Tea cup

“ A convenience that any victim of the afternoon tea will appreciate is a tray or elongated saucer, oval in shape. At one end is a rest made of gold wire, in which the cup stands. The other is quite-295- large enough to allow of serving sandwiches, biscuit, or even a bit of salad without burdening the guest with a second object to hold. The cup stands firm in its place. Not even the jostling common in a crowded room will displace it or endanger that breakage which so often follows a crush. ”

“ For moderate strength it requires one heaping teaspoonful of good tea to each half-pint of boiling water or an ordinary tea-cup half-full to a quart of water will make a sufficiently strong infusion for five persons. No metal vessel, not even one of silver, is fit to make tea in, nothing being better adapted for the purpose than the old-fashioned tea-pot of heavy, glazed, brown earthenware, covered with a tea-cosy—a tufted cushion, cap-shaped, which envelopes the tea-pot, keeping the tea warm and the aroma from escaping. ”

“ A tea-cup sadly in need of an hour’s scouring with sand is placed top down on the unwashed seat-back before him, soon to be followed by a tea-pot the spout of which, if he is observant, he has probably seen some unsoaped neighbor sucking a moment before, now refilled with boiling water. ”

“ The tea is powdered very fine. It is in the teapot or cups as the hostess chooses. The water is poured over it and off quickly for the tea in the cup is very weak and only straw-colored, not dark as we make it. It is drunk without cream or sugar. With it are served tiny wafer-like sweet cakes and dishes of bonbons are on the table, no nuts, just bonbons. Nothing is on the table save the tea equipment, tiny cups and saucers and dishes of sweets. As the water is only lukewarm one can easily have the five o'clock teakettle on the table (though that is not Japanese) . ”

“ The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce. The toils of the forenoon, the heats of midday, in the warm season, the slanting light of the descending sun, or the sobered translucency of twilight have subdued the vivacity of the early day. ”

“ Tea was soon brought in, in a tea-pot, in the European fashion, and not in the manner usual amongst the Chinese; for the custom with them is first to put the tea into the cup, and then to pour the water over it, the visitor drinking the beverage and leaving the leaves in the bottom of the cup—an admirable mode for such persons as the Aberdeen gentleman, who, some years since, when coffee was not so common as it is now, complained that "his landlady did not give him the thick as well as the thin." Sugar is never used by the Chinese with their tea. ”

“ The footless type with a single handle is preserved in the ordinary tea-cup. The cup on a stem with a base is the usual form taken by the cup as used in the celebration of the eucharist, to which the name “chalice” (Lat. calix, Gr. κύλιξ, a goblet) is generally given. ”

“ It is not a very difficult thing to make a good cup of tea, but it needs a little practice and undivided attention. Since most persons now like the beverage very weak, there should be a large supply of hot water, and this should be frequently replenished. Little wire contrivances can be purchased to take the place of the silver tea-ball; or a number of small bags may be made by tying up a few spoonfuls of the dry leaves in a piece of cheese-cloth. Boiling water is poured over the tea, or the latter is immersed for a moment in a cup which has just been filled with hot water. ”

“ The outsider may indeed wonder at this seeming much ado about nothing. What a tempest in a tea-cup! he will say. But when we consider how small after all the cup of human enjoyment is, how soon overflowed with tears, how easily drained to the dregs in our quenchless thirst for infinity, we shall not blame ourselves for making so much of the tea-cup. Mankind has done worse. In the worship of Bacchus, we have sacrificed too freely; and we have even transfigured the gory image of Mars. ”

“ Even if the student is disinclined to attach much importance to what he sees in the cup, the reading of the tea-leaves forms a sufficiently innocent and amusing recreation for the breakfast- or tea-table; and the man who finds a lucky sign such as an anchor or a tree in his cup, or the maiden who discovers a pair of heart-shaped groups of leaves in conjunction with a ring, will be suffering no harm in thus deriving encouragement for the future, even should they attach no importance to their occurrence, but merely treat them as an occasion for harmless mirth and badinage. ”

“ It would be fortunate if happiness were always attainable with equal ease.
The pieces of tea equipage could be purchased individually. For instance, teacups and saucers, which are differentiated in advertisements from both coffee and chocolate cups, regularly appear in lists of ceramic wares offered for sale, such as “very handsome Setts of blue and white China Tea-Cups and Saucers,” or “enamell’d, pencill’d and gilt (fig. 12) , red and white, blue and white, enamell’d and scallop’d (fig. 13) , teacups and saucers.” ”

“ The English fashion of drinking tea would be laughed to scorn by the educated Chinaman or the accomplished Russian. Indeed, it is surprising in how few houses a good cup of tea can be obtained now that it has become unfashionable for the mistress of the establishment, not only to preside over her own tea-table, but to have complete sway over that most necessary article, a kettle of boiling water. The Chinese never dream of stewing their tea, as we too often do in England. ”

“ It is not only among the peasantry and the city slums that improperly made tea does its deadly work. Among the well-to-do, in all countries, it is far from being in all cases, as it is supposed to be, "the cup which cheers but not inebriates." The strong coffee-colored four-o'clock tea served in English and American homes [579] is a gastronomic atrocity; it is bad for heart, nerves, and stomach. In the United States, in nine cases out of ten, the tea served is an inky fluid, bitter as gall, and devoid of fragrance. ”

“ The steeping method so much favored in England may be responsible for some of the unkind things said about English coffee; because it undoubtedly leads to the abuse of over-infusion, so that the net result is as bad as boiling.
The vast majority of the English people are, however, confirmed tea drinkers, and it is extremely doubtful if this national habit, ingrained through centuries of use of "the cup that cheers" at breakfast and at tea time in the afternoon can ever be changed. ”

“ I have never found better mutton anywhere, and the beef is as fat and as juicy as the best cuts from Chicago.
Like the British, these Australians drink an astonishing quantity of tea. Every man, woman, and child has a cup every afternoon, and, likely as not, another cup or so later in the evening. Tea is provided without extra charge at hotels, and at railroad stations it is served at the same tables as beer and whisky. The tea is always drunk with milk and sugar, and every person takes four lumps. ”

“ We were 236already aware that coffee is but little used in the country districts of Australia, tea being the almost universal beverage, for the reason that it is more stimulating than coffee and better for a steady diet. It is carried about and prepared much more easily than coffee, and this, no doubt, is one cause of its popularity. In the old days of placer mining, every miner carried at his waist a ‘billy,’ or tin cup for drinking purposes, and he regarded a billy of tea as a very important part of any meal. ”

“ Simes brought in the tea, and seated in my armchair she took her cup and laughed gaily to me as she sipped it, declaring that at the moment we had met she had been contemplating entering a tea-shop, for she could not exist without a cup at four o’clock. The majority of men in London can usually go from luncheon to dinner on a whiskey and soda, but I must confess myself fond of tea. ”

“ There are plenty of people now who, after your second cup of tea is finished, will take the cup, twist the grounds around three times, turn it mouth downward in the saucer, and then, by looking at the tea-leaves which still stick to the bottom of the cup, will undertake to tell you what is going to happen—of presents you will receive, or people who are coming to see you. ”

“ There is no doubt about it that one can appreciate the full flavour of the tea better that way than as we drink it in England, although to drink out of a cup appears to me to be much more convenient than out of a tumbler ”

“ Probably once a week will be often enough to look into the future, although there is something to be said for the Highland custom of examining the leaves of the morning cup of tea in order to obtain some insight into the events the day may be expected to bring forth. To 'look in the cup' three or four times a day, as some silly folk do, is simply to ask for contradictory manifestations and consequent bewilderment, and is symptomatic of the idle, empty, bemused minds that prompt to such ill-advised conduct. ”

“ At some places he took only a tumblerful, but at others the samovar, with the little teapot on the top of it, and a small china cup were placed before him, with a tumbler also. Those who have not drunk tea out of a tumbler may be assured that it is by far the best way of taking it to quench thirst. The Americans put a lump of ice into it, which keeps bobbing up against the nose while the hot tea is being quaffed—also a very agreeable fashion. ”

“ When claret-cup or champagne-cup is given, small thin tumblers are placed near the glass jugs. Jugs of cream and milk, and basins of sugar, are placed on the buffet at intervals. Small plates, doyleys, and serviettes are never used at this class of tea, unless strawberries and cream are given, when they are handed on a plate with a dessertspoon and small fork on each side of it, ready for use. When ices are given at afternoon teas, they are handed on a small glass plate, with an ice spoon on the side of the plate; tall ice-glasses are not good style ”

“ The coffee should be made very strong, and served in very small cups, but never mixed with milk or cream. Cafe noir may be made of the essence of coffee No. 1808, by pouring a tablespoonful into each cup, and filling it up with boiling water. This is a very simple and expeditious manner of preparing coffee for a large party, but the essence for it must be made very good, and kept well corked until required for use.
TO MAKE TEA. 1814. There is very little art in making good tea; if the water is boiling, and there is no sparing of the fragrant leaf, the beverage will almost invariably be good. ”

“ A cup of tea at this time of the afternoon is usually gratefully accepted, and one is disappointed if it is made so badly that it is not drinkable. The young lady who presides at the tea table at an afternoon reception has sometimes a difficult task if the tea is not prepared with a bag (as directed on page 550) , but for the unceremonious social cup of tea with the friend who drops in at this hour it is easy to have it just right. ”

“ A man listens as he stands and stirs his tea. Each drinker holds a saucer with a cup filled from the teapot on a square tile or stand in the center of the table. One woman is returning her cup, turned upside down on the saucer, to the table. More about this particular habit later.
The same pleasant social atmosphere seen in English paintings seems to have surrounded teatime in America, as the previously cited entries in Nancy Shippen’s journal book suggest. ”

“ For smaller affairs the tea-table is indispensable. An assistant hostess usually presides at each end of the table, one pouring coffee, chocolate, or bouillon, the other tea. In summer cool beverages, such as lemonade, fruit-punch, or wine-cup, may be used; but where older people are present, tea, either iced or hot, is almost indispensable. Whatever the season of the year, if the day is cold and wet a warm drink should be provided. Sandwiches of many kinds, little cakes, bonbons, and salted nuts are the usual refreshments, to which ices are often added, and occasionally salads and oysters. ”

“ General Use of Tea in China.—In China an ardent spirit is made from rice, and called sam-shu, of which punch is made in a coffee-pot, and it is drunk out of China cups; but the natives are not much addicted to its use, a simple infusion of tea being the general beverage of all classes. At all hours of the day the artisan, as he sits at work, has his little tea-pot and miniature cup beside him, out of which he quaffs a little at pleasure, or presents a cup to his visitor. ”

“ Fastened round his waist he wore a circular tin case, containing glasses, a tea-pot, sugar, lemons, and tea-spoons. The tea man continues his walk through the streets till the day is far advanced, and he meets with a great many customers, for quite a number of Arabs consider a cup of tea a good remedy for a headache in the morning. ”

“ The Chinese use boiling water, and pour it upon the dry tea in each cup. Among the better social element is used a cup shaped like a small bowl, with a saucer a little less in diameter than the top of the bowl. ”

“ The French know nothing of the cup that cheers but does not inebriate. They only take tea medicinally, and seem to have no idea of how it should be prepared. It is a prevalent belief here that every Englishman in his travels carries his tea-kettle with him, and they suppose the whole race partial to the beverage. ”