Tea ceremonies

I remember watching my Turkish neighbor in her small kitchen, where there was room for only two and her half-size fridge and two-burner gas stove and small sink, merrily busy preparing the tea she would serve me and her other guests. Perihan took pride in making her tea and explained to me that the real art of making Turkish tea lies in the brewing. She added that “the secret lies in the amount of tea leaves and the length of time to brew the leaves.” She used two-tiered kettles, which resemble a samovar. You see the samovar is like a tea kettle which has a compartment to keep hot charcoals underneath and on top rests a small teapot; the two Turkish tea pots fit one on top of the other, but unlike the samovar they are heated on top of the stove.

You have to pour water into the larger kettle and bring it to boil. During this phase the smaller pot has some tea leaves and a little boiled water in it. Boiling water is then poured into the tea in the smaller teapot, and it is then placed on top of the bigger one. The tea is brewed in the pot for 10-15 minutes over the simmering water of the bigger pot, which keeps it hot. You must definitely drink the tea within half an hour of brewing it or it will become bitter.

In Turkey, as in many Asian tea-drinking nations, the aesthetic standard for good tea is that it must be sweet and fragrant. Many housewives make up their own mixtures of tea from the different leaves available. There is standard Black Sea tea, mostly grown around Rize. Then there is Ceylon tea. Also there are flavored teas such as bergamot. One of my neighbors taught me her secret of five parts Rize tea to two parts Ceylon to one part Bergamot.

Much pride is taken in serving the tea as well -- whether it’s the tea flavor, tea sets or tea-serving techniques.

Dame Judi Dench is a brilliant actress who plays the role of Miss Matty Jenkyns in the BBC series “Cranford” (based on the classic books by Elizabeth Gaskell). It is set in a small English town in the 1840s, full of gossips and very handsome young doctors. Miss Matty and her circle knew how to enjoy their cup of tea.

A description from the book, in the chapter My Ladyship, reminds me of the early 1980s in Turkey when you used to go to your neighbor and drink tea:

“In a few minutes tea was brought. Very delicate was the china, very old the plate, very thin the bread and butter, and very small the lumps of sugar. Sugar was evidently Mrs. Jamieson’s favorite economy. I question if the little filigree sugar-tongs, made something like scissors, could have opened themselves wide enough to take up an honest, vulgar good-sized piece; and when I tried to seize two little minnikin pieces at once, so as not to be detected in too many returns to the sugar-basin, they absolutely dropped one, with a little sharp clatter, quite in a malicious and unnatural manner…”

Back then you were served with the best china in the home or most elegant tulip-shaped tea glasses with gold trim. Not being accustomed to using tongs and sugar cubes, I dropped a few, too. I appreciated those afternoon teas, which I rarely have time for nowadays as life has become far too busy.

 I remember my friend and I both felt like we had been to visit the queen as we had been treated like royalty. The chapter in the book ends with this: “In our pattens we picked our way home with extra care that night, so refined and delicate were our perceptions after drinking tea with ‘my lady’.”

 “Tea embodies the spirit of civilization and enhances culture and helps one cultivate an appreciation of the art of tea drinking.” -- Patrick Kang