Yes, glorious tea, likely the most celebrated drink in the world after water. The steaming hot beverage that presides over our morning, mid morning, afternoon and possibly night. There is certainly nothing like a cup of tea; the indescribable warmth that it brings, the twirling little hypnotic puffs of steam that rise from the mug, the genuine feeling of comfort it brings as you sit and sip and its amazing power to relax or wake you, depending on what you need most. So much magic in one cup, and it doesn’t stop there.
Tea seems to have the power to bring people together. People in all communities around the world, will use tea as an incentive to invite people into their homes. It seems the thing to do. Even if its somebody you haven’t met before in your life, when they step past the front door it seems its only polite to ask “Will you have a cup of tea?”. Its like some unspoken ritual practiced by the majority of earths population. And when the tea’s poured and the biscuits are opened on the table, the only thing you can do next is start talking. Tea must possess magical qualities, somehow managing to flick the “chat” switch in our brains and drive us into full force conversation mode. Its an old tradition, like a habit now to associate tea with socialising- and its great!
Tea is also great for when you arrive home after a day at school, work etc. Open the door, turn on the lights and “stick on the kettle”. Still home is not the only place in the world where you can have tea. Tea is also fantastic as a travelling companion. Bringing Flasks of tea to the beach, up the mountains, to work, to school, really anywhere you can imagine. Having a steaming hot cup of tea on winters night, especially around Christmas time is my favourite. The fire lighting, all snuggled up on the couch in your pyjamas about to watch whatever Christmas movie is on the TV - for me it really wouldn't be complete without a mug of tea.
Tea even when in the plainest, most sullen mug in the kitchen attains a sort of hypnotic appearance. I can’t count how many times some ones said “I’m making tea, do you want a cup” and I’ve said no, not really thinking that I felt like one. Then when they stroll on in, plaid in their pyjamas and fuzzy slippers carrying a nice hot mug of tea, accompanied by two digestive biscuits, I suddenly regret my earlier decision.
Tea literally has gone down in history and will continue too. I read somewhere on the internet, that a Tea Bible called “Ch’a Ching” was written in 800 A.D. The Chinese word for tea being “Cha” which I’m guessing is where the phrase “A cup of cha” came from. Even in modern times, there are whole sub cultures dedicated to the hot drink. There are countless websites, blogs, and magazines solely about Tea. People all around have a genuine need to spread their deep rooted and sometimes strangely obsessive love for Tea. Even after existing for such a long period of time, Tea has taken root and continued to thrive among the people of the world. I think its going to be one of those things that will never cease to exist, and I don’t really see it being usurped by some new future revelation any time soon.
Magic or not, Tea definitely has power to it. It calms you, can make you happy when your sad, warms you up when your cold. It brings people together and invites you in. Even it if lacked all of its history and its international acclaim , for me tea would still be the best damn thing in the world.
So when your stressed, sad, happy or even so angry you feel like punching a wall, make a good old cup of tea and if you need convincing, in the words of a famous tea enthusiast from Craggy Island.
“Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on!”