Mint Tea

 

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If you dine in a Moroccan restaurant anywhere in the universe, chances are that dessert will be accompanied by a cup of hot green tea, flavored with spearmint and sugar. The preferred Moroccan tea is Chinese gunpowder green, which is traditionally served in a glass. All the utensils such as a silver teapot, a brass hammer for sugar, and silver boxes of tea, mint, and sugar, are set out on a low table before the start of a Moroccan tea ceremony. These ingredients are then steeped in boiling water. Each person has three glasses for the tea. The teapot is raised high over the glass for pouring. This is not only for effect, but also to oxygenate the tea, and it results in a bit of froth on top of the tea. The guests are served a glass of tea throughout their meal. With each glass of tea, water and sugar proceed to be added to the pot but no more tea is added.

High Tea, Low Tea

The British are the ones who established the way tea is celebrated today with the centuries old tradition of afternoon tea. Traditionally, the British either add milk to their tea, or add tea to a few drops of milk. When milk is used before the tea is added this will produce a blend of the milk and tea, while adding the milk last will excellent the tea and make it easier to sip and also prevent harm to the leaves from the hot water. There are some that think the order in which individuals add their milk in to the tea indicates their social class. Working class people would add the milk in first whereas upper class folks added their milk in after the tea was poured. It is believed that this occurred because pouring the milk in first would prevent the cups from cracking since the lower classes could not afford high quality porcelain cups. Regardless of the system you choose to use, some like to add milk to strong black teas to mellow the tannins and make the tea less bitter. However it is becoming very popular to add milk to all sorts of teas to create lattes.


                                    

Afternoon tea has evolved into a combination of high and low teas. High tea used to be called meat tea and it was had at the end of extensive workday with family in the lower classes. Low tea on the other hand was considered a snack had by the British upper classes to hold them over till a large dinner in the evening. Low tea was very much a social event to be enjoyed with friends. The type of table used for serving high or low tea could even be used to make a differentiation between to the two. High tea was served on a high dining room table, while low tea could be had on a low table like a coffee table in the sitting room or living room.

Here is a cool blog with more tea information.

The Legends of Tea

A popular legend about the discovery of tea as a beverage dates back to about 2700 BC in China. According to the story, Emperor Shen Nung was drinking a cup of boiled water. The Emperor, concerned about hygiene, always insisted that water be boiled before he drank it. A tree nearby shed some leaves into his cup which turned the water a deep shade of brown. The emperor was curious about the color and decided to drink the water. Shen Nung was an advocator of herbal medicine, so this wasn't the first time he had tasted something made from a plant. After drinking the "tea" Shen Nung felt all the aches and strain in his body go away.

The plant that tea comes from is called Camellia Sinesis and it is found in India, China, and Southeast Asia. However, little is known about the use of tea anywhere outside China until sometime in the sixth century, when legends tell of the discovery of tea in other parts of earth.

In one fable about how knowledge of tea traveled, an Indian prince named Prince Bhodidharma went to China so that he could preach about Buddhism. An advocator of meditation, the Prince vowed to meditate, without sleeping, for nine years (seven, in another version). After meditating for 5 years he started to feel exhausted, so he picked leaves from a tree to chew on. Because the tree was a tea tree the leaves game him renewed vigour and he was able to continue meditating. Prince Bhodidiharma's continued to drink tea to remain alert during his meditations and as a result he is considered the foundation of Zen Buddhism.