For a while, I have always found it odd how some folks seem to take pride (pun unintended) in being labeled a ‘tea snob’. Being a ‘snob’ of any kind typically has negative connotations but instead of abhorring the label, it is embraced, at least in certain circles.
Personally I detest the label. The essence of tea, at least in Chinese culture, is humility and hospitality. Not something that would be congruent with snobbery. Yet to my surprise, I find tea snobbery has been confused with something different altogether, so much so that I might well fall into that category.
Is this Snobbery?
More than the odd occasion, I have seen ‘elitist’ and ‘daunting’ as being marks of a tea snob. As I read some reviews of tea books on Amazon and GoodReads, I have read some reviewers lambasting the writers as elitist and tea snobs, needlessly muddying the waters of tea learning.
While I have not read those books, preferring to go to the source i.e. Chinese tea writings, books on tea that are instructional and informational should do just that- provide information. Would you spend say $30 on a book that essentially tells you to do anything you want because it is your personal preference? I didn’t think so, unless that is a book on sociology or something to that effect.
Being someone who wrote extensively on tea appreciation and brewing tea, I would be a hypocrite to suggest that I didn’t believe there is a ‘better’ way to do certain things.
For instance, if you are a regular green tea drinker- at least of loose leaf tea- you would hardly be thrilled when someone douses boiling water on your delicate Bi Luo Chun.
Does that make you a snob because you believe in taking the extra effort to let the water cool down before adding leaves to water (water to leaves, depending on which method)?
No, you just want to enjoy your tea to the fullest- at least based on the circumstances.
The difference between skilled production and mass production, in my opinion, is as significant as the tunes of a tone deaf individual and Josh Groban. You may not like Josh Groban, but you have to give him props for his voice and delivery, certainly you wouldn’t say he is no better than any dude on the street just because taste is personal.
In the same way, artisan tea makers deserve recognition for their craft. I may not like certain types of teas, but I appreciate the production excellence nonetheless. To dismiss it as ‘just tea’ or ‘why don’t you just bag it instead of going through this pretentious drill’ is disrespectful.
On the other hand
While there are ‘better’ methods and ‘better’ tea, it does not imply superiority in anyway, which is what I find true snobbery to be. Case in point, I detest the silly expression “sophisticated palate” as it implies there is an “inferior” or “uncouth” palate somewhere.
While I maintain that there are superior quality teas or preparation methods, I don’t think of myself as better for it. It is just that these things matter more to me, just as other things matter more to others.
For instance, I am not a wine person. I am not impressed by your collection of wines older than myself nor your ability to rattle off names in French that are, well, foreign to me. While I respect you for intensely pursuing your passion but I don’t think of you more highly for being more passionate in any pursuit than me.
In the same way, while tea is a passion for me, I can understand that it is just a beverage- sacrilegious as it sounds- to others. Being just a beverage then, simplicity would be the name of the game. In the same token, I am not adverse to instant coffee, coffee being a ‘mere beverage’ to me.
True snobbery therefore, at least in my opinion (needless rhetoric but just to be safe), lies in the belief that one is superior to others because of inclinations in certain fields that are in tune with those commonly regarded as the elite.
The Other Side of Snobbery
Going the other end though, in my opinion at least (see what you have done to me), is snobbery of another form; the equivalent of ‘anti-intellectualism’, so to speak, in the world of tea.
When you deride others for needless complicating that cuppa when all is needed is a bag, milk and boiling water, how is this not snobbery?
Consider the Webster-Merriam definition:
“snob·bery noun \ˈsnä-b(ə-)rē\
: the behavior or attitude of people who think they are better than other people”
So ‘anti-teaism’ is as much a form of snobbery as ‘traditional’ tea snobbery, is it not?
Let me end with a final analogy:
Like most people my generation, I enjoy watching movies. Of course this begs the question “what kind?”
Action movies, basically- Marvel Universe, Donnie Yen, cops and triad movies.
I don’t feel ashamed of watching ‘un-intellectual’ movies; my philosophy is that I read to engage my mind and watch movies to relax it.
At the same time, I won’t deride others for not sharing my views, nor will I make fun of Academy Award winning films as boring entities appreciated only by pretentious fobs.
So it is with tea. Some see it as a drink, others, like me see it as a holistic sensory enjoyment.
To each his or her own.
Rant over.
