Q: Is tea becoming more popular in today’s society or is it declining in popularity?
A: That depends on how you define “today’s society”! If you talk about the global West, it seems fewer people drink tea; but it’s growing in other places. Check out this article from the Tea and Coffee Trade Journal from 2020: https://www.teaandcoffee.net/feature/25850/the-2020-global-tea-market-report/
Q: What other types of tea are there other than Green and Black tea?
If you read the Wilkinson piece for Thursday, you’ll start to see the answer of what other varieties there are, ànd a glimpse of how they are created: white, green, oolong, dark, and black and the rare yellow tea. And then we haven’t touched on flavored teas, such as the smoked Lapsang Souchong. But all true tea comes from the same plant: camellia sinensis, which has two major sub-cultivars: sinensis and assamica (so in full it’s camellia sinensis sinensis and camellia sinensis assamica).
Oh, and did your prof. just link to Wikipedia? Yes she did! It’s a useful starting place if you don’t know where to start or need a quick refresher, and it has pictures! Later in the semester we’ll learn where to find more specialized resources, so you don’t have to quote Wikipedia in your papers. But keep using it to start exploring and go down the rabbit hole, hopping from one link to the next as you follow your curiosity.
Q: Which tea is more popular, Indian [=black] or China [=green], and which was more popular when tea first became popular?
The answer to this seems to depend on who you ask! Green tea is definitely more popular in China (which has a large population and thus moves the numbers in that direction), but outside China and Japan, black tea appears to be the standard. When tea was first made, the oxidation process was very limited, so it was a white or a green tea, rather than black tea that was popular. If you wanted tea to travel far, e.g. into Central Asia, then you could get the darker, black tea bricks.
Q: What kind of tea do you like?
I like many different types of tea, and you’ve tried a few of them now last week. I have a soft spot for Lapsang Souchong now (the smokey one), even though I couldn’t stand it at first. It’s definitely an acquired taste!
Q: Do you you approve of fruit or herbal teas What would Orwell think of an electric tea kettle?
If a fruit tea is a camellia sinensis base infused or enhanced with other flavors, bring it on! I’m also a big fan of all the Earl Grey varieties, and I am a subscribing member to the Plum Deluxe Tea club. Herbal teas are technically not tea, but tisane or infusions. I drink them, too! They have their place: in the evening, and many have medicinal properties that are beneficial.
I am not sure what Orwell would think of an electric tea kettle, but it’s very handy for heating water and I definitely use mine all the time. It was invented by a Brit, so I think we’re good in terms of its compatibility with tea. I admit I dream of having a whistling kettle on the stove. The one thing I can’t wrap my head around is heating water for tea in the microwave. You have no control!
Q: What true purpose did Orwell try to accomplish?
With his piece about tea? I think that’s up for debate. But one possibility I keep entertaining is that he’s having a good laugh about trolling us all. Do you think it’s possible?
Q: What is the most popular style of tea?
I don’t know if it has the largest market-share, but the most recent innovation that is a hit, is “boba tea” or bubble tea, an iced tea with tapioca pearls. Give it a try! It’s also connected to the internet meme in support of the pro-democracy movement in southeast Asia, the Milk-Tea Alliance!
Q: Will we do free-writing often in class?
Yes, if I get better at time-management! I think it is good to write while the ideas are still whirling through your head, and then you can use that as a spring board to a new piece. What do you think?
Q: I’m still a bit confused about “pointing” and the words written on the board
We’ll end up doing more of these, but it’s a way to collectively read a text by hearing what everyone picks out as sentences that speak to them, taking note of what you hear as everybody reads their sentences, and then in the next step gathering “what you heard”. That can often help to bring out ideas or core words that often escape notice if you read alone, or read in linear fashion (“start to finish”). Putting them on the board helps us keep track of these terms, so we can come back to them, because memory sometimes fails.