Or Why It Takes Me Two Hours to Explain What I Do for a Living
A perfectly ordinary conversation
It usually begins quite harmlessly…
“So, what do you do for a living?”
“I’m a tea merchant.”
A brief nod. A smile. Then, almost inevitably:
“Oh, interesting! I’ve been looking for a good tea to help me fall asleep. Do you have something with lavender? Or maybe chamomile?”
Or:
“Do you also drink those fruit teas? I just love strawberry cream rooibos!”
Something along those lines…
And this is usually the point at which an internal process begins that is rather difficult to describe. I briefly consider whether I should answer at all. Then where I would even begin. And finally, how much time the two of us actually have.
And then I usually say something like: “Well…”
What follows is – depending on the patience of my counterpart – a more or less compressed version of a lecture that would, in fact, require two hours. Because the problem is not the answer, but the question. Or more precisely: the word contained within it.
The blind spot surrounding tea itself
What few people know: “tea” was originally not a generic term, but the name of a very specific product – and the question of what tea actually is inevitably leads us to the tea plant, Camellia sinensis.
Everything we traditionally recognise as tea – green tea, black tea, oolong, white tea – is made from this one plant. Not from chamomile, not from peppermint, not from rose hip, and certainly not from arbitrarily flavored blends of whatever happens to be at hand. And yet today, all of these things are called “tea”.
This becomes apparent in the word itself. It originates from China, more precisely from different dialects in which the same character is pronounced differently: in the north “cha”, in the south – particularly in the Min Nan dialect – “te”. Both refer to the same thing: the leaves of the tea plant.
The difference in pronunciation became a difference in the world. Where tea spread over land, “cha” prevailed – hence chai or çay. Where it traveled by sea, “te” spread – hence tea, thé, Tee.
What all of these variations originally had in common was this: they referred to one and the same thing – a very concrete product. Not a beverage in general, but the leaves of a plant. And yet today, many things are called “tea” that have nothing to do with it.
How everything came to be called tea
The first expansion
The story begins innocently enough. When tea arrived in Europe in the 17th century, it encountered an already existing culture of infused beverages. People had long been pouring hot water over herbs, leaves, roots and fruits. What was missing was a common name.
Then came “tea” – an exotic and valuable good, whose preparation could be described with surprising simplicity: take leaves, pour hot water over them, wait. What could have been more natural than to extend this name? To just about anything from which a drink could be made by pouring hot water over it.
Thus chamomile became chamomile tea, peppermint became peppermint tea – and everything else became tea as well. A linguistic short circuit that was initially practical and then took on a life of its own.
When the exception became the rule
During World War I and even more so during World War II, real tea was scarcely available in Germany for extended periods. Imports collapsed, supply chains disappeared, and what remained were local alternatives: herbs, leaves and dried fruits.
These were not experienced as “substitutes for tea”. They were tea. An entire generation grew up with this understanding – and something decisive happened: the word “tea” lost its connection to its original meaning and became whatever happened to be left.
When language takes on a life of its own
Today we live with two realities: a botanical one – tea means Camellia sinensis – and an everyday one – tea is anything you pour hot water over.
Both function. But they do not mean the same thing.
And this is where the real difficulty begins.
Because when I say “I trade in tea”, people think of herbs, fruits, flavorings and functional beverages. While what I mean is origin, processing, cultivar, terroir and craft.
Two worlds. One word.
Why this is more than just a linguistic detail
One might say: “Does it really matter?” But it does. Because words shape reality.
If everything is “tea”, it becomes invisible that tea is an agricultural product, a plant, a culture of processing developed over thousands of years – and that it contains differences as subtle as those found in wine.
Above all, it becomes invisible that tea is something in its own right, not merely a method of preparation.
What remains
So what is to be done?
Language cannot be turned back, and it would probably not even be desirable to attempt it. But one thing can certainly be changed: knowledge.
Because the real problem is not that many things are called “tea”, but that too few people know what tea actually is.
When I say “I am a tea merchant” – and add: “I mean tea from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis” – that should, ideally, be sufficient. But it is not. Not because the explanation is unclear, but because the foundation required to understand it is missing.
The key, then, lies not in correcting language, but in spreading knowledge: in greater visibility for tea as what it truly is – a plant, an agricultural product, a craft, a culture.
In a stronger presence of the subject in media and public discourse, in well-founded education and workshops – online as well as in person – in clear communication by merchants, producers and importers, and not least in a willingness to once again understand tea – real tea – as something in its own right.
Perhaps a current cultural trend may even help us here. The growing interest in Chinese culture – its aesthetics, its rituals, its depth – also opens a door to understanding what tea originally is.
Because Chinese culture is the mother of all tea culture. And in that context, tea is not a principle, but a plant: Camellia sinensis. And the culture that has developed around this plant and its products over thousands of years.
Everything else may be many things. Just not tea.
Those who wish to experience tea not merely as a word, but as a reality, will find in the Siam Tea Shop a selection of high-quality teas from Camellia sinensis, sourced from various regions across Asia.
To experience tea beyond the mere concept and in its finest form, explore my carefully curated selection of teas from Camellia sinensis at Siam Tea Shop, sourced from tea-growing regions across Asia.