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The Secret History of Tea: Personal Rituals & Family Stories · Family Tree Food Stories

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Nancy May: hello everybody, it's Nancy May and Sylvia.
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Lovely once again with another episode of Family Tree Food and Stories.
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Before we start on this show, like we always say, every meal has a
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want, but we do hope that you listen on Thursdays and every day thereafter.
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So on that note, let's get going with this show, Sylvia, because
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we're talking about drinks.
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Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Not maybe the fun.
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Yeah, they're kind of fun, but they're more kind of the
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one we're gonna talk about.
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It's more to relax you, I think,
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than it is to excite you and get you dancing
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Nancy May: the most pot.
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Potent, potent say that three times at best.
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The more potent ones can also relax you in a different kind of
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Sylvia Lovely: Mm-hmm.
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Nancy May: But this one we're talking about rituals and the things that
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belong in that category are tea.
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not just the thirst quenching kind of tea, but the ones that make you
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sort of slow down and relax at the end of the day, or maybe even get
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up in the beginning of the day.
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But I always think of tea more as an afternoon type of thing.
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And my mom used to ask me when we were kids growing up, you wanna go for a Cup-a?
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Well, I think we were probably teenagers at the time, and we'd go down to Alice's.
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Which was the local general store and have a cuppa at the end of the day.
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It was just our way of girl time, which I always enjoyed.
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Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
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Nancy May: also, have you ever had your tea?
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Tea leaves red,
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Sylvia Lovely: I never have.
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But that's a well saying you should get your tea leaves.
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Uh, follow your tea leaves.
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I mean, you know, it's well known.
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Nancy May: I don't know what they're saying is, but the tea
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leaves are read by a tasseographer.
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I think that's how
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Sylvia Lovely: Whoa, that's
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Nancy May: And
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Sylvia Lovely: impressive.
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Nancy May: there's probably a better way to pronounce it, but it certainly is a $10
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word and I'm pronouncing it in a $5 way,
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Sylvia Lovely: It's better than a Dingleberry or something like that,
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Nancy May: Right.
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But tea gives us that permission to pause, to stay a while and chat and give
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you a moment to slightly unwind and.
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feel what's present at the moment?
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Sylvia Lovely: Mm-hmm.
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Oh yeah.
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And it's exactly why we keep going back to the same vacation spot every year.
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I don't know about you, but we relive those.
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Scenes in our minds over and over, and that same way, celebrate
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with the same meal and the same drinks, and it becomes ritual.
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And, coffee, coffee's my habit.
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And by the way, coffee's good for you again.
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Nancy May: Right.
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Sylvia Lovely: Flash.
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Nancy May: The Coffee Association has told you
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Sylvia Lovely: No, no, it was on the news and you know, I believe
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everything I hear on the news.
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But anyway, but coffee has its own devoted following, like me, but
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not one quite as ancient as tea, which just intrigues me so much.
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Coffee wakes you up, sends you out the door, but tea does something different.
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even after researching all of this, it still intrigues me.
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It pulls you in the opposite direction.
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Invite you to sit down, to linger, to stay with something a little bit longer.
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And today we're following that thread from ancient China where tea,
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by the way, began as a medicine.
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To British Afternoon Tea.
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How proper, and you're kind of British, you know, to the front
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porches of the American South.
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I'm the Irish gal in this family.
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and in the way we're going to ask what tea still offers us now.
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Especially in a world that just won't stop moving and swirling
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around here's a fun fact.
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There are far more tea drinkers than coffee drinkers on the planet
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And tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water.
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Nancy May: That's amazing, right.
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Sylvia Lovely: Yeah, But you think about it, for some reason, and, and
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it may be the religions of the East, Buddhism, Hinduism, all of those
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things are much more ritualistic.
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I guess the Catholic church kind of is, but it may be what spread
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that whole idea of tea, because that's kind of where it all started.
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So tell us all about it.
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Nancy May: Well, it's interesting when you look at tea, I don't know about you,
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but I think of tea as like Chinese tea.
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But it really is permeated throughout so many different cultures.
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And as we were getting into the show, even Russia and Angolia and the British
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of course, and well, we'll get into the US history 'cause there's a whole bunch
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of history that we all know about that.
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But even still, so let's go back to some of the ancient stories where it
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starts with a legend this is kind of a fun and whimsical story, which I loved.
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And around 2,700 BC there was an emperor by the name of Chen, and I'm
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hoping pronouncing that with my Chinese
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accent.
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Sylvia Lovely: just let him get mad about it.
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Nancy May: Right.
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anyway, he's apparently sitting outdoors, boiling water and because then people
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knew that raw water, I guess that's what you call unprocessed water of
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today, uh, could have all sorts of contaminants and make you sick.
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And that's why they were boiling the water.
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But apparently some little leaf drifts from a nearby tree.
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Whoa.
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And there it pops into the pot.
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And instead of fishing that leaf out, he decides to take a sip.
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And something about the SIP has endured for 5,000 years.
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Sylvia Lovely: Whoa,
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Nancy May: Isn't that amazing?
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What I find interesting is that tea didn't begin with a comfort drink.
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It was kind of a, oops, get the fly out of my soup.
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Good thing it wasn't a fly, right?
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Sylvia Lovely: Mm-hmm.
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Nancy May: But it's more of a functional thing, and it was used to create
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clarity for healing to sharpen the mind.
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Well before coffee, obviously, and the Chinese Buddhist monks, particularly
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from the ninth century through the 12th century, embrace tea as part of
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their meditation and spiritual ritual.
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Spiritual ritual practices.
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I'm gonna sound like Barbara Walters here.
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Every secondary Barbara probably could have used some tea.
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But, so I was fascinated in just how much tea was a part of helping
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them deal with those long hours of contemplation and meditation and just
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sort of taking that edge off.
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You know, there was the Redding Center for Meditation, which was run
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by a couple of Buddhist monks up in where we just moved down from a couple
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years, actually it's been five years.
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April 1st this year that we're down here being Gator girls,
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or I am being a Gator girl.
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And it was so interesting to see how the monks, the, the Buddhist
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monks just were able to relax.
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They always offered us tea as well during a meditation period.
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It was
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kind of, it was my way to, to chill out with another friend, although
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I kind of lost a little bit of.
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that too, but that's for another story.
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Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
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Nancy May: But you have more information about this,
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Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
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So, let's get into those old dynasties, how about the Tang Dynasty,
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and I don't mean that drink that the
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Nancy May: This space.
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Sylvia Lovely: are Yeah, yeah.
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I'm not, I'm not talking about that.
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The Tang Dynasty, and that's roughly again, long time ago, six 18 to 9
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0 7 AD is no longer just consumed.
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It's, it becomes like.
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A thing to be studied, written about, and it's a practice.
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I think that's a distinguishing mark of tea.
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You don't practice coffee, right?
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You practice tea because of all the rituals that grew up around it.
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A scholar named Lou UI love that.
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Luu.
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Hey, Luu.
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I love that.
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He's probably gonna throw spitballs at me.
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, In space, even wrote that considers the world's first book entirely
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about tea, called The Classic of Tea.
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And it covered everything from the best water to the philosophy
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behind the act of brewing.
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So tea became a part of how people related to one another offering tea.
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Became a gesture of respect of welcome acknowledgements.
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Not the only drink that does, but it certainly had its kind of way of
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putting it, a small cup place between two people, no rush, no urgency, and
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with rules that we'll get into later.
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But in that space, something opens up and tea becomes less about
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what's in the cup and more about what's happening between the people
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holding it and the discipline of tea.
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Nancy May: I think it's kind of wild.
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That we have these rituals that sprang up around tea like no other drink history.
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And you've got the Japanese and the Chinese and the Moroccan, , Indian,
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I mean, I shouldn't say this like, I'm gonna say it anyway,
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like dot versus Feather Indian.
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It's probably in, that's probably inappropriate.
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Maybe I should edit that one out.
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But anyway,
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um, east African, Russian, and of course the British cultures that we know of.
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High tea ceremonies, and they're not really ceremonies, but it's kind of a, a
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process that you have and it's turned into a very artistic form of enjoying things.
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But then you have the traditional Japanese ceremony that I think many people have
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heard of, but may not know the details, of exactly what goes on during those.
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Those include making sure that everything is natural, all the materials that
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are from Tatami mats, to the precise size of those mats, to the entrance
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into the tea room where you have to bend down to get into the door,
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which is a bow or a sign of respect.
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You had spent time in Japan.
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Did you ever go through a tea ceremony?
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Sylvia Lovely: Yes, I did.
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it was really interesting, but by the way, you would have to bow,
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Nancy May: Not you because you're like
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Sylvia Lovely: I'm like two feet tall.
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But anyway, so I would pretend to do that though.
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, But that's not my favorite Japanese, that's another story.
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But the day that they put me in a com.
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kimono, And it was so tight I couldn't breathe.
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And the family I, Liv was living with, they were so excited about
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putting me in that thing and I was like, I can't breathe.
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I really can't breathe.
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And took me to a performance.
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Nancy May: Oh, how
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Sylvia Lovely: sit and, and what they loved about it.
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Was that they're small people and I was small and she was so delighted
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because I fit into her kimono.
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Nancy May: Aw.
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Sylvia Lovely: I nearly died.
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anyway, they have a lot of rituals.
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That's my point.
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Tea and all of those things.
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You dress in a certain way, you show reverence in a certain
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way, and heaven forbid, wear, don't wear your shoes, you know?
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Nancy May: Right.
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Yeah.
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My shoes my size.
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10 shoes, no.
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Yeah, they'd laugh at that one.
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But there was sort of a humility about the the Japanese tea.
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And each tea bowl has to be unique, often handmade.
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Sometimes they're centuries old in the more traditional ancient types of
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tea ceremonies that they have.
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And everything is so precise.
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But there's also something that people don't know.
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Tea was once considered.
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Valuable in Asia and it was so valuable that was pressed into
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bricks and used as actual currency.
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Now we have a brick of tea at home,
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Sylvia Lovely: You do,
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Nancy May: I do.
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I, I haven't traded a horse for it and I haven't gone grocery shopping with it, so,
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Sylvia Lovely: huh?
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Wow.
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You been holding out on me.
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Nancy May: I know, I'm sorry.
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I'm sorry.
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But they, you were used as, currency really for trading horses in Mongolia
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and across Siberia and other places to pay for wages and whatnot.
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But we have this brick of tea that we got in Plymouth, Massachusetts,
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one Thanksgiving, and we were just fascinated when we saw it.
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It was beautiful the way he was pressed into things.
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But the disgusting part, I have to say, which I didn't know about until
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just now, I don't think they did it.
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Up in Plymouth, but I could be wrong, at least from commercial in this
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day and age, the way they pressed this, this tea together in this brick
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was they either used dried blood,
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Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
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Nancy May: right?
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I can't imagine how that would've tasted in tea or flour.
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So flour and water, I can act like a glue.
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But, um, in any case, the tea bricks have been used for currency or were
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used for currency, in Asia all the way through parts of World War ii, which
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it is just amazing that tea still held that, that value over this time.
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But.
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I have to say though, we've also gotten these bricks and we like the flavor.
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The taste of the tea was it's a black tea is so smooth and so delightful
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that we got a bunch of them for friends and gave them away as gifts
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and they all had the same experiences.
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Like this is just so good
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Sylvia Lovely: You mean the tea that you soak a brick
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Nancy May: you don't put it, it's big.
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It's like about five inches by eight
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Sylvia Lovely: not won't fit in your wallet?
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Right.
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Nancy May: No, it won't be in your wallet or your ATM,
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Sylvia Lovely: okay.
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Hmm.
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Nancy May: we just took a sledgehammer and a knife and, and chunked them off.
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And,, so that's how we did it.
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And then you steep it with a, in like a French press or some sort of tea,
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steeper, but it's just, it's just, you don't need milk or anything, or sugar.
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It's just delightful.
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Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
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Until you find out anyway,
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Nancy May: Until you find out it's soaked in blood.
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Sylvia Lovely: Hey, by the way, I sometimes read books about the workplace
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and what's happening in the workplace.
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In some places they're bringing.
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Back the tea ceremonies because of the discipline and all of that
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and the relaxation, no anywhere.
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it's just an interesting little thing, but it's pretty cool.
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Yeah.
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So, you know, tea woven into the very fabric of economies and cultures.
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it wasn't a luxury like we think of, it was survival.
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It was a social currency, a spiritual practice, all in one compressed brick
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until you told me what it was made out of.
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Tea found its way along the Silk Road, and here it came along ancient
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trails and eventually across oceans.
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And when it arrived in England, now they took an active interest.
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yeah.
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So tea makes its way to England and it crosses cultures.
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It transforms.
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And so by the mid 18 hundreds, a woman named Anna, the Duchess of Bedford
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finds that that stretch between lunch and dinner is just a little bit too
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long, and she's.
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Hungry.
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She is a little bored, so she asks for tea and a small
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bite to eat in the afternoon.
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Oh, how dainty.
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It's a practical solution.
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Nothing grand about it at first, but it catches on with her social circle.
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And before long afternoon, tea becomes an institution.
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Nancy May: Well, what?
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An institution that's become British Afternoon tea.
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You see it in the movies, some Victorian Elegance is going on.
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you know, I have not watched, what's the, the big, there's a British show that has
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no longer around, I'm trying to think of
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Sylvia Lovely: Um, yeah, there's some pretty cool British shows.
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Nancy May: They're cool, but there are lots of cool British shows.
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But anyway, all this family in the Victorian period, somebody will
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have to correct me on that one.
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I can't think of it 'cause I didn't watch it.
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But just the idea of drinking tea seems to be so
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like.
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Ladi da.
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Right.
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I just love it.
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I love it.
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But there are rules that are also fascinating, and I don't know about
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you, but I've probably broken every single one and I have been to a number of
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high teas with girlfriends in New York.
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It was kind of a business thing.
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So instead of going out and having a glass of wine, not all the
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time, but with one or two other.
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Businesswoman that I knew we'd go have high tea, which was always delightful.
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But let me tell you how this high tea thing works.
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In case you don't know, Sylvia,
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Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
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Well, I'm taking notes,
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of
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Nancy May: do, please do from someone who's a rule breaker for sure.
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First, the milk must go into the cup before the tea is poured.
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That is non-negotiable.
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You have to stir it.
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Six to 12 times gently back and forth in the nice gentle swirls
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with your little silver spoon.
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Of course, everybody's got a silver spoon right
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now.
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You hold your cup with your thumb and your index finger and do not, do not
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as I said, put that little pinky up.
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Sylvia Lovely: Oh dear.
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Nancy May: Because that.
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yes, that's considered vulgar.
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Now I have a pinky that was broken.
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As a child that is perfectly c
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Sylvia Lovely: You're all
15:46
Nancy May: would be perfect, right, darling, it can go up.
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I have to keep it down.
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Otherwise, I, it's probably like some four letter word in British style.
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Sylvia Lovely: Mm-hmm.
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Nancy May: Now when it comes to the food, you break scones with your hands.
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Never a knife.
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You never cut it.
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The napkin goes on your lap properly.
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Ladylike, of course, I don't think men have high five o'clock or high tea.
16:08
I don't know.
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I've
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Sylvia Lovely: Hmm.
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Well, in movies, you see these guys sitting over tea negotiating,
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you know,
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Nancy May: dandies.
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They called them the Danis back then,
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and of course the napkin has never tucked in your collar or your belt or wherever.
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But then there's also a process to how the tier of food are brought to you.
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It's always in a three-tiered stand, which I think is so cool and elegant.
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Anyway.
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Sylvia Lovely: it's.
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Nancy May: The bottom tier is for delicate finger sandwiches.
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Gentlemen, did you ever see the commercial where the guys are sitting
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around from like at t somewhere and they're all like burly guys?
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Like, would you pass the finger sandwiches?
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Gentlemen,
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Sylvia Lovely: I've not seen that, but that's
16:48
Nancy May: I'll have to find that commercial and put it in one of our promos
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anyway, so it's like cucumber sandwiches, smoked salmon cream cheese with a little
16:56
olive mixture, and of course the little crusts are cut off and they're small.
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They're just bite size.
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The middle tier is the scones and clotted, cream and jam.
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A little savory, a little sweet, but certainly delicious.
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And the top tier, my favorite petty fours, cakes, and pastries.
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I am a petty four snob.
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I have to tell you, I love petty fours.
17:18
Sylvia Lovely: Ah, yeah.
17:18
They're just those little tiny things.
17:20
They're icings, right?
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Icing.
17:22
Nancy May: With a little cake.
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And if they're not, made just right, I just Ooh,
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this is not a petty four.
17:27
Yes, I am a petty four snob.
17:29
But anyway,
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Sylvia Lovely: Do you make them?
17:31
Do you make them
17:32
Nancy May: No, no, no, no.
17:33
I, I, I,
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don't even, it is too much work I would like to learn,
17:37
but I don't have the patience for that, so I'm not, I'll just, eat them by the
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handful and be, go straight for the
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Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
17:45
Yeah.
17:45
'cause it doesn't feel like you're eating a whole piece of cake, right?
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I play games.
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Yeah.
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Nancy May: Yeah.
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I'll just sn those down at the top.
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Sylvia Lovely: yeah.
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So anyway, , but you know, I love, I love reading about it.
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I don't think I would ever like, engage that seriously, but what I love
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about the rules, and they're not just fussy for the sake of being fussy.
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They're a framework actually.
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You hear a lot about mindfulness, deliberate action, and paying attention.
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Imagine, taking a room full of burly boys and teaching them a tea ceremony,
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Nancy May: Oh my goodness.
18:20
No, I
18:20
Sylvia Lovely: right?
18:21
But I mean, But think of the discipline that it teaches people.
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It says, I'm present, I'm here with you.
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It's not a bad thing for people to do,
18:29
Nancy May: 'cause you're in the south, you probably have the switch
18:31
in the back room waiting for those
18:32
Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
18:32
Oh yeah.
18:33
Go.
18:34
You get that switch off the tree, the nearest tree, you let 'em pick it out.
18:38
That's even better.
18:39
Nancy May: Because that's not appropriate today.
18:40
Sorry.
18:42
Sylvia Lovely: But , here's another place that this, shows up in central Kentucky.
18:45
It's horse country, right?
18:47
Queen Elizabeth used to spend a lot of time here on some of
18:50
the more famous horse farms.
18:51
And, it's all about horse racing.
18:53
And it, it goes back to.
18:55
the royalty.
18:56
She was passionate about her horses.
18:57
Spent a lot of time here, went to the derby, went to
19:00
Keland.
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Nancy May: Elizabeth.
19:01
Sylvia Lovely: Mean Elizabeth?
19:02
Oh yeah.
19:03
She was here all the time, she had some horses, Right.
19:06
They traditionally now have an afternoon tea built into pre derby festivities,
19:12
and this year it's happening at the Storied Brown Hotel in Louisville, which
19:16
is a beautiful place, uh, storied place.
19:19
It's where the Hot Brown was invented.
19:22
Which is that luscious, wonderful thing with bacon, ham bread, and Mornay sauce.
19:28
I mean,
19:28
Nancy May: Oh, I've never had a hot brown.
19:29
Didn't even hear about it till I met you.
19:32
Sylvia Lovely: it is So good.
19:34
And so they would have these sandwiches , with the tea, and they'll
19:37
have these cucumber sandwiches.
19:39
Benedictine spread.
19:41
Now that's like a Mayo kind of thing.
19:43
Chives, all of that.
19:44
It's named after.
19:46
It's a couple of theories.
19:47
Eggs Benedict.
19:48
Yeah, but it's also for the Benedictine monks probably.
19:52
there's a, a place where monks hang out
19:55
nearby yeah, Munkery, uh, and yeah, Benedictine monks used,
20:00
these little sandwiches and teas cut into little squares.
20:03
Like you said, the little rough edges are not on there.
20:06
and it's very simple.
20:07
Very elegant.
20:08
The ladies come in, all their finery and their hats that they're
20:12
getting ready to wear at Derby.
20:14
I mean, it's, wonderful.
20:15
It's, it's wonderful to behold.
20:17
And the Brown Hotel is a place to behold.
20:19
Nancy May: Well, we're gonna take a quick break, at the Brown Hotel and
20:23
Derby season is coming up, so if you are not aware, I think it's like the
20:26
first weekend in May or something like
20:28
Sylvia Lovely: Mm-hmm.
20:29
first first Saturday in May.
20:31
Nancy May: So , we're getting ready.
20:32
This is a perfect time to take a break so that you can get ready
20:36
and think about your Derby party.
20:37
We'll be right back.
20:52
So we're back from derby season, or maybe we're planning for Derby season,
20:56
and we're gonna talk about how tea crossed the pond as we'll say to the
21:01
Americas and transformed our lives yet again.
21:04
Which we've all probably heard about this story as kids.
21:07
Remember the Boston Tea Party December 16th, 1773?
21:12
A group of colonialists in Boston had simply had enough of British
21:16
taxation without representation.
21:18
You know, I think we haven't gotten too far from that.
21:20
Not to be a political activist today, but still, but I didn't realize exactly
21:26
how much tea was dumped, so it was over 90,000 pounds of the East Indian
21:30
Company tea that was dumped roughly 342 chest full of tea, which today
21:37
would've been about $1.7 million.
21:40
Is that amazing?
21:41
Talk
21:41
Sylvia Lovely: Oh, that
21:42
Nancy May: right?
21:43
Anyway, so they're dumped in the Boston Harbor and apparently they estimate
21:49
that that amount of tea could have brewed more than 18 million cups of tea.
21:53
I could see how the Brits really would've been totally P.O.ed over that.
21:57
That's a huge statement to make and one not to be ignored, but.
22:02
With all of that, of course it created the American Revolution
22:06
or started with the American Revolution, which we're coming up
22:09
on our 250th anniversary this year.
22:11
And besides that, US Americans, we can't stay angry for a long period of time.
22:17
We don't hold grudge in general, I don't think.
22:19
At least I don't,
22:21
but the Americans didn't stay angry tea for a long time.
22:24
And the colonial folks did not drink their tea iced.
22:28
Did you know that?
22:29
Sylvia Lovely: Yeah, I know, I
22:30
know, isn't
22:30
Nancy May: I
22:30
think that's interesting.
22:32
Ice tea became a thing, after it was introduced in the 1904
22:36
World's Fair in St. Louis,
22:38
Sylvia Lovely: Well, we had to be a little different, didn't we?
22:40
Nancy May: right, There's gonna be something that's always
22:42
introduced to the world fair.
22:43
I think it was Belgian waffles that were introduced in the New
22:45
York World's Fair in the sixties.
22:48
I remember smelling Bell Belgian waffles and doing that was delicious.
22:51
so There was a different story about exactly how this happened.
22:55
Some say that the tea merchants couldn't really get anyone to try hot
22:59
tea in the sweltering Missouri heat, as you would imagine in the summer
23:03
Sylvia Lovely: Right.
23:03
Right.
23:04
And they don't do that in England.
23:06
Nancy May: right, and, air conditioning's not so good.
23:08
So instead they decide to pour it over ice and see if that would work.
23:12
That is the origin story supposedly but.
23:16
I am, I'm just gonna say that it really happened, but iced tea
23:19
became what was thought to be a novelty stable, and was eventually
23:24
found in virtually every restaurant.
23:27
And in the south there's a big deal between sweet unsweetened,
23:31
Sylvia Lovely: Yeah, and the Southern Sweet Tea is legendary.
23:34
there's as many recipes for sweet Tea as there are great southern cooks and some
23:38
of the big names, of course, Paula Dean.
23:40
Made it part of her brand and she's out of Savannah.
23:43
We all know Paula Dean, many cookbooks, restaurants, and all of that.
23:48
And the help the movie, the help celebrated it as inseparable from
23:52
Southern Food and Culture, and it shows up in every family reunion, every
23:56
church supper, every porch gathering in.
24:00
Minnie always has her sweet tea, and she doesn't tell
24:04
anybody what's going on with it.
24:05
She, I'm gonna give you her recipe, but there are many, many of them.
24:09
but you know, sweet tea didn't begin.
24:11
As an everyday drink because tea, sugar, and ice were once
24:15
very individual luxuries, so you have all three in the same glass.
24:19
That was extravagant.
24:20
That was showing off baby.
24:22
But over time it became part of the democratization of.
24:26
Tea and people enjoy it.
24:29
Now, the brands like Lipton made tea widely accessible, and in the South you
24:34
hear names like Milo's or Lanne spoken with the kind of loyalty usually reserved
24:39
for their teams and their sports teams.
24:41
Even Piggly Wiggly, I love the name of that one.
24:43
And IGA helped put tea into every home.
24:47
So it was about anyone being able to sit down and share something really good.
24:51
But there's one non-negotiable rule,
24:54
Nancy, but it's like tea.
24:56
You know, tea and it's rules.
24:58
The sugar has to be dissolved while the tea is still hot.
25:01
Pour it over it and then cooled.
25:03
You cannot add sugar to cold tea and call it sweet tea,
25:07
and that's a requirement.
25:08
Nancy May: So you can't use a simple syrup.
25:10
Sylvia Lovely: Yeah, no, So.
25:11
This is real important for authenticity, but you can imagine,
25:16
like if you go into any restaurant today, they usually have two tanks.
25:20
One is sweetened tea and one is unsweetened tea.
25:23
And you know, it's become very ordinary.
25:26
I mean, sweet tea, is that really southern sweet tea?
25:29
Probably not.
25:30
That's probably just, something
25:31
ordinary.
25:32
Nancy May: a poor substitute, right?
25:34
Sylvia Lovely: yeah, yeah, yeah.
25:35
that's Bernie's drink, unsweetened iced tea.
25:37
Nancy May: Unsweetened iced tea?
25:38
Well, it's, healthier in fact, up north I never heard of sweet tea other
25:43
than it was sweetened tea, you know, tea with sugar versus unsweetened tea.
25:48
But A friend of mine , was a, an Alabama Bama boy originally, and he said he
25:53
nailed a job interview because he was interviewing down south and they
25:57
said, would, would you like to drink?
25:59
He said, I'll have sweet tea.
26:00
And the boss said.
26:01
You must be from the south.
26:03
And he said, I am.
26:04
He got hired.
26:05
Sylvia Lovely: Ah, yeah, there you go.
26:07
It's a strong bond.
26:09
Nancy May: so do you know that there are certain southern places that you don't
26:13
necessarily just serve it on the porch?
26:14
In fact, they don't serve it on the porch at all.
26:16
But Chick-fil-A has built a devouted following for its iced tea made with
26:21
Tetley blends some special seasonings, which I think that's rather interesting.
26:24
There are no one of the.
26:26
Chick-fil-A franchise owners here, I'm gonna have to ask 'em about it.
26:28
And Panera has some really delicious herbal teas, which they're not really
26:32
tead because they're herbal, but, anyway,
26:34
Sylvia Lovely: still fun to think of 'em and think about how we made them
26:37
into teas because of what tea means.
26:39
You know?
26:40
It means, sitting back, relaxing, taking your time.
26:44
but let's talk about tea versus coffee.
26:47
Let's get the.
26:48
fight started.
26:49
Put on the gloves.
26:50
they're in the similar spaces in our lives.
26:52
Morning drinks, I don't know that you have afternoon coffee.
26:55
I can't have,
26:56
afternoon coffee,
26:57
Nancy May: not, not often.
26:58
Yeah.
26:59
Sylvia Lovely: but they feel very different.
27:00
You know, it's, it's interesting 'cause I think I could drink afternoon
27:03
tea even though it too has caffeine.
27:05
It doesn't have as much, but still, it just feels different.
27:09
Coffee kinda.
27:10
signals motion.
27:11
It says get active, do something, get out the door.
27:14
So you grab it, you go, you stop by and stop one of these places
27:18
that sells stuff out the window.
27:20
there are little drive-throughs and all of that.
27:22
There's an urgency built into it, and that's kind of.
27:25
Interesting because you almost don't like that it's almost moves too fast for you.
27:30
But I relax with my coffee, but I can't imagine going to a Starbucks every day
27:36
and getting a coffee and all that stuff.
27:38
Besides that, it's expensive.
27:40
Nancy May: I know it's crazy.
27:42
coffee has become sort of like the special treat if we're and driving
27:45
around because $6 for a cup of coffee is like, really I'll just, I'll just
27:49
buy the beans and wait till I get home.
27:51
Sylvia Lovely: Yeah.
27:52
Nancy May: But anyway, there's nothing like a cup of hot tea
27:54
on a cold day, I have to say.
27:56
You just put that hot cup on the side of your face and it just
27:58
takes the chill away or just around your hands, and it just gives you
28:02
time to reflect a little bit more.
28:04
And we've seen all the news articles, right?
28:06
Where it says, coffee says super food, and you've got mushroom coffee and
28:10
everything but tea, tea gives you the chance to just sort of sit down and.
28:15
Deal with healthy issues like antioxidants, less caffeine, takes a
28:19
slight edge off on that hydration.
28:22
But honestly, at the end of the day, enjoying one cup to bring all those
28:26
matters down and just relax a little bit.
28:29
Bob and I have this ritual.
28:30
At the end of the day, it's really not at the end of the day, it's after dinner.
28:33
We have our tea.
28:35
And it's bringing it.
28:36
Yep.
28:36
it's not necessarily a sleepy time tea, but it's kind of like the end of day.
28:39
It's usually a non caffeine tea.
28:41
And I have a couple of favorites.
28:42
I have Twinings Winter Spice Tea that I found a couple years ago, which only
28:47
comes out in the wintertime, and so I have now ordered like 20 cartons
28:52
of it sitting in our tea closet.
28:54
And then I've got a fancy one from.
28:56
Harry and Sons called Paris Tea.
28:59
I have a, an interesting story for another time about the guy who owns
29:03
Harry and Sons, which I'm not a fan of him personally, but I like their tea
29:07
and Ginger Peach.
29:10
Yeah, Harry and David are kind of fancy.
29:11
They're in little silk bags and then ginger peach tea, which is called
29:15
Longevity Tea by the Republic of Tea.
29:18
They used to be all the rage.
29:19
I love those and the round little containers they're in.
29:22
So those are kind of my go-to teas.
29:24
Sylvia Lovely: Oh gosh.
29:25
I'm, I'm a coffee girl.
29:27
But you know it, that's pretty cool.
29:29
Nancy May: we have a tea closet, although I am a coffee person too.
29:31
We do have the tea closet.
29:33
Sylvia Lovely: yeah.
29:34
I love a tea closet.
29:35
Oh, you're so cool, Nancy.
29:37
Nancy May: Oh, and Cindy Bigelow, I have to tell you this one
29:39
little thing before we wrap up.
29:41
Cindy Biglow, Biglow Tea is from the New Haven, Connecticut area.
29:46
And it was her grandmother who started the tea company with constant comment tea.
29:50
Sylvia Lovely: Well, I've heard of it.
29:51
Nancy May: That was the fancy tea that my mom would always
29:54
break out every now and then.
29:55
And Cindy Biglow is the granddaughter who I've met a couple of times,
29:59
and Cindy's lovely and her sister have, over the years run and
30:03
built up Bigelow Tea t So it's
30:06
Sylvia Lovely: Yeah, there you go.
30:08
Hmm.
30:08
I love it.
30:09
Nancy May: Mm-hmm.
30:10
Sylvia Lovely: Bigelow, Tetley, lipton.
30:13
Well, there you go.
30:14
There you go.
30:15
spiked canned teas are making their way into the store shelves.
30:20
and it's interesting.
30:21
People are getting more interested just like they are in so many
30:23
things, artisan kinds of things.
30:25
with loose leaves, tea shops are popping up and I was looking for one the other day
30:30
and one of the reasons I was doing that.
30:32
Now they've, have you heard of bubble tea?
30:34
Nancy May: Yeah, I'm not a fan of it.
30:36
Sylvia Lovely: It doesn't sound good to me.
30:37
I won't even try it, but what I discovered, okay, I'm going tell this.
30:42
modern tea bags, some of the newer ones, especially those silky pyramid
30:46
styles that look so elegant, are actually made with plastics like nylon.
30:52
When you pour hot water over them, they can release microplastics into your cup.
30:56
No.
30:57
Thank you.
30:58
so I'm actually looking for a tea shop.
31:00
I've discovered one.
31:01
I just have to have time to get there actually get the loose tea and
31:05
then, you know, try to do more tea.
31:06
But I, I've kind of sworn off those little tea bags.
31:10
Nancy May: Oh, that's interesting.
31:11
'cause I'm looking at one right now and I thought they were silk, but they're not.
31:14
They're plastic.
31:16
I will, think twice about that.
31:18
But a French press is really great for using loose tea,
31:20
so you don't need one of those fancy tea things.
31:23
And of course, we have the olive trees, if you dry out olive leaves, which we do
31:27
in our oven, and you just turn the light on overnight, we make olive leaf tea.
31:32
It's really good and delicious for you.
31:34
So.
31:35
Sylvia Lovely: Well, those little boogers grew up, didn't they?
31:38
Nancy May: Right.
31:38
That's Right.
31:39
Forget the olives.
31:40
Like chuck the olives.
31:41
I'll take the leaves.
31:42
Sylvia Lovely: I love that.
31:43
I love that.
31:45
Okay, well that's kind of our story of tea, isn't it?
31:48
Nancy May: And and all the little special things that you make it in from French
31:51
presses to the, uh, they're called guyana, which is those Chinese iron cast pots to
31:57
the beautiful infusers that you can get.
31:59
I mean, it's just, they're absolutely teapots are also big collectible things.
32:03
And they're delicious.
32:05
No, they're deliciously, they're delicious to the eye, I should
32:08
Sylvia Lovely: Yeah, and now black tea is the most popular tea, but
32:12
there's different kinds in oolong is something, and I'm wondering in
32:16
a traditional, not a high end, but just a traditional Chinese, panda
32:21
something or other, whatever they call ' wonder what kind of tea they serve.
32:25
Is it oolong?
32:26
Is it black?
32:27
Nancy May: I don't know
32:28
Sylvia Lovely: Hmm, because I do, if I go to a Chinese restaurant,
32:30
that's the only time I'll drink tea.
32:32
just seems to go with Chinese food.
32:33
Nancy May: Green tea.
32:34
The green teas.
32:34
Yep.
32:35
Absolutely love them.
32:36
. We've got those too.
32:37
So.
32:37
From the Emperors Cup to the Duchess table to the southern front porch.
32:41
Tea has carried some of the most amazing flavors that we have.
32:44
Even fruit flavors that carries us over time and memories, and it's the
32:49
quieter moments, I would say, even in some of those more difficult times.
32:53
Tea is soothing.
32:54
It's known to be good for your health.
32:57
When you're not feeling well, there is nothing better than a little honey
33:01
and lemon in a cup of tea, just to make you feel like maybe mom's there
33:05
helping you out when you need it most,
33:06
even if mom's not there with you.
33:08
Right.
33:08
Sylvia Lovely: Yeah, it's, just sits there on the counter and says, oh,
33:11
you could take five more minutes
33:13
Nancy May: Right.
33:14
Sylvia Lovely: and just try it for a change.
33:16
You could pour tea and just try it out.
33:18
You know, that's what I'm trying to think about is tea might be kind of
33:22
a good thing to work into my system, and and to compliment my coffee.
33:26
But I'm gotta get to that tea shop.
33:28
That's what I gotta do.
33:29
Nancy May: So here's a challenge for you, our dear listeners this week.
33:32
First of all, we want you to subscribe to the show, please, if you haven't
33:35
already, and share it, which is well like sharing a cup of tea with a friend, and
33:40
if you would share your story of your favorite teas and what you do with them.
33:45
And never forget to go to Podcast Family Tree Food and Stories.
33:49
That's podcast Family Tree Food Stories.
33:52
If you have a story that you wanna share with us, there's a little tab on the
33:55
side of that page where you can actually record your story and just send it to us
33:59
or send us an email with your note at, podcast, family Tree, food and Stories.
34:04
Because every meal has a story and every story is a feast,
34:07
even if it is a cup of tea.
34:09
So from our table to yours, thank you for spending time with us sitting down and
34:13
having a cup or two, and we'll see you next time or we'll hear you next time.
34:18
Take care.
34:18
Bye-bye.
34:19
Sylvia Lovely: goodbye.