let us have some tea

So, a long vacation has been going here, and it’s time to sit for a cup of tea and make a small talk. But wait, we are not going to drink ANY tea; it’s an Arabic one. Sit down please, let me tell you how to prepare this.

There are many “philosophies” in the Arab World / Middle East for preparing a cup of tea, but let us agree on the main points and keep the details for a later black tea gathering.

Here it goes, fill the kettle with clean mineral water and put it on the oven. Let the water boil, get a spoon full of Ceylon Tea leaves, drop them in the kettle and turn the oven off immediately. Don’t keep the leaves boiling in the water nor add more than a spoon full of tea if you’re only preparing one cup, in both cases our tea will become bitter.

Now you’ve turned the oven fire off, keep the kettle two minutes before pouring our first cup. Please wait for me to bring the cups.

That’s it! Very simple. This tea should taste better if you try it in a picnic where you make use of wood fire to boil the water. It is said that going back to nature is good; using the oven is also good, therefore good + good = better. I hate math!

Finally, you may want to add a green leaf of mint to your cup of tea, if you like. I personally prefer to add a dried basil leaf to my cup. I have fun picking these from meadows nearby my house then I let them dry. This works like the retouching process in photography where perfection is sought, and actually it’s always good to try philosophies like these. Why not try to add milk?

Oh, you’re welcome! Add more?

I would really like to hear some advice from you about tea philosophy. Have a nice day.