Tea Temperature – HoundBytes

Editor’s note: This story was submitted for publication Fall 2018. This is a late upload.

By: Courtney Thatcher

Winter weather is approaching and with it comes the change of tastes and flavors to hot drinks. Pumpkin spice floods the supermarkets, coffee sells out daily, and the need for heat kicks in to every working person and student. Coffee seems to be a go-to once the snowy season starts to blow in. Though the very popular café drink seems to be a must, there are many people who prefer a subtler hot drink.

Hot tea is an alternative when trying to keep warm in colder weather. The drink, less saturated in caffeine and in flavor, allows for many to enjoy the cooler weather with a flavorful cup of something creative.

Traditionally, in many countries such as Japan and China, tea is prepared and served for all occasions, whether formal or informal. The type of tea is important as well. Just like coffee, there are various types of tea. Black, green, white, and oolong are the only type of “true” teas because they derive from a specific type of plant. The benefits that come from the leaves outweigh the negatives of the flavor.

Tea, often less flavorful than coffee and lacking in caffeine, contains certain health benefits. Antioxidants found in tea leaves can help boost the metabolism as well as improve the immune system to protect against cardiovascular and degenerative diseases. These benefits could explain how people of Asian descent tend to live longer. Through their meticulous ceremonies, they tend to consume tea throughout the day in various intervals, often times taking time away from work and studies to share a cup or two while conversing.

Tea ceremonies in China, as well as Japan vary, but are also alike. An upcoming tea ceremony in Japan is Nagori-no-chaji (名残の茶事). According to Japenese-tea-ceremony.net, this is a “tea ceremony honoring the last remains of the year’s supply of tea and to see out the warm months before winter sets in.” It normally occurs in October and is followed by Kuchikiri-no-chaji (口切の茶事). Japanese-tea-ceremony.net describes Kuchikiri-no-chaji as a “tea ceremony celebrating the breaking of the seal on a jar of new tea” that is performed in November. Nagori-no-chaji is important to the Japanese culture with its ties to Wabi Sabi, a Japanese version of Feng Shui, which allows the person or group of people to acknowledge the changing of the season.

The Chinese culture has a ceremony similar to Japan’s, though it’s not restricted to seasonal changes but to a teaching of sorts. Cha Dao “The Way of Tea” is a practice that is passed down through teaching that allows the student to master the ‘elements’ of tea and how they are connected to nature’s elements. This way of tea brewing, serving, and drinking is a cultural habit of Chinese people. Though not all learn or study this, tea is still influential in the Chinese household.

Asian culture often uses tea as a way to “welcome” whether it be for the changing of the seasons or for the changing of a life. For us “Westerners,” tea is used for similar means of cleansing and as a natural sleep aid. There are times when it is best to drink tea for these purposes. Morning consumption helps the body digest as well as boost energy. Whereas, at night, drinking green tea or other herbal infusions allow for a fuller night’s rest. Seasons are also important for which type of tea to drink. Teasenz recommends that in the brighter and blooming seasons, spring and summer, it’s best to drink white and green teas for a refreshing feeling and for a detox of your bodies systems. For the colder and gloomy months, Teasenz suggests drinking black, oolong, and pu-erh teas. These types of teas allow for better metabolism functions but also help to keep warm since these are consumed at a hotter temperature than white or green teas.

As winter gets closer and the temperature outside starts to drop, it’s a great opportunity to pull out tea pots and brew the herbal infusions. The benefits for health are obvious, but with warmth being a necessity, a budget for coffee is a lot more stressful than that of a simple tea leaf.

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