What is my Tea Culture?
When I began with this project, I did not have a single clue about tea. I'm not much of a tea drinker. My mum sometimes forced me to drink tea when I was sick - "when you have a cold, you have to drink something hot". Tea was never an integral part of my upbringing. I grew up in between two cultures: German and Indonesian culture. In both countries, tea is widely consumed; in both countries, no much fuzz is made about it (at least not enough for me to get in touch with it, in some parts of Germany, e.g. East Frisia, the afternoon tea is a sacred tradition).
Drinking tea was always a means to an end for me. Whether it be getting healthy or getting warm. In this sense, I never really cared about how I consumed tea. This is what I thought of, when somebody proposed to have tea:
Drinking tea was always a means to an end for me. Whether it be getting healthy or getting warm. In this sense, I never really cared about how I consumed tea. This is what I thought of, when somebody proposed to have tea:
I talked to my friends to see if they have a different notion of tea. Especially those who grew up in Britain seem to have a much wider awareness of tea culture. Tea is very important to many people in England and has been for ages (see my research on the history of tea). How come that I never encountered that during my time at UCL? I did notice that people drink a lot more tea than my friends and family back home. However, this never went beyond the tea bag and mug combo that I was used to. In order to find out how the people in my circles drink tea, I used Facebook's questionnaire feature. Out of the 128 responses that I got, only 33 people usually drink tea from loose tea leaves, whilst the vast majority of 84 people usually uses tea bags and 11 people usually don't drink tea at all (amongst whom I place myself).
So when I was asked to design my perfect tea pot, I felt stuck. How am I supposed to design a perfect tea pot, when I don't really care about tea? In other words, how can a tea pot be perfect for someone who does not care about tea? This really was the thought that got me started, but first, I want to talk about a beverage that I really care about: beer!
The picture above is the oldest picture of me on Facebook, dating back to 2009. It shows my friend Ole and 16 year old me proudly posing with two pints of beer as we just recently had reached Germany's minimum drinking age. I suppose I don't have to talk about Germany's history with beer to prove that German's love beer. In fact, every German drinks over 100l of beer per year. It seems obvious that Germans really appreciate the art of beer, right? Wrong. I worked for a micro brewery this summer and learned a lot about beer culture in Germany. Obviously, with things like the Oktoberfest and Brauhaus, there is definitely a culture around beer, involving many old traditions. However, the Feierabendbier (="after work beer") that is enjoyed by the average German has nothing to do with German beer "haute-cuisine". The most drunken beer is Oettinger, whose unique selling point is not its quality but its price. The most popular brand according to recent surveys is Beck's, a brewery that has been sold to Anheuser-Busch InBev a long time ago. This company also owns brands like Corona, Bud Light, and Stella Artois - all brands that the average German frowns upon and considers not real beers compared to the "good German beers". Furthermore, many Germans are proud of the Reinheitsgebot (i.e. the German Beer Purity Law) from 1512 that supposedly ensures that only beer of the highest quality is sold as German beer. Whilst this was basically just a mean to ensure hygiene back in the dirty middle ages, it still prevents breweries today to put anything into their beer that is not hops, malt, water or yeast. Due to these circumstances, the German micro-brewery scene is fairly underdeveloped, whilst small breweries in the USA produce the most creative, best-crafted artisan beers in the world.
In my opinion, German beer culture is paradoxical. Germans believe to have the best culture in the world. However, most Germans only drink mass produced standard beer and some of the very pillars of German beer culture, especially the Reinheitsgebot actually prevent any development of culture that could create a true appreciation of well-crafted, high quality beer.
So what does all of this have to do with tea? First of all, this conceptualisation of German beer culture helped me to understand British tea culture. When I thought about UK tea culture, I always thought about something like this:
So what does all of this have to do with tea? First of all, this conceptualisation of German beer culture helped me to understand British tea culture. When I thought about UK tea culture, I always thought about something like this:
But although the UK has such a longstanding tea tradition, the majority of tea consumed in Britain is not drunk during afternoon teas. I conclude, the tea experience of most Britons is likely to be quite similar to my tea experience. The average Brit drinks at least one cup of tea per day but mostly drinks just one type - industrial grade, black tea.
The reason, why I really got into beer and am now able to appreciate a good pint of craft-beer for which I am ready to pay a pound or two more, is that I worked in a microbrewery and got a great insight into how beer is made and really connected with beer culture. I think the reason, why people like me don't really care about tea, is because they never really had the chance to experience it properly.
I therefore came to a conclusion:
The reason, why I really got into beer and am now able to appreciate a good pint of craft-beer for which I am ready to pay a pound or two more, is that I worked in a microbrewery and got a great insight into how beer is made and really connected with beer culture. I think the reason, why people like me don't really care about tea, is because they never really had the chance to experience it properly.
I therefore came to a conclusion:
My perfect tea pot is an object that should help people who do not really know about tea, to connect with tea and create a sense of appreciation for the beauty of tea. The tea experience should be a little ceremony that fits into out busy everyday life schedules but still enables us to slow down and enjoy a cup of tea.
This philosophy underlies my whole thought process. You will discover that it runs like a golden threat through my portfolio.
This philosophy underlies my whole thought process. You will discover that it runs like a golden threat through my portfolio.
More Facts about UK Tea Culture
Doing some more research on UK tea culture, whilst writing my final report, I stumbled across some interesting stats and facts.
In the United Kingdom, an average of 2.74kg of tea are consumed annually per capita, which makes Britain the country with the fifth highest tea consumption. (FAOSTAT 2009). This amounts to ca. 165 million cups of tea drunk daily. Hence, by average every British person drinks about two and a half cups of tea per day. As the number of cups of coffee consumed daily is estimated to be at 70million, the UK remains to be a tea drinking nation (UK Tea Council 2014).
Historically, the United Kingdom was deeply involved in the business and consumption of tea. Until the late 19th century, the trade of tea was effectively monopolised by the East India Company. Also, until the mid 20th century, London remained the centre of international tea trade with the London Tea Auction at its heart. With the proliferation of tea rooms in the 19th century, and conventions such as the afternoon tea, traditionally served with cream and jam on scones, tea moved into the centre of UK popular and high culture. (Martin 2007). This conceptualisation of UK tea culture is still widely spread today. However, day to day tea consumption in the United Kingdom does not reflect the exquisite cultural expression that is associated with UK tea culture.
In the United Kingdom, there is no value added tax on tea (HMRC). This effectively classifies tea as a staple food; correspondingly tea is also consumed as such. 96 percent of tea consumed in the UK is brewed from tea bags; (UK Tea Council 2014). On top of this, although the British might still seem very fond of their tea in international comparison, overall consumption appears to be declining.. Sales of teabags declined by 10.25% between 1997 and 2002 (Datamonitor 2003). Furthermore, sales of espresso in cafés and restaurants surpassed sales of tea for the first time in 2011 (Wallop 2011). To sum up, one might argue that tea plays a diminishing role in the lives of the average British person. Therefor, this design project is an attempt to bring back elements of tradition and ceremony in the decaying UK tea culture.
SOURCES
Datamonitor. 2003. Consumer and Innovation Trends in Hot Drinks 2003.
FAOSTAT, 2009. Tea: Trade and Market. New York: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.
HMRC. 2014. Food. available at. http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&property&id=HMCE_CL_000118
Martin, Laura C. (2007). Tea: The Drink that Changed the World. Tuttle Publishing.
STRATASYS. 2007. ABS. available at: http://www.nrri.umn.edu/NLTC/ABS07.pdf
UK Tea Council. 2014. Tea: Glossary and FAQ’s. available at: http://www.tea.co.uk/page.php?id=237
Wallop, Harry. 2011. Espresso cups outsell mugs. The Telegraph. 11 Nov 2011.
In the United Kingdom, an average of 2.74kg of tea are consumed annually per capita, which makes Britain the country with the fifth highest tea consumption. (FAOSTAT 2009). This amounts to ca. 165 million cups of tea drunk daily. Hence, by average every British person drinks about two and a half cups of tea per day. As the number of cups of coffee consumed daily is estimated to be at 70million, the UK remains to be a tea drinking nation (UK Tea Council 2014).
Historically, the United Kingdom was deeply involved in the business and consumption of tea. Until the late 19th century, the trade of tea was effectively monopolised by the East India Company. Also, until the mid 20th century, London remained the centre of international tea trade with the London Tea Auction at its heart. With the proliferation of tea rooms in the 19th century, and conventions such as the afternoon tea, traditionally served with cream and jam on scones, tea moved into the centre of UK popular and high culture. (Martin 2007). This conceptualisation of UK tea culture is still widely spread today. However, day to day tea consumption in the United Kingdom does not reflect the exquisite cultural expression that is associated with UK tea culture.
In the United Kingdom, there is no value added tax on tea (HMRC). This effectively classifies tea as a staple food; correspondingly tea is also consumed as such. 96 percent of tea consumed in the UK is brewed from tea bags; (UK Tea Council 2014). On top of this, although the British might still seem very fond of their tea in international comparison, overall consumption appears to be declining.. Sales of teabags declined by 10.25% between 1997 and 2002 (Datamonitor 2003). Furthermore, sales of espresso in cafés and restaurants surpassed sales of tea for the first time in 2011 (Wallop 2011). To sum up, one might argue that tea plays a diminishing role in the lives of the average British person. Therefor, this design project is an attempt to bring back elements of tradition and ceremony in the decaying UK tea culture.
SOURCES
Datamonitor. 2003. Consumer and Innovation Trends in Hot Drinks 2003.
FAOSTAT, 2009. Tea: Trade and Market. New York: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.
HMRC. 2014. Food. available at. http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&property&id=HMCE_CL_000118
Martin, Laura C. (2007). Tea: The Drink that Changed the World. Tuttle Publishing.
STRATASYS. 2007. ABS. available at: http://www.nrri.umn.edu/NLTC/ABS07.pdf
UK Tea Council. 2014. Tea: Glossary and FAQ’s. available at: http://www.tea.co.uk/page.php?id=237
Wallop, Harry. 2011. Espresso cups outsell mugs. The Telegraph. 11 Nov 2011.