“WOULD you like a cup of tea?” It's always nice to be asked this question, as Egyptians, rich and poor alike, love this drink. Indeed, they spend LE3 billion ($544 million) annually on this delicious beverage. Certain countries have special tea rituals. For example, in China, people give adults tea as a mark of respect. It's also a marriage ritual in China, with a young man's family sending different kinds of tea to the family of the girl he wants to marry. If the bride accepts the gift, it means she accepts his proposal. The two families also drink tea during the wedding ceremony. A young man called Adham makes tea and coffee for passersby on his little stand in Midan Attaba, downtown Cairo. His prices are very reasonable, as he only charges PT75 for a glass of tea. “I make eight glasses of tea from a packet of tea costing LE2. I always make a dark, strong brew, the way my customers like it,” he says. Adham, aged about 20, comes from Fayyoum, 60 miles south of Cairo. He has an agricultural diploma. ”I couldn't find a suitable job, so here I am making tea and coffee, which people always drink,” he notes. “I didn't need any previous experience. Some customers give me LE1 and tell me to keep the change.” At the other end of the scale, there's Sami who works at an upmarket coffee shop in Mohandiseen, Giza. “Most of my customers are youngsters who want ordinary coffee or cappuccino, not tea. If they do want tea, we charge LE14 [$2.50] per cup. But normally, they ask for green tea, peppermint tea or English tea, each costing LE19,” he says. The owner of the coffee shop where Sami works must make huge profits because a box of 20 teabags costs LE24 and he uses just one bag for a cup of tea costing LE19! Sami, who earns LE850 per month plus tips, is a history graduate. He could have got a job as a teacher, but he earns more money in the coffee shop. He and a friend of his dream of opening their own coffee shop one day. Sami is engaged to an accountant and thankfully she doesn't look down on his profession. Most of his customers are young people like him and they all get on well together. Nader, a 22-year-old graduate of the Faculty of Hotels and Tourism, works at a coffee shop in a smart downtown hotel. He speaks good English and French and likes his profession. He waits on the cream of society who patronise the hotel, where a cup of tea, served with a croissant, costs a staggering LE55 ($10). “We do lemon, jasmine and mulberry tea, as well as five o'clock tea, popular with our English customers, and ‘night tea' for our American clients,” he explains. Nader says that the Japanese only drink green tea, while the Russians eat some sugar, then drink their tea unsweetened!
