Tea Rituals

We’ve all heard of the 5 o’clock tea, the famous British tradition about the afternoon tea, but there are many other ones in the world. For example:

In Morocco it is impossible to spend 24 hours and not to be served hot tea. Touaregtea, or Moroccan mint tea is the heart of their culture, strongly linked to the act of hospitality. The tea is served to guests three times and each time it means a different thing: Life, Love or Death. Of course, all of them have to be drunk. 

India produces and consumes more tea than any other country in the world. Chai is the national drink and it is served on every street corner. If you ever get invited to an Indian, prepare yourself to taste a sweet and a bit spiced milk-tea.

For Chinese people, tea is synonym to life. They were the first to discover the tea leaf and have been drinking tea ever since. The art of making tea is called “Cha dao”, which was soon accepted as one of the most important traditions that Japan learned from China.

In Japan tea is an important part of the food culture. The ceremony of tea is known here as matcha, which consists of serving green tea to a small group of people in one of those popular teahouses.

There are two things that Russians love the most: vodka and tea. Today, most Russians enjoy what they call Zavarka, a strong tea prepared in a separate tea pot that allows hosts to serve the guests in several rounds.

People often say that if you want to know Argentine well, you need to try its meat, its wine and its mate. Yerba mate is the national drink of one of the most amazing countries in South America. Even though it’s not really tea, whoever travels to this country will find out that people drink it at any time of the day.

For guests across Pakistan, tea is a common drink. An element of Kashmiri culture, Noon Chai is a special blend of tea that includes a mix of pistachios, almonds, salt, milk and spices like cardamom, cinnamon and star anise. Noon Chai is typically enjoyed with pastries. More casually enjoyed is "DoodhPati," or milk tea, which involves no water.