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FrontRangeLiving.com -> Cooking -> Tea
TEA--IN ENGLISH, TAJIK OR JAPANESE, IT'S GOOD FOR YOU
By Niki Hayden
 Maisie
Pearson enjoys a cup of tea--usually Lapsang Souchong or Earl Grey--with a
biscuit each day at four o’clock.
"Of course, you Americans would call a biscuit a cookie," says the
86-year-old English transplant. Pearson lives in a Colorado continuous care
center and, except for arthritic knees, enjoys remarkable health.
Researchers might chalk up her robust constitution to a lifelong habit of
tea. Medical researchers from Tufts University in Boston believe that
polyphenols, or
antioxidants in both green and black tea, may fight cancer, heart disease
and stroke.
Brewed tea, they say, is more healthful than instant or bottled. Exactly how
much tea is required to glean those good results is undecided, but surely
Pearson’s break for tea each day is a good start.
"In England, we had tea at four, with white sandwiches of cress,
cucumber and tomato—the crusts removed," she says. And there was always
cake, usually a sponge filled with strawberry jam. "The scones with jam and
cream are what you get in Cornwall or Devon. In summer we had tea in the garden
and in winter, the drawing room."
Maisie reports that the English always brought the teapot to the kettle,
"not the other way around like it is in America. We always kept the water
on the boil." But brewing tea, she says, has become personal rather than
rote, with many more choices than ever before.
Since 1990, tea sales have doubled in the United States, black tea the
biggest seller. Sales among specialty teas are up and so are green teas. Iced
tea remains the favorite American tea, with sweetened ice tea served as a
Southern classic.
Tea is simple. With the exception of herb teas, all tea derives from the same
camellia plant. Black tea is fermented, green is not and oolong
is in-between. The rare white tea is pricey and the result of covering leaves
from the sun while they are growing. Except for water, tea is the most popular
beverage in the world.
"We buy over a hundred different ingredients from 38 countries,"
says Kay Wright, the botanical purchasing director for Celestial Seasonings in Boulder. "India, Africa, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and
Argentina. We use the Argentine for ice tea: it’s lighter. The Indians are
Assam and that goes into the English tea. It’s all specially
blended."
FRONT RANGE TEA EMPORIUMS
Taking tea is more popular than ever, with a number of Colorado hotels,
restaurants and historic museums specializing in afternoon tea. Three Colorado
landmark buildings are devoted to tea, each typical of a culture that has been shaped
by this ancient beverage.
Denver’s Brown Palace offers a traditional tea, the Dushanbe Tea House in
Boulder serves tea in an elaborate Tajikistan building and the Denver Botanic
Gardens hosts a Japanese tea ceremony in their authentic Japanese tea house.
 Dating to 1892, the Brown Palace once was Denver’s tallest building. A
centerpiece of the turn-of-the-century sturdy brick and stone Colorado exteriors, the
handsome building is quietly unobtrusive on the outside. Inside, the antiques,
sumptuous seating and tiered floors capture a Victorian elegance.
Between the 1880s and 1920s, writes Thomas J. Noel in "Buildings of
Colorado," Colorado citizens built their great hotels. Besides the Brown
Palace, he lists the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs, the Broadmoor in
Colorado Springs, the Oxford in Denver, the Strater in Durango and the Jerome in
Aspen. Hotels were emporiums for the new middle class, and commercial attempts,
he says, to put aside the rough frontier days and copy British respectability.
PERSIAN TEA
 Perhaps the most exotic tea emporium is from the land of Tajikistan,
once a province of the
former Soviet Union. The Tajiks share similarities with the ancient Persian
culture in language, religion and art. In both cultures, walled gardens
symbolize paradise.
You’ll find tea of all kinds at the Dushanbe Tea House. In this elaborately
crafted folk architecture, each nook and cranny has been carved and painted.
Styled around the theme of a rose garden, the interior is ornately patterned in
abstract flowers with cheerful hues of pinks, reds and greens. In the center of
the one main room is a fountain. Rose bushes similar to those of Tajikistan such as ‘Persian yellow’ adorn the pathway and surround the outside dining area.
 Tajikistan lies along the Silk Road, which formed the Tajik economy. The
trade route between China and Persia once provided tea and silk to Middle
Eastern cultures. Since the Tajiks also are Muslims, tea replaces alcohol as
their social drink. Tea houses once provided respite for weary travelers and a
public forum for social gathering.
"In Tajikistan they drink green tea, but they call it blue tea,"
says George Peknik, who is writing a book on the tea house. "The older
Tajiks drink it all day. They’ll drink it very hot, although a few of the
younger Tajiks will drink it lukewarm. They never drink cold tea and they never
use milk or sugar. And while there’s no such thing as a tea ceremony, you sit
on the floor and drink it after dinner. It’s a social occasion."
As a gift from the capital city of Dushanbe, one of Boulder’s Sister
Cities, it was only fitting during the period of Mikhail Gorbachov’s
leadership that a tea house represent the new thawing of U.S. and Soviet
relations.
ZEN AND TEA
 The
Japanese garden at the Denver Botanic Gardens shelters the tea house tucked
neatly in back. Landscape professor Koichi Kawana, noted for his efforts with
the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Chicago Botanic Garden, was asked to
design the Japanese garden. By 1979 the garden
was completed and the teahouse had been shipped from Japan.
The teahouse is opened occasionally for a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. A guide
explains the Zen Buddhist connections between the gardens, teahouse and the
ceremony. The roof is thatch and straw (tatami) mats line the floor. Visitors
kneel before the traditional calligraphy or gaze through the sliding doors open
to the garden view. Tea is thick, green and  foamy--bitter compared with the
usual green tea brewed only to drink and symbolic of the shock of
Buddhist enlightenment. A single flower arrangement indicates the season -- an
iris in the early spring, a chrysanthemum in the fall. The rusticity and small
size of the house reflects the Zen love for native materials and the Buddhist
priest's vow of poverty.
To make reservations
At the Brown Palace you’ll find a proper English afternoon tea with
sandwiches, scones and Devonshire cream. It's at 321 17th St. between Tremont
Place and Broadway. Hours are from noon to 4 p.m. all week. Reservations
are recommended. Call 303-297-3111. www.brownpalace.com
To register for the Japanese tea ceremony, call the Denver Botanic Gardens at
Call 303-370-8019 or303-370-8020. It’s at 909 York St. in Denver, www.botanicgardens.org.
The Dushanbe, Tajikistan Tea House is at 1770 13th St. in Boulder.
Call 303-442-4993, www.boulderteahouse.com.
Other teas: For a tour of
Celestial Seasons, 4600 Sleepytime Drive in Boulder. Call 303-581-1223.
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