Tea and the Power of Ritual

Photo, author’s own

My husband’s family is American and many years ago my sister-in-law came to stay with my husband and me in England. I offered her a cup of tea, and her response was swift and unequivocal.

‘No, thank you. I don’t drink tea.’

It didn’t surprise me; I had lived in the States and knew that Americans did not hold tea in the same estimation that Brits did.