Besides water, tea is the most widely consumed drink throughout the world. More than 158 million Americans drink tea each day. Tea drinking is so popular in fact that many countries even have tea drinking ceremonies.
Japan
In this country they tend to drink a powdered green tea that is either very thin or very thick. The thin version is called usucha and the thick version is called koicha. The most formal tea ceremony is called The Way Of Tea. It lasts for up to three hours and the tea is served in porcelain or fine pottery. It is either served with a light meal or a multi-course meal. For those that want to experience a Japanese tea ceremony, but don’t want to travel to Japan, New York’s Hakubai offers their own version of The Way Of Tea complete with a meal of steamed egg custard and sashimi.
England
Afternoon tea is quite popular in England. It generally occurs between 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. after lunch. There are a variety of teas available, but the most common one is black tea that is served with lemon, sugar or milk. Along with the tea there’s often desserts, finger sandwiches and pastries. Many hotels in America offer afternoon tea ceremonies modeled after the English. The Langham Hotel in Boston has a ceremony where the tea is served in their signature Langham Rose China.
Russia
Russian tea ceremonies are more about symbolism. There’s really no right or wrong way to conduct it. The ceremony can occur at any time of day and black tea with sugar cubes and lemons is usually served. As far as food goes, pretty much anything and everything is served with the tea including caviar, bagels and cheese. Russian Tea Time in Chicago has an afternoon tea time each day from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
As you can see, in many countries tea isn’t just a drink, it’s a way of life. While America doesn’t really have any traditional tea ceremonies, it’s still widely consumed. In 2014 Americans drank more than 3.60 billion gallons of tea. Around 84% of that was black tea and 15% of that was green tea. As if you didn’t have enough reasons to drink tea, you should know that it also has many health benefits. These include increasing your metabolism and helping with weight loss and lowering your risk for cancer and heart disease. How do you like your tea- cold, hot or flavored, with sugar or a lemon wedge?
