With tea, my joy is never lost

/Nguyen Xuan Dinh – NLĐO/

At the end of 1970, I transferred work along the fire line to my hometown. The war was very fierce; transportation was complicated. However, tea is still available, although very limited.

A function room can only buy a few tea packs of 50 grams each. All are type 3 tea and type 4 tea. Those with high positions and type C vouchers can buy a few packs of 1 or 2 teas monthly.

Type 1 tea is Thanh Huong and Ba Dinh tea, and type 2 tea is Ngoc Son and Hong Dao tea. At a time like 1973, we designed a project for the provincial communication agency. Thanks to this job, our room could buy some Thanh Huong, Ba Dinh, and Ngoc Son tea…

Author Nguyen Xuan Dinh

We cherish each packet of fragrant tea. Wash the kettle, rinse it with boiling water, put tea in it, and add boiling water. When you take the tea out, you can already smell the aroma. When you pour boiling water in, the aroma spreads even stronger. Oh my, lift the tea cup to your nose, slowly move it back and forth to smell the scent, then bring it up so your lips touch the tea and start taking a small sip.

The aroma, the acrid taste, and then the sweetness of the tea spread from the tip of the tongue to the drinker’s throat… Oh my, a feeling of lightness, serenity, happiness, and then nobility is spread throughout the child. People in those moments.

Yet, it must have been 30 years since Thanh Huong, Ba Dinh, and Ngoc Son tea no longer appeared, and later, Thanh Tam tea seemed to be sold freely in packages of only 10 grams. This is a premium tea with tea petals like short toothpicks; the color of the tea is moldy but delicious and fragrant; there’s nothing else to say. For fifteen years now, I have been using Tan Cuong Thai Nguyen tea as a daily substitute, but I still remember the Thanh Tam, Thanh Huong, Ba Dinh, and Ngoc Son teas from the Northern state-owned tea factory back then… Oh my. .. my never-ending love and joy for tea will forever remain vital for the remaining years of my life.