Love for Tea

I met Johanna Tilus in Jyväskylä, central Finland. She is a talented pianist about to graduate as a master of music at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. I was visiting my old home town as I used to live there for one academic year long time ago.

We decided to have a good cup of tea in some nice place to cheer up on a rainy day. There were not many options to choose from so Johanna suggested this kind of an alternative place, Shasa, a smoothie bar which unfortunately went out of business just after our visit. How sad! I so enjoyed the vibe in there. They served mostly raw and superfood products. We decided to try a cup of reishi tea: ”Instant Longevity” by Luontolife. It promises to reduce stress, improve quality of sleep and blood circulation. Sounds good! We thought that we tasted tar and licorice. I checked the ingredients: it consists of ganoderma lucidum 33%, licorice root 17%, star anise 33% and mint 27%. We didn't notice any mint, though. Johanna described as her first impression that the drink had a quality of disappearing in one's mouth.

'It is like drinking the earth!'

When I asked Johanna what is her relationship to tea she confessed from the bottom of her heart:

'I have a very deep relationship with tea, a dependency for it.'

We share the same love story. We both fell in love in Paris. For tea, I mean. That is where it all started. Johanna lived there for six months studying piano some years ago. It was love in a first sip, one could say. I was offered a precious Mariage Frères tea. I hadn't known that something so beautiful existed! For Johanna it was in a meeting with her shiatsu masseuse who recommended her to drink herbal teas made of, for example, basil and thyme. So she bought thyme tea and she became totally addicted. She has also lived in Japan and explored the Japanese green tea which she regularly enjoys. There she learnt to drink tea with meals too.

When she was a little girl and felt upset she enjoyed tea with crisp bread dipped in it. It always helped and made her feel much better. Her brother did the same. It is like in Britain when people say: 'Let's have a cup of tea' whenever there is a problem and of course all the other times too. Johanna and I agreed that when having a cup of tea one simply cannot feel anger or anguish and it always cures such negative emotions with its warmth, scent and flavours. It feels as if a new world opens up in front of you, in a simple cup of tea.

'It is like in Paris here,'

thought Johanna of the atmosphere in Shasa. Sad to let her know that Paris has left the town.

About Tea

Long time ago in the Far East Tao mystics and Buddhist munks deeply appreciated tea culture. It was an important part of their daily life.

They used to travel further away into the mountains to learn more about flora.

It all began when sometime five thousand years ago a tea leaf flew into a warm cup of water... A wanderer on his way somewhere experienced something special of which he wanted to tell others. Now tea is a universal drink being the second most popular beverage in the world. And there is no end for its success.

There are several different and interesting ways to enjoy tea around the globe.

 For me it is a cup of tea in the morning warming up my inner soul and guts to get started for the day. A meditative moment in the afternoon and a digestive cure after a meal. In the evenings it calms me down soflty to the dream world. Feeling the warmth melting through fingers as I place them around the porcelain cup. Tea is for every sense as it invigorates them all.

What is the way you like to enjoy your cup of tea? How would you describe your 'tea moment' ?

A Jewel from Gambia

Leo Kallio, Lang Dibba and Tuula Nikkola
enjoying tea in of the salons

In the Old Town of city of Porvoo lies a pearl, a treasure to be explored and a haven to fall into. Travelling back to 1800's in ones mind when the most of the houses in this Finland's oldest business street were built.

Welcoming my little retinue is Mr Leo Kallio, a young gentleman who is one of the sons and offspring of the restorer who had an excellent idea to establish this Tea- and Coffeeroom Helmi (a pearl in Finnish is helmi) in 1983. He is now the executive director of the place.

Their tea selection consists of fifty different teas. Most of them come from Stockholm from the company called Tea Center of Stockholm. Their Söderblandning Green tea is a lovely and sweet blend and one of the most sold teas they have.

Lang Dibba

- Six!! I shout shockingly in this graceful little tea house breaking the porcelain cultivated atmosphere. I am utterly amazed by the amount of sugar cubes my guest, Gambian Lang Dibba, adds to his tea cup.

- It is normal to me... He shyly admits that he uses too much sugar. That is how he is used to enjoy tea also in Gambia. Although sugar is very expensive there and not many people can afford to buy it.

The first time Tuula and Lang met was in a local train in Helsinki. One day Lang just happened to sit opposite to Tuula. Was that love in the first sight? Only they know... 

- Tuula is my First Lady, Lang announced lovingly.

One could say that Lang Dibba is an adventurer and a cosmopolitan. He has lived in Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and now in Finland since last spring.

- Finland was my final destination, he says. While in Gambia he already decided about it. It was a gut feeling. It was a mystery to him as much it is to us at the moment as we were wondering what is so special about our country that made him want so eagerly to come here...

Lang Dibba is a linguist. He speaks ten languages so learning Finnish would not probably be much of a challenge adding up to it? He speaks English (official language in Gambia), German, Spanish and then seven different African languages: Mandinga (native), Wollof, Jola, Fula, Sarahuli, Bambarang and Jahanka. Wouldn't there be some opportunity for him to work as a interpreter or traslator, I wonder as he is currently looking for a work. He has been doing lots of things professionally. In Gambia he worked in a hotel, in a factory and then in the President's Office as a protocol officer. He is trained computer information technician in Spain. There he also worked in a telephone company. Now he is keen to any kind of work after he arrived in Finland. 

No restrictions for him so far.

The Day of Princesses (and one Prince...)

Sweet Kaisla Kerttuli

Lovely Pirjo and Cute Adelma

Paju Helmiina with big sister Kaisla in their own little house!

On one shiny spring day I visited the city of Oulu, which is kind of my home city. Through years I have kept contact with some good friends there. Most of them have families and big houses nowadays... Buying an own big house is more affordable in nothern parts of Finland than in Helsinki metropolitan area. It is easier to have your own castle and kingdom or queendom, how ever you like!

One Lovely Lady there is Pirjo, who is a good highschool friend of mine. When growing to adulthoodness we spent some great time together with the company of her then boyfriend Janne. Now Janne is the father of their three children and they live in a very pretty house quite near the center. I am also honoured to be the godmother of one of their little princesses; Paju Helmiina, a two years old. The other girls' names are as adorable as her: Kaisla Kerttuli is the oldest of them, she is 9 years old and the youngest, Adelma Ottiilia, was just born in January of this year. The day was quaranteed to be full of joy and happiness!

Welcoming me was the eldest princess, Sweet Kaisla, who had just got her ears pierced for beautiful jewellery she is keen to. She was dressed in a pink princess gown so I would not be less than utterly impressed! She turned out to be an excellent model for my photographs posing routinely in many different angles. The middle princess, my god daughter Perky Paju, was still taking her beauty nap of the day. She was expected to appear soon. The youngest princess, Cute Adelma, was a new acquiantance for me. I was ever so much pleased to meet her!

On the fine tea table which Lovely Pirjo had set were lots of delicious goods and sweets to be enjoyed with elegant tea, which was organic sencha green tea with zests of mandarin and pineapple, pedals of marigold and cinnamon. Princess Sweet Kaisla had already tasted some of it without us others noticing. She asked; 'What is this luscious grass? It tastes so good!' Her mother Pirjo warmly taught her how this drink of noble should be savored. 'Oh, said Sweet Kaisla, could I also have it?'. 'Could we also listen to the music of Princesses'?

This empire is reigned aswell by one prince, Prince Merry Janne, who happily takes care what is going around and about in this castle. He is a very musically talented fellow with a great timbre in his voice and he plays skilfully guitar, now more-or-less solemnly in his kingdom.

Finally, the waited princess Perky Paju woke up and it was time to dance a Desmond Dance!*

(*Desmond Dance is a special dance and play princesses Kaisla and Paju like to entertain themselves with!)

Ode to Tea of Highgate

Tea: Green tea with honey, lemon and ginger / High Tea of Highgate

Infusion: 70-75'C 2-5 minutes

While travelling in London I must always visit one of the treasures of the charming Highgate Village. In this cute little tea shop and tea room, 

High Tea of Highgate, coloured with white and black stripes softened with delicious pink, you cannot be anything but tempted to stay for a cup of tea and piece of their delicious freshly baked cakes. You can also enjoy their famous high tea or cream tea with scones and all essentials. Every time (and that is not too often) I end up leaving the shop with several packets of tea and some other tea accesorries as they are too sweet to be left behind! Quality coffee is also served there so you could take your tenacious coffee friend with you as well. Since it's last summer I visited there last time I need to go back, hopefully soon, to make a full story of this lovely place. Now I will introduce you one of its' excellent teas.

As the package tells:

'Delightfully soothing and refreshing the addition of spicy ginger, zingy lemons and sweet honey to green tea makes for a cleansing and comforting cup of tea.

Perfect for times when feeling 'under the weather', but also when feeling 'on top of the world!'

Why not, I say. For me it goes also for the occasions somewhere in the middle. As a devoted ginger and honey lover I do find this tea very uplifting and it always cheers me up.

Hunting the Chaga

As we all know tea is a very healthy drink. We hardly need to feel guilty for drinking it too many cups. In the evenings I try to avoid drinking tea with caffeine in it to get better sleep and so I go for my collection of herbal teas or infusions, as you could better call them (usually there are no tea leaves in them, just herbs). And then there are some other so-called teas which are made of very healthy mushrooms!

My father has been drinking daily the chaga mushroom tea because of its healthy benefits. It's said to prevent and cure cancer and all other diseases. He collects it from the forests, dries it in the sunlight, chops it into small pieces and makes a tea from it. His friend does the same! For years I was sceptic of tasting this superdrink as I thought it tastes like coffee! I feel shamed of my pettiness... It was not until now that I went over my limits and had courage (do you even need it?) to taste it. It was splendid! And for the most part I didn't get any associations with coffee! It was more or less like some mild black tea, a good one, with a very smooth feel.

The use of chaga mushroom as a herbal remedy goes strongly back to the 17th century Russia and Siberia and even further away. The chaga grows in the elderly hardwoods and is a common saprotroph mushroom in them. The tree grows in itself a burl which doesn't have any germs in it, not until the tree dies. It contains lots of phytonutrients, is a strong adaptogen and tonicum. The chaga mushroom has also been widely researched scientifically with strong evidencies of its health benefits. Its oxygen radical absorbance capacity is almost 22 times stronger than for example in blueberry. It is also a good source of vitamin B and protein and the list just goes on... Check more of related research here: http://www.mychaga.com/scienceresearch.aspx

It's safe to use it in large amounts and for longer periods of time only if you are not using any antibiotics, penicillin, intravenous glucose at the same time because they work as antagonists and also if you are allergic to some mushrooms you'd better avoid this drink.

I visited my parents in Kiiminki, north of Finland. I asked my father to take me to 'chaga hunting' and he was pleased to take me to the nearest forest. We didn't have to go far to find the tree with one growing on its trunk one and half meters high. Father hit it with his axe and so I got something to take back to Helsinki.

P.s. It's better to go to the forests futher away from roads as chaga mushroom tends to absorb pollution.

Welcoming the Spring and Some Charming Grannies

On a beautiful Saturday evening I head to my neighbor Hoda Shabrokh who lives just one train stop's distance from me. Although she is living close, this is the first time I manage to visit her home even though she has invited me there many times. Birds were singing and I definitely could smell the spring! That reminded me strongly of the happy memories of my childhood, being so close to the nature. Now when I'm a city girl I tend to forget my roots and needs and nature's importance to me. Every now and then I promise to make day trip in the forest or to the countryside but apparently it's easier to think than to make it happen! Today I made that promise again: next weekend...

Back to my charming and spiritual friend and to the lovely evening she hosted at her home. We met in a youth choir called the Kiiminki Skylarks and were choirpals for some years traveling and having concerts all over the world. Now she lives in Helsinki and works as a project manager in educational act in the city of Vantaa. Currently she manages a project integrating immigrant students in high schools in Finland. Her work also concentrates on the topics of global education and global citizenship. During my visit Hoda was having a fast which is an essential part of the Bahá'í Faith of which she is a member. The fast consists not only of cutting out eating food during the daylight but also of thinking, reading and reflecting spiritual texts. Maybe there is some great wisdom in fasting. I have never done it but have felt tempted to slow down the rhythm of life for some period of time. When you don't eat much you loose energy so you must stop your speed and slow down. 

Bahá'í Faith is 169 years old. The religion was born in Iran and established by Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'ís believe that there is only one God and all the religions in the world are all from the same origin and from the same God. It considers Abraham, the Buddha, Jesus, Muhammed, the Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb among others as the divine messengers. Hoda tells me how Bahá'í texts from early on values the equality between woman and man, learning the skill for negotiation in the family and in other circles but main concern is the unity of humankind.

• It is every person's mission to contribute on the civilisation of the world, as Hoda described it.

 In Finland there are about 750 Bahá'ís. 

We had very interesting conversation about religions and spirituality over a marvelous dinner she had made for us. Due to her fast we had to meet in the evening after sunset to brake the fast! At first it sounded so rebellious that I was a bit worried if we did something wrong. Hoda had made a delicious barley-linseed soup, some salad, bread and of course tea was nicely set on the table. The tea was Rooibos and served in very lovely glass teacups which I immediately fell for! The story behind them was even more charming: She got them from an unknown granny she met in Alepa (that's a foodstore chain) nearby around the time she was moving to her flat. There she was browsing the noteboard for items and furniture on sale and met this friendly elderly lady who offered to sell her some spare furniture she now didn't need because her husband had just passed away. Hoda bought some bookshelves and washing machine from her and on top of that she gave her a series of those pretty teacups! I have always thought that tea tastes better in the glass teacups.

Hoda was born in Oulu. Her parents are Persian. Her father moved to Oulu to study at the Oulu University to become an electric engineer. Hoda's mother is a hairdresser but in addition she works as an interpreter.

Hoda enjoys tea all the time! In her childhood home they drank it for many purposes. If one had a stomach ache the mint tea was the remedy and in the evenings chamomile tea was served with dates and nuts. In Persian they drink among others the popular mint tea as in Turkey or in Morocco. The Arabic tea culture also includes the tea salons called Teteria. The Arabs brought the Teterias to Spain. I never have visited one but I was very close when last summer I was in Madrid. I found one but unfortunately it was closed and the next day I had to fly away. In the Teteria the floors are covered by carpets and one sits on the ground and takes it easy! Slow down as one does while fasting...

Before Bahá'i fast season there is intercalary days called Ayyam-i-Ha. It is a season for festivities, sharing and charity. At that time Hoda was visiting her friend who lives in an apartment building in Helsinki. They realized that they had not done yet any of the good deeds related to this season. After a thought they got an inspiring idea to bake some muffins and take them to her friend's neighbors! Her friend had lived there for a year and hardly met any neighbors or not even knowing them at all, which is typical in Finnish city life! They were a bit worried of their idea; how people would react? At the end they had the most fun ever! Surprisingly people reacted in a very friendly spirit. They met a person who had lived in there for 30 years and said that there has never happened anything communal. One man opened the door in his morning gown and was gladly surprised. Apparently some people didn't dare to open the door at all, maybe they were frightened of not wanted visitors. In the upper floor they met this elderly lady who opened the door with her rollator. They had a chat and she was ever so pleased that asked them inside into her big apartment. They went and had a nice conversation together. The elderly lady told them that she had lived in that house also for 30 years and for two years she had been outside only about five times with some nurse. This was due to her operated leg and inability to move properly. She hardly had anybody to visit her and she was so taken of these surprised visitors that she wanted to take a picture of them! What a memorable day for everyone!

Inspired of this circumstance Hoda urges people to notice and meet their neighbors. What is happening behind the walls, downstairs or upstairs? Or behind the road? How much joy could we bring each other with just a small knock on the door or just with a smiling hello in the corridors? Have a cup of tea with your new friend!

Flying Away

"The first cup moistens my lips and throat. 

The second cup breaks my loneliness. 

The third cup searches my barren entrail but to find 

therein some thousand volumes of odd ideographs.

The fourth cup raises a slight perspiration - 

all the wrongs of life pass out through my pores.

At the fifth cup I am purified.

The sixth cup calls me to the realms of immortals.

The seventh cup - ah, but I could take no more! 

I only feel the breath of the cool wind that raises in my

sleeves. Where is Elysium? Let me ride on this sweet 

breeze and waft away thither."

Lu Tung: Tea Drinking 

Feeling the Fields Again

Tea: Mo Li Wulong / Jasmine Oolong. Fujian

Infusion: 85-90 'C 1-2 minutes

This traditional Chinese oolong tea has a fresh tint of sweet jasmine flowers. The Mo Li Wulong is from the county of Fujian. The tealeaves are cutely curled and twisted. I bought this tea from the Théhuone, introduced previously. It has a very sophisticated taste and is in my tea collection one of the best!

'The Wind moves in the flower field

It is here again.

On the stone I cover myself

warmth in the hands slowly warms one's heart.

The shelter has now been built.

Wait for the moment when calmer has come

See your way and be brave

Taking a few steps further away.'

In White Elegance

Tea: Appelsiininkukkatee (Orange blossom tea) / Flavoured white tea

Infusion: 70-75 'C  /   4- 5 min.

One of the treasures in the charming street of Eerikinkatu, just in the centre of Helsinki, lies a beautiful tea house called Théhuone. It has white walls and shelves full of fascinating tea from all over the world, delicate cups and pots fullfilled with poetry of tea.

Théhuone was one of my first tea acquaintances in Helsinki, even in Finland. It has kept its status as of one of my favorite places to enjoy a quality cup of tea. The name 'Théhuone' is like a clever name play: 'huone' in Finnish is 'a room' and 'thé' is 'tea' in French. A tea house is translated in Finnish 'teehuone'.

This ethereal 'room' is so calming that you would like to spend there hours, hours... drinking tea and forgetting your own existence. Sometimes I even do that when I have, lets say once a year, a possibility for that. People should have that more often. Give up worrying too much of the past or future and just be in that moment. The world then just being in the teacup.

Théhuone was first just a shop, a room, which specialized in serving connoisseurs, and it was established six years ago.

Sisters Nina and Nea Lindgren had the idea for it after returning to Finland from abroad and noticing that there was no real teahouse in the whole city. Still there were people who enjoyed tea regularly. I talked to teahouse's worker Pilvikki Virtaperko who is as well a fellow musician with similar aesthetics in music, that is in early music (she is a professional harpsichord player). Besides that she is an active voluntary worker (she leads the Helsinki Zen center). Pilvikki is very happy in her current job at the Théhuone. According to her it is very down-to-earth basic work but still demands a lot of concentration. The calming frames are ideal for that though during the years the place has become very popular and can be buzzing with customers. Every pot of tea has to be perfect, you just need to do it right; like when a musician is preparing to play a concert, she compares. Otherwise the result doesn't taste so good! The repertoire of the tea collection being so wide it also demands constant learning to master it. She reckons there must be over 300 different teas on offer. Their most expensive tea at the moment is Ye Sheng Pu'Erh costing 750 € / kg!

My dear friend Helga Siljander is a fascinating woman from really far away of Finland. She is from Utsjoki and her home village is in Outakoski (just click to see it on the map!). She is a Sami. Now she has lived in Helsinki for four and half years and studies teology, social and moral philosophy and Sami culture. Nowadays there are quite a few Sami people in Helsinki and in other cities. Last autumn and summer Helga worked as a guide for an exhibition of the art inspired by Lapland in Ateneum (an art museum with the widest art collection in Finland). I went to see it three times and enjoyed it greatly! That made me want to go to Lapland and spend some time just in the nature's solitude and of course bring some tea with me. You can do your own tea there as well – as Helga's sister Suvi does from the local herbs and plants like angelica. I have tasted something like that and it was not bad at all! The nature there is very pure and fresh so you would assume to get very high quality nature products!

Helga is a both tea and coffee drinker. She says she prefers tea over coffee.

'Tea is for me an enjoyment. Coffee is a need.'

She needs her morning coffee cup to get started but for the rest of the day she goes with tea. Tea for her is a moment of pleasure, rest and luxury. She has noticed that her taste develops better all the time. It's becoming expensive! Also she needs different teas for different moods.

In Théhuone we ordered a pot of 'Appelsiininkukkatee' (Orange blossom tea), a white Pai Mu Tan tea with petals of orange blossoms and pieces of oranges. We were both very delighted and uplifted of its delicate taste. It made the gray day to feel like shining bright yellow! We both ended up buying 250 grams to take back home. A delicate sunshine is always an essential remedy to have it in hands! Our lovely tea moment passed imperceptibly talking about babies, teapots, all the stuff shops sell in the world, Lapland...

Helga's plea was quite thoughtful. She would like people to start to respect the elderly people and their parents and understand all the changes in life which are part of getting older. Every moment everyone is aging, also me and you! I think it's amazing how elderly people have made it so far in life in the perspective of time. You should definitely hear what they are saying because there is so much wisdom in what they have seen and experienced. Environment is different now than it was maybe fifty years ago. Stories from that time are interesting but the aspect of maturing as a human being could be more or less the same, or at least people experience similar issues in life.

I started to plan even more to visit Helga's home village next summer. She recommended visiting Lapland in summer or autumn because in winter it's mostly dark. In the summer the sun doesn't go down at all for some months! I remember Helga's story of his father. She had asked him about how he gets through the dark winter period called 'kaamos', a polar night, when sun doesn't come up at all for almost two months. He said he just thinks about the fish he is going to catch in the summer! That I would call a great attitude! But I would probably also need some Orange blossom tea...