Here is an openly pretentious article about the philosophical revelations I discovered through the act of choosing, making and enjoying a cup of tea.
1. Tea drinkers are usually overdramatic and excessively romantic.
When the weather forecast announces imminent rain, it’s absolutely essential for a dedicated (tea) drinker to rush to the kitchen to make a steaming mug of tea as it begins to storm, just for the aesthetic value of leaning over the balcony and staring out into the darkening sky with a grave expression, as smoke flies into your hair and the rain sprays everywhere. Extra points if someone takes a photo as you perform this ceremony for Instagram. The act is usually followed by catching a cold, which leads to….(you guessed it) more tea.
2. Getting scalded by steam is painful.
Do not underestimate the power of intangible things. According to physics, steam actually has more latent heat than water at the same temperature so getting hit in the face by a gust of smoke can sometimes be more painful than burning yourself with hot water. Do not think too lightly of gases in general….I’ll leave the examples to your imagination.
3. Drinking tea makes you sniff everything.
Shoes, Food, Trees, People. No, wait, scratch that last one. Did you know that humans have some of the most underdeveloped noses in the animal kingdom? The average dog has about 254 million more olfactory receptors than the average human.
4. Exchanging tea with friends in public looks a lot more suspicious than it has any right to be.
Try to discreetly trade tiny plastic packets of strange looking leaves and crumbs with handmade labels and then tell me that there’s a way to make it more socially acceptable to people walking by and doing double takes.
5. People who drink copious amounts of tea (1) either detest caffeine/alcohol or are (2) using tea as a way to deal with their love for caffeine/alcohol.
Or is that just me? Help.
6. Memories imprint themselves onto the strangest of things.
Your first tea, your favorite tea, the one you use to wind down after a long day dealing with challenges, the comfort drink for when you lose a public sword fight, the one you cried while drinking after your long lost love vanished yet again, the one you threw in your arch rival’s face after he insulted your virtue….okay, I’m done. See point (1). Basically, a good quality cup of tea can make any occasion into a memorable one and you’ll always have a multi-sensory retrieval cue to enjoy those moments.
7. You become healthier.
It’s not surprising. The amount of antioxidants going into your body does wonders for one’s overall physical condition, be it short term effects like reducing fatigue and easing colds, or long term ones like lowering one’s chances of terminal diseases.
8. An extremely large pot of tea is best enjoyed in solitude and with easy access to a bathroom.
This one is pretty self explanatory, I think.
9. Different types of tea have different boiling temperatures (just like people).
This is probably the only real piece of philosophy this article has to offer. The average tea maker probably doesn’t own a sophisticated liquid thermometer to make sure that their brew of Silver Curl White Tea is exactly at 75 degrees Centigrade while the English Breakfast is at 100 and instead use common counters like ‘kinda hot water,’ ‘almost boiling,’ ‘there’s a lot of smoke,’ as well as the ubiquitous ‘the pot is on fire’. However, the temperatures are important. A mint tea made with boiling hot water is practically dead and there’s almost no fresh herbs to taste in it. Lower the temperature a little and suddenly, the infusion comes to life in an aromatic symphony.
And somewhere during the line, I realized that this very idea could be equated to people and their differing levels of performance while under pressure. While some people thrive under duress and need a constant barrage of commitments to keep up with everyday tasks, others need a balance of leisure alongside their activities and ambitions to achieve their best and keep from burning out. Just like tea is a personal preference and no one flavor is superior to the other, the same applies to people.
Except, people don’t taste too good when boiled.
10. Tea has a lower levels of tolerance and forgiveness than most people I know.
….and lost in my own thoughts again, I’ve done that thing where I forget my tea and it punishes me in the worst way possible by going cold at a speed that is scientifically impossible.
Photo Cedits
Soikkoratamo http://www.flickr.com/photos/133882345@N05/33387535970″>Untitled via http://photopin.com”>photopin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>(license)
benageXYZ-邊 http://www.flickr.com/photos/27497869@N04/33504416232″>美食攝影 via http://photopin.com”>photopin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>(license)