We Are Drinking Tea Too Quickly

March 11, 2026 | Maria Tan

There is something ironic about rushing tea.

We order it to relax. We call it calming. We describe it as grounding. And yet, more often than not, we drink it the same way we drink everything else — between emails, between meetings, between scrolling.

Tea has become background noise.

A mug beside the laptop. A thermos in the car. A takeaway cup clutched while walking to the MRT. It is present, but rarely noticed.

And that feels like a loss.

Tea was never meant to compete for attention. It was meant to hold it. The warmth in your hands. The first rise of steam. The subtle shift in flavour from the first steep to the second. These are small details, yes. But they are the point.

Somewhere along the way, we started treating tea like coffee’s quieter sibling. Functional. Efficient. A mild alternative.

But tea is not an alternative.

It is a ritual.

Even in its simplest form, tea asks for patience. Water must cool slightly. Leaves need time to unfurl. You cannot rush infusion without changing the result. When we hurry tea, we flatten it.

And perhaps we flatten ourselves in the process.

In Singapore, life moves quickly. Efficiency is admired. Multitasking is expected. It makes sense that our tea habits have adapted. But not everything needs to follow that rhythm.

What if tea remained the one thing we refused to rush?

What if, instead of sipping absentmindedly, we allowed a few quiet minutes before returning to the noise?

Tea does not demand ceremony in silk robes. It does not require perfection. It simply asks for presence.

The next time you brew a cup, let it sit for a moment. Notice the colour. Taste it before adding anything. Let the second steep surprise you.

You might find that tea tastes different when you give it time.

And maybe so do you.

— Maria Tan

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