Tea
The story of tea began in ancient China in 2737 B. ... And so, according to legend, tea was created. Having tea is an opportunity for quiet time with someone. ... Each box contained tea. ... To them, the tea was not the remembrances of all the cups they lingered over together through the years but symbolized for both of them shared experience and shared values. ... Each tea drinker was handed a smaller, squat cup -- a drinking cup, just large enough to hold about two small swallows of tea. ... She selected, from a collection of mysterious bags, their first tea. "This is a green tea," said Auntie Wu. ... Unlike Japanese tea which is powdered, not strained, and drunk with the tea, the leaves of this tea are not broken, but dried into little buds." The teas used in tea ceremonies are particularly refined. ... Oils from the tea leaves fill in the pores of the fired clay. ... Using finely pointed chopsticks, Auntie Wu put the tea in the teapot, and then poured the boiling water into it. ... Bubbles, when mixed with the tea, form a foam and that is not aesthetically pleasing. ... "We dont let the tea steep for too long. It is important when serving tea to know when to pour." Less than a minute later, she poured the tea into the narrow cups, not pouring one cup at a time, but moving the teapot around in a continual motion over the cups, so they filled together.