Water Cooling Tea
A common ineffective way to cool tea is to pour the tea back and forth into two cups. A better way is to use the thermal mass of water to cool your tea. By placing it in a bowl of water that is deep enough to submerge 80% of the cup, the tea can be cool very fast. If you stir the tea with a spoon while sliding the cup in a circular motion inside the water, you will add another exponential cooling factor. The water in the bowl will become warm or even hot due to the rapid heat exchange.

At Pa-Auk, the monks are not allowed coffee or tea after Solar Noon and this cooling method can come in handy when 12:00 is around the corner! This rule is often believed to be a Pa-Auk/ Myanmar only rule because pickled green tea, called “lapet,” is eaten as a food. However, the rule is in effect at Pa-Auk because it is a Bhikkhu Rule in the Monastic Code. 

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