Russian ceremonies. #1. Russian tchaepitie (Tea drinking).
Well, Russians adopted tea from China and became great lovers of this drink. And they even created a unique technique of making tea. And here we come to the Ceremony.
Russian Samovar.
A Russian will never drink alone. They always find an interlocutor, to whom to tell the secrets without fear to be reproached. And for Russian tea ceremony such an understanding person is Samovar. No wonder that each Russian table was presided by a samovar. Samovar was born not far from Moscow, in Tula, in the beginning of the XVIII century, and it became a symbol of goodness and prosperity of the house. In Russian izba (a room with an oven where a family slept, eat, had parties and all the ceremonies) there was the central place, occupied by a big table, In the middle there was the Samovar. Children absorbed everything nearby this object, they learn to speak, to read, to write and to listen while the adults discussed their daily news and future projects getting their cups of tea. Only very skillful tinsmiths made samovars and talented masters decorated them. Russian samovar was an honorable member of the family well decorated and highly respected. What is samovar? In the "Dictionary of the Live Great Russian Language" of V.I. Dal (ed.1863—1866 ) interprets this term as “water-for-tea-heating-vessel mostly made of copper with a tube and a brazer inside”. And that is the best definition. As all concepts it is simple. It is a solid-drawn-thin-wall-vessel penetrated by a tube which starts in the blazer and finishes with a crown (a top ring) serving as a tea-pot holder. It is also a natural ventilation while the top ring is covered. Many yeas before world-wide start of the program of energy saving, Russian Samovar became an ideal example of a “boiling-inside vessel” (the direct translation of the word Samovar) keeping its energy and gathering the whole family around. Even a child could use the object. Just pour water, put some fuel and drop a burning chip into the tube. If the wood was humid and the weather wet it was necessary to fan through special holes in the brazer or by a “peasants way” - to blow with a boot put on the crown. When the water boiled they put a ceramic tea-pot on the top, the quality of the tea-pot expressed the status of the householder as well as their habits. To get a good tea the temperature in th etube was slowly getting down. Once it was ready they poured some tea from the tea-pot to a cup and diluted it with the water from the samovar. As the liquid was very hot they poured it into a saucer and blow at it to make it colder. Real Russian tea is taken from the saucer, not from the cup! And the sugar is taken vprikusku (to drink tea holding a lump of sugar in one's mouth). The Samovar, standing in the middle of izba, letting out puffs, warming the room and reflecting at his sides everyone and everything, created a sort of an alternative reality.
