Tea's place during a session is on the beach or in the lineup between waves — carried cold in a bottle, never brewed hot near the water. This is the practical, unglamorous middle of the ritual.
The unglamorous middle
If the pre-surf pour is the one with any ceremony to it, during-surf is the opposite — a bottle, a lull between sets, nothing that requires two free hands on a board. This is the part of the ritual that’s easiest to get wrong by overcomplicating: no gaiwan makes it into the water, and no hot kettle makes it onto a beach with a strong onshore wind.
What works is preparation the night before. Steep a green or lightly roasted oolong, let it cool, or cold-brew it directly — most teas that hold up to a long infusion at room or fridge temperature will still taste clean four to six hours later in an insulated bottle. Pour it into whatever you already carry to the beach. The point isn’t a specific vessel; it’s having something better than lukewarm tap water waiting in the lulls.
Reading the caffeine, not just the flavour
Medium-caffeine teas suit this slot best — enough to notice through a two-hour session without stacking on top of whatever you drank pre-surf. Green teas and lightly oxidised oolongs both cold-brew well and won’t turn syrupy-bitter the way a long-steeped black tea can. If the session runs past lunch, a second bottle is a better plan than a stronger first one.