A Tea ceremony is best described as a ritual performed where the tea drinkers seated in a calm are brought in meditative sort of state by the Tea master brews tea in ceremonial manner and makes them drink the beautiful aromatic (obviously organic) tea to sooth their mind and body.
This was our first time experiencing a Tea ceremony and it was just brilliant at Hien Minh Tea House in Hanoi, Vietnam. During the 4 hours tea ceremony we got to try 5 types of tea in the ceremonial way. We discussed varieties of tea, the tea processing method, tea habits among Vietnamese, and the tea masters personal journey. When we took the Tea ceremony, a tea buyer happen to join us and it made the discussion much more deeper and fun.
Tea ceremony duration: supposed to be 2.5 hours but we happen to do it for 4 hours
Tea ceremony cost: USD 35 per person
Tea varieties tasted: 5 types of tea – Lotus tea (signature tea), White lotus tea (signature tea), Ancient red tea, Black aged tea from 1992, and silver tip tea.
Unlike Indian tea which is grown as a shrub, Vietnamese tea is grown as a tree. Most of these tree are 300+ years old and the tea farmers have to carefully balance themselves on the branches of these tree to pluck varieties of tea leaves. Lotus tea is a very laborious tea making process which is made from organic lotus grown up in the hills. We happen to buy the silver tip tea for home. I personally love the white tea as it leaves a long lasting taste on the palette.
Its recommended to grab a proper breakfast (ideally Vietnamese breakfast of Pho) before the tea ceremony to avoid any acidity as you will end up drinking many cups of tea. We 5 cups of tea of each tea leaves that we tried, that is 25 cups of tea in 4 hours. With the tea, small sweets are served as well for soothing effect on stomach. The couple told us that they love the Indian sweet Soan Papdi which they would serve sometimes during the Tea ceremony. Given Indian’s love hate relationship with Soan Papdi, this one was hilarious.
The couple used to have a corporate job in marketing. The Tea master Hien Minh was learning tea making from his master for a while. After his tea master couldn’t continue anymore, Hien Minh decided to take over the Tea house and the tea ceremonies to continue his master’s legacy. His wife joined him in the pursuit and the couple aims to bring Vietnam tea on the world stage. She smiling quoted that she gave birth to two babies at same time, one is her son and 2nd is the tea house.
2HappySouls 