Creating the ideal tea setting
The activity of drinking tea is often considered an indoor ritual. There are good reasons for this. A great part of experiencing tea is about creating an ‘out of time’ experience with the sensations procured by the steeped leaves.
In an indoor setting it is easy to control all the parameters that contribute to such an experience (temperature, lighting, space, tea ware, incense, etc.). This is why tearooms or teahouses are customary places for enjoying tea.
Or stepping outside looking for it
However, anybody who likes to go for a walk knows that it is not unusual to stumble upon little bubbles of Shangri-La here and there, which are perfect backdrops for tasting tea. In fact, many indoor settings attempt to recreate these natural sceneries by hanging paintings depicting them, etc.
Personally, I like to combine my appreciation of tea with my habit of walking. Sometimes I know exactly where I will sit down, while at other times I let the spirit of the place guide me to the nearest ’locus amoenus’.