Earlier I teased that I would have a blog on the different drinks in China. So, I felt this was an occasion for a little tea party. And what little girl doesn't like a tea party? "Mommy, a tea party!"
Tea is popular all throughout China. However, in the place where we live, they use the tiniest tea cups. If you saw them, you might really think they were China's version of a "shot glass." In fact, when I went to the market and bought this set, I was convinced that the shop owner had sold all of the actual tea cups.
This was the one tea cup (above) that I saw that looked like a decent size, and it is still small. I asked the man if I could have 6 to 8 of these, and he said "no." What? Why not? He then proceeded to give me the little tiny cups that you will see in the next picture. So, I brought home what I thought was: 1 tiny tea pot, 1 tea cup, and 6 TINY little cups.
So, the day came when I finally brought the cups out of the cupboard for my friends to teach us how to make tea. It was only then that I realized what I thought was the correct size tea cup was actually the pot for brewing the tea. What????
A side note: Chinese also have these very elaborate tea-making platforms. I really don't know what to call it. For Joel's birthday, we bought one. You can see it above. And below is another view. What is it used for? Well, I have never seen a Chinese person "wash" a tea cup/pot, etc. Instead, they place all of their tea dishes on the platform. Then they pour scalding hot water over the dishes while they are sitting on the platform. The platform has a hole that catches the water, and then the water goes out a tube into a bucket. Some other platforms actually have a pan that collects the water that you can dump out. So, after the water is poured over the tea cups, they then pour the water inside the cups down the little hole.
So, in this particular picture (above) you can see the tube. Above that, you can see a very small bronze-grated hole. That is the hole in which the water goes from spillage.
This picture is of the only tea that I currently know how to make. I mentioned to one of my Chinese friends that my cholesterol was a little high in America. So, she went and bought me some tea (before I even had a tea set). She claims that if I drink this tea everyday that my cholesterol will be lower. You can see that the tea looks like very small balls. She explained to me that the tea is tea leaves and small flowers rolled together in little balls. I think it is some sort of green tea, but I am not sure what the flowers are. (Most tea is not rolled into balls--this tea must be special)
Here you can see the tea in the little tea pot that I talked about earlier. So, if this is the tea pot...what is the other bigger cup??
After you put the tea into the tea pot, you must then add boiling water. And then you must wait 3 minutes...which can seem like a long time to Autumn.
This is the finished product. You can see that the tea leaves have opened up. The Chinese in this area of the country claim that they use smaller cups because that means that you have to make the tea more often in one setting. That means that the tea stays fresh. There is no problem of having a big pot of tea sitting around for too long. After the tea has brewed for 3 minutes, it is poured into that other big cup. You cannot leave the water in with the leaves, or it will taste too strong. I know that they like it this way, but I am looking for a different tea set. Maybe it is my Western way of thinking, but I really do not like drinking out of such small cups.
Here is Autumn with the final product. It actually is a little bitter, but surprisingly...my children both like it. Autumn had to wait for it to cool a little, but because the cup is so small...that part doesn't take so long.
"Drink up!"
Tea is popular all throughout China. However, in the place where we live, they use the tiniest tea cups. If you saw them, you might really think they were China's version of a "shot glass." In fact, when I went to the market and bought this set, I was convinced that the shop owner had sold all of the actual tea cups.
This was the one tea cup (above) that I saw that looked like a decent size, and it is still small. I asked the man if I could have 6 to 8 of these, and he said "no." What? Why not? He then proceeded to give me the little tiny cups that you will see in the next picture. So, I brought home what I thought was: 1 tiny tea pot, 1 tea cup, and 6 TINY little cups. 
So, the day came when I finally brought the cups out of the cupboard for my friends to teach us how to make tea. It was only then that I realized what I thought was the correct size tea cup was actually the pot for brewing the tea. What????
A side note: Chinese also have these very elaborate tea-making platforms. I really don't know what to call it. For Joel's birthday, we bought one. You can see it above. And below is another view. What is it used for? Well, I have never seen a Chinese person "wash" a tea cup/pot, etc. Instead, they place all of their tea dishes on the platform. Then they pour scalding hot water over the dishes while they are sitting on the platform. The platform has a hole that catches the water, and then the water goes out a tube into a bucket. Some other platforms actually have a pan that collects the water that you can dump out. So, after the water is poured over the tea cups, they then pour the water inside the cups down the little hole.
So, in this particular picture (above) you can see the tube. Above that, you can see a very small bronze-grated hole. That is the hole in which the water goes from spillage. 
This picture is of the only tea that I currently know how to make. I mentioned to one of my Chinese friends that my cholesterol was a little high in America. So, she went and bought me some tea (before I even had a tea set). She claims that if I drink this tea everyday that my cholesterol will be lower. You can see that the tea looks like very small balls. She explained to me that the tea is tea leaves and small flowers rolled together in little balls. I think it is some sort of green tea, but I am not sure what the flowers are. (Most tea is not rolled into balls--this tea must be special)
Here you can see the tea in the little tea pot that I talked about earlier. So, if this is the tea pot...what is the other bigger cup??
After you put the tea into the tea pot, you must then add boiling water. And then you must wait 3 minutes...which can seem like a long time to Autumn.
This is the finished product. You can see that the tea leaves have opened up. The Chinese in this area of the country claim that they use smaller cups because that means that you have to make the tea more often in one setting. That means that the tea stays fresh. There is no problem of having a big pot of tea sitting around for too long. After the tea has brewed for 3 minutes, it is poured into that other big cup. You cannot leave the water in with the leaves, or it will taste too strong. I know that they like it this way, but I am looking for a different tea set. Maybe it is my Western way of thinking, but I really do not like drinking out of such small cups. 
Here is Autumn with the final product. It actually is a little bitter, but surprisingly...my children both like it. Autumn had to wait for it to cool a little, but because the cup is so small...that part doesn't take so long.
"Drink up!"
2 comments:
Wow Autumn's hair is so long! And WOW what a cute tea set.. I have the same one :) --LR
What a funny little story.. how does one get full on these small cups of tea?¿
Post a Comment