Tea Smoothes the Way

Tea drinking is a tradition of Asian people and of the Vietnamese people in particular. There are many aspects of tea culture worth noting. The therapeutic and medicinal functions of tea are well known and in hot weather, hot tea is devoured for its surprising cooling effect; and in cold weather for its warmth. There are many types of teas in Vietnam, each with its own unique flavor and properties. Tea cultivation, the history of tea in Vietnam, its relationship to the environment, its economic impact on the ethnic minorities who grow it, the aesthetic aspects and social importance of tea-drinking rituals, could all provide topics for extensive research.

Tea tree

Whereas in Vietnam, the tea ceremony is not elevate to the status of a religious sacrament as it is in Japan, the preparation, serving and drinking of tea has great social importance not always grasped by western visitors. Tea service in a home or office is more than just a pleasant sign of hospitality. Drinking tea is a ritual preliminary to conducting business, to scholarly meditation, to getting acquainted, even to romance. Politicians consider tea drinking a means of easing tensions at the negotiation table. Upon entering a Vietnamese home, sometimes even before making introductions, guests are offered tea. It may be taken as an affront by the host if the guest refuses (even politely) by saying, "No thank you, I am not thirsty." Wedding parties serve tea before and after the ceremony. Funerals invariably include the drinking of tea. Couples in love, old or young, use the ritual of drinking tea to express their affection and as a means to understanding each other. The importance of the tea ritual is shown by the fact that whereas serving liquor is a duty relegated to servants, only the host or hostess prepares the tea.

Tea field

Tea is drunk everywhere in Vietnam-by the rich and the poor, by city fold and countryside people. Farmers share a pot of tea at dawn before going into the field and have another shared cup of tea at noon, perhaps underneath a centuries-old tree.

The difference between the rich and the poor is the type of container used for the tea. The tea service of the aristocrats might be edged with gold or silver. A farmer can drink his tea in a banana leaf rolled up like a bowl. Wealthier people can afford to drink tea scented with rare flowers-chrysanthemum, jasmine or lotus. The jasmine is favored by poets and scholars and the lotus represents purity and pride. The lotus suggests the maintenance of purity when all around is corrupt and defiled. The most popular tea served in Hanoi is green tea-that is, tealeaves that have been cured or defermented as has black tea. Green tea has a slightly bitter taste and is served without sugar or milk.

Nguyen Kim Phong, General Director of Vinntea Company, Hanoi (Union of Tea Industry and Farming Enterprises of Vietnam) who was born in Thai Binh Province, recalls collecting water for his teacher's tea. The students set out in boats on the village pond where lotus flowers were blooming and the summer night air was scented with lotus fragrance. They took a pinch of top quality tea, opened the about-to-bloom lotus flowers and placed a pinch of tea inside each blossom, then closed them with a bit of string. By dawn, the scent of lotus impregnated the tea. Meanwhile the students collected the dew on the lotus leaves in the moonlight and boiled it in a copper basin. The painstaking process showed the students' devotion to their teacher.

Tea is drunk in solitude or in a group. Group tea is usually taken in threes due to the fact that a typical traditional tea table is set against the wall and therefore has only three places. From the teapot, the tea is poured into a big bowl called the cup-general and from there it is distributed into smaller cups called soldier cups. This process allows for even distribution of the tea's flavor and color. If tea was poured directly from the pot into each cup, the first cup would be more diluted than the last.

A glass of alcohol can be drained to the last drop, but in drinking the last drop of tea, one risks swallowing the dregs. In Turkey one can enjoy chewing the coffee grounds, but drinking the tealeaves in Vietnam is not polite and the expression "swallowing the dregs," means to show crudeness. One might speak about a heartless person who behaves piteously and leaves nothing to the poor and who scrapes the bottom of the bowl for himself: "To drink without sparing the dregs." However, Professor Kawano of Tokyo's Home Economics University recommends eating the leaves of green tea for their beneficial properties. In Japan, green tea is marketed in edible powdered form as a hangover remedy.

While the Japanese hold a bowl-shaped cup with the palms of their hands, the Vietnamese fold the cup with two or three fingers. They use the thumb and forefinger, with the middle finger providing support; the ring finger never touches the cup.

While the tea is steeping, it is polite to comment on the lovely design of the teapot or the delicate aroma of the tea, always keeping the tea as the focus of the conversation.