Not long ago, at a tea gathering, I met a teacher who has spent many years working in the tea industry. Having joined the company only two months earlier, I asked, “How can I continue enjoying tea for a long time?”
The answer I received was unexpected:
“Take good care of your wrists.”
Because serving tea means constantly lifting kettles and tilting the wrist to pour, they explained that protecting your wrists now helps prevent shoulder and joint problems later in life. At the time, it didn’t resonate deeply with me. But a few days ago, when my right wrist began to ache, the teacher’s words suddenly came back to mind. Since then, I’ve been trying to use both wrists evenly. So if you ever spot a staff member in the tea room pouring tea left-handed, please know: we are simply trying to prevent frozen shoulders in the future.
When people hear that someone works in a tea room, they often imagine something elegant and serene. But in reality, my workdays can be delightfully chaotic. When brewing five or six different teas at once, every tea requires a slightly different temperature and steeping time, so my brain is constantly in motion. Around me are hot kettles and fragile glassware, which means maintaining a certain level of tension throughout the day.
And there is something just as important as strong wrists: strong legs. Recently, I’ve been doing calf raises to strengthen my legs. So if you see a tea room staff member quietly lifting their heels behind the counter…
It suddenly feels as though I’ve been revealing all the hidden struggles of tea room work. But perhaps now we can talk about the joys instead.
One of the greatest privileges of working in a tea room is being able to drink tea freely. Before opening hours, I like to sit alone in the empty shop with a warm mug of mugwort tea. Pouring the first cup of the day for myself feels like a gentle way to begin something precious.
Since I began drinking tea more seriously, I’ve also discovered the joy of sharing tea with others. Drinking tea alone can be wonderful, but sharing tea together is something special. So when do coworkers in the tea room usually share tea during work hours?
Usually during dessert tastings — or whenever imperfect desserts appear from the kitchen.
A madeleine with a little tail.
A small moment of indulgence during work.
Working in a tea room also means witnessing someone encounter tea for the very first time, almost every day. And perhaps the greatest joy of all, as a member of the tea room team, is when a guest leaves with a genuinely good experience of tea.
One day, a customer walked in and casually said, “One iced Americano, please,” without even glancing at the menu. Later, I watched that same person bury their nose into the teapot, breathing in the aroma of the tea leaves.
And the joy when they returned again after enjoying tea for the first time!
Perhaps it is the quiet satisfaction of serving a warm cup of tea to a nation devoted to iced Americanos.