The Myth of a Simple Cup of Tea

In last month’s blog, I wrote about the myth of a quick cup of tea. Now I’ll explain how the nomad’s cup of tea is anything but simple. In the West, it’s easy to make tea. Heat a cup of water in the microwave or in a kettle. Drop in a tea bag and let it steep 3-5 minutes. Then add cream, sugar, or honey. Presto! But here in the desert, the process of making the traditional “three cups of tea,” is lengthy, complex, and almost sacred.

1. 

   We use loose green tea imported from China. Traditionally the preparer would rinse the tea to remove impurities, which may have accumulated during transport on the back of a camel. We fill a large kettle with water for cleaning. I also rinsed my tea glasses, teapots, and trays, which had definitely accumulated dust in my salon. No matter how often I sweep and wipe, the dust is ubiquitous. The desert stops for no man.

2. You begin by lighting the flame on a propane gas bottle. (Yes, we do this indoors in our nicest carpeted room!) Then add water to the medium teapot. Measure 1/4 glassful of water for each person and 1/4 glassful for making foam. Thus, for three people, you would use a whole glassful of water. (A desert tea glass stands a little larger than a Western shot glass.) Set the teapot on the burner and bring the water to a boil. Afterwards, remove the tea pot from the gas bottle.

3. Add the 1/2 glassful of dried tea to boiled water, and return the medium teapot to the fire. Let the tea and water come to a boil with the lid tilted off the pot (so it doesn’t boil over). Wait until the tea bubbles and then settles. You will begin to smell the fragrant tea. Turn the gas bottle off, and let the tea rest a few minutes with the lid closed.

4. Pour a glass of tea to check the color. The brand we use has an orangey hue when it has brewed long enough. If you are happy with the color, set that initial glass of tea aside for making foam. Then transfer the remaining tea into a smaller teapot. (The swollen tea leaves will remain in the bottom of the medium teapot while the liquid tea will go into the smaller teapot.) But, if you check the color of the tea and determine it needs to brew longer, then return it to the pot and heat a little longer.

5. Now take the glassful of tea you set aside, and use it to make foam. Pour the tea from this glass into a second glass, gradually raising the height of the first glass while pouring. This takes a LOT of practice to do without spilling. I am still perfecting my technique, so I’m always wiping up. Repeat this motion back and forth from one glass to another until you’ve built up about 1/2 glassful of foam in an empty glass. Set the “foamed” glass aside. Take the second glass, add more tea, and begin the foam-making process again with a new glass. Repeat this process until you have foamed an empty glass for each person.

6. Return the small teapot with the liquid tea to the fire, and bring it to a boil. Meanwhile use the large water kettle to rinse off the outside of each foamed tea glass so that it isn’t sticky for your guest to hold. Also rinse off the tray underneath. The run-off water is then poured into a decorative metal trash bucket. My language teacher says that tea-making should be beautiful, so we need to keep everything tidy and clean.

7. 

   From a bouquet of fresh mint leaves, pluck out a few branches and rinse them off over the trash bucket. Remove the small teapot from the fire. Add to it the mint branches and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Swish around. “Stir” the ingredients by pouring out one glass of tea and returning it to the pot once or twice. (Most preparers then return the small teapot to the fire, but my teacher does not. She claims boiled sugar is bad for your health. So she just lets the tea, mint, and sugar set a minute in the pot off the fire.)

8. Now pour the sweet mint tea into the foamed glasses and serve it to your guests on a small oval-shaped metal tray. A local proverb says, “The first cup of tea is bitter like life.” A child usually carries the tea from the room where the women are sitting into the other room where the men are gathered—or vice versa. (Since the culture is strictly segregated by gender, it is inappropriate for a woman to carry tea into a roomful of men who are not her family members. Likewise, it is inappropriate for a man to carry tea into a roomful of women who are not his family members.)

9. A guest is supposed to receive this piping hot glass of tea and drink it fairly quickly so the glass can be returned to the host or hostess. A household usually owns about six tea glasses. If you have more guests than glasses, you collect the glasses from the first six guests after they have drunk their first cup. These you rinse off with water. Then you begin again with the re-foaming, re-heating, and re-filling process until all of your guests have been served the first round. After everyone has partaken, the glasses are rinsed again for round two. Then the small teapot is emptied of mint branches and rinsed.
   

   It took this American girl a while to get used to the idea of sharing glasses communally. Happily, the tea is so dang hot, it probably kills any lingering germs that could be passed from one guest to the next. I just pray, trust God, and drink up. The tea ceremony is so essential and central in this culture that I feel obliged and blessed to partake. It is an easy way to fellowship and bond with my local friends and neighbors. The entire tea process can take anywhere from one to four hours, depending on the pacing of your host or hostess.

10. Now you are ready to make the second cup of tea. Add more water—but no more tea leaves—to the medium teapot, which holds the swollen tea leaves from round one. Put the teapot on the fire and let it simmer for a good while.

11. Repeat the process of making foam in the glasses and adding new mint and sugar to the small teapot. This batch of tea is the sweetest. The local proverb continues, “The second cup is sweet like love.”

12. Finally, as your visit draws to a close, you are ready to make the third cup of tea. This time, add a pinch of dried tea to the medium teapot before boiling. Once again add new mint and sugar to the small teapot. This batch of tea is the mildest. The local proverb concludes, “The third cup is gentle like death.” And so you have a window into the culture’s philosophy of life. The desert waits for no man, but nomads wait for tea.

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