Wednesday, December 16, 2015

A hard question prompted by the new Upton Tea Quarterly

The new issue of the Upton Tea Quarterly has arrived. This time, I am quite intrigued by a quote from tea lover George Orwell on the cover:

"First of all, one should use Indian or Ceylonese tea. China tea has virtues which are not to be despised nowadays — it is economical, and one can drink it without milk — but there is not much stimulation in it. One does not feel wiser, braver or more optimistic after drinking it. Anyone who has used that comforting phrase 'a nice cup of tea' invariably means Indian tea." 

Now I have certainly enjoyed plenty of Indian tea over the years, but I can't quite imagine limiting myself to only Indian tea. Can you? For some reason, this quote has taken root in my head, and I've been pondering which country of origin I would choose for my tea if I were limited to one. India would give me those great Darjeeling teas, but think of all the great Chinese and Japanese teas I'd miss out on! I'm trying to remind myself that I am certainly able to drink tea from anywhere I choose, but still … if we had to pick one tea-producing region … could you? Would you?

9 comments:

  1. Interesting... I certainly drink my fair share of Chinese tea. Now we have something else to think about.

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    1. Yes! (As if we don't have enough to ponder these days, but I did find that intriguing!)

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  2. While it is interesting, that's just one person's opinion. In MY opinion, a nice cup of tea is ANY one that the drinker enjoys. Each of us has different tastes, but whatever type of tea we enjoy is "nice" for us. :-)

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    1. Well said, Joy! And I do think that everyone's opinion of a tea is valid to them!

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  3. I appreciate George Orwell as he was an excellent writer (1984 was so very intriguing) but his thoughts about Chinese tea not being stimulating... implies that he didn't try very many Chinese teas~! I wonder if he ever tried Hong Kong style milk tea (which is a blend of ceylon and black teas, all very bold, then milk and sugar added) with its unique taste, or any of the oolong variations that i adore so much. his thoughts that a 'nice cup of tea' has to be Indian... just means he hasn't tried enough teas.

    personally my fav is Ti Guan Yin (an oolong tea) but i also love a bold english breakfast or chai tea any day.

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    1. I like your comment that he simply hadn't tried enough Chinese teas!

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  4. If I had to only pick one country it would be Japan. Interesting question to ponder.

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  5. Interesting comment for sure. If I had to choose I would choose Taiwan. Hummm? They have great oolongs and starting to have some very intriguing black teas too.

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  6. https://vimeo.com/129129260

    I made this short video essay for an Experimental film course earlier this year. Thought I would share because I remember upon reading Orwell's essay on the subject I was quite inspired to argue East Asian teas and their place.

    All clips are from YouTube, but the voice is my own. It's not the world's best video, but it got me high marks as far as addressing all criteria for the assignment. A bit of fun discussing the topic I love.

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