Tea

Tea was a traditional beverage from Kara-Tur.

Description
Tea was similar in concept to other herbal infusions popular in the Realms. In Kara-Tur, there were a great many varieties. Most folk had it plain, but the nomads of the Hordelands added milk and sugar, and even made it into a soup.

In Faerûn, tea was also a common beverage, usually served to quench thirst. However, actual tea was rather difficult to get, because for most people "tea" was any beverage made from leaves of many plants, not only tea leaves. Different places had their own infusions made from local wild plants, and people travelling across Faerûn expected tea to taste different from place to place. Actual tea leaves were only common and easy to get in rich cities, such as Athkatla and Calimport.

Practice
It was the most common beverage across Kara-Tur, typically enjoyed at the midday meal and in the afternoon. Tea drinking was made into a refined art by the Shou, and teas from Shou Lung were known for being both invigorating and soothing. Tea houses could be found in Shou Lung, Kozakura, and Wa, which also had tea gardens.

In Faerûn, tea was always served plain. Among the poorest, tea leaves were often reused. People dried them on a shield in the sun before putting them back in the pot, with a few fresh leaves, to brew them again.

In the Shining South, tea was brewed with other leaves into murky beverages.

History
Shou teas were introduced to the Realms in the early 1360s DR through Aurora's Emporium, with at least two varieties (Pale Jade and Earth Dragon's Eye) made available for purchase through Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue.

In Faerûn, tea trade was looked with suspicion in cities that had no ports, as people usually prepared their local "tea infusions". Tea traders in such places were looked upon with suspicion by authorities, as they believed those traders were either desperate to get coin or were selling something else rather than tea. Because of this, trading coffee was a more profitable and popular than tea. However, for those same reasons, no authority levied tea commerce in such places.

Cost
In Kara-Tur, 1 pound (450 grams) of tea cost 1 tael. Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue sold the same amount of Pale Jade for 20 gold pieces and Earth Dragon's Eye for 50 gold pieces.

Magic & Ritual
Tea was a possible material component for a shukenja's protection from evil, 10' radius, replacing holy water in tracing a circle on the ground.

The tea ceremony was a vital ritual practiced by nobility and merchants in some lands of Kara-Tur, with the aim of instilling complete calm.

Tea varieties

 * See: Category:Teas