Weather life's tempests with a teapot

01-13-2002

Take tea and see.

For centuries, reading tea leaves has been one method of predicting the future. In this time of travel uncertainty, perhaps reading about tea can help foster a sense of well-being. For the billions of tea drinkers around the world, the tale of tea makes an interesting story.

Spreading from its earliest roots in the hills of southern China 4,700 years ago, the branches of the camellia senensis have encompassed the earth. Legend credits the discovery of tea to the second Emperor of China, Shen Nung, also known as the Divine Healer, but the first written description of brewing tea is an entry in a Chinese dic- tionary in A.D. 350.

Though often mistaken for a tree, the plant from which tea leaves are harvested is actually a shrub that can grow to 30 feet. It's also long-lived; some tea trees in China are said to be a thousand years old.

The transportation of tea fueled development of early trade routes from China to India, Turkey and Russia in the seventh century. Tea spread to Japan in the year 805, when Saicho, a Buddhist monk, took seeds there. Dutch traders took tea to Europe in 1610, and the beverage was first sold in England in 1657 at Garway's Coffee House in London. The drinking of tea accompanied the British Empire around the world, and it was a demand for tea that sparked the Opium Wars in China. The taxation of imported tea also brewed ferment in the American Colonies, where, as popular history records, several hundred bales wound up in Boston Harbor.

The pursuit of tea was a motivating factor in the development of American clipper ships, which revolutionized the world of travel.

Though the tea plant is genetically the same everywhere, tea leaves come in myriad variations, reflecting the soil, sunshine and season where they grew and when they were picked.

The most important factor, however, is how the leaves are cured.

Green tea leaves are plucked at the moment of ripeness and quickly dried to capture their natural taste. The leaves are then either pan-fried, steamed or heated in ovens.

Oolong leaves are gently rolled after picking, slightly crushed and allowed to air dry. Oxidation darkens the leaf and produces the distinctive fragrances. When the desired maturity is reached, the leaves are heated and rolled again, resulting in teas that are green or black.

White tea leaves are picked early, before the first buds have opened, air dried and slightly fermented. Steeping these teas for five minutes in warm, not boiling, water produces a mild brew that is the lowest in caffeine.

Black tea leaves, on the other hand, are well wilted before they're pressed and dried. The resulting beverage is full-bodied and able to hold its own with the addition of milk or sweeteners.

Pu-erh tea, processed by a once- secret Chinese technique and often formed into bricks, improves with age. Prized Pu-erh teas can be 50 years old.

Tea has also long been credited with multiple medicinal benefits.

While all tea is healthful to drink, green tea has been shown to contain the highest level of antioxidants. Antioxidants reduce blood pressure, enhance immune functions and improve cholesterol levels, reducing the risks of heart attack or stroke.

Tea is also a source of important vitamins and minerals, including carotene, thiamin (vitamin B1); riboflavin (vitamin B2); nicotinic acid, pantothenic acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), vitamin B6; folic acid; manganese, potassium and fluoride.

On the other hand, tea also contains considerable caffeine: about 60 milligrams per cup for black teas, 35-45 milligrams for Oolong teas and 15-20 milligrams for green teas. In fact, some black teas can pack as much caffeine as the strongest coffee. But because it takes longer to feel the effects of tea, it provides a subtle lift, rather than the rapid jolt of coffee. Tea, it is said, makes you happy; coffee makes you nervous. And for those sensitive to the world's favorite stimulant, tea is easily decaffeinated.

Apart from its sensory and medicinal benefits, fine teas also foster friendliness. Although its preparation is simple, the serving of tea can be an elaborate ritual, revealing the essence of a culture or providing a way to relax.

Many cultures have customs involving tea. A mid-afternoon cup is a tradition just about every place that was once part of the British Empire.

But nowhere are the rituals more intricate than in Japan. Over the past 500 years, the act of preparing, serving and drinking tea has been codified into a precise ritual, a form of civic expression and personal communion intended to promote inner harmony, social stability and peace among people.

Monks first brought tea back to Japan after studying in the Zen Buddhist monasteries of China. For them, the tea was an aid to meditation, a medicine and a tool to propagate Zen. Japan's royalty was quick to adopt the new beverage, but the general population came to regard it as an ostentatious libation that accompanied lavish banquets.

However, about the time Columbus was sailing to America, a Zen priest, Murata Shuko, developed a set of tea-serving rituals designed to teach four principles: harmony, respect, purity and tranquillity. He called his ceremonies Cha No Nu, which translates as "hot water for tea."

That evolved into numerous different styles, each reinforcing these principles in its own way. Collectively, they are called Chado, or "the way of tea."

Students of Chado learn much more than to how to arrange implements. They come to understand the importance of proper timing, appreciate social grace and learn to apply these lessons to daily life. As practiced today, Chado is a cultural synthesis of religion, morality, aesthetics, philosophy, discipline and social relations.

Being invited to take part in a Japanese tea ceremony is a great honor and sign of peaceful friendship.

In these tempestuous times, the world needs such rituals.

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