Tea Traditions from Around the World

The Japanese Tea Ceremony, also known as Chado or Sado centers on the preparation, serving and drinking of a powdered green tea called Matcha. The Japanese tea ceremony can find its roots in China but has evolved greatly in the last few hundred years.

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In India, tea is absolutely indispensable. We bond, talk, share and ponder over a hot cup of tea and have been doing so for many years now. The kind of tea people in India prefer to drink is masala tea which is a beautiful blend of black tea and spices like cinnamon, ginger, garlic, clove etc.

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Taiwan is one of the largest producers of Oolong tea so it's only obvious that it has a huge tea drinking culture. Another kind of tea that those in Taiwan love drinking is bubble or Pearl Milk Tea. It was invented in the 1980s and is basically cold tea mixed with fruit/milk and a spoon full of tapioca balls.

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?Chayi' or the Chinese tea ceremony is a symbol of respect, and gratitude. And a reason for family gathering. In fact, according to a popular Chinese saying, tea is one of the seven necessities of life. The three kinds of teas that are very popular in China are green tea, black tea and scented tea.

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Maghrebi Mint Tea also known as Moroccan tea is a ceremonial tea which is served to guests and refusing it is considered to be impolite. In places like France and Spain, Maghrebi Mint Tea is mostly served in summer as chilled ice tea.

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The famous and classic afternoon tea ceremony of England is part of its ancient traditions. It was started somewhere in the mid 17th century and was introduced as a solution to mid-meal hunger pangs. Don't confuse this with high tea though because the latter was introduced much later by the working class and served with meat, cakes and pies. It was all a big hearty fare.

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It's not just vodka that the Russians tilt towards, they're also known to be big tea lovers. They usually drink Indian or Chinese tea but instead of boiling water on a stove, they heat it using a Samovar which is essentially a metal container.

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The Korean way of drinking tea is much more relaxed that its Asian counterparts. It's usualy a way of relaxation versus formality.

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Tea is a crucial part of Turkish social life. In fact, there's even a saying that conversation without tea is as incomplete as a night sky without the moon. The Turks drink tea in small shot glasses and never add milk to it. Also, they take sugar but instead of putting it in their tea they hold a lump of sugar between their tongue and cheeks.

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