What happens when you're tired, hungry and drinking tea.
Today I purchased a $10 tin of loose earl grey tea. I bought it mainly so I could have the nice metal tin in which I will keep my future tea purchases.
The tin is unremarkable. It is 4"x4"x3" tin can. The body of which is a pale yellow with a gold coloured lid. On the front and on the back in black lettering reads 'TWININGS of London' and above that in small letters, under the arms of Her Majesty, it reads:
BY APPOINTMENT OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II
TEA AND COFFEE MERCHANTS R. TWINING & CO. LTD.
As I took off the lid of the tin and looked at the loose tea I was about to spoon into my tea ball, I realized that I was taking part in history. I was performing a ritual that has been performed in countless households in countless countries for over three hundred years. A ritual that made England the economical and martial powerhouse that it is. It was the pursuit of tea for the tea pots of Britain that gave birth to so many nations, not the least of which are the United States of America, Canada, India, Australia New Zealand, the Middle East. These are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. It was the pursuit of tea that gave rise to the adage "the sun does not set on the British Empire". Because it was true. The British Empire was everywhere and it still is in the form of the Commonwealth, the largest international league of nations that the USA is not a member or have any influence over.
I looked at the tin of loose tea and thought to myself that this tea, this company, Twinings, is older then Canada, older then the United States of America, older then Australia, older then the French Republic. Twinings tea could very well have been found in the Palace of Versailles, drank by Louis XVI and his court. The Twinings company was in it's seventieth year when the Thirteen Colonies planed their revolt.
I looked at the loose tea, stirred it with my finger and thought to myself that this tea is what made the world what it is today.
Carefully I spooned a large teaspoon into the tea ball for myself and dropped in a tea bag of orange pekoe 'for the pot'. And now I savor its flavour and its aroma as I type this bit of thought.
The tin is unremarkable. It is 4"x4"x3" tin can. The body of which is a pale yellow with a gold coloured lid. On the front and on the back in black lettering reads 'TWININGS of London' and above that in small letters, under the arms of Her Majesty, it reads:
BY APPOINTMENT OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II
TEA AND COFFEE MERCHANTS R. TWINING & CO. LTD.
As I took off the lid of the tin and looked at the loose tea I was about to spoon into my tea ball, I realized that I was taking part in history. I was performing a ritual that has been performed in countless households in countless countries for over three hundred years. A ritual that made England the economical and martial powerhouse that it is. It was the pursuit of tea for the tea pots of Britain that gave birth to so many nations, not the least of which are the United States of America, Canada, India, Australia New Zealand, the Middle East. These are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. It was the pursuit of tea that gave rise to the adage "the sun does not set on the British Empire". Because it was true. The British Empire was everywhere and it still is in the form of the Commonwealth, the largest international league of nations that the USA is not a member or have any influence over.
I looked at the tin of loose tea and thought to myself that this tea, this company, Twinings, is older then Canada, older then the United States of America, older then Australia, older then the French Republic. Twinings tea could very well have been found in the Palace of Versailles, drank by Louis XVI and his court. The Twinings company was in it's seventieth year when the Thirteen Colonies planed their revolt.
I looked at the loose tea, stirred it with my finger and thought to myself that this tea is what made the world what it is today.
Carefully I spooned a large teaspoon into the tea ball for myself and dropped in a tea bag of orange pekoe 'for the pot'. And now I savor its flavour and its aroma as I type this bit of thought.