From Untemporality to the Choices of Tea Time: Temporality and Spatiality of Tea
As teabags made an entry and conventional tea implements underwent some changes, in size, design and increased variety, tea making and drinking practices diversified. Rather than the one colour, one taste, one size brewed tea, tea drinking suddenly became riddled with choice, and consequently individual decisions could be made regarding brewed versus teabag, type of flavour, amount and time. There even is a decision to be made whether to drink tea or not. As one informant explained, because an electric teapot boils water fast, there is no need for continuous boiling, but then the tea is ‘not already there’, so she finds herself not drinking tea as much but opting for something already there, such as Coke or juice. Then, there is a decision to be made about the kind of tea. To be sure, for brewed tea there are also decisions to be made about kinds of tea to mix for a perfect blend for everybody to enjoy. In contrast, the decisions related to teabags are based on individual preferences and, potentially, for each cup. Also, there is a decision about how much tea to have. If one is to have only one cup, one takes a teabag; if one feels like a lengthy ‘tea drinking session’, one makes a kettle of brewed tea and refills one’s tiny glasses periodically. Thus, the tea drinking practice associated with the use of new and old tea drinking materials has evolved into a choice-based, individualized activity.
The presence of such choices brings to the fore a reflexivity regarding the purposes for tea drinking across different times. In this manner, tea drinking comes to mark different times and designates time periods. For our informants, in the morning tea drinking is a wake-up time, whereas tea after meals is a digestion time. Tea while running errands or shopping is ‘a stop–revive–survive’ time; similarly, when travelling ‘a tea break’ means a time to refresh. Consumed during studying or working, tea helps concentration, whereas tea after work helps to unwind. The tea served at the beginning of the meeting is both the icebreaker and the invitation to get on with the business, whereas complementary after-meal tea in restaurants signals the bill time. Tea on a Sunday afternoon creates a pleasurable time: served to company, it creates a warm social time of hospitality, or to oneself, relaxing me-time which is not to be interrupted by anyone, including one’s children. Even at business meetings tea marks a time for hospitality. During travel or work, it can also generate a resting time. Furthermore, an offer of tea signals the expected duration of an encounter: at a meeting, it means ‘I have 15–20 minutes for you’, whereas at a repair shop it might signal a wait of 15 minutes. Then, at a carpet shop, it is an indispensable part of selling as carpets are shown and stories told about meanings of patterns, the wools and the silks, how they were made and where. The time period designated by tea is not fixed. For example, in the words of one informant, if visitors indicate that ‘“[they] are coming for tea” … it is like saying “we will stay for a couple of hours and leave at a reasonable time”’.
196
Güliz Ger and Olga Kravets