Bradford Angier - Home In Your Pack, 1965
Although not a self confessed tea lover Bradford Angier did sing its praises highly and took enjoyment in the ritual. In "Home in your pack," published 1965, he descibes his tea needs simply.
“Tea is something I’ve long preferred to carry in the usual form, if only for the pleasant rite of tossing a handful of palm-measured leaves into the bubbling kettle.”
Angier also goes into some detail about the place tea holds for many a northern woodsman.
“The northern woodsman, particularly the Canadian, must sip his steaming cup of tea at noon, even if he has nothing to eat. This is almost a religion up under the Aurora Borealis, it’s called “b’iling the kittle.” Only a temporary fire is needed, a mere handful of dry wood that will flare briefly and as quick fall to ashes, a few specks of which invariably seem to swirl up to float unheeded in the dark brew. Get the water bubbling. Drop in a roughly measured tea spoon of tea for every cup of water and set immediately from the heat in a safe place. Five minutes steeping is sufficient.”
I think that Angier paints a vivid picture of the ritual and while today a fire might not always be appropriate and tea bags may be favoured the tradition lives on. Angier was a great and prolific writer, all of his books are worth a look if you can find them.