An Altar to Happiness

A Wooden Secret

I fell in love with this piece of furniture. It seems to smile, just a simple smile with a twinkle in the eye saying, "I can hide things beautifully".

Saudi Champagne

When I first came to Saudia, I was hyped up about this drink by my husband. He kept it all hushed up and didnt reveal the contents till we went out and had our very first drink.

The most unique thing about it is that its non alcoholic and absolutely fresh.

How to Make it:

Cut, slice or dice Oranges (with peel), Apples and a bit of Lemon.

Fresh Mint

Apple Juice and Soda

Stir.

Drink.

An Exquisite Cupboard

How Pakistani's Have Tea

All throughout Pakistan, we have variants in how to make tea. I am listing three below:

The Karachi Tea a.k.a Karak Chai

Boil water and put tea, boil awhile and lower the flame, add milk and sugar to make a nice skin brown shade.

Pour through the strainer and have it straight away.

Doodh Patti a.k.a Milkshake Chai

Boil milk on moderate temperature, let it reduce. You can reduce and make it half the size or less for an evaporated flavour. Add Chai and put lid on. Let it steep for a while. Add sugar and enjoy.

Kashmiri Chai a.k.a Pink Chai

• 1 tsp. Loose Tea 
• 4 Cardamom Pods (Choti Ilaichi) (bruised)
• 1 small Cinnamon Stick (Dal Cheeni) (broken upin half)
• A pinch of Saffron Threads (Zaffron) (this gives the tea the pink color.)
• 4 cups Water
• 2 tbsp. Almonds (Baadaam) (finely powdered)
• Honey (Shehed) (to taste)

Combine all of ingredients above except the honey and almonds in a saucepan. Bring to a boil on a medium flame. Reduce heat to a simmer and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
Add a teaspoon of almonds in the bottom of each cup for serving and pour the hot tea over. Sweeten with honey to taste before serving.

Origins and Myths of the Mystic Tea

The history of tea is around 5000 years old, so its beginnings are steeped in legend.  The most prominent one being about the Chinese emporer and herbalist Sheng Nung.  Worshipped as a god for the many gifts he gave to China, the discovery of tea is attributed to him and dated to 2737 B.C.He was apparently sitting near a tree shrub, boiling his drinking water, when leaves from the shrub fell into his water and he enjoyed the resulting 'brew'.  

Laozi (ca. 600-517 BC), the classical Chinese philosopher, described tea as "the froth of the liquid jade" and named it an indispensable ingredient to the elixir of life.By the third century, the Chinese had the symbol "ch'a" for tea, so it's popularity was growing. Another legend is about Prince Bodhidharma from India who lived during the sixth century.  A converted Buddhist, he traveled to China and started chewing tea leaves to keep himself awake during meditation and prayer.  Another story has the Bodhidharma cutting off his eyelids because of his frustration of falling asleep during meditation - and, you've guessed it - the discarded eyelids grew into the first tea plant!  The Chinese and later the Japanese developed many traditions around their green tea - including the famous tea ceremony.

Catherine of Braganza brought tea to Britain when she married Charles II.  Now the history of tea took another route.  The British soon loved their tea, which was by then fermented black tea.  It was ridiculously expensive though, so the rich enjoyed it 'black', the middle class added milk (which was cheap), and the poor had a dash of tea in a cup of milk.  As the British conquered much of the world, their taste for tea went with them and many of these countries in the British Empire began drinking tea.  The Boston Tea Party is a tribute to how much Britain valued their tea - insisting on imposing tea taxes to the American colonies.  As we know, this resulted in the 'new Americans' throwing chests of tea from British freighters into the Boston harbor.

So whilst today, the British still love their cuppa, the Americans are basically coffee drinkers but iced tea being popular (particularly in the south).  The Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans all enjoy tea.  Indeed it is the second most popular drink on the planet - the first being water.

Shamelessly Copy Pasted from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea

http://www.about-tea.com/

http://www.teamuse.com

My Person or My Kindred Spirit

I am a child of the subcontinent. The remnant if the British Colony and been handed over their custom of drinking a hot cup of chai twice a day... or so all the old folks say.

I am very fond of my tea. I take particular pleasure in drinking my cuppa every morning and evening. I am so possessive about my tea that if I havent drained a cup in a whole day I make a huge tantrum and basically have "donot approach" sign on my forehead. My husband says its a self fulfilling prophecy, but I seriously sincerely end up with a headache if I dont have tea. Nothing else will do.

Nothing.

Its like my "person".... or my "kindred spirit" like out of an Anne of Green Gables' novel, which I gulp heartily away.

Tea

Tea refers to the agricultural products of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods.

After water, tea is the most widely-consumed beverage in the world. No coffee is the third or maybe cola.

The four types of tea most commonly found on the market are black tea, oolong tea, green tea and white tea, all of which can be made from the same bushes, processed differently, and in the case of fine white tea grown differently.

The term "herbal tea" usually refers to an infusion or tisane of leaves, flowers, fruit, herbs or other plant material that contains no Camellia sinensis. The term "red tea" either refers to an infusion made from the South African rooibos plant, also containing no Camellia sinensis, or, in Chinese, Korean, Japanese and other East Asian languages, refers to black tea.

Tea is harvested after each flush - the sprouting of the top two leaves and bud. The top two leaves and bud are hand plucked and then processed into any of the four types of tea.

Black tea is withered, fully oxidized (fermented) and dried. Black tea yields a hearty, amber-colored brew. It is the type of tea most consumed in the West. Some of the popular black teas include English Breakfast, and Darjeeling.

Green tea skips the oxidizing step. It is simply withered and then dried (sometimes roasted). It has a more delicate taste and is pale green / golden in color.

Oolong tea, popular in China, Taiwan and Japan, is withered, partially fermented (between 30% and 70%), and dried. Oolong is a cross between black and green tea in color and taste.

White tea is the least processed. A very rare tea from China, White tea is not oxidized or rolled, but simply withered and dried by steaming.
The main chemical substances in tea are essential oils, caffeine, and polyphenols (mistakenly known by many people as tannins). The essential oils give us the aroma of the tea, the caffeine stimulates the central nervous system, and the polyphenols account for the much publicized antioxidant and anti-disease properties.
Tea is not to be confused with herbal infusions. Herbal infusions are packaged like tea, infused like tea, and enjoyed like tea, however the herbs do not come from the camellia sinensis bush and therefore are not teas (see previous article). Herbal infusions are made of grasses like lemongrass, barks like cinnamon, fruits like orange peel, flowers like chamomile and hibiscus, and many other botanicals.

Footnote: I have in the writing of this article shamelessly taken matter out of the following websites and books.

References: 

www.Wikipedia.com

http://www.about-tea.com/

^ ^a b Alan Macfarlane; Iris Macfarlane. The Empire of Tea. The Overlook Press. pp. 32. ISBN 1-58567-493-1.

 Dictionary.com search Herbal tea