Once cup at a time

Forget everything you know about tea. Forget Lipton, Snapple and Ginger Kombucha. Milk and honey are now taboo terms and any allusion to a “tea bag” will be considered sacrilege. From now on, tea, as Olivia Pushkareva puts it, “is life.”

Tea teacher Olivia Pushkareva leads classes on tea ceremonies at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar over the next several weeks.

In a series of five upcoming classes at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, Pushkareva will back up her claim, dissecting the intricacies of tea. These classes range from the culture and history of tea to the workshops entitled “The Architecture of Tea,” “Horticulture of Tea,” and “Tea Theatre.”

The tea ceremony that Pushkareva performs—called “Gong-Fu”—comes from an ancient tradition in which a host serves tea to a small number of guests. (Tea first became popularized in China’s Qin Dynasty around 200 BCE.) This intimate ceremony begins by examining the whole leaf tea in a special presentation vessel called “Cha He.” The guests examine the leaves, taste them, and acknowledge their freshness, shape and aroma.

Then, on a smooth bamboo tray, the host pours water into a tiny teapot to begin steeping the leaves. With the hot water, she also warms two types of cups—one for aroma called a “smelling cup,” and one for drinking—and the “Ocean of Tea,” a delicate glass pitcher. “Water should flow as life,” Pushkareva says, letting the cups overflow with steaming water, “free and healthy.”

When the tea is ready, it is poured into an “Ocean,” then into the smelling cups. Guests place their teacup upside down atop the cylindrical smelling cup and flip it, transferring the liquid from smelling cup to teacup. Sticking their noses into the smelling cup, they enjoy the floral, honeyed scents left by the tea’s oils. Finally, having enjoyed the aroma, guests drink the first steeping of tea. 

Pushkareva smiles, “I would say that tea ceremony would symbolize our life. The first steep is very gentle like how we are born: fresh, silly babies who don’t know anything.”

Pushkareva got involved in tea 11 years ago in Russia, her home country. After finishing a degree in sociology, she says, “I was looking for something that I would love to do, that was good for people, and that would sustain me financially.” 

She says that tea (as in, serious tea) is not as daunting as it may seem. As specialty food and beverage cultures have arrived in America—wine, cheese, beer and coffee—Americans have developed their own personal relationship with these complex products. “People in this town are ready for this,” Pushkareva says. “They know taste; they value different flavors and subtleties. It’s the same with tea. It’s not just a bag with some kind of dried powder that you put in your cup.”  

Through her classes, she hopes to encourage innovation and experimentation, for “each individual communicates with tea differently.” To emphasize this point, Pushkareva’s final exercise allows each student to hold his or her own tea ceremony. 

“They will get the same setting, the same amount of tea, the same tea sort and quality from the same bag. But, we will see how it’s different from every single individual. [When drinking tea,] you’re consuming not only the beverage itself, but part of a personality. You find both yourself and others within tea.”

Tea class began September 10, and continues every other Sunday. In October, Pushkareva plans to present her White Lotus Tea Club in partnership with Miki Liszt Dance Company. With events held at the McGuffey Art Center, she hopes to collaborate with artists and tea enthusiasts.