When we set out to form our small Republic, we had a charter to create a Tea Revolution. Our not-so-covert agenda was to show through the metaphor of tea, the lightness of taking life Sip by Sip Rather Than Gulp by Gulp. We imagined a place of unparalleled tranquility—a place where life flows at a slower, more gentle pace. Tea, we found, put us in that place—in a state of mind and being far removed from a world made jittery from speed and change and the dark, oily opiate of roasted beans.
We encourage all our Citizens to practice the art of steeping and tasting our full-leaf tea, for practice makes perfect. You will laugh more. You will look at your watch less. You will have fewer imaginary problems, once you have learned to sip.
Steam billows, the teapot fragrant. I enter a state of desires diminishing. Within the stillness, a further pleasure. Nothing coarse or superficial. This is drinking tea.
~The Minister of Leaves
