for a reception

The master of the house proceeds with the tea-making as a rite. He takes up his position in front of the trays, the steaming samovar at hand, rinses the teapots with boiling water.

(These teapots usually hold 3/4 litre-approximately 1 1/2 pts).

He puts 2 or 3 teaspoonfuls of green tea in each one then adds half a teaglassful of boiling water which he then throws away.

He then adds sugar according to taste and fills the teapots with

boiling water. This first glass of tea, which is the most appreciated by real tea-drinkers,

is made without mint. The tea must of course be of excellent quality.

The tea is left to draw for a few minutes then the master of the house stirs it with a spoon, tastes it and half fills a teaglassful for each guest, pouring from both teapots at once.

While the guests drink their tea, congratulating the master on its quality, he smilingly prepares a second beverage, to which he will add mint. In the teapots where the first beverage has been made, he puts a good handful of mint after having crushed it in his hands.

Then he adds a teaspoonful of tea and sugar. He fills the teapots with boiling water, makes sure that the mint leaves do not float back to the surface, covers the teapots or puts them on the samovar pipe and leaves them to draw. Then he stirs briskly with a spoon, gently crushing the mint which is on the bottom, and tastes. He then carefully pours some of the beverage from each teapot into the guestsglasses.

Another glass of tea can then be prepared, given more taste by adding a little absinthe or, for those who like them, other tea herbs such as verbena, marjoram and basil.