Tea, like other drinks, is cultural. There is a certain way to drink tea even if we don’t realize it. I think the fact that there is a “right” way to drink tea is controversial and subjective, but I also believe that the steps in order to drink tea properly have reasons that relate to how the first people who drank tea drank tea. There are many types of tea, but we will be focusing on China Tea and Indian Tea. China Tea, or green tea, is bitter and many argue that it is un-cultural to add milk to it. Originally, I thought that one should not pour milk into Indian tea, but now I realize that people do pour milk into Indian Tea. This argument also makes sense in my experience because many Asian cultures don’t use dairy products. Indian Tea, or Black Tea, is a more popular kind of tea. This is the type of tea that many insist “true tea-lovers” drink. This, I think, is very controversial because all tea is true tea, and there should not be one type of tea that all people should drink in order to show that they truly enjoy tea. I have an indifferent opinion to the idea that you should not pour sugar into tea. While the article, “A Nice Cup of Tea,” argues that tea is meant to be bitter, I know that some cultures, including America, pour a little sugar into their tea. After reading the text initially, I felt that it made perfect sense that one should try not to pour sugar into tea as tea was meant to taste bitter. Now, however, I understand that sweet tea might be an alternative version of tea, but I still agree that tea was meant to be bitter, but adding sugar if you don’t like the taste should still be acceptable and should not impact how others identify you as a “tea-lover.” Finally, I would agree with the article on the idea that tea is meant to be soothing and relaxing, but that might look different for everyone, and it should be up to each individual if they should make tea the cultural way or their own way.
Citation: “A Nice Cup of Tea.” 12 January, 1946. Evening Standard. Retrieved from https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/a-nice-cup-of-tea/
Citation for image:
Spiegel, A. 2016. 11 Gifts for the Tea Lover in Your Life. Tasting Table. Retrieved from https://www.tastingtable.com/drinks/national/tea-accessories-holiday-gifts
