Accoutrements
Besides fresh water,
Lu yu’s treatise prescribed twenty-four different implements
essential for the proper preparation and enjoyment of tea.
But today’s tea fancier need not devote an entire cabinet
to accoutrements: a teapot, an infuser or strainer, a cup,
and a canister will suffice.
Teapots, of course,
come in all shapes, sizes, and materials. The first were most
likely stoneware from Yixing, and pots from the town are still
prized for their particular affinity for tea. However, any
unglazed ceramic pot should be reserved solely for tea since
its porous walls will absorb, then impart, other flavours.
Silver teapots, so essential to Victorian tea parties, conduct
heat away from the tea, a drawback for which their singular
sheen more than compensate. Glazed stoneware and porcelain
are good choices, and glass affords an enticing view of that
tempest in a teapot as the agony of the leaves.
An infuser or strainer
ensures a leaf-free cup. The former holds the leaves as they
steep and may be a ceramic or glass sieve built into the pot,
a metal acorn or wire-mesh ball, or a bag sewn of natural
fibers. In lieu of an infuser, a bamboo, wire, or silver strainer
will catch the leaves as the tea is poured.
The cup itself
offers infinite variety, from delicate bone china to glass
to sturdy ceramics---and everything in between. In China and
Japan, a small, handleless cup is the preferred vessel (the
first brought to Europe held only a few thimblefuls of liquid).
In Russia and Morrocco, a glass is more common. The handled
teacup was an English innovation, an idea borrowed from the
tankards used at the time for bracing hot toddies.
A tea caddy completes
the necessary equipage. Time, light, humidity, and other aromas
are tea’s natural enemies. Buying in small quantities and
storing each type separately in a tightly sealed, opaque container
will prolong freshness and prevent flavours from mingling.
Those who like
to linger over a pot may want to add a tea cozy to their paraphernalia.
Usually knitted of a wool or sewn of quilted fabric, you can
choose from an assortment of whimsical or elegant shapes:
a contented cat, an architectural landmark, an antique dome
of monogrammed linen. Or perhaps a clock face, the hands pointing
to four o’clock---the traditional hour for an afternoon pick-me-up.
Whatever your pleasure, the brew will stay hot longer with
this extra layer of insulation.
WELL-BEING
The cup that delights
and inspires also nurtures. In fact, tea was regarded as a
medicine first. Enthusiasm for its flavour brought about the
evolution from herbal preparation to everyday quaff. Over
the years, tea chroniclers and entrepreneurs have extolled
its virtues as a cure for everything from gout to rheumatism
to the common cold. Today science has shown that some of their
claims are well-founded.
Studies indicates
that tea’s singular alchemy of caffeine, essential oils and
polyphenols, those substances often mistakenly referred to
as tannins, aid digestion, foster healthy blood, and may even
combat cancer. Caffeine, of which tea contains 60 percent
less than coffee, acts as a diuretic. Its stimulant powers
activate the digestive tract in the same way they highten
brainpower. Essential oils help emulsify fats, and polyphenols
restrict the blood’s absorption of cholesterol. The later
may also help prevent cancer.
And there may be
some basis to assertion that tea eases the symptoms of the
common cold and may even help stave off a bout. Green tea
contains significant amounts of vitamin C, a perplexing phenomenon
given that heat normally destroys this nutrient. All teas,
but particularly green, also contain fluoride, which strengthens
teeth and bones. While the casual sipper should not expect
a cure-all, a fine cup is surely a guilt-free indulgence.
OXIDENTS
& ANTI-OXIDENTS
Oxygen is essential
to human life, and without it we cannot survive. Yet oxygen
is also involved in toxic reactions within our body and therefore
a constant threat to our well being. We can tolerate oxygen
only because of the powerful defence mechanism that exists
in our body which minimises its toxic effects.
During the course
of our daily lives, a variety of chemical reactions and processes
take place within our bodies, known as “Metabolism”. Either
through the normal process of internal metabolism or external
elements, such as pollutants, chemicals, stress, rich diet,
smoking, exertion, ultra-violet light, and even sunlight,
the unstable or unpaired oxygen molecules are released. These
are known as ‘free radicals’. Although free radicals may
also serve some useful purpose in the human body, generally
the presence of free radicals contribute to degeneration of
cells in the body.
These ‘free radicals’
are molecules with unpaired electrons. Normally in the human
body, almost all molecules exist in ‘paired ‘ or ‘stable’
state. These free radicals, with their electrons, look out
for other electrons with which to ‘pair’ and thus create
more free radicals.
When the contents
of oxidants become high due to internal or external sources,
the body’s anti-oxidant defence mechanism may be unable to
cope with the same. This disturbs the balance within the body,
resulting in various problems like aging, cancer or other
degenerative diseases.
Luckily for us,
the damage caused by these ‘free radicals’ can be kept at
the minimum by ample intake of ‘anti-oxidants’ (also known
as free radicals scavengers). Anti-oxidants neutralises the
formation of free radicals, by offering an electron to pair
up. Polyphenols in tea has been identified to have very superior
anti-oxidant properties.
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