is drunk by pouring it into a saucer and placing a lump of rock sugar into the mouth.
The main thing I noticed about the Korean tea ceremony was the fact that it was less formal. It was used as a time to meet and build relationships, instead of a time of silence and ritual. The Korean tea ceremony seemed to have simpler rituals, and I found it interesting to learn that not everyone has a "tea room," the ceremony could be preformed anywhere. It was also really cool that they actually brought tea bags and instant tea for us to use. Anyway.... yeah.... tea.
In my second day of Tea we started out by sampling a few teas that Miss Martin had brewed. After that we did some research about tea, and I started to learn more about the health benefits it has, and about tea around the world. For instance did you know, that black tea is the most consumed type of tea, and that tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world, I also found out that Green Tea can fight cancer and tumors. Anyway, we continued our research until it was time for the Japanese tea ceremony. The ceremony was pretty interesting to experience, although it wasn't what I had been expecting, I was under the impression that the ceremony would somewhat social, but instead it was very silent and ritualistic. All the movements that the host made while preparing the tea were very slow, and delicate, you could tell that it was a very important, and sacred thing. The actual tea itself was somewhat bitter, and some of the people around me didn't like it, although I didn't mind it all that much. Overall it was another interesting and enlightening experience. Christian Frau (Word:193)
Tea IIW Day 3 Post completed Today in our IIW class we witnessed a Korean tea ceremony; this ceremony is completely unlike the Japanese tea ceremony. In the Japanese tea ceremony the ceremony is all about the motions and meditations. The Japanese ceremony is full of practiced formalized motions designed to show the guests how much the host is honored to have the guests over for tea. The Korean tea ceremony is a lot more social, it is designed for the women to form social relationships and form bonds with friends. The ceremony started with first heating the water, then pouring the hot water into all of the utensils, so that they would become heated for serving and drinking tea. Next the tea was placed into the water and allowed to brew. The tea is poured from the pot half a glass into the guest cup, and so on until your cup which is last, then fill each cup starting with yours until you reach the guests cups, this way the tea has a better consistence throughout all the cups. When you drink the tea, first you take a small sip to smell the tea, then you look at the color of the tea, then you drink the tea for the flavor. It is traditional to drink the tea in three sips. Tyler Loving 226 Words
After such a strong start from the Tea Master, I wasn't sure how the rest of the week could compare. The second day started fairly normally, with Tea Ms. Martin made and searching for tea facts. The tea was good, especially the white peach tea. Later in the day, a bunch of Japanese ladies came over and performed a Japanese Tea Ceremony, or Sado, which means ‘Road of Tea’. The tea ceremony came with four principles : Kei, Sei, Wei, and Joku, which mean Peace, Harmony, Respect, and Serenity. The tea ceremony was very formal, and began with the guests crawling through a small door to show that they were all equal in the tea room. Then they were served sweets meant to offset the bitterness of the tea. Whenever you got your sweet, you had to apologize to the person next to you for eating sweets first. Then the host made and served the tea with elegant, precise movements. It was all very formal, and very silent. When they let us try the tea, I thought it was awful. I drank it all out of respect, but I don’t think I’d ever drink it again.
The first day of IIW was interesting. We had a certified tea master come to our class and educated us about very intriguing facts about the benefits of different types of tea. We learned that the best tea is brewed from tea leaves and the tea bags you buy at the store is really just tiny grains of the actual leaves. She also went on about all the benefits from drinking tea. Green tea had one of my more favorite benefits. From now on when ever I have to study for a big test, I’ll be drinking green tea. It also helps prevent buildup of sediment on the brain which causes Alzheimer's. Oolong tea is supposed to be really good for the skin. Drink Milk with your tea, though, takes away all the benefits from your tea because it removes the antioxidants from the tea. We also got to taste some tea that came from The Path of Tea. The tea was very satisfying. I felt a lot more calmer for the rest of the day too. There were two facts that I enjoyed the most. 1- Tea leaves in Asia are commonly picked by monkeys. 2- A pesticide put on tea called DDT is very harmful to tigers. So if I’m ever being attacked by a tiger.. I’ll give it some tea.
The second day of this tea IIW was not as interesting as the day before but it was just as informative because we had a Japaneses tea ceremony. We started out by having a casual cup of tea that was supposed to start us up in the morning, which it didn't wake me up. We started to work on our tea posters, and around 9 o’clock we helped some Japanese ladies in kimonos gather their “tea set” up to the building. Then at 10 o’clock we went to their room prepared to be a “tea room.” To start off, they selected 3 volunteers and the all went through a very small door. The door meant that everybody was equal and that there were no higher powers in the room. The “host” was very slow and ritualistic in her movements to serve the “guests” the green tea. They all drank the tea, but during the ceremony every body was very quiet. The tea ceremony is commonly quiet because it was supposed to be a time of peace and tranquility. Everyone else got to taste the tea too. It was not very good because it tasted like wasabi sauce. The Japanese didn’t base their tea off of taste back then but by color and presentation. One very important thing i learned was don’t eat your sweet before drinking the green tea.
The third day of our IIW was more work than the previous days. I found a few tea facts about some of the countries in our region of the earth. Our group has the middle east and so i took the countries Turkey and Oman. I Turkey they love to put sugar in their tea and they think of tea as a substitute or replacement for coffee or alcohol. Oman people like to add a lot of ingredients to spice up their tea is a very common drink for every meal of the day. They like to put milk in their tea too which, as stated before, takes away all their benefits of the tea that they are drinking. In the last hour of our tea class we had a Korean speaker come over to our class and introduce their version of a tea ceremony. All in all, their tea was better tasting than the Japanese green tea, and the Korean tea ceremony was less formal than the Japanese ceremony. We also got to taste the difference in what came from normal tea leaves and what came from a tea bag. And it’s true that the tea leaves come out with a stronger tea than the tea bags. I’d rather go to a Korean tea ceremony than a Japanese tea ceremony.
On the forth day of IIW we had some of the best tea we have ever had in the class, mainly because we had sugar with our tea. all the other teas we had were never actually sweet but this time the lady who gave us a presentation on tea in the middle east gave us some sugar with it. She told us how in her country they had the tea brewed in very concentrated amounts and then add hot water to it. I tried it without water first just to see what it would taste like and completely hated it. If you drank their tea without water then you would be a very strange human being. She also said that they used to put sugar cubes in there teeth and drink the tea through the sugar. i tried it but the sugar would dissolve before i got done with the tea. so instead i just put the sugar in the hot tea and swirled it until the sugar had melted. The tea turned out to be very delicious. The hot water dispenser was new to me and so i tried to place my had on the whole pipe coming out from the tub for a better grip of turning the lever. DO NOT ever do that because everything that was chrome was extremely hot! Only touch the non chrome part of the hot water dispenser.
If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you. ~Gladstone, 1865
On the fourth day of IIW, we had a guest speaker from Iran, and she told us about tea in Iran. I found it interesting that tea is actually brewed all day, from the point when you wake up to the time you go to sleep. I also found the tradition of keeping sugar in the mouth instead of putting in directly into the tea different, and upon trying it it I discovered that it was more difficult than I imagined. The tea was A LOT hotter than the others we have tried, and after adding the concentrated sugar the tea was almost too sweet. I also managed to burn my hand by grabbing the "unsafe" metal part of the container, instead of the "safe" black plastic.
And now for some facts: - Tea houses are scattered around Iraq. - It is a habit for shopkeepers to retreat into the back to gossip with friends over tea in Iraq. - Besides true tea, tisanes are also often served in Egyptian tea houses.
We had a kettle; we let it leak: Our not repairing made it worse. We haven't had any tea for a week... The bottom is out of the Universe. ~Rudyard Kipling
On the final day of tea, we went to the tea shop Serenitea, which was voted one of the top ten tea rooms in Texas by Southern Living magazine. Not only did we get to experience a "light tea," we also sampled almost every tea in the shop. Honestly, the tea's started to blend together after a while, and I cannot remember the names of every tea we drank*. I do remember the Masala Chai, which was my favorite tea today, though due to the fact that it contained milk it probably did not contain all of the benefits that the other teas did. We also were given a lecture on tea, which I found more informative and in depth than the lecture we were given on the first day. Although now, I am begining to feel bad about using tea bags, since she told us they only contain the color and caffeine.
* Thanks to Mrs. Harelson, here is the tea list: - Secret Blossom - Nantucket Breeze - Mandarin Spice - Oolong Jasmine - Lady in Red - Earl Grey - South African Rooibos - Fragrant Orchard - Black Current - Chocolate Tea - Comfy Cozy - Tranquility - Indian Chai
Today in Tea, Miss Martin had more tea for us to sample, and I enjoyed the White tea more than the Black tea, mainly because of the taste, but on the other hand the black tea was more fragrant. We did more research, although I didn't really learn anything new or interesting. After a bit of research there were some Korean ladies who came to speak about, and show us the Korean tea ceremony. In some ways the Japanese and Korean tea ceremonies were similar, for instance they both revolved around green tea, the “hosts” were very delicate in the way they prepared the tea and there were some rituals for preparing and drinking the tea. The biggest differences between the two ceremonies were the tea and the environment. The Korean tea was more enjoyable to most people, because the Japanese tea was very bitter and most people didn't like that. The environment is why I liked the Korean ceremony more than the Japanese, In the Korean ceremony it was more social and talking was acceptable, but in the Japanese ceremony it was more quiet and ceremonial. Over all it was another insightful day, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Christian Frau (Words:201)
Today in our tea IIW, we had a former faculty member of Westchester Academy School for International Studies, named Mrs. Rajabaun, she told us about how tea is served in her home country of Iran. The three teas she served us were Earl Grey, a Cardamom, and a Darjeeling tea. They all tasted very good, however all of the teas were allowed to steep for may to long in my opinion, the teas were steeped for like fifteen minutes and according to the tea master, if you allow a tea to brew for more than four minutes then you are not going to like the tea. This was exactly the case until I watered the tea down with some hot water; this made the tea extremely less potent, while still allowing the tea to retain its marvelous flavor. The traditional way to drink the tea is to put a sugar cube in your mouth and drink the tea around it to sweeten the tea. Supposedly the sugar cube should not melt in your mouth when drinking the tea this way, however after 2 sips of the tea sugar cube had all but disappeared and been replaced by a soppy puddle of spit and sugar on my tongue.
Today in our tea IIW, we went to a tea house called Serenatea. There we had what in America we call High Tea, however today I learned that this is not the correct term for what we had; we had Afternoon Tea, at nine thirty in the morning, which was kind of ironic to me. High Tea is the term that is used to describe tea in an English tea pub, where you will be treated to tea, Sheppard’s pie, blood pudding, not tea, scones, and desserts. Which is what we were served today, we were served what the hostess called “light tea”, which consisted of scones, clotted cream, lemon curd, and thirteen different varieties of tea, which we sampled. Some of the teas were very tasty and fragrant, while one tea in particular was not, that tea was a pink tea, I do not remember the name of that particular tea, but that tea was in my opinion was not very tasty, it to me tasted like sour bitter medicine, others at my table thought that it was very delicious, but I on the other hand could not have drunk a whole teacup full with out feeling ill. We also were told about some of the benefits of drinking tea, how to properly brew tea, how not to buy tea bags but instead by loose leaf tea, and how to properly hold a tea cup. I plan to revisit the tea room with my family in the future. Tyler Loving 257 Words
Today in Tea, we had a guest from Iran, she came and told us about how tea is consumed and prepared over there. She brought 3 types of tea with her and I think everyone, including myself enjoyed them more than the teas we had previously. It was probably because they were sweeter than the other teas, and were what most kids are used to. There were also some cookies for us to eat, and I was enjoying them, until I got one that had a hair in it. I was scarred by the experience, and as a result I have vowed to never eat a cookie again. Ever. This has been my favorite day so far, because the tea was delicious and I sat with some of my old friends, and had a nice conversation with them. After we finished with the presentation, and tea tasting we did some more research and I learned more about the health benefits of tea. Overall I'm really enjoying this IIW, because I'm learning a lot. I'm really grateful for the opportunity to be able to taste all these different teas from all over the world, and I'm looking forward to what Monday has in store. Christian Frau (Words:203)
Today is my last day of tea, and I have to say, I'm sad that it's going to end already. The thing we did today, was go to a little tea shop called, “Serenitea”. The lady there was very nice and she had a lot of teas prepared for us, she also had some homemade scones for us to eat with our tea. I had a good conversation with my friends, and I can see how tea can a catalyst for people to get together. After we finished our scones and tea, the lady started talking to us about the history of tea and told us this interesting legend about how tea was first discovered. She also told us about how people used to use tea as a currency, and she showed us a tea brick she had, and then she passed around a few tea leaves and showed us what's in a teabag. I could tell that she was very passionate about tea, and this was definitely the most informative and interesting experience I've had in this IIW. I've really enjoyed my time in here and I've experienced a lot, and learned so much! I made some new friends, and reconnected with some old ones I had, and if I had the opportunity to do it again I would say yes. Christian Frau (Words:223)
The third day of Tea IIW started much the same as the second did. Ms. Martin made us tea, though I don't remember explicitly liking or disliking any one in particular. We did research, and learned some mildly interesting facts about tea in the Middle East and in general. It was pretty fun drinking tea and talking about tea or whatever else came up in conversation. Later in the day, some Korean ladies came to perform and explain a Korean Tea Ceremony. At first I thought it was similar to the Japanese Tea Ceremony from the day before due to the elegant but precise movements and the setup of host and guest. But it differed greatly in that while the Japanese Tea Ceremony was very formal and ceremonial, the Korean Tea Ceremony seemed more casual and friendly. Indeed, we were later told that the Korean Tea Ceremony is a social event, used as an excuse for women to get together and socialize. The tea itself was also very different. While it was green tea, it was a lot better tasting, as it wasn’t as bitter. I was slightly disappointed that we were given chocolates instead of traditional rice cakes, but the chocolate was really good, so I didn’t really mind.
Tea IIW: Day 4 Friday felt like every other day that week. By now I had settled back into coming to school, so a little more serious effort on my part to find facts was shown. I tried tacking down all the facts I could about Iran, the country I had picked off our map (Lebanon was “too small” to be included, darn you Chris!) and found some interesting facts such as how they use their sugar cubes to drink tea by putting it in their mouth and then drinking, and that tea was mostly grown on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Little did I know that all my research was for naught, as Ms. Ranjbouran (sp?), the former registrar, came to talk to us about the customs surrounding tea in her home country of Iran. While most of what she said was things I had just learned, there was some new, interesting tidbits that I found valuable, and I truly enjoyed her whole presentation. Three types of tea were served: Earl Gray, Darjeeling, and one other I can’t remember. Earl gray was my favorite, but I didn’t much like the Darjeeling. Having the sugar cube in my mouth before I drank the tea was pretty cool, I think I’ll have to try that again.
The final day of IIW was bittersweet, much like the tea that came with it. On one hand I had a fantastic time, but on the other, IIW was ending and regular classes were starting up. The day started with a roundup onto the bus to go to Serenitea, an awesome tea house out in Sugarland. They brought us 13 different kinds of tea in total: Secret Blossom Nantucket Breeze Mandarin Spice Oolong Jasmine Lady in Red Earl Grey South African Rooibos Fragrant Orchard Black Current Chocolate Tea Comfy Cozy Tranquility Indian Chai
Of these, I particularly enjoyed the Nantucket Breeze, of which I bought two ounces. The scones that were served to us were amazing, especially with the cream and lemon curd. I mostly enjoyed talking with my friends and tasting all these wonderful teas, but I also enjoyed the presentation that was given to us, and the warnings and tips on how to make great tea. I’m also enjoying my purchases from Serenitea: a tea ball to but tea leaves in for steeping, and two ounces of Nantucket Breeze tea, which is blueberry and vanilla flavored. I am vey sad that the Tea IIW is over now, because I don’t think I’ll ever drink that much good tea again, especially not with good friends. Word Count : 213
Today in our IIW class, the only certified tea master in Texas came to our class and told us some of the benefits of drinking certain variety of teas. For example, white teas are the most anti-oxidant rich of all kinds of tea, and they have properties that help prevent cancer. Green teas help to prevent Alzheimer and they help with cognitive functions.
ReplyDeleteI learned today that tea is the number one suspected source for DDT, which is a pesticide which can kill tigers.
In some countries monkeys are trained to pick tea. These teas are often high in the mountains, and there for are more expensive than normal teas because of the fewer number of “flushing”.
When brewing tea, you should not let the water come to a full boil, instead you should get it to approximately 190 degrees Fahrenheit or so. Then let the tea brew for two to three minutes for green and white teas. And three to four minutes for black, oolong, and roobois teas.
We tried five kinds of teas today, a white peach tea, a lemony green tea, an oolong strawberry tea, a coconut black tea, and a butterscotch roobois tea. All of these teas were organic teas and they all tasted good.
Tyler Loving 212 words
Mitchel Barry
ReplyDeleteTea: Day 1
There is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, Letters and Social Aims
On our first day, I honestly did not expect for us to do as much as we did. Not only did we have a guest speaker, but she was the only certified tea master in Texas. After listening to her lecture, these are some of the facts that I found interesting, funny, and downright amazing:
- Not every leaf put into water is real tea, only the leaves of plants in the camilia family create "real" tea.
- In tea made from leaves that have been sprayed with DDT, the brew can be toxic enough to kill a tiger.
- In certan parts of Asia, they have trained monkeys to pick tea.
As far as the actual tea goes, I have to say I drank more tea that day than in 2010. My favorite tea was actually the only one we tasted that was not technically tea. For some reason, the rooibos bush tea really stood out, perhaps due to the fact that it was one of the most aromatic drinks I have ever had, as well as the infused butterscotch? For whatever reason, here is my tea-ranking chart for day 1:
_________________________________
| Tea | Rating |
| Rooibos | 1 |
| Green tea | 2 |
| Black tea | 3 |
| Oolong | 4 |
| White peach | 5 |
Total Words: 238
Tea: Day 2
ReplyDeleteIf man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty. ~Japanese Proverb
I actually did not think that I would be in class this morning, due to the fact that I go to Guthrie first period. Imagine my surprise when I learned that today was going to have another morning entirely devoted to the study of tea. Today we drank three teas, two in class and one during the tea ceremony. The white tea was my favorite for today, while the Earl Grey - probably because it reminded me of black licorice - was my least favorite. The green tea served at the Japanese tea ceremony was bitter, however I found that I actually enjoyed it, despite my usual avoidance of all things bitter. As for the actual ceremony, the ammount of ritual and detail put into this is astounding, and anyone who can retain the knowledge of simply what needs to be done at certan points has my utmost respect.
Research on our assigned areas also began today, and here are five facts that I found involving tea in the country of Egypt:
- Tea is the natonal drink of Egypt
- Green tea has only come to Egypt recently, and is not well liked
- The Egyptian government consideres tea a stratigic crop
- Egyptian tea generally comes in two varieties: Koshary and Saiidi
- Most people in Egypt cannot function without a cup of tea in the morning, and tea after lunch is almost compulsory.
Word count: 256
In the first day of my IIW about tea, a lady from a shop called “The Path of Tea” came and talked to us. She told us she is the only certified tea master in Texas, and said a little bit about the process she had to undergo to become one. She had us sample 5 types of tea, the White tea, the Green tea, the Oolong tea, the Black tea, and the Rooibos tea. My favorite tea was the White tea, because it had a very soft taste in comparison to the other teas we sampled, and I also enjoyed the slight peach flavour it had. The lady also told us about some of the health benefits of tea, and I learned it's much better at waking you up then coffee is, but if you put milk in it, all the health benefits are negated. She also told us about how in some parts of the world, monkeys are trained to pick tea, and she also warned us to be careful with the types of tea we buy, because the leaves can be sprayed with a chemical that is strong enough to kill tigers. Overall it was a very interesting and informative experience, and I'm enjoying this IIW much more than I though I would.
ReplyDelete-Christian Frau (Words: 217
Tea IIW, Day One:
ReplyDeleteThe only known tea master in Texas came to class to talk to us about her craft, sharing many interesting and somewhat humorous facts. For example, non-organic tea is sprayed with DDT, a chemical fertilizer deadly enough to kill a tiger. We also learned that monkeys are trained to pick the tea, which made me want a tea picking monkey of my own.
We were also treated to 5 different kinds of tea: a white peach tea, a green strawberry tea, an oolong lemon tea, a coconut black tea, and a Rooibos butterscotch tea, although Rooibos is made from peas, and isn’t actually tea. My rankings of the tea are as follows:
White Tea – 4.5 / 5
Green Tea – 4 / 5
Oolong Tea – 4/ 5
Black Tea – 2.5 / 5
Rooibos Tea – 3 / 5
We also learned about the effects of the different kinds of tea. For example, green tea helps memory, and oolong tea is helps break down fat. White and green tea won’t stain your teeth, while darker tea will. We learned that the most expensive tea is Darjeeling because it is high in the mountains where monkeys won’t pick it.
Overall, it was a great experience that made me more interested in tea, a great start to a week of learning about tea in various cultures.
Word Count: 225
Day 2
ReplyDeleteToday in our IIW class about tea, we watched as a traditional Japanese tea ceremony took place. It involved making precise controlled movements that are meant to show the guests how honored the host is to be having the guests over for the ceremony. First one must remove their shoes, go kneel on the mat, bow to the little doorway, slide through it on their knees, and then bow again. Then go to their mat. The tea is made with water and a powdered version of the tea, which tasted extremely bitter and tasted slightly like seaweed to me. The color of the tea was the color of green algae. The ceremony is a very slow and precise act, with each motion designed to bring honor, show respect, and meditate.
During the tea ceremony, it is customary to eat sweet things; this is to offset the bitterness of the traditional green tea. When you drink the tea first you must bow to it, pick it up, turn it three times in your hands, then drink.
The tea ceremony came from the time of the samurai, when after battles they would go and meditate, in a tea ceremony everyone is equal, with no one having any status or rank, because the door is so small that the samurai had to remove their swords, which were their symbol of rank.
Tyler Loving
234 Words
Tea: Day 3
ReplyDeleteThere is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea. ~Bernard-Paul Heroux
After another lack of Guthrie, I was in class the entire time once again. While researching, we were offered two types of tea. Unfortunately, I was only able to try the white tea, which was reminiscent of the tea we were served the first day. As far as facts go, here are five more facts about tea in the middle east.
- Saiidi tea is more common in the upper part of Egypt.
-Koshary tea is more common in lower Egypt.
-Tea came from India to Iran and soon became the national drink.
- Iranians have the highest amount of tea consumption per capita.
- Traditionally tea is drunk by pouring it into a saucer and placing a lump of rock sugar into the mouth.
The main thing I noticed about the Korean tea ceremony was the fact that it was less formal. It was used as a time to meet and build relationships, instead of a time of silence and ritual. The Korean tea ceremony seemed to have simpler rituals, and I found it interesting to learn that not everyone has a "tea room," the ceremony could be preformed anywhere. It was also really cool that they actually brought tea bags and instant tea for us to use. Anyway.... yeah.... tea.
Word count: 238
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ReplyDeleteIn my second day of Tea we started out by sampling a few teas that Miss Martin had brewed. After that we did some research about tea, and I started to learn more about the health benefits it has, and about tea around the world. For instance did you know, that black tea is the most consumed type of tea, and that tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world, I also found out that Green Tea can fight cancer and tumors. Anyway, we continued our research until it was time for the Japanese tea ceremony. The ceremony was pretty interesting to experience, although it wasn't what I had been expecting, I was under the impression that the ceremony would somewhat social, but instead it was very silent and ritualistic. All the movements that the host made while preparing the tea were very slow, and delicate, you could tell that it was a very important, and sacred thing. The actual tea itself was somewhat bitter, and some of the people around me didn't like it, although I didn't mind it all that much. Overall it was another interesting and enlightening experience.
ReplyDeleteChristian Frau (Word:193)
Tea IIW Day 3 Post completed
ReplyDeleteToday in our IIW class we witnessed a Korean tea ceremony; this ceremony is completely unlike the Japanese tea ceremony. In the Japanese tea ceremony the ceremony is all about the motions and meditations. The Japanese ceremony is full of practiced formalized motions designed to show the guests how much the host is honored to have the guests over for tea. The Korean tea ceremony is a lot more social, it is designed for the women to form social relationships and form bonds with friends. The ceremony started with first heating the water, then pouring the hot water into all of the utensils, so that they would become heated for serving and drinking tea. Next the tea was placed into the water and allowed to brew. The tea is poured from the pot half a glass into the guest cup, and so on until your cup which is last, then fill each cup starting with yours until you reach the guests cups, this way the tea has a better consistence throughout all the cups. When you drink the tea, first you take a small sip to smell the tea, then you look at the color of the tea, then you drink the tea for the flavor. It is traditional to drink the tea in three sips.
Tyler Loving
226 Words
Tea IIW: Day 2
ReplyDeleteAfter such a strong start from the Tea Master, I wasn't sure how the rest of the week could compare. The second day started fairly normally, with Tea Ms. Martin made and searching for tea facts. The tea was good, especially the white peach tea.
Later in the day, a bunch of Japanese ladies came over and performed a Japanese Tea Ceremony, or Sado, which means ‘Road of Tea’. The tea ceremony came with four principles : Kei, Sei, Wei, and Joku, which mean Peace, Harmony, Respect, and Serenity. The tea ceremony was very formal, and began with the guests crawling through a small door to show that they were all equal in the tea room. Then they were served sweets meant to offset the bitterness of the tea. Whenever you got your sweet, you had to apologize to the person next to you for eating sweets first. Then the host made and served the tea with elegant, precise movements. It was all very formal, and very silent. When they let us try the tea, I thought it was awful. I drank it all out of respect, but I don’t think I’d ever drink it again.
Word Count : 200 exactly =D
The first day of IIW was interesting. We had a certified tea master come to our class and educated us about very intriguing facts about the benefits of different types of tea. We learned that the best tea is brewed from tea leaves and the tea bags you buy at the store is really just tiny grains of the actual leaves. She also went on about all the benefits from drinking tea. Green tea had one of my more favorite benefits. From now on when ever I have to study for a big test, I’ll be drinking green tea. It also helps prevent buildup of sediment on the brain which causes Alzheimer's. Oolong tea is supposed to be really good for the skin. Drink Milk with your tea, though, takes away all the benefits from your tea because it removes the antioxidants from the tea. We also got to taste some tea that came from The Path of Tea. The tea was very satisfying. I felt a lot more calmer for the rest of the day too. There were two facts that I enjoyed the most. 1- Tea leaves in Asia are commonly picked by monkeys. 2- A pesticide put on tea called DDT is very harmful to tigers. So if I’m ever being attacked by a tiger.. I’ll give it some tea.
ReplyDeleteWord Count: 224
The second day of this tea IIW was not as interesting as the day before but it was just as informative because we had a Japaneses tea ceremony. We started out by having a casual cup of tea that was supposed to start us up in the morning, which it didn't wake me up. We started to work on our tea posters, and around 9 o’clock we helped some Japanese ladies in kimonos gather their “tea set” up to the building. Then at 10 o’clock we went to their room prepared to be a “tea room.” To start off, they selected 3 volunteers and the all went through a very small door. The door meant that everybody was equal and that there were no higher powers in the room. The “host” was very slow and ritualistic in her movements to serve the “guests” the green tea. They all drank the tea, but during the ceremony every body was very quiet. The tea ceremony is commonly quiet because it was supposed to be a time of peace and tranquility. Everyone else got to taste the tea too. It was not very good because it tasted like wasabi sauce. The Japanese didn’t base their tea off of taste back then but by color and presentation. One very important thing i learned was don’t eat your sweet before drinking the green tea.
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The third day of our IIW was more work than the previous days. I found a few tea facts about some of the countries in our region of the earth. Our group has the middle east and so i took the countries Turkey and Oman. I Turkey they love to put sugar in their tea and they think of tea as a substitute or replacement for coffee or alcohol. Oman people like to add a lot of ingredients to spice up their tea is a very common drink for every meal of the day. They like to put milk in their tea too which, as stated before, takes away all their benefits of the tea that they are drinking. In the last hour of our tea class we had a Korean speaker come over to our class and introduce their version of a tea ceremony. All in all, their tea was better tasting than the Japanese green tea, and the Korean tea ceremony was less formal than the Japanese ceremony. We also got to taste the difference in what came from normal tea leaves and what came from a tea bag. And it’s true that the tea leaves come out with a stronger tea than the tea bags. I’d rather go to a Korean tea ceremony than a Japanese tea ceremony.
ReplyDeleteWord Count: 221
On the forth day of IIW we had some of the best tea we have ever had in the class, mainly because we had sugar with our tea. all the other teas we had were never actually sweet but this time the lady who gave us a presentation on tea in the middle east gave us some sugar with it. She told us how in her country they had the tea brewed in very concentrated amounts and then add hot water to it. I tried it without water first just to see what it would taste like and completely hated it. If you drank their tea without water then you would be a very strange human being. She also said that they used to put sugar cubes in there teeth and drink the tea through the sugar. i tried it but the sugar would dissolve before i got done with the tea. so instead i just put the sugar in the hot tea and swirled it until the sugar had melted. The tea turned out to be very delicious. The hot water dispenser was new to me and so i tried to place my had on the whole pipe coming out from the tub for a better grip of turning the lever. DO NOT ever do that because everything that was chrome was extremely hot! Only touch the non chrome part of the hot water dispenser.
ReplyDeleteWord Count: 236
Tea: Day 4
ReplyDeleteIf you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you. ~Gladstone, 1865
On the fourth day of IIW, we had a guest speaker from Iran, and she told us about tea in Iran. I found it interesting that tea is actually brewed all day, from the point when you wake up to the time you go to sleep. I also found the tradition of keeping sugar in the mouth instead of putting in directly into the tea different, and upon trying it it I discovered that it was more difficult than I imagined. The tea was A LOT hotter than the others we have tried, and after adding the concentrated sugar the tea was almost too sweet. I also managed to burn my hand by grabbing the "unsafe" metal part of the container, instead of the "safe" black plastic.
And now for some facts:
- Tea houses are scattered around Iraq.
- It is a habit for shopkeepers to retreat into the back to gossip with friends over tea in Iraq.
- Besides true tea, tisanes are also often served in Egyptian tea houses.
Word count: 209
Tea: Day 5
ReplyDeleteWe had a kettle; we let it leak:
Our not repairing made it worse.
We haven't had any tea for a week...
The bottom is out of the Universe.
~Rudyard Kipling
On the final day of tea, we went to the tea shop Serenitea, which was voted one of the top ten tea rooms in Texas by Southern Living magazine. Not only did we get to experience a "light tea," we also sampled almost every tea in the shop. Honestly, the tea's started to blend together after a while, and I cannot remember the names of every tea we drank*. I do remember the Masala Chai, which was my favorite tea today, though due to the fact that it contained milk it probably did not contain all of the benefits that the other teas did. We also were given a lecture on tea, which I found more informative and in depth than the lecture we were given on the first day. Although now, I am begining to feel bad about using tea bags, since she told us they only contain the color and caffeine.
* Thanks to Mrs. Harelson, here is the tea list:
- Secret Blossom
- Nantucket Breeze
- Mandarin Spice
- Oolong Jasmine
- Lady in Red
- Earl Grey
- South African Rooibos
- Fragrant Orchard
- Black Current
- Chocolate Tea
- Comfy Cozy
- Tranquility
- Indian Chai
Word Count: 237
Today in Tea, Miss Martin had more tea for us to sample, and I enjoyed the White tea more than the Black tea, mainly because of the taste, but on the other hand the black tea was more fragrant. We did more research, although I didn't really learn anything new or interesting. After a bit of research there were some Korean ladies who came to speak about, and show us the Korean tea ceremony. In some ways the Japanese and Korean tea ceremonies were similar, for instance they both revolved around green tea, the “hosts” were very delicate in the way they prepared the tea and there were some rituals for preparing and drinking the tea. The biggest differences between the two ceremonies were the tea and the environment. The Korean tea was more enjoyable to most people, because the Japanese tea was very bitter and most people didn't like that. The environment is why I liked the Korean ceremony more than the Japanese, In the Korean ceremony it was more social and talking was acceptable, but in the Japanese ceremony it was more quiet and ceremonial. Over all it was another insightful day, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteChristian Frau (Words:201)
Day Four
ReplyDeleteTea IIW
Today in our tea IIW, we had a former faculty member of Westchester Academy School for International Studies, named Mrs. Rajabaun, she told us about how tea is served in her home country of Iran. The three teas she served us were Earl Grey, a Cardamom, and a Darjeeling tea. They all tasted very good, however all of the teas were allowed to steep for may to long in my opinion, the teas were steeped for like fifteen minutes and according to the tea master, if you allow a tea to brew for more than four minutes then you are not going to like the tea. This was exactly the case until I watered the tea down with some hot water; this made the tea extremely less potent, while still allowing the tea to retain its marvelous flavor. The traditional way to drink the tea is to put a sugar cube in your mouth and drink the tea around it to sweeten the tea. Supposedly the sugar cube should not melt in your mouth when drinking the tea this way, however after 2 sips of the tea sugar cube had all but disappeared and been replaced by a soppy puddle of spit and sugar on my tongue.
Tyler Loving
215 Words
Day Five
ReplyDeleteTea IIW
Today in our tea IIW, we went to a tea house called Serenatea. There we had what in America we call High Tea, however today I learned that this is not the correct term for what we had; we had Afternoon Tea, at nine thirty in the morning, which was kind of ironic to me. High Tea is the term that is used to describe tea in an English tea pub, where you will be treated to tea, Sheppard’s pie, blood pudding, not tea, scones, and desserts. Which is what we were served today, we were served what the hostess called “light tea”, which consisted of scones, clotted cream, lemon curd, and thirteen different varieties of tea, which we sampled. Some of the teas were very tasty and fragrant, while one tea in particular was not, that tea was a pink tea, I do not remember the name of that particular tea, but that tea was in my opinion was not very tasty, it to me tasted like sour bitter medicine, others at my table thought that it was very delicious, but I on the other hand could not have drunk a whole teacup full with out feeling ill. We also were told about some of the benefits of drinking tea, how to properly brew tea, how not to buy tea bags but instead by loose leaf tea, and how to properly hold a tea cup. I plan to revisit the tea room with my family in the future. Tyler Loving
257 Words
Today in Tea, we had a guest from Iran, she came and told us about how tea is consumed and prepared over there. She brought 3 types of tea with her and I think everyone, including myself enjoyed them more than the teas we had previously. It was probably because they were sweeter than the other teas, and were what most kids are used to. There were also some cookies for us to eat, and I was enjoying them, until I got one that had a hair in it. I was scarred by the experience, and as a result I have vowed to never eat a cookie again. Ever. This has been my favorite day so far, because the tea was delicious and I sat with some of my old friends, and had a nice conversation with them. After we finished with the presentation, and tea tasting we did some more research and I learned more about the health benefits of tea. Overall I'm really enjoying this IIW, because I'm learning a lot. I'm really grateful for the opportunity to be able to taste all these different teas from all over the world, and I'm looking forward to what Monday has in store.
ReplyDeleteChristian Frau (Words:203)
Today is my last day of tea, and I have to say, I'm sad that it's going to end already. The thing we did today, was go to a little tea shop called, “Serenitea”. The lady there was very nice and she had a lot of teas prepared for us, she also had some homemade scones for us to eat with our tea. I had a good conversation with my friends, and I can see how tea can a catalyst for people to get together. After we finished our scones and tea, the lady started talking to us about the history of tea and told us this interesting legend about how tea was first discovered. She also told us about how people used to use tea as a currency, and she showed us a tea brick she had, and then she passed around a few tea leaves and showed us what's in a teabag. I could tell that she was very passionate about tea, and this was definitely the most informative and interesting experience I've had in this IIW. I've really enjoyed my time in here and I've experienced a lot, and learned so much! I made some new friends, and reconnected with some old ones I had, and if I had the opportunity to do it again I would say yes.
ReplyDeleteChristian Frau (Words:223)
The third day of Tea IIW started much the same as the second did. Ms. Martin made us tea, though I don't remember explicitly liking or disliking any one in particular. We did research, and learned some mildly interesting facts about tea in the Middle East and in general. It was pretty fun drinking tea and talking about tea or whatever else came up in conversation. Later in the day, some Korean ladies came to perform and explain a Korean Tea Ceremony. At first I thought it was similar to the Japanese Tea Ceremony from the day before due to the elegant but precise movements and the setup of host and guest. But it differed greatly in that while the Japanese Tea Ceremony was very formal and ceremonial, the Korean Tea Ceremony seemed more casual and friendly. Indeed, we were later told that the Korean Tea Ceremony is a social event, used as an excuse for women to get together and socialize. The tea itself was also very different. While it was green tea, it was a lot better tasting, as it wasn’t as bitter. I was slightly disappointed that we were given chocolates instead of traditional rice cakes, but the chocolate was really good, so I didn’t really mind.
ReplyDeleteWords: 210
Tea IIW: Day 4
ReplyDeleteFriday felt like every other day that week. By now I had settled back into coming to school, so a little more serious effort on my part to find facts was shown. I tried tacking down all the facts I could about Iran, the country I had picked off our map (Lebanon was “too small” to be included, darn you Chris!) and found some interesting facts such as how they use their sugar cubes to drink tea by putting it in their mouth and then drinking, and that tea was mostly grown on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Little did I know that all my research was for naught, as Ms. Ranjbouran (sp?), the former registrar, came to talk to us about the customs surrounding tea in her home country of Iran. While most of what she said was things I had just learned, there was some new, interesting tidbits that I found valuable, and I truly enjoyed her whole presentation. Three types of tea were served: Earl Gray, Darjeeling, and one other I can’t remember. Earl gray was my favorite, but I didn’t much like the Darjeeling. Having the sugar cube in my mouth before I drank the tea was pretty cool, I think I’ll have to try that again.
Word Count of above post was 216.
ReplyDeleteThe final day of IIW was bittersweet, much like the tea that came with it. On one hand I had a fantastic time, but on the other, IIW was ending and regular classes were starting up. The day started with a roundup onto the bus to go to Serenitea, an awesome tea house out in Sugarland. They brought us 13 different kinds of tea in total:
Secret Blossom
Nantucket Breeze
Mandarin Spice
Oolong Jasmine
Lady in Red
Earl Grey
South African Rooibos
Fragrant Orchard
Black Current
Chocolate Tea
Comfy Cozy
Tranquility
Indian Chai
Of these, I particularly enjoyed the Nantucket Breeze, of which I bought two ounces. The scones that were served to us were amazing, especially with the cream and lemon curd. I mostly enjoyed talking with my friends and tasting all these wonderful teas, but I also enjoyed the presentation that was given to us, and the warnings and tips on how to make great tea. I’m also enjoying my purchases from Serenitea: a tea ball to but tea leaves in for steeping, and two ounces of Nantucket Breeze tea, which is blueberry and vanilla flavored. I am vey sad that the Tea IIW is over now, because I don’t think I’ll ever drink that much good tea again, especially not with good friends.
Word Count : 213