Up to six tea times are part of everyday life for many East Frisians. In addition to the copper-red black tea and cream, you also need a piece of rock candy – but that’s scarce now.
Empty – black tea is considered the national drink in East Friesland – but not without the so-called Kluntje. This is a piece of white rock candy over which East Frisians pour their tea into thin porcelain cups. But this Kluntje of all people is now missing in many places in East Friesland.
As the “Ostfriesen-Zeitung” first reported, some supermarkets in the region recently reported empty shelves for a certain variety, the so-called “Lüttje Kluntje”, i.e. the packs with smaller pieces of rock candy – actually a niche product, and yet the East Frisians with theirs Centuries-old tea tradition extremely popular.
Ostfriesland: bottleneck for rock candy due to lack of packaging material
However, the bottleneck is not with the small pieces of sugar themselves, as a spokeswoman for the Cologne sugar manufacturer Pfeifer and Langen said when asked by dpa and the “Ostfriesen-Zeitung”. “We have enough beet sugar there.” Rather, there is a lack of suitable paper packaging material to fill the small sugar and bring it to the shops. Overall, packing material is currently difficult to obtain, said the spokeswoman. The company also obtains this from various suppliers.
But a remedy is in sight: From the beginning of March, the filling of the popular candy variety at Pfeifer and Langen, according to their own statements the industry leader in candy sugar production in Germany, should start again and then probably be available again from the middle of the month. One very much regrets that there is now a bottleneck with the “Lüttje Kluntje”, which is coveted in East Friesland, said the spokeswoman. The special interest in this type of sugar also shows how important it is in the region.
Ostfriesland: Tourists in the tea museum are not yet affected by the lack of rock candy
Incidentally, the shortage has not yet arrived in the Bünting Tea Museum in Leer, where tourists regularly come for East Frisian tea ceremonies: “We still have small Kluntje bunkered away,” said research assistant Henning Priet. In any case, for most tea ceremonies, larger Kluntje are desired – there is no supply bottleneck for this one.
Nevertheless, the tea museum is prepared. In the event of a bottleneck, so-called Kluntjeknieper can be used, said Priet with a smile. These tongs used to be used to break larger candy into smaller pieces. “If desired, we add them to tea ceremonies,” said Priet.
Ostfriesland: Up to six tea times a day
The East Frisian tea culture goes back to the 17th century and is firmly rooted in the region in the extreme north-west of Lower Saxony. Up to six tea times (in Low German: “Teetied”) are part of everyday life for many East Frisians. The large Kluntje pieces used to be an exotic luxury product, said Priet. Anyone who had a large Kluntje in their cup also showed their prosperity. The little Kluntje, which can be dosed more precisely, is now in demand because of a more conscious diet.
The East Frisian tea culture has been recognized by Unesco as an intangible cultural heritage since 2016. Last year, the East Frisians were also recognized as world champions in drinking tea. The record institute for Germany determined that the East Frisians drink an average of 300 liters of tea per capita per year. The nationwide average is just 28 liters per capita and year. (dpa)
In January 2019, Dutch keen buyers stormed Aldi and Lidl branches in East Friesland and left empty displays for a range of products.
