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Comforting Tea
By Winnie Yu, tea buyer and co founder of Teance
My first connection to tea was not through an expert on tea at all. She was my godmother, and she was devoted to Pu-Erh tea. Her tea was the only source of comfort in her life.
She didn't know much about it, only what tasted right to her. Pitch black, thicker than soy sauce. "As old as possible, and make sure you can't see the bottom of your cup," she would say. Pu-Erh tea, fermented, sometimes aged, a tea from Yunnan prized by the Cantonese in Hong Kong. To my godmother, that was the real tea. She ordered Pu-Erh at restaurants, served it at family meals, she relaxed with it, and shared it with her goddaughter.
Her personal life story could rival any tragic soap opera. She was treated like a servant by her stepmothers though she came from a wealthy family. Escaping her tragic childhood, she found herself marrying a man who later fled to Hong Kong to avoid political oppression in China. With her two kids, she made the long journey to find him, but by then he was on to wife number two or three, and pretended not to know his family. So she raised her kids by herself, and in those days, women didn't have many opportunities, especially ones who couldn't read or write. She was extremely undaunted and accepting of her life. "I've done all 72 jobs," she used to joke, including driving a cab and acted as an extra on movie sets. "72 jobs" referred to all the possible respectable professions. I had a suspicion that my godmother held all 72 jobs at once and not sequentially. During those relentless years of our childhood, she had only her tea to ease the way.
Unlike its prosperity today, Hong Kong was a tiny island that had few natural resources, and back then even the middle class lived in poverty, though I didn't know it at the time. For example, water was always scarce, and each household had a ration of one tub a week. My mom had about 1 Hong Kong dollar a day for meals, but I remembered the Pu-Erh Bing Cha was also about 1 dollar a piece. Which would you spend it on, food or tea? Tea was both commonplace and a luxury, and we drank whatever was available. But my godmother always made sure she had the best tea, so spending time with her, drinking her Pu-Erh, would evoke an oasis of calm as I emulated her enjoyment in the tea rituals she set up for herself.
My favorite moments included when she ordered the tea ceremonially at dim sum restaurants. Typically we had a choice of Aged Pu-Erh, regular Pu-Erh with chrysanthemum, Shui Xian, and the house Oolong. I would hold my breath with excitement every time she announced to the waiter that she wanted the darkest, oldest Pu-Erh, and please make it extra strong, no chrysanthemum. Then she would order a pot of hot water for everyone else who couldn't handle the strength she liked. Pu-Erh only gets pitched black when they have been fermented and aged for a long time, a sign of rarity and quality. Being only 4 or 5 years old at the time, I would refuse to dilute my tea, proud to be able to drink the Pu-Erh darker than other adults could handle, all because my independent, cool godmother, said so.
Today, drinking Pu-Erh had special significance, reminding me of the strength of my godmother, and it fortified my resolve to face the myriad challenges daily. "You may think something is dark and scary looking, like this Pu-Erh," she would say philosophically, "and may not want to approach it at all. But if you dared, you will find that it is sweet and smooth unlike any other tea, its rewards far greater than its initial appearance would suggest."
From her guidance and initiation, my life went on to expand on what tea represented. It was about a self created world of happiness, peace, and sharing with one's community of friends and family. No matter what happens in life, there is always tea, uplifting, soothing, calming, exciting, luxurious. The unspoken world that it creates nourishes and helps us through difficult times.
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