Generation T: A New Generation of Tea Lovers
by Adam Littlestone-Luria
When
you think about tea, you probably don't think about teens. Tea
connoisseurship may sound like the stuff of refined adult palates, but
despite our reputation for crude taste, we teenagers are beginning to
catch the tea bug.
It's
actually pretty easy to see why we could become tea lovers. Our hectic
schedules can be just as stressful as a full time job. At my pretty
intense high school in Oakland, half the kids spend many nights
studying until midnight or later. But some teenagers have too much time
on their hands and get into all sorts of trouble.
Tea
can be a perfect antidote for both extremes. When young people are
stressed out, they can go off the deep end. Sometimes driving
themselves into a physical or mental breakdown by bombarding their
systems with substances not nearly as beneficial as, say, Pu-erh tea,
it's because they're dissatisfied with how their lives are going. Tea
can provide that satisfaction.
Our
coffee-addicted culture loves stimulants, but the high that tea
provides feels a whole lot better than coffee's jitters. Tea can make
you feel a little bit euphoric, a little bit looser, lighter, and
freer. Teens live with an almost constant barrage of input from
multiple e-mail accounts, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, cell phones, IM,
text messages. What better way to take your mind off all of the digital
and societal pressures than to sit in a circle with friends sipping a
beverage that makes you feel sharp, clear, and alive?
Tea
has been part of my life for five years - every since my mom and I
walked into the old Teance on Solano Avenue. I was hooked on the
chilled Lichee tea with guava juice and the squishy pastries displayed
in glass domes. As I got older, I began to try the hot teas, the first
a reliable green called Tai Ping Hou Kui. I didn't yet appreciate its
vegetal, smoky sweetness, but I loved sipping from the little cup and
chatting with the tea maker.
About
a year later, I heard about a youth gathering at Teance. As a shy kid,
I refused to go near the shop when I knew the teens were meeting, but
my mom eventually convinced me to give it a try. In less than an hour I
was behind the bar, making a gaiwan (a lidded cup used to brew tea) of
Monkey Picked Tikuanyin with the help of a boy two years younger than
me, who knew a heck of a lot more about tea than I did.
I
brought my friend Charles to the next meeting, and from then on we
chatted about how to brew teas and what was fresh and especially tasty.
My friends and I love cracking jokes over a bowl of matcha, and when I
feel stressed or sad, Pu-erh revives my spirits. This school year, as I
transitioned from home schooling to regular school, tea kept me going.
I've
had some of the best talks of my life over tea, both with new friends
and old—tea seems to open people up.
Adam,
a regular at the teabar, represents a new generation of tea drinkers.
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