The Tea Trials

Following on from the different medicinal uses of tea, I have tried exploring some of

My own tea uses! One to cure acne, one to make hair healthier and one to prevent a cold!

Trial one: Green Tea Scrub! Green tea is full of antioxidants! These little buddies are perfect to relieve your skin from stress and environmental pollution! The fine grains exfoliate your skin leaving your skin feeling refreshed and squeaky-clean! Recipe (my own tried and tested formula)

-       One brewed green tea bag (cooled)

-       3 tablespoons of Olive oil  (to bind and hydrate your skin whilst scrubbing)

-       3 tablespoons of lemon (to get rid of marks)

 Usage: mix these ingredients together and scrub your face two times a week very gently to help you get rid of acne marks and reveal youthful, radiant skin! Result: clearer skin in 4 weeks! (Few marks are still visible but definitely better than before!)

Another recipe you can try :

Trial 2:  Hair rinse

Recipe:

- 3 tea bags

- 500 ml of water 

- Brew in a bowl for 10 minutes.

Usage: after washing your hair with normal shampoo and conditioner, rinse your hair with the brewed green tea water for a shiny and healthy scalp!

Results: I could not see a difference 

Trial 3:

A homemade recipe to cure a cold (for one): 

-       2 oranges (rich in vitamin c and anti oxidants, helps you boost your immune system)

-       1 kiwi

-       1 banana

-       1 tablespoon honey

-       A little ice and water to blend it all together.

This smoothie is full of healthy fruits and immune system boosting ingredients. Like Mrs Beeton, I have also attempted to use a fruit Rich in vitamin C (in her cold remedy she uses lemon juice)

 Result: 

Bonding over Tea

 During my research on tea traditions, I was very surprised to find out that tea is very often used a bonding medium between two strangers! This was surely the case in the novels for children! The inclusion of Tea in children’s novels is very interesting, it occurs very frequently, and that is quite strange as it as this was not a beverage for children!

The character of Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, uses tea as a medium to bond with his guests, he warmly welcomes his guests and offers them 'to take tea, pray come and have some with me’. This scene is central in understanding the concept of tea! It clearly shows that tea is being used to make his guests feel homely, the warmth of the beverage could be used metaphorically to suggest a homely atmosphere.

Similarly, The Toad from The Wind In The Willows engaged with the gaoler’s daughter over tea… He ‘sipped his tea and munched his toast, and soon began talking freely about himself, and the house he lived in, […] The gaoler's daughter saw that the topic was doing him as much good as the tea, as indeed it was, and encouraged him to go on. Tell me about Toad Hall, said she. It sounds beautiful.’ In this example, we can see that tea is playing a role of being a calming agent, It is helping him relax and revive from his strange experiences that he has had before. Tea almost seems magical in this example, the more tea he has the more he is able to express himself.

Mary from The Secret Garden also bonded with Mrs. Medlock in the train, ‘Mrs. Medlock had bought a lunch basket […] and they had some chicken and cold beef and bread and butter and some tea.’ Tea and food are used in this example to show the magic of this beverage! It can remove the awkward boundaries between two people. It is a common beverage enjoyed my all. Hence it can build bridges and make social situations more comfortable. 

It interesting to see that this practice of sharing hospitality and tea derives from Japan! Helen Saberi writes how Japanese tea culture has seven important rules called the 'way of Tea' and the most interesting one out of them is 'showing the greatest attention to you guests', The Chinese culture also associates with people over tea! They have special 'teahouses' where they can go and drink Tea!

Sources: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Tea: a Global history by Helen Saberi 

It's Tea-time!

 In the 19^th century, teatime was considered as a proper meal.

It was a ritual that had been often associated with wealthy families. It was commonly used as an excuse for wealthy people to get together and show off their expensive lifestyles, children were especially dressed for these occasions and they were asked to stand by the side while the ‘elder’ members of the families had their big tea.

Literary novels written for children have reiterated the importance of teatime! The famous children’s novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll has included an interesting chapter on tea-time called The Madhatters’s Tea party; it is interesting to note that there is more emphasis on the etiquettes and manners then the tea itself! Perhaps this is a reflection the 19^th century’s obsession with behaving like the upper class. 

The March Hare mentions how 'It wasn't very civil of [Alice] to sit down'. The emphasis on the word 'civil' highlights that it was very important to follow rules of etiquettes. 

The inclusion of food in tea parties was also added, it combined sandwiches and cakes with Tea, and it meant that tea parties became more and more common! Tea became a centrepiece of these big parties and soon Tea itself became a form of a meal! This was known as (high tea)

In The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, just before tea-time, Bilbo hears the bell ring,  ‘he rushed and put on the kettle, and put another cup and saucer and an extra cake or two’ to accommodate his guests with a good meal. The idea of adding a ‘cake or two’ reinforces the idea of being wealthy as you can afford to provide your guests witch a luxurious meal but it also highlights that there were etiquettes involved with serving tea, you had rules to follow and present tea with something to eat!

                                           You can book your own tea time in London!

                                                   http://www.afternoontea.co.uk

Sources: Alice’s adventures in wonderland by Lewis Carroll and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien