You’ve probably heard the expression “Not for all the tea in China.” And I can tell you that that’s a lot of tea. There’s Keemun Panda, Oolongs, Tie Kuan Yin, Snow Dragon, Pai Mu Tan (White Peony), etc. … see what I mean? In fact, China is the top tea-growing country in the world (the tonnage in 2009 was 1,359,000 and was over one-third of total world-wide production). The expression usually indicates that someone is asking you to do something you don’t want to do. And that brings up a whole host of possibilities. Just what would you NOT do, even if offered all that tea from China? The British drink somewhere in the neighborhood of 165 million cups of tea daily. The task would have to be pretty bad for them not to do it in exchange for tea.

Some Things Hubby and I Would NOT Do

We drink a lot of tea daily – on average about 6 to 8 cups. Most of it is black tea. But we also have oolongs, green teas, white teas, and even some pu-erhs. Most of it is from India or China. India is the #2 tea grower in the world, so the expression could be updated to “not for all the tea in China and India.” Let’s just go all out here and upgrade the expression to “not for all the tea in the world.” That’s on average about 3 million tons per year. Wow! So, for us to forego that tasty Assam, Kenyan, Keemun, Bi Luo Chun, Gunpowder, Silver Needle, Arya Ruby, Ceylon Orange Pekoe, and more, the task would have to be pretty disgusting. A total yuck!

Some ones that come to mind:

• Deactivating a bomb in the heart of London left over from World War II.
• Cleaning the public restrooms in Paris using a toothbrush.
• Hiking up Kilimanjaro carrying an elephant on my back.
• Going shoeless for a year – in Siberia.
• Digging a tunnel from my house to China using a teaspoon.

What’s Your List?

Give this careful thought. Tea is, after all, a great beverage, one that invigorates and soothes at the same time. The task would have to be pretty off-putting to make you refrain from tea.

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