When Alice follows an anxious white rabbit down a hole, little does she realise where it’ll lead: to a world of tiny doors, a royal croquet field and “a mad tea-party” where time stands still so “it’s always tea-time”. Here’s what tea to pair with the Year of the Rabbit.

Lewis Carroll’s White Rabbit is an iconic figure. Dressed, canonically, in a waistcoat and holding a pocket watch, he worries he is late. For what, Alice – the titular character in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – doesn’t know but she is intrigued enough by the anthropomorphic rabbit to follow him down a mysterious hole, which takes her to Wonderland.

What follows is a surreal adventure including, arguably, the world’s most famous fictional tea party, attended by a March Hare, a ‘mad’ Hatter and a sleepy Dormouse the other two try to stuff into the teapot. While Alice does invite herself to the table, drink a little tea and nibble some bread and butter, the event is hardly a worthwhile template for tea sessions: she walks away declaring it to be “the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life!”

This Lunar New Year (22 January), the Year of the Rabbit for many – Year of the Cat if you’re Vietnamese – you don’t need to head down a rabbit hole to find a cuppa. In fact, in Asian folklore, rabbits are associated with the moon thanks to an old Buddhist tale about a sacrifice the lagomorph makes in the presence of Sakra, ruler of heaven.

Often associated with the (northern hemisphere) mid-autumn festival period, the Jade Rabbit is nevertheless an appropriate figure to begin this New Year; known for their prolific breeding, rabbits represent new life. According to the Chinese zodiac, they are also quick but gentle, elegant, responsible and patient.

Want to know which tea to drink to usher in the Year of the Rabbit? Try these.

• Gyokuro, also known as ‘jade dew’ is a fitting tribute to the Jade Rabbit. Also try other green teas such as jade earrings or jade sword.
• Moon tea. Stay on theme with the Jade Rabbit and break out your moonlight white tea, or your pu’er discs shaped like the moon.
• Hare-y tea. Tea people love a good pun, so any of your hairy-tipped buds will do: mao feng, mao jian, mao xie.
• Tea with hunny… I mean honey. Winnie the Pooh’s friend Rabbit would approve.
• White Rabbit milk tea. Based on the popular lolly, this modern bubble tea concoction uses a black tea base topped with melted candy for sweetness and creaminess and tapioca pearls for texture. There are also kits available with other flavours including peach oolong and French vanilla. Or, if you’d rather chew than sip, try the White Rabbit matcha candy flavour.

Happy new year!

This article originally appeared in AUSTCS enews 20 January 2022. Mailchimp no longer allows external links to the original newsletter.