Global Tea Time

The first thing I think of when I hear Belgium is Smurfs thanks to an extra credit question my sister's high school Sociology teacher always asked. In fact, when I was a child, my grandmother made me a cake that looked like a Smurf house, and decorated it with Smurf miniatures. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of it, but that is a distinct advantage of having a grandmother who decorated wedding cakes. We got totally awesome birthday cakes. From my 8th grade French class, I remember that Belgium is a country that borders France. The other thing I know about Belgium is that lace making by hand is still on display for tourists to marvel at. Specifically, bobbin lace. While I know that the ladies who work at the bobbin lace rooms are much better at making it than me, I still try (and enjoy it). Belgium is a highly urban country with a high population density, and they are at a language crossroads with people speaking Flemish, French, and German. They have a tiny border on the...

Today we travel to the second largest country in Europe, the Ukraine . I'll admit that I was surprised to discover that it is the next country smaller than Russia. They have been an independent country for a comparatively short time with a brief period of independence from 1918 to 1920, and then declaring independence again in 1990 as the U.S.S.R. was breaking up. The country has some mountainous regions around its borders, but is mostly plains with some highlands.  Information on tea drinking was pretty sparse. I did find an interesting video about a Ukrainian who won a tea brewing competition. He had these special tea pots made that stacked one on top of the other, and he did multiple step brewing with different teas that brewed at different temperatures. I don't know what different types of tea he used, but I decided to make some mint green tea.  Since mint steeps fine in boiling water, I added a scoop and let it steep for a minute. While the champion tea brewe...

Poland is described as being in central Europe with 3 distinct geographic regions of lowlands, highlands, and mountains. While Poland once had a thriving Jewish population, WW II annihilated the Jewish community, and the country is now predominately Roman Catholic. After the fall of Communism in 1989, the church took on a larger role in schools and politics, and laws regarding women's health changed in response to church influence. In skimming though further information on Poland, I was intrigued to see that gypsum was one of their listed natural resources. The town where I graduated from high school is known for its large gypsum deposits (and it is known that someday the town will run out of gypsum). As far as tea in Poland goes, I haven't found much information. I found a reference to tea coming to Poland through Russia. For a time, it was not considered a good drink. For a time, it was thought that women would get high and drunk from tea, so I decided to have some tea dedi...

Today we travel to Bulgaria , a country on the eastern portion of the Balkan peninsula. The country is divided into several distinct geographic regions. The northern frontier is marked by the lower Danube river, and blends into the foothills of the Balkan mountains. This opens to a plain before going on to the transitional zone of more mountains in the south. The western part of the country is popular for its narrow, Black Sea region of beaches and resorts. Among the facts listed in the linked article, apparently libraries and reading rooms are very popular. Another interesting tidbit is that Bulgaria is known for producing weight lifting champions. Information about tea culture in Bulgaria was a little harder to find. I found references to bubble tea (wasn't this supposed to be a thing unknown outside of Asia?). Otherwise, advice for ordering tea in Bulgaria centered around the fact that you have to be specific about what you want. Otherwise, you will probably get some sort of f...