TEA AND SCENT

Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world – Tein Yiheng

Jasmine, bergamot and rose are common flowers to be mixed with tea. Flavouring tea with flowers works well and the overall effect is as much in the combined scent as it is in the taste. All of these scents, including the delicate scent of tea, are known to give a sense of well-being and this too could be part of their popularity in tea blends.

Each scent has its own vibration, known as notes, as in musical notes. These vibrations appear to affect our frame of mind in much the same way as music can. They both have the ability to vibrate through our consciousness and change our mood.

It would appear that everything in the universe is a vibration. The eye sees colour vibration, the ear hears by vibration and now through the research work of scientist and perfume guru, Luca Turin, it appears that we smell by vibration. Our taste buds send messages to the brain by nerve impulses (vibration?)

If I loose my sense of smell, as I sometimes do in the hay fever season, I find it hard to cook, as I rely on my sense of smell more than my sense of taste. I can usually tell by smell exactly what is needed to bring out the best in the dish I am cooking.

In my herb garden I grow vervain in a sheltered spot that gets full sun. Vervain leaves make a delicious tisane. It has a fresh lemony scent and makes a lime yellow liquor when infused. It tastes exactly as it smells. It is a good after dinner drink as it possesses digestive and slight sedative qualities. It blends well with fennel seeds if a stronger digestive brew is necessary after a very rich meal.

I enjoy blending herbs to make infusions and I enjoy drinking flavoured teas. I’m not sure whether it is by vibration or ingestion that my sense of well-being is enhanced, a bit of both I would imagine. Just the word aroma sounds magical to me as it conjures up endless thoughts of past, present and future experiences. From far away lands to a freshly mown lawn outside the window, our imaginings can easily drift off on the vibration of a scent rising up from a cup of tea.

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