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When you think of your history textbook from high school, you think back on wars, bloodshed, gunpowder... and tea?  Tea has been part of revolutionary movements in politics and has caused several wars over the past few centuries. 

Despite its relaxing properties, tea has caused some of the largest and most widely studied conflicts in the world.  The most famous instance of rebellion and tea came in 1773 with the Boston Tea Party where disgruntled Americans took our their anger on the tea tariffs by dumping all the tea from a cargo ship in to the river, creating one of the major tension sparks for the American Revolution.  This action has been adapted throughout history and inspired the creation of the Tea Party, a conservative, libertarian party concerned with the government's involvement in private life.   

Aside from these two obvious tea-related conflicts, tea has also started (in ways) conflicts like the First Opium War in China because it was in such high demand in Britain, causing Britain to interfere in Chinese trade to fulfill their demand.  Empires in China have been overthrown because of tea trade.   

Next time you pick up your cup of tea, think about everyone who has fought for their love of tea.  Tea revolutionized the way cultures interact and has forever stained our history.  Enjoy that tea for thought!

Tea rooms gained popularity in the United States at the turn of the 20th century. Tea rooms were the purview of women, staffed by women, run by women, and frequently owned by women. Tea rooms were not merely a means for women to gain financial independence and become players in the economy as business owners, they were a place for of various social classes women to interact without derision or the constraints of her class. NY Times, December 01, 1912.   

Tea rooms were primarily run by white women for white clientele.  Though fewer in number, African American women were also able to take advantage of the zeitgeist and run successful tea room establishments. Excluded from white establishments, African Americans took the tea room and created their own establishments with similar atmosphere. These tea rooms catered to patrons with money, and frequently specified the exclusive nature of the welcome clientele. This is an early example of the growing social mobility of African Americans, even if only within the confines of the segregated society of that era. 

Finding the history of these establishments isn't easy, most have closed, but they reflect an important part of our country's history. Jan Whitaker has a more in depth history of African American tea rooms on her blog, Restaurantingthroughhistory.com. It is fascinating to learn about this little known role tea and the tea room played in American culture. 

What is High Tea exactly?  Low Tea and High Tea are like small meals, almost like snacks, served with tea.  Low tea, which gets its name from being served on a low table, like a garden table or coffee table, would be served somewhere between noon and 5 PM and hence sometimes goes by the name Afternoon Tea.  High Tea is typically served around 5 - 6 PM and is a heartier snack, with meats, breads and of course tea.  High Tea got it's name from being served on the dining table which was typically the tallest table in the house.

In today's nomenclature 'High Tea', which the name itself strengthens, is considered a fanciful event with fine finger foods, scones and gourmet tea.  Historically, High Tea was drank by both the working class, as they would want a small snack when getting home after a long day, and also by the children of the upper class as a snack before a heavier dinner that they may not have the patience for.  Either way, if you use the term 'High Tea' in today's society, expect to need reservations and a jacket.

Now to the important information; how to host High Tea or throw a High Tea party.  Here are a few things to consider:

1) Sending written invitations always adds an air of sophistication to a party.  If you feel snail mail invitations are a little above the call of duty, try sending an evite from evite.com.  It's free, and you can choose tea related themes which will set the tone for your party.

2) Include the dress code in the invitations.  Dressing up is fun, but only if everyone knows about it.  Large hats for the ladies are great for conversation and photo opportunities.

3) Think of the aesthetics of your menu as much as the taste.  White table cloth and serving on crystal or fancy serving platters will make the simplest of cookies look like the queen's affair.  

- Tea Sandwiches are perfect - think special ingredients like nuts, unique spreads and herbs.

- Anything miniature is good - think Mandarin Oranges, Baby Corn and miniature Artichoke.  These bright colors will help dress up the table as well.

- Small cookies and crackers for adding delicious spreads are a must.  Want to really impress your guests?  Consider finding a scone recipe and make at least one of the menu items homemade.  

- To stick with tradition, serve two or three finger foods that involve meat.  Cold cuts are always easy and go well with just about everything.

4) Now for the tea.  Try serving a multi-course tea menu.  

- Start with a traditional tea with a twist, like Vanilla Creme Earl Grey.  This can be served with the scones to get things started.

- Bring out the veggies and  meats with a kettle of a soft, but well rounded tea like Silver Needle.  

- Finish up with the desserts while serving a unique, decaf dessert tea like Tiramisu Rooibos.

Let us know how it goes.  We'd love to see photos of your High Tea parties.  Post them in our Spill It Forum under Tea Photos.

I read this joke today: What is the tea leaf's favorite form of literature? Poetea.

I was quiet, unchanged, laughless. It is a terrible joke, after all, and i was inspired to form this gem (and source of undue pride): Who is the tea leaf's favorite poet? Tea S. Eliot.

My first addition to the tiny world of tea humor spurred a hunt for classic T.S. Eliot verse concerning tea or tea leaves or cups, any semblance of tea culture in the influential work one of the most important English-language poets. I came to a few lines near the end of "Hysteria." The image Eliot presents is an elderly server spreading a cloth over a rusting green table. The server says to the narrator and his laughing female companion, "If the lady and gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden," and repeats once, "if the lady and gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden," an echo. This server's trembling hands and advanced age date the tea service. The insinuation of an echoing sounds gives the narrator a distance from what Eliot may have felt was only dusty ritualism. Published in 1915, Eliot (27 years of age at the time) presented a young, progressive voice that was distracted by things more visceral than the tired convention of high-brow tea drinking: the raucous laughter of a woman, her movements, and her shining teeth.

I imagine this is commonly felt by young people growing in a society that values tea the way the English did during Eliot's youth. Appreciation of tea both in and out of social constructs takes time and attention. I value my coffee house years (in which I am still shoulders deep) and the tea experiences they have given me.

So who really is the tea leaf's favorite poet? Probably not T. S. Eliot. Allen Ginsbergamot? I'll have to read into it.

Early on in my romance with tea, or looking at it now it was probably an inseparable facet of that budding love-story, it occurred to me that tea was one of those rare "universals" in our world. One that, with regard to the place of importance it holds across cultures, sits in the company of those other great tenets of humankind- love, anger, sorrow, birth, death... Wait, come again? How is it that tea might be equated to the strongest and most translatable of human experiences? Well, that's what this post is about.

As I've gathered little bits of tea knowledge here and there, I've really come to see how this universal beverage is connected to our human experience. First and foremost is that "universality" I keep referring to. There are not many things that are regularly enjoyed throughout the world, from the farthest reaches of Tibet to the inner cities of the U.S., but tea is one of them. Yet, tea isn't just something merely consumed throughout the world--it's something that is revered. It seems that every culture that enjoys tea, enjoys a culture, or many, surrounding tea. And often, within those cultures are links that connect tea to our most pivotal life experiences.

For example, in Persian culture a traditional way for a young woman to indicate her response to a marriage proposal is through tea. A cup of sweet tea indicates a yes, and the bitter taste of a cup of strong and unsweetened tea is a visceral, but subtle, refusal. Traveling halfway around the world to Japan and their famed tea ceremony, one might be inspired by their gorgeous and intent-filled enacting of the prescribed event, without knowing that the ceremony origininated as a peaceful escape and a lightening of the soul for samurai warriors struggling to escape their bloody and dangerous way of life. The Boston tea party showed American's rejecting the cultural tenets of their British roots and embracing their unique Americanness (among other things... lol!), but even then, it didn't take too long for us Yanks to return to the tea fold in our own way through the invention and the wholehearted embracing of iced tea (and if you think that simple iced tea is not connected to our important moments, take a trip to the American south and try to find an important event without sweet tea!). In another place and era,  were the "Tea Revives You" posters, which although perhaps not quite so famous as the ubiquitous "Keep calm..." Advertisements of WWII era Britain, reminded the war fatigued and struggling English citizens that there was at least a reprieve from their daily bombardment and terror.

I've only touched on a few of the multitude of examples of the connections between tea and our human realities from around the world and already I've written waaayy too much! I wish I had more space, because I could write an entire encyclopedia on tea traditions and cultures! From Russia to Chile, tea is everywhere where there are people experiencing life. What are some of your favorite examples?