Contemplating Tea Making and its Global Supply Chain with a Friend

I observed my friend make a cup of tea as she was settling down for the night. As I watched her I realized that there was more involved in completing that task than what might meet the eye. She began by reaching up to a high shelf that contained the hot water heater and the tea. As a short person, she needed to stand on the tips of her toes to collect the objects. She quickly brought these items to the kitchen sink and started heating up the water.

She also collected a mug and honey, and realized that there were no plastic spoons. Troubleshooting her problem, she walked back to the shelf and chose a silver fork from the tray of silverware. As she was waiting for the water to heat up, she showed the tea selection to her roommate, which included at least five types of teas. Although she was settling down for the night, she was still moving with a lot of energy and focus.

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She carefully selected her tea and poured hot water over the bag in her mug. She squeezed the honey into the hot mug without measuring it, and very deliberately stirred it with the fork.

As I observed my friend brew her nightly cup of tea, I began to think about all of the types of teas and the processes behind their growth and distribution. I was thinking about how many steps were involved in brewing a cup of tea, I imagined and questioned how many steps there are to get the tea from the earth to the consumer.

In my imagination, the tea leaves grow on a farm in organized rows, separated by type of leaf. A farmer handpicks and smells the fragrant leaves and brings them to the person who grinds them and mixes them. After they are blended they are measured and put in tea bags, which are sealed with the string. The sealed tea bags get packaged into paper pouches with the ingredient information, which are then put into boxes and shipped out to the stores that distribute them. After their long journey from production to distribution, the consumer purchases the tea and eventually goes through the process of brewing a hot cup for their enjoyment, just like my friend did when I was observing her.