What’s in a name? Is a Gaelic tea name really necessary?
You might have noticed that I am offering some teas with a Gaelic name. Let me give you a short explanation why…
First of all: I am not a Gaelic speaker, I am German. I would love to continue learning Gaelic, however, there is surprisingly enough not much possibilities for me here on the island. I started to learn in an Ulpan class and am now waiting for two more people to join so that the course can be continued. In the meantime I am sitting here, getting grumpy. There is the communal learning centre, but the class with my abilities is not in town and I am not always up to driving miles in the evening to join a class.
And as long as I am not halfway fluent in Gaelic I need to rely on other people, Gaelic speakers, to help me out when I am naming my teas.
Not all of my teas do have a Gaelic tea name though, only a few which – as least I feel like it – have a connection to the islands and their culture.
As an example: I have a beautiful breakfast tea, a really fantastic blend, which I gave the Gaelic tea name “Madainn Mhath”. This means “Good Morning” in Gaelic. A nice Gaelic tea name, or not?
The second tea with a Gaelic tea name which is now available is a herbal infusion for bad weather. I cannot use the German description or name for this, as a translation might offend a lot of people. Funny enough, in Germany it does not, it is more a joke. Ah well… cultural differences 🙂
Anyways, this herbal tea will warm you up, when the weather is really miserable or “dreicht”, as they say in Scotland. Could have used “dreicht weather”, but the the word “dreicht” is Scots, not Gaelic and I wanted Gaelic tea name for a reason, as I will soon explain..
When you have been out and about, when the weather is cold, miserable, with drizzling rain which gets to your bones and the only thing you want is getting home, change your clothes and warm up. Oh-oh, there might be a cold coming up, my nose is tickling… THIS is the best time to drink the herbal tea with all its healthy components.
With the help of some really nice and friendly people we decided to give it the Gaelic tea name “Puirtean”. This is a small, lovely harbour or haven. A place of retreat. Home. Back in . Sheltered. And this is the feeling you have, once you left the cold and come back to a lovely warm home and help yourself to this delicious brew.
Now, and why Gaelic? Because Gaelic is the language of the Gaels and still spoken here in the Western Isles where I live. I love it here and I love the language and its sound. It is an homage to a beautiful country and an ever so beautiful language. Nothing wrong with this, don’t you think?
