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.
