Perhaps the most consistent part of my reading experiences over the years has been my beverage of choice. Whether I’m reading mystery, fantasy, or epistolary, I’m always accompanied by a steaming hot mug of tea. (In summer – or in the Bay Area “summer”, aka late September, you may catch me with an iced version.)
The right cup of tea can totally transform a reading experience. A murder mystery paired with spiced chai can feel cozy and warm; the same story with a fruity black becomes much more adventurous. Earl Grey with a WWII novel feels more immersive than the same novel with an herbal brew. Tea, to me, is a little bit of magic in a cup – it can transform your world and create a safe zone all in one sip.
This makes it perhaps surprising that it’s taken this long for me to really think about the overlap between magical stories and tea. Tea is everywhere in magical stories – warm cozy brews, healing brews, brews to plan revolution over. And in just a few of these stories, tea takes center stage. And if you look across them, you realize exactly how culturally impactful tea can be…
So let’s take a moment to appreciate these literary tea adventures (and the perfect brews to accompany them!)
Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea: cozy, warm, and connecting
We’ll start with something light and cozy: Rebecca Thorne’s Tomes and Tea series. This cozy fantasy series follows deuteragonists Reyna and Kianthe as they ditch a high-octane palace life for a dream retirement: opening their own tea- and book-store. The first book in the series, Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, centers the usual cozy fantasy tropes. The two set up a store, build a community and a life, and get back to the roots of what they love. Which means that tea here serves, as it does in life, as the foundations of community bonding.
This is perhaps the most prosaic approach to fantasy tea – a warm beverage, served in a cup, that accompanies relationships. There’s a little bit of magic here – Kianthe keeps the source plants for the beverages alive magically. But for the most part, this is standard teashop fare – and prepared badly, at that. (For some reason, the tea bags go in the hot water instead of the other way round.) And for a book with tea in the title, we spend less time watching the deuteragonists prepare warm and cozy brews than I’d like… Tea, despite being one of the foundations of this tea-serving bookstore, melts into the background. Which is, perhaps, apt for how we frequently treat it?
Goes great with: David’s Tea’s Cardamom French Toast (Black) OR Tea Sparrow’s Lavender Cream (Black)
Reading Tomes and Tea is all about upping the cozy factor. And for that, I typically look for the kind of tea that goes well with cream and lots of sweet. Two of my current favorites are this Cardamom French Toast tea and this Lavender Cream. Both are perfect ways to start a morning, creating a sense of warmth and comfort from the first sip.
A Magic Steeped in Poison: Healing and spiritual, physically and culturally
Perhaps you’re looking for a read that centers tea a little more, maybe even highlights its unique magic. For a fantasy novel that leans into the healing power of the right warm beverage, A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin might hit the spot.
The tea in A Magic Steeped in Poison is truly fantastic. The right brew can eliminate poisons or create mind connections. Tea is steeped by specially trained shennong-tu, who can access its magical properties. And it’s so powerful that there’s a court competition for the best shennong-shi – one which our protagonist attends to try and save her sister. That sister fell victim to poisoned tea, highlighting both its social importance and the danger that attends the beverage. A Magic Steeped in Poison wants us to take tea magic seriously.
For the most part, it works. It’s nice to see Ning, the protagonist, think through her tea’s ingredients and their pairings with food and magic. Her deliberation elevates the art of tea-brewing. And her explanation of ingredients’ properties is a constant reminder of how varied the impact of different types of tea can be. A great read if you’re into both court politics and delicately brewed tea. (Note that this is the first book in a duology – but the sequel’s magic system is a little less tea-centric.)
Goes great with: Tea Sparrow’s Walnut Tea (Green)
Reading A Magic Steeped in Poison made me want a delicate, balanced, cup of green tea. And one of my favorites is this Walnut Green, which won the North American Tea Championship in 2011. For a girl raised in the tropics, the pineapple and coconut provide energizing notes that balance the Sencha, green tea, and walnut.
A Tempest of Tea: A symbol of colonial control
Once you start thinking about the economic power of tea, it’s hard not to remember its complex colonial history. Hafsah Faizal spends some time exploring this angle in A Tempest of Tea, which combines tea with vampires for a fantasy heist story.
The protagonist, Arthie Casimir, hails from what seems like fantasy Sri Lanka. She’s earned her power in the city by running a tea house by day (and a blood house by night). But when the Powers That Be threaten to shut her business down, she fights back, laying plans to steal a critical ledger.
Echoes of the colonial history of tea resounds throughout this book. There’s the cachet of an invite to Arthie’s tea house, Spindrift – a way for Arthie, a colonized immigrant, to take back economic power. There’s the EJC, a clear East India Company clone, with its control over international trade and political outcomes. And, most of all, there are Arthie’s own experience with colonial powers invading her village in search of locations for tea plantations. Tea and vampires might feel like a random choice, but Faizal makes clear that tea and blood are intertwined.
Goes great with: Kolkata Chai Co.’s Masala Chai (Black)
It is impossible for me to read a book with such colonial resistance themes without a hot cup of proper chai. And the BEST, easiest chai mix I’ve found is the one from Kolkata Chai Co. A perfect way to experience “true” chai as you think about its complex colonial past.
A bonus game – Wanderstop: The beauty (and defiance) of rest
Wanderstop is not a book – it’s a video game, released last week on Steam. I’m not done playing it – but it’s so perfect for this topic I had to include it.
In Wanderstop, you play as Alta, a burned out fighter who runs across a magical tea shop. Its proprietor, Boro, invites you in to help him manage it. And, despite your resistance to slowing down, you take him up on the offer. (It helps, here, that your sword is too heavy to move – at least for now.)
Wanderstop forces you to slow down as you brew tea for customers, appreciating each moment of the process. The tea itself is brewed in a surprisingly complex contraption – the Pouramid – that took this novice player a while to operate well. But you also get to spend the time picking the tea leaves and growing the fruits that go in the tea. Each infusion brings new life to the Pouramid, with new plants sprouting from it as tea goes to “waste”. And different teas can have different effects, which allow glimpses into Alta’s own life when she sits down for a cup.
As I said, I’m pretty early into this game, but I already love it. Several online reviewers have already written that it gets emotional – and I can’t wait to experience that. Many have also described it as “uncomfortable” or even “painful” – but healing can be that way sometimes. This is a cozy game in the vein of my favorite cozy books – gentle but deep, and not afraid of deep emotions. And tea somehow feels like the perfect accompaniment to this kind of deep, powerful introspection… Wanderstop is an impactful exploration of burnout – and a wonderful appreciation of tea.
Goes great with: David’s Tea’s S’mores Chai (Oolong)
I’ve been enjoying Wanderstop with this extra-cozy s’mores-flavored oolong tea. The chocolate and marshmallow bits make it warm and comforting, but the oolong is less astringent and more calming than straight black. A lovely afternoon brew.
(I’ve also been enjoying a mysterious quince flower tea that my partner brought back from a trip to Croatia with this one! But alas, I have thrown away the packet and am unable to recommend it to others.)
Tea, in all its varieties
Tea can take on so many different aspects, and it’s clear that different authors relate to it in dramatically different ways. There are those who view tea as a tool for creating aesthetic and atmosphere. Others celebrate its healing properties, respecting every step of the brewing arts. And others have a more complex relationship with modern, post-colonial tea, viewing it through a more economic lens. (Never let anyone tell you that fantasy can’t explore real-world topics in a nuanced way!)
Writing this has been a great way to think more deliberately about all those lenses, and grow my personal appreciation for my favorite warm beverage. I’d love to know about your favorite tea-themed reads – and your favorite teas? Anything I should try next?
Until next time – stay cozy, and stay curious!
A Tempest of Tea will count as my heist novel for this year’s 52 Book Club Challenge!
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