I came across this story in the San Francisco Chronicle about a month ago and I’ve let it fester in a ‘what-does-this-mean’ kind of way. My conclusion is that Tea - the spirit of the plant and not the actress - want’s us to share a good laugh.

San Francisco Chronicle, October 28, 2009 - - - Excerpt from the daily column by Leah Garchik

Judith Ets-Hokin, well known around here as a cooking teacher, is running a furniture showroom in High Point, N.C. Catering an office lunch there one day, she called a food provisioner, whose offerings included “a gallon of ’sweet tea.’ ” Is that green tea? she asked. Black tea? There was silence.

“Actually, no one’s ever asked that,” said the caterer. “It looks kind of brown.”
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/28/DDB61A9FTR.DTL#ixzz0VQJHJKRj

Items like this remind me that a great many people still know very little about tea. But it’s also encouraging that someone else found it amusing; amusing enough write about it in a major metro newspaper column. Tea is so often regarded in stereotype that it can be assumed there is little more to know. There are questions that the greatest number of people choosing beverages haven’t thought to ask. They have no idea how much they don’t know. And we who delight in the Tea Land adventure can easily forget what the experience of the portal is like.

Study tea? Teach tea? It does generate a few odd smiles and chortles. If you’re familiar with World Tea News - and reading this blog - then the differences between green & black may seem basic and boring. You’ve probably moved on to the nuances of Oolong and the delicacies of Darjeeling. Until recently we’ve been a rather small circle of devotees. That’s changing along with our image. We’re not just Granny’s antique teapot and crumpets. There are many more choices. And there is also a gigantic gap in the way people perceive tea.

But what about humor? Where’s the chuckle in tea? When does our Lovely Leaf find it’s way into a Letterman monologue? How might Ellen open her show with a tea theme? It could happen. I think Tea (not the actress) would want it that way.

Smiling At The Conundrum

Those of us who delight in sharing a world view of tea from exotic places around the world are finding more opportunities to speak to people who aren’t sure about the difference between black & green. Where do you begin? Remember - you have to maintain a sense of humor.

When I give talks to groups, I have to remember that most of the people in the room haven’t spent much time thinking about the difference between black and green. I’m displaying trays of fresh leaf to people who are accustomed to paying about $5 for one of the grocery store boxes of bags. “How much per pound!?!” In most venues I dare not confess how much I spend for fine teas. They often ask if I ever drink “regular” tea. “Or do you always take you own tea with you?” They’re asking if I’m what they would consider a tea snob. Am I looking down on them or what they stock in their cupboards? This is a good time to remember to laugh at myself for the extremes I go to in the name of tea.

I’ve started sharing some stories of traveling to see tea plantations at book signings. “You went all the way to China to look at tea plants!?!” Even people in China asked how much it cost to make the trip - just to experience tea in it’s natural habitat.

You gotta laugh. If you calculate how much premium tea that would have bought on the specialty tea market, you get the full LOL. Tea made me do it.

Thank you Tea. I’d go again in a heartbeat. Tea grows in some amazing places around the world. While there is great sadness on some political fronts, there is great beauty and joy in the daily life. I think I could retire to one of these places and spend my last days snapping off the delicate new leaves.

What would you do for Tea?

My current favorite tea-travel story is the hike to The King Of Tea Trees. (See right.) The journey to this 1700 year old tree is more of a pilgrimage. And this time it’s not about picking the leaves.

Hidden in the jungle on the southern border of China in Yunnan Province is the oldest tea tree we know of. It’s been allowed to grow to full height - not groomed as a dwarf for the convenience of harvest. If you were strolling by, you wouldn’t recognize this as a tea tree. But you wouldn’t be strolling by. This one is definitely not listed in the tourist guides.

First a flight to the closest city, Xi Shuang Ban Na, in the southernmost part of Yunnan Province. Then a white-knuckle bus ride up the mountain - through tea covered mountains - to the place where the bus can no longer go. Then a 1½ hour hike to the King Of Trees. Of note, that was a hike through the jungle in the rain with several creek-hopping and mus-sliding adventures. And leeches! Our guides told us that, had the trees not been shrouded in heavy mist, we would have been able to see over the border into Myanmar and possibly Laos.

When you travel with serious tea people, it’s not all sitting around in elegant teashops sipping from lovely porcelain. That’s what I love most about the Spirit of Tea. Extremes. Tea can take you to places you never imagined. In the cup and on the road. And one of the bridges between the the many worlds of tea must be a good laugh.

I’m convinced that the Spirit of Tea has a magnificent sense of humor. Heard any good tea jokes lately?

How many Tea Masters does it take to change a light bulb?

Did you hear the one about the two tea growers from Sri Lanka?

And then the Duchess said to the Queen, “My but your tea is very . . .”

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas! (A little Expo humor would be nice!)

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