A few weeks ago, we were assigned to read Anuar Duisenbinov’s Testimonies about Tea. It’s a stunning collection of memories and stories about tea, which Duisenbinov sewed together into a quilt that captures how much this seemingly simple drink can mean to different people.
Not long after we finished reading the collection, our professor gave us a simple assignment. Write a few hundred words about our own memories or experiences with tea. It was a straightforward; all we had to do was just say something.
We didn’t know it at the time, but a week later, she would give these assignments back to us. She mixed up who got whose testimony, and then we were directed to turn these short pieces of prose into contemporary poetry just like Duisenbinov had done. We were allowed to play with punctuation, line breaks, and stanzas as we please, but we were not allowed to change a word of the original text.
As the end result of this project, we have twelve of our own testimonies about tea, written by one person and molded by another. I hope you enjoy.
This series of poems was edited by Ellis Kondrashov
scalding reluctance
before coming to Carleton I rarely drank tea
when I was sick my mom would give me
glass after glass of cooled sweetened tea
so that I would consume as much liquid as possible
it was fruit flavored and had little if any caffeine
at family gatherings
for example over Christmas
I would sometimes drink
a mugfull of tea after dinner
while playing board games with relatives
I didn’t particularly like the tea
and mostly drank it
because everyone else was
and I wanted to give it a chance
I would try to drink it while it was hot
scooping a bit of tea out of the mug with a spoon and blowing on it to cool it off
eventually I would get tired of how slow this method was
and try to sip the tea
invariably burning my tongue
and thereby convincing myself that this drink
wasn’t worth it
I was also frustrated
at how slowly the sugar I tried to mix into the tea dissolved
on another occasion
my grandmother tried to serve me and my sister “chai” with milk
I remember recoiling
from the “metallic” taste as well as burning my tongue
like usual
then came college
I felt like I needed caffeine
in order to have energy for class
I tried coffee
but the taste was just as repulsive as I remembered
eventually I settled on drinking a cup of black tea
with no milk or sugar
alongside a simple breakfast of fruit and a scone
at first I burned my tongue a lot
but over time I learned how to tell
when it was cool enough to start drinking
this routine hasn’t changed much in Qazaqstan
as despite the local custom
I still don’t mix sugar or milk into my tea
although now that I think about it
I’m curious what it’s like
liquid energy
after a long day of travel and stuffing ourselves to the brim with food
my family is never too tired to sit down together
and spend our last drops of energy on drinking some chamomile tea
sometimes we talk, laugh, or sip in silence
but no matter what it’s a needed ritual for us
we always laugh about how we hope
that this tea will give us the second wind we need
to go out and enjoy some nightlife
and every time we just collapse in bed
for some reason, we reserve this tradition for travel
so when I’m back home, tea is rare
but always a satisfying mid-afternoon treat
while I have experience drinking herbal tea
I almost never bothered with black tea
(only as a rare substitute for coffee)
black tea was almost entirely not present in my life until last winter
a friend of mine approached me and
said that she was trying to cut back on her caffeine intake
by switching to tea
I decided to try the same and
began drinking black tea more and more
then, after arriving in Kazakhstan
I was drinking multiple cups a day
after a fair few weeks in this pattern
I find my body yearning for tea
in the morning and
after all meals
I suspect that after returning home
I will continue drinking black tea
although likely less frequently than before
for now, this is where my journey with tea ends
but I hope to continue weaving it into my life and
learning about its incredible power
slowing down
I love to drink tea, but
my family has never had sacred rituals regarding tea
in fact, my parents
are pour-over coffee drinkers
my love of tea was something I grew up into
and in a way, inherited from my friends
like a hand-me-down dress
over the pandemic and stay-at-home orders
life slowed to a pace ideal for tea drinking
in order to socialize safely
my three friends and I spent our afternoons in the early spring
suspended in our hammocks
each with our own sleeping bag
and thermos of good earth mango green tea
brewed from a tea bag
our little social circle was a hopeful time
where we planned camping trips
for the day when we could be close again
we often had a speaker set in the middle of our ring
laid on the remaining snow
playing soft music that reminded us all of summers past
those were good times
our mango tea was special
the specific brand we were partial to
could only be bought online
so whenever any of us ordered a new batch
we shared with everyone
it’s a sweet tea blend, no need
for honey or sugar
although I only discovered good earth mango tea three years ago
it is already nostalgic and smells
like adventure
tea as caffeine and connection
tea plays an important part of my life
but it’s not integral
at least not in the same way that it seems to be here
like, I love tea
and usually drink a cup of black tea
in the morning
but I can go without it
in fact
last term I cut down on my caffeine intake
I didn’t like the crash in the middle of the day
or relying on it to stay awake
I love the taste though
I think ever since my friend
in high school
let me try her cup of tea one morning
I’ve been hooked
I’ve just been slowly accumulating
more and more teas ever since
incorporating tea
more and more into my life
I’ve never enjoyed coffee
so tea has usually been my source of caffeine
but i just love the taste
my default cup?
a cup of english breakfast
with milk
and just a bit of sugar
however really good tea needs no additive
I love offering people tea
but since tea is less popular in the states
I’m often turned down
when they do say yes however
they can choose anything
from my tea stash
and we can enjoy it together
something new, something beloved
in my house
we drink coffee;
sometimes black
sometimes with cream
but always coffee
however on the rare occasion
that we want something new
or have a guest who dislikes coffee
we drink tea
licorice root to be exact
this tea
is an acquired taste for many, but
in my family
it has always be beloved
I drink tea on hard days when coffee doesn’t fill the void
I drink tea on days I want or relax and unwind
recently
my family has begun to do the same
communicating
“i love you,”
in the simple gesture of handing over a full mug
in Qazaqstan
my family uses tea in the same way
it creates an unbreakable bond
with every leaf added to the kettle
and despite a distance of 6000 miles
I feel connected to both families
every time I drink
a cup of tea
tea talks
late at night
I’d be sitting
at the dining room table
he’d be in his office
until one of us
got up and asked the other
“tea?”
it’s not really a question
neither of us has ever turned it down
because why would we?
so
whoever asked
begins to boil water
and grabs tea
black or rooibos?
well nowadays it’s usually rooibos
since caffeine at 10 pm
seems ill-advised
but black tea is still
closer to my heart
presumably, my dad’s as well
so
every once in a while
when we’re feeling like not going to bed
until the reckless hour
of one in the morning
we’ll brew
a pot of zavarka
and measure the conversation
in the number of cups
of tea
we drink
these are the conversions
where I learn
my family history
or find
my dad’s midlife crisis
has reached its third year running
they’re the only time I get
where it can be
just
me and my dad
talking
honestly
to each other
the only time during my three-day visits
to get closer to the man
who is my father
in name
but never raised me
my favorite
tea definitely isn’t a big tradition in my family
(i’m more of a coffee person myself)
still it is a drink we all enjoy!
we use teabags instead of teapots
which may come across as uncultured
here in Central Asia
my mom is always purchasing and trying different packets
and
aspires to be something of a tea connoisseur
she enjoys chamomile and
spice dragon red chai and
prefers to give me caffeine-free blends
because I drink too much coffee
to her dismay
my favorite is black tea with honey
my mom and my sister both enjoy bubble tea,
the blended drinks with tapioca pearls
I tried it one day and my younger brother too
now we all enjoy it
except for my dad
my sister is the biggest boba fan
she generally likes the blends with fruits
my brother likes the dessert blends with Oreos or chocolate
my favorite is the milk tea with lavender
ode to bobe
what role does tea play in my life?
bubble tea
aka boba
is the primary way
that I drink tea
when I’m in
the US
in its simplest form
it’s just milk tea with
soft
tapioca
balls
my youngest brother worked at a
boba shop
for a couple summers
and it was nice to drive him there
and see him work
buy some tea from him
make him proud in
a small way that
he could do this thing well
when I was in Australia
over spring break
we made boba
on our own
on a whim
it was nice to see him work
he knew what he was doing
sometimes
when my friends from home wanted to hang out
we would walk around town
go to one of the two boba shops
and sit at a bench
in a nearby park
at college
we have to drive 15 minutes
to get boba tea
sometimes
we just make it ourselves.
I think
it’s a very different experience than
most tea drinking
because it’s usually cold
without the beautiful aroma of hot tea
just a drink
it sat in a cup holder in a car
in the summer sun
turning lukewarm
but still
tasty
you only leave it in the fridge
once
before you realize
it turns the tapioca
hard and inedible
so
you always have to drink it
straight away
also
only young people seem to drink boba
or work at boba shops
one shop in almaty has a space
to lounge around
more comfortable
than home
or school
so
we go there some days
they have a projector, but we haven’t used it yet
bitter tea
I did not grow up in a tea drinking family, however
during high school when I started suffering from insomnia
one of the first solutions my mother recommended was chamomile tea
that was my first experience with tea
I was frustrated that it wasn’t a magical cure
and disgusted because I had to drink
a full mug of gross-tasting water
I started actually drinking tea
because one of my best friends
talked about how much she loved it all the time
I realized that
not all tea tasted like the herbs in chamomile
so I started buying fruit tea at the store
I drank green tea
and those flavored teas
for a long time
and it wasn’t until I was in the Russian department at Carleton
that I finally worked up the courage to try black tea
I didn’t like it at first, but
the more I drank it
the more I liked the
bitter flavor
my host family in Kazakhstan
always
has black tea readily available
and they seem surprised
that I never want milk
or sugar to dull the
bitterness
my relationship with tea
has been a short one, but
it is such a large part of my life now
when I get home there’s a good chance
I’m going to force my family to sit down
and drink tea with me
even if they complain about its
bitter taste
because I think it is one of the most important traditions
I have been lucky enough to be a part of
since living in Qazaqstan
the not-quite morning drink
tea is a morning drink
most people drink tea to wake up
they find the tea with the most caffeine, and
throw two bags into a cup
and then refill it twice
they say:
“don’t talk to me until I’ve had my caffeine!”
for me, tea works differently
no matter how much caffeine I have
I’ll still be half asleep by 10 am
I’ll reach into the cupboard
and grab a tea bag
only when I add the boiling water do I find out
if it is
black
green
herbal
or fruity tea
in either case, I’ll add
a dollop of honey or
I’ll drink it plain on slower days
this year at Carleton, my quad had a “tea cart”
three whole shelves full of various teas that
we had brought from home
we bought almond milk every week
a milk frother
honey
and whenever we went to Target
we’d pour through the tea aisle
looking for new varieties.
most mornings it was the same routine
fill the electric water kettle in the bathroom sink and
steep a cup of tea before heading off to breakfast
this was the case until the workload became too much, and then
it was just English Breakfast tea at Burton
peach tea reminded me of home
green tea of traveling
and black tea of the times
I’d spill it all over myself
while biking to school
now, in Qazaqstan, green tea is for the morning
while black is for all other occasions
add a dollop of honey
and call it a day
tea isn’t just a morning drink
it’s a family drink
it’s a bonding drink
it’s a me drink
testimonies of a reluctant tea drinker
my life is in no way defined by tea
the first time I had hot tea
I did not like it
there was no sugar
it tasted like leaf water
which I did not care for
my mother and father are both coffee-drinkers
my brother is also a coffee dinker
my sister is the only one
who might have gone out of her way to make hot tea
on a cold day or if she was sick
cold, sweetened tea was the only tea I was familiar with
before coming to kazakhstan
however, its consumption was not a communal event
I might but a bottle at the grocery store
or at sayles to drink throughout the day
in Qazaqstan I still don’t love tea
but it’s what we’ve got
its taste is fine
I would prefer it with more sugar
I do appreciate its presence at meals
it acts as a palate cleanser
my host family initiates every meal
and ends every meal with a cup of tea
because we usually start eating and stop eating at different
times
eating speeds vary within the family
it never becomes much of a communal event
in conclusion
tea is in no way important to me
but I do acknowledge its importance
in the environment we find ourselves in today
electric kettle
one of my roommates has an electric kettle
and sometimes the four of us will gather
in one room
and one of us will say
does anyone want some tea?
and we’ll all drink some tea
and sit together
kai and I sit at our desks
mollie sits on my bed
and hannah gets her
giant squishmallow
and lays on the ground
some of us will read
some of us will do homework
and some of us will play games on our phone
(mostly hannah)
but we all exist together
drinking tea
every once in a while
one of us will say something like
does this sentence sound okay?
or can someone help me with my code real quick?
and I love that we all support each other
and it’s always so cozy
and warm
in our little dorm room
in our small college town
if I had to say something poetic about it
I would say that there’s something
incredible
about the fact
that centuries of feminist activism
and happy accidents
all conspired in such a way
that the four of us
all got to meet each other
to live
and study together
in a place like Carleton
and to form
our own little family
with its own traditions
like drinking tea
in the way that we do
so when I think about tea
I think about my 3
lovely
gorgeous
kind
and
wickedly smart roommates
and the cozy
supportive
powerfully female friendships
we’ve built
with each other
