Humans have always gathered around warmth — fires, kitchens, kettles. Warmth lowers social defensiveness and increases empathy, according to research from the University of Colorado.
Warm beverages literally expand blood vessels in the hands, which the brain interprets as safety. Safety opens emotional pathways. This is why people talk more honestly over tea than during rushed daily exchanges.
The shape of the ritual matters: slowing down, doing something with your hands, waiting for the steep. These micro-pauses shift the brain out of urgency.
Connection is not created by conversation alone. It is created by the environment that allows conversation to deepen.
Tea is that environment. A soft, warm doorway between two nervous systems.