The British Tea Break

Christopher Richards8tqkd.19761$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com11/10/04

10: snipped-for-privacy@christopherNOSPAMrichards.com

Christopher, not only did I read it all, but I actually thoroughly enjoyed it. You've done well. Thanks.

Michael

Awesome! Thanks.

--Tom

-oo- ""\o~

------------------------------------ "Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto." Terrance

Thanks for the kind words. You both have encouraged me to write some more. However, it wouldn't do to go endulging in haste.

I need a nice sit down and another cup of tea now.

I live in California. It's really no wonder Americans aren't enthusiastic about tea. There are wonderful and varied foods to be had here. But what is alleged to be tea, is the floor sweepings of the plant sold in little paper bags. These bags are then placed in lukewarm water. It's a very curious custom.

But thank goodness for online shopping. I discovered 2lb bags of loose organic black tea. I swear by Black Tea, FOP India from

It is the nectar of the gods. It causes the wits sharpen. In a perfect world there would be decaffinated black Indian tea like this that tastes as good. I would be willing to go to the ends of the earth to find such a tea - or at least to the corner store.

Christopher P.S. I am just a customer of Choice Orgainc Teas.

Make no mistake, there are plenty of Americans who enjoy a good cup of tea. Most of the folks I know over 40 couldn't tell grass clippings from dragonwell, though.

It's a little odd - the baby boomer generation tend not to care for the little things in life. With funds from their third mortgage, they zoom around in their BMW and Mercedes sports cars, always in a rush to do whatever it is they do all day (reclaiming an overly career-minded youth?). Why spend 15 minutes brewing tea when Starbucks can serve up a carmel latte in 3 minutes? A few of them know good wine, but I think that most of those who do just buy the most expensive stuff because it's the best. Almost none drink good beer. And the vast majority of them drink Lipton - or Bigelow if they're well to do. They're the ultimate culmination of centuries of the protestant work ethic. Work is good because it's good to work. Other things come second.

My generation (I'm 27) sees things a little differently. Unlike our parents, we know the companies that are hiring us will almost certainly drop us like a bad habit as soon as there's somebody in India willing to do 1/4th of our jobs for 1/4th of the money (No, Indians, I bear you no ill will). We haven't the sense of commitment or urgency for our jobs that our parents did - because they are just jobs. The chances of getting hired right out of college, working for 35 years for a company, and retiring with full pension are slim these days.

In contrast with our parents, we are skeptical of our politicians and corporate slave masters, and enjoy good tea. I don't know what this rant has to do with tea, but ultimately I think that because we rush less than our parents, we have time for good tea.

I would highly recommend a book called 'The Hacker Ethic' for anyone having a difficult time understanding Gen X. A summary of it could be 'Baby Boomers live to work - Gen Xers work to live!'

Stereo is for listening not typing. Doug

Amen brother! You've captured my thougths precisely.

Wade

Those words are in English, yet I don't understand your sentence. Try again, please.

"Stereo is for listening not typing. Doug"

I sense that there is a strong boom in tea in the US that just started. I been reading some tea & coffe trade journals and I can se a shift in every issue from coffe to tea. starbucks beware! the Boston Red Sox curse is broken the Boston Tea Party Curse is next in line to fall!

I saw this happen in Sweden during the 90'th Sweden is the number two coffe nation after finland but it was a fantastic increase in tea consumption over a few yars and good quality lose weight tea became avaiable in many places. Most Swedes drink tea in the morning and evening and the coffe during the workday. We allways stopped work at 9am and 2pm for coffe break and the lunch was allways followed by coffe. No big meeting took place without placing a coffe order and all employers I know is providing free coffe.

A similar effect is the Atkins secondary effect. I credit Atkins and followers from making good quality whole grain breads, non cured bacon, organic eggs, un sweetened yougurt etc commonly aviable starting late last year and is still ongoing. Even if Atkins was opposing kaffeine during weight loss he was a strong voice for unprocessed natural foods. Green tea is a perfect match.

I think people have been woken up by Starbucks et al and it is natural that a lot of people will transition in to an interest in tea. The variety is larger and it has a more "dramatic" culture behind it.

I don't think it is a generation issue, it it just a natural progression and reaction to pollution and messed up food making people sick Tea is a natural product that is minimally processed and that fit this time just right..

Ulf

I sense that there is a strong boom in tea in the US that just started. I been reading some tea & coffee trade journals and I can se a shift in every issue from coffee to tea. Starbucks beware! the Boston Red Sox curse is broken the Boston Tea Party Curse is next in line to fall!

I saw this happen in Sweden during the 90'th Sweden is the number two coffee nation after Finland but it was a fantastic increase in tea consumption over a few years and good quality lose weight tea became available in many places. Most Swedes drink tea in the morning and evening and the coffee during the workday. We always stopped work at 9am and 2pm for coffee break and the lunch was always followed by coffee. No big meeting took place without placing a coffee order and all employers I know is providing free coffee.

A similar effect is the Atkins secondary effect. I credit Atkins and followers from making good quality whole grain breads, non cured bacon, organic eggs, un sweetened yogurt etc commonly available starting late last year and is still ongoing. Even if Atkins was opposing caffeine during weight loss he was a strong voice for unprocessed natural foods. Green tea is a perfect match.

I think people have been woken up by Starbucks et al and it is natural that a lot of people will transition in to an interest in tea. The variety is larger and it has a more "dramatic" culture behind it.

I don't think it is a generation issue, it just a natural progression and reaction to pollution and messed up food making people sick Tea is a natural product that is minimally processed and that fit this time just right..

Ulf

I sense that there is a strong boom in tea in the US that just started. I been reading some tea & coffee trade journals and I can se a shift in every issue from coffee to tea. Starbucks beware! the Boston Red Sox curse is broken the Boston Tea Party Curse is next in line to fall!

I saw this happen in Sweden during the 90'th Sweden is the number two coffee nation after Finland but it was a fantastic increase in tea consumption over a few years and good quality lose weight tea became available in many places. Most Swedes drink tea in the morning and evening and the coffee during the workday. We always stopped work at 9am and 2pm for coffee break and the lunch was always followed by coffee. No big meeting took place without placing a coffee order and all employers I know is providing free coffee.

A similar effect is the Atkins secondary effect. I credit Atkins and followers from making good quality whole grain breads, non cured bacon, organic eggs, un sweetened yogurt etc commonly available starting late last year and is still ongoing. Even if Atkins was opposing caffeine during weight loss he was a strong voice for unprocessed natural foods. Green tea is a perfect match.

I think people have been woken up by Starbucks et al and it is natural that a lot of people will transition in to an interest in tea. The variety is larger and it has a more "dramatic" culture behind it.

I don't think it is a generation issue, it just a natural progression and reaction to pollution and messed up food making people sick Tea is a natural product that is minimally processed and that fit this time just right..

Ulf

I sense that there is a strong boom in tea in the US that just started. I been reading some tea & coffee trade journals and I can se a shift in every issue from coffee to tea. Starbucks beware! the Boston Red Sox curse is broken the Boston Tea Party Curse is next in line to fall!

I saw this happen in Sweden during the 90'th Sweden is the number two coffee nation after Finland but it was a fantastic increase in tea consumption over a few years and good quality lose weight tea became available in many places. Most Swedes drink tea in the morning and evening and the coffee during the workday. We always stopped work at 9am and 2pm for coffee break and the lunch was always followed by coffee. No big meeting took place without placing a coffee order and all employers I know is providing free coffee.

A similar effect is the Atkins secondary effect. I credit Atkins and followers from making good quality whole grain breads, non cured bacon, organic eggs, un sweetened yogurt etc commonly available starting late last year and is still ongoing. Even if Atkins was opposing caffeine during weight loss he was a strong voice for unprocessed natural foods. Green tea is a perfect match.

I think people have been woken up by Starbucks et al and it is natural that a lot of people will transition in to an interest in tea. The variety is larger and it has a more "dramatic" culture behind it.

I don't think it is a generation issue, it just a natural progression and reaction to pollution and messed up food making people sick Tea is a natural product that is minimally processed and that fit this time just right..

Ulf

"I credit Atkins and followers from making good quality whole grain breads, non cured bacon, organic eggs, un sweetened yogurt etc commonly available starting late last year and is still ongoing."

This is not to speak of your general premise, and I don't know if you're talking specifically about Sweden when you say that, but here in the US non-sweetened yogurt and whole-grain and organic products have been commonly available for years, long before Atkins. If anything, Atkins has done the sale of whole-grain products a disservice by emphasizing meat and protein over breads.

Melinda

I don't think so, I agree that they always been around. I lived in Columbus OH in 94-95 and was able to get decent whole grain bread in a local bread store but was never happy with anything from my local Kroogers. I then moved back to Sweden and returned to the USA in 2000 to Hartford CT. During the first years I could find ok breads at Great Harvest but the last years they have become much more common. Now I can find really good breads in my lokal Supermarket from The Baker, Joseph's etc and traditional Swedish hard breads e.g. Wasa and Siljans are showing up in the cracker section rather than in special food isle. I might choose from 5 brands of organic eggs today and there might been one in 2000. etc etc. Yogurt is the same. Before there was the crappy Dannon whole milk and now I can find Stonefield farms full fat yogurt almost everywhere.

I agree that they always been there. That is always true in the USA. You can always find the best and the worst but what I propose is that it has become more common and easier to find.

I disagree on your last comment. I don't know of anyone that has been successful with any of the low carb diets out there that is not eating whole grain products instead of the crap breads they used to eat. There is a reason why Wonder bread, Twinkies are going belly up while Joseph's bakery in MA is running on all cylinders to keep up with the demand.

The same will happen with tea. Within 1-2 year I think we will find good quality loose tea in any supermarket. The increased health concern and the strive towards unrefined food is the right precursor for real tea.

I was discussing this with some Chinese people at work today especially the possibility of increased demand driving prices up. (Look what the Chinese boom done to the oil price and what Atkins done to egg and cheese prices in the US). After thinking collectively about it we came to the positive conclusion that there is 1 billion tea drinkers in China, if 20% of the US population transition into drinking good quality teas over the next few years it will not dent the overall picture. 50-60 million Americans weighted against over one billion Chinese, that's the reverse picture of the oil issue.

Ulf

I truly enjoyed your story, Mr. Richards. You have a fine sense of humor and a brilliant mind for detail. I'm sure there must be a million small details left unwritten that would delight those of us who have not met such a character as the private. I look forward to those in the book version.

You have reinforced my wavering confidence in my British tea-drinking counterparts. I now realize that their hearts are in the right places and that there is a wonderful class struggle there that must be seen as a backdrop to all of the ravages the world has seen under the English government (especially in relation to tea). I guess there is no length a person would go for a good cup of tea and a sit down. Reasonable enough.

I also enjoyed the ranting of the self-styled Generation-X member (not that there's anything wrong with that) and also the unintelligible responses of peer readers. Good fun.

Rufus T. Firefly

Thanks, I enjoyed it :D.

Thank you kindly. Your words have encouraged me. I am at work on something similar. A book would be a serious effort, but at least for now I am creating an online place for such works at

The slow food movement started in Italy so why not a slow lifestyle movement in America? We could do with slowing down. Of course every movement needs a manifesto. Comments and thoughts welcome.

Oh joy!

Truly brilliant, in many ways. I tend to agree that we Americans are workaholics. Some people tout this by saying that Americans have a strong, puritanical work ethic. That's probably why capitalism works so well over here. But slowing down is something I think we should especially learn to do, as its in the subtleties and nonlinearities of life the true enjoyment lies. After all, if everything was straightforward, what would be the point of living at all?