Tea traditions
Also known as: tea customs, tea ceremonies, tea rituals around the world
How peoples drink tea by custom: British afternoon tea, Chinese gongfu tea, the Japanese tea ceremony, Turkish tea in glasses, East Frisian tea and Argentine mate.
Tea traditions are the customs by which peoples drink tea: at what hour, from which cups, with what, and who pours for whom. The tea is the same bush, Camellia sinensis, for all of them; mate comes from a different plant, Ilex paraguariensis, but the habit of drinking it together is so close to tea culture that it stands here too.
Afternoon tea is the British meal of black tea between lunch and a late dinner: sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, cakes. It is linked to the Duchess of Bedford in the 1840s, though a V&A blog calls that a legend.
Gongfu tea is the Chinese way of brewing oolong in a tiny pot through a fixed sequence of steps; Chaozhou gongfu tea has been on China's national heritage list since 2008.
The Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu, sadō) centres on matcha, powdered green tea. The way of tea took shape in the 15th and 16th centuries, and, according to the Japan Tourism Agency, tea master Sen no Rikyū established it as it is known today.
Turkish tea (çay) is strong black tea in pear-shaped glasses at any hour; since 2022 its culture has been on UNESCO's list together with Azerbaijan.
East Frisian tea is strong Assam over rock sugar with a cloud of cream, never stirred, at least three cups; it has been on Germany's heritage inventory since 2016.
Mate is Argentina's "national infusion" under a 2013 law: yerba mate steeped in a gourd, sipped through a bombilla and passed around the circle.
Why this matters to you: the same pack of tea tastes different depending on the custom; try one black tea with milk the British way, with rock sugar the Frisian way and from a glass the Turkish way.
How it connects to Food traditions
Tea traditions → kind of → 🎎 Food traditions
Links
- Part of
- 🎎 Food traditions
Frequently asked questions
Which tea traditions are on heritage lists?
Turkish tea (UNESCO, 2022), Chinese tea practices (UNESCO, 2022), Chaozhou gongfu tea (China, 2008) and East Frisian tea culture (Germany, 2016).
Is it true that mate is a kind of tea?
No, mate is made from yerba mate leaves (Ilex paraguariensis), not the tea bush; its customs of shared drinking make it a tea tradition.
Where is tea drunk with cream rather than milk?
In East Frisia, where cream is spooned onto tea poured over rock sugar and never stirred.
Which tea is used in the Japanese tea ceremony?
Matcha, powdered green tea, whisked with a bamboo whisk.
Is afternoon tea the same as tea with milk?
No: afternoon tea is a meal with sandwiches, scones and cakes; tea with milk is simply how the British often drink their black tea.
Similar
What it includes
Sources
- Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT): Chanoyu (the Art of Preparing Tea)
- UNESCO: Culture of Çay (tea) (2022)
- Argentina.gob.ar: Mate