Background Normally when I drink tea I will enjoy only one kind of tea at a time, so that I can try to fully taste and understand it from start to finish. Although the roughly 150 ml teapots that I use for brewing gongfu tea are not large by Western standards, they are still large … [Read more…]
Background One of the things I love is sharing tea with people. Although drinking tea by yourself can be a great meditation, there is also something special about coming together around tea. Whatever type of tea one chooses to drink, or the mode of preparation they use to brew I’ve noticed that it’s common for … [Read more…]
Routine and Spontaneity in Tea Drinking One of my hobbies other than drinking tea is practicing Tai Ji Quan (太极拳), a form of Chinese martial art. I’ve only been playing with it for a few years, but one thing becomes clear very quickly is that it is a large world of different practices with many … [Read more…]
Background Despite the colder weather, I found myself craving a green tea. The holiday week went by quickly, but I was glad for a brief reprieve and a chance to share meals, stories, and jokes with friends and family. Times like these are useful for offering a sense of fellowship around the table, although they … [Read more…]
Background – Motivations behind Drinking Tea When I first started drinking tea I was interested in the different styles of loose leaf tea available, and the variety of their flavors and aromas. I think that the desire for certain flavors is a common Western mindset when approaching tea. At the tea shop where I work … [Read more…]
Background Recently I have welcomed a new purple clay teapot into my family, one that I have seasoned for and been using to brew Liu Bao Cha (六堡茶). Liu Bao Cha means Six Castles Tea in English. Six Castles refers to an area of Guangxi Province’s Wuzhou County that became famous for producing this kind … [Read more…]
Background Recently I’ve been drinking many different teas that I enjoy, and evaluating them with the goal of better understanding what specific qualities make a tea good in my mind. Any time I am particularly moved by a good tea, the tea (regardless of category) seems to have a few traits: enjoyable flavors and aromas, … [Read more…]
Background I’m always amazed by the great variety of Pu’er tea. The season, year, location of picking, processing methods, and storage of a tea can all impact the flavors, aromas, and overall energy that are given off by a particular Pu’er tea. For those interested in drinking Pu’er, this represents a steep learning curve. I … [Read more…]
Background After coming home from work on a Sunday night our entire house was fairly quiet. Although tea can obviously serve the purpose of waking one up for the events of the day, I’ve recently taken to occasionally enjoying tea in the late hours after I return home for the evening. On these occasions tea … [Read more…]
Background Recently on this blog I’ve focused a great deal on tasting different kinds of tea in order to find teas that are clean and enjoyable. However I have not spent as much time discussing methodologies of brewing tea, or the different kinds of tea wares that can be used. These factors are also important … [Read more…]