tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-280159632024-03-05T22:48:17.495-08:00The Oolong Tea TimesThe official tea blog of J-TEA International. Let's share tea together!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.comBlogger168125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-24380482825147299082015-04-20T22:02:00.000-07:002015-04-20T22:06:47.945-07:00The Oolong Tea Times Has A New Home<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R8zMz2LCatM/VTXa2a1FTKI/AAAAAAAALWI/Oa1nHKQb_bA/s1600/IMG_2124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R8zMz2LCatM/VTXa2a1FTKI/AAAAAAAALWI/Oa1nHKQb_bA/s1600/IMG_2124.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
After much consideration, we've decided
to integrate The Oolong Tea Times into our revamped website. The new
blog can be found here: <a href="https://www.jteainternational.com/blog" target="_blank">The New Oolong Tea Times Link</a>. We are doing
this so that the content on the blog will help with our search engine
results. The new format will improve over time and we will be adding
content constantly. We also have several guest bloggers that we are
excited to be working with. If you are interested in writing a piece
for our tea blog, feel free to contact us via the new website's
<a href="https://www.jteainternational.com/contact" target="_blank">contact form</a>. Thanks for reading and we look forward to future tea
interactions and hopefully useful tea rambling.
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Thanks for reading!
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<br /></div>
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The J-TEA Team</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Because there is no “I” in team,
but there is most definitely a “tea” in team...</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-43896402266137819842014-10-08T12:48:00.002-07:002014-10-08T12:48:17.056-07:00Ware's the Tea Ware? - by Anna V. SmithPeople often come into J-TEA in search
of tea ware to accompany their high quality teas from our teashop.
These people are usually in two different categories. There are the
tea drinkers who want volume, and there are the tea drinkers that
want the experience. Of course there is general crossover, but let me
explain further:<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The tea drinkers who want volume are
usually the ones that like the 16 ounce mugs of tea and big teapots
akin to the kinds in restaurants, and are generally English style
like our Forlife Teapot. Focusing on the volume of tea seems to be
how most American tea drinkers work, it seems. I guess Americans in
general like volume, whether its french fries or tea. These are
sometimes the customers who come in and giggle at the portly 2 ounce
teapots and call them cute or too small. They prefer tea in large
amounts that they can take with them on the go, for which we
recommend the <a href="http://jteainternational.com/index.php/tea-shop/teaware/forlife-tea-infuser/" target="_blank">Forlife Tea Infuser</a>.
I love it because it's so versatile; you can steep whole <i>Camilla
sinensis</i> leaves or little
chamomile flowers and it catches all the particulates. Plus, it fits a
lot of different sized cups, which is convenient.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-39kYoH50HBkD3Da5jrXaS_o9vjsPh9eIj4HekGodGFNuUlCuq7WXJEbHiO_T897ZESFVyXP-zLcvt7GsghyuVye-jv_9z61B2gGz1oOVLbIicCzK65RCKsw0T2QFpJSYEvilQ/s1600/P1010547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-39kYoH50HBkD3Da5jrXaS_o9vjsPh9eIj4HekGodGFNuUlCuq7WXJEbHiO_T897ZESFVyXP-zLcvt7GsghyuVye-jv_9z61B2gGz1oOVLbIicCzK65RCKsw0T2QFpJSYEvilQ/s1600/P1010547.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional Yixing Teapot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The other tea drinkers want the
experience. By "the experience," I mean the ritual of
drinking tea. These folks are the ones who go for the 2 ounce tea
pots and the porcelain cups. Sure, it's a small amount, but if you're
planning on sitting there with friends for a few hours to drink tea,
then it's no problem to keep filling up the tea pot to share it in
your little cups. These are the ones who go for guy-wans and the <a href="http://jteainternational.com/tea-shop/teapots/" target="_blank">Yixing traditional clay teapots</a>, as well as the
petite cups.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Of course, it doesn't matter which
category you fall into. Many start with the first, and then as they
gradually <a href="http://j-tea.blogspot.com/2014/09/falling-into-tea.html" target="_blank">fall into tea</a>, start to
identify with the second category more. Both categories have the pros
and cons depending on your preference, and I myself feel like I'm
more of the volume person - I have both the Forlife teapot and
infuser at home that I brew my tea in. Of course, I get to be in "the
experience" category all day at work for other people.
</div>
<br />
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<br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-75265466534092215562014-10-02T18:06:00.000-07:002014-10-02T18:07:11.947-07:002014 Vertical Tea Tasting: Falling into TeaIt's been decided that this fall, J-TEA
will conduct a series of tea tasting events in which we plan to drink
several teas from the J-Tea collection, but in a different way than
many of you might have experienced in the past. This is a vertical
tasting, meaning that all of the teas to be tasted will be in the
same category. We already compared six of the high mountain green
oolongs and it was a blast. Next up is roasted oolongs. Additional
tastings featuring Formosa, Iron Goddess of Mercy, Aged Oolong,
Cooked Puer, and Raw Puer will be scheduled soon. The vertical tea
tasting series might just take us right through the winter. In the
interest of identifying particular flavors we will do our best to
pull it off.<br />
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's our hope that this series with
help us understand what creates a flavor that we particularly enjoy
and that you will find a tea or two that you are especially fond of
and might not have previously known about.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Vertical tea tastings involve tasting
teas that, by their categorization, are similar. Currently it's my
opinion that this is one of the more important aspects of tea to
study. For instance, how are two teas grown in the Dong Ding region
similar or different and what factors contribute?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A couple of weeks ago we completed the
first of our vertical tea tastings. We drank six high mountain green
oolong teas. The teas were largely similar, with minor differences.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Here are the teas we tasted last time:<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://jteainternational.com/tea-shop/high-mountain-green-oolong-tea/spring-lily/" target="_blank">Spring Lily</a> Spring 14 – A golden lily (jin xuan) varietal.
Spring harvest Mei Shan Mountain, on the shoulder of Mt Ah Li. High
mountain, approximately 1,200 meters.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://jteainternational.com/tea-shop/high-mountain-green-oolong-tea/shan-lin-xi-winter/" target="_blank">Shan Lin Xi Winter 13</a> –A green heart
(qing xin) varietal. Higher elevation, approximately 1,600 meters,
Shan Lin Xi, Nantou Central Taiwan winter harvest.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://jteainternational.com/tea-shop/high-mountain-green-oolong-tea/shan-lin-xi-winter-14/" target="_blank">Shan Lin Xi Winter 14</a> – Same as
above, but 2014 vs. 2013.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://jteainternational.com/tea-shop/high-mountain-green-oolong-tea/tai-he-first-stop/" target="_blank">Tai He First Stop</a> Spring 13 – A green
heart (qing xin) varietal. Grown on the back side of Mt. Ah Li,
Approximately 1500 meters, spring harvest.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://jteainternational.com/tea-shop/high-mountain-green-oolong-tea/tai/" target="_blank">Tai He Sun</a> Spring 13 – Same as the
one above, but different farm and different processor.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0nP6K_XRayQodePW1p9rMzXiqBp8CaPlP6Te2fdOxq4GCLa2cAPYfx5gCSZ9fKVYmz8N7Vrs69-jWkQXdF8GXnIDD13jtVZ2KMPe3KY1uY3qVDZRc-xRIKsc4HqYHvjp-t8whpQ/s1600/IMG_1446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0nP6K_XRayQodePW1p9rMzXiqBp8CaPlP6Te2fdOxq4GCLa2cAPYfx5gCSZ9fKVYmz8N7Vrs69-jWkQXdF8GXnIDD13jtVZ2KMPe3KY1uY3qVDZRc-xRIKsc4HqYHvjp-t8whpQ/s1600/IMG_1446.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tai He Sun tea farm at harvest time.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span id="goog_1484983030"></span><span id="goog_1484983031"></span><br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XV_MoFE40Uo/VC31mGeu8uI/AAAAAAAALT8/_-cC2SqmaNU/s1600/IMG_1441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XV_MoFE40Uo/VC31mGeu8uI/AAAAAAAALT8/_-cC2SqmaNU/s1600/IMG_1441.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picking the fresh buds on the Tai He side of Mt. Ah Li.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://jteainternational.com/tea-shop/high-mountain-green-oolong-tea/cui-ran-spring/" target="_blank">Cui Ran</a> Spring 13 – A green heart
varietal grown at approximately 1800 meters, in the Li Shan mountain
range, far from oceanic influence, Spring harves.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I gave participants some criteria to
consider when evaluating the teas. We use the senses eyes, nose, and
taster to evaluate...</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Difference between winter and spring
harvest</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Difference between 2013 and 2014</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Difference between golden lily (jin
xuan) and green heart (qing xing)</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Difference of elevation</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Degree of oxidation</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Degree of roast</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Differences caused by processing</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It’s fun to taste teas in the
vertical format in an organized tasting with others. Last time, with
the high mountain greens, people noticed the differences between the
teas, although they were subtle. We used a standardized brew method
in which we used 3g of each tea, brewed in the Jian Ding Bei <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">(150ml)
</span>boiling water, and steeped for 5 minutes. Each person had an
individual bowl of tea to ladle tea from with the white porcelain
spoon into the small drinking cups. The spoons can then be used for
smelling the aroma of the tea. The empty porcelain spoon, once having
been dipped into the tea, retains the scent of the tea. It's strange,
but it works. It's as if the scent sticks to the spoon.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When asked to pick a favorite, the
participants grumbled for a bit and almost all of them had a
different opinion. Exciting! No clear favorite. Some participants
liked the Spring Lily best, some like the Shan Lin Xi Winter '13
best, some liked the Cui Ran best, and some liked the Tai He (both of
them) best.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A few days after high mountain green
oolong tasting, two guests returned to request that we have the next
vertical tasting on a Friday. Apparently some people have trouble
going to sleep after drinking copious amounts of tea. And for that
reason, we are doing the vertical roasted oolong tasting on Friday,
10/10 from 6 to 8 pm. In order to help us prepare for the class, we
are asking people to sign up in advance. If you would like to sign
up, call or stop in the tea house on Friendly Street (541) 357-5492.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-4606295926429861562014-09-24T16:53:00.003-07:002014-09-25T12:55:51.198-07:00Falling into Tea<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C0ODOJqsL9s/VCNYS_fC2FI/AAAAAAAALSI/uSnBDkFOKjk/s1600/IMG_1555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C0ODOJqsL9s/VCNYS_fC2FI/AAAAAAAALSI/uSnBDkFOKjk/s1600/IMG_1555.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green tea steeping in glass</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Will you witness the fall? Warn your
friends and family: tea is contagious! It has been known to obsess a
person. I've seen on multiple occasions personal collections of tea
that could not be consumed even in the course of three lifetimes. A
person with this volume of tea for personal consumption has fallen
into tea.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tea…the plant that fueled the British
industrial revolution, the plant that was symbolically and literally
dumped into the Boston Harbor, the leaf from which by adding hot
water you have the most widely consumed beverage the world over,
second only to water. Many people drink tea as an everyday beverage.
<a href="http://j-tea.blogspot.com/2014/07/tea-people.html" target="_blank">Tea people</a> do, but how many Americans
have an awareness of tea? America might be far from topping the list
of per capita pounds of tea consumed per month, but I would wager a
guess that the U.S. has the world’s largest latent tea drinking
population. Latent tea people, upon waking, often with the help of
some high quality tea, seem intent on making up for lost time.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Do you want to know one of tea's
greatest health benefits?</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It makes us feel good in the same way
that drugs can make us feel good, but considerably less intense. Tea
isn't just good for our bodies; it is also good for our minds. To
someone like me, Caffeine plus L-Theanine equals brain euphoria. Tea
is something magical, like laughter. To quote Jimmy Buffett, “If we
couldn't laugh, we would all go insane.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A latent tea drinker is a prime
candidate and the only ones that actually fall into tea. The
transformation from not having tea as a part of their lives, to not
being able to imagine life without tea is profound.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Falling into tea is like if you fell
into a well and it is impossible to get out. After visiting J-TEA a
time or two, once they find themselves making tea for themselves at
least once, if not three times per day. At three times a day,
consumption would average about a pound per month. This is closer to
the per capita consumption of Ireland, commonly the highest per
capita tea consuming nation. You go from not knowing that you like
tea to not being able to live without tea.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O39Ptqju9xw/VCNYP1As5zI/AAAAAAAALSA/SuT6sNcBrG4/s1600/IMG_1400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O39Ptqju9xw/VCNYP1As5zI/AAAAAAAALSA/SuT6sNcBrG4/s1600/IMG_1400.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stacks of oxidizing oolong tea</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>What are the signs that someone has
fallen into tea?</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
-Brewing and drinking tea several times
a day is a start.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
-Collecting large quantities of tea for
“personal consumption”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
-Getting together with friends,
expressly for the purpose of brewing tea</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
-Viewing the taking of tea to be a
favorite activity</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
-Collecting a variety of tea ware</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
-Buying tea with the intent of aging it</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
-Buying certain tea ware for certain
kinds of tea</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Maybe they start a collection of rocks
that will positively influence the water for brewing tea, or they are
very focused on finding better quality of water for tea, or they have
a tea travel case, maybe they take this travel case with them
wherever they go, or they are building a tea aging area in their
home, or they start a tea blog, a tea review site. They might take
their own tea with them wherever they go. They might be in the habit
of buying puer by the tong (seven cakes). And the surest sign that a
person has fallen into tea is if they themselves go into the tea
business.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wtLKawkL8Vs/VCNZSJVqRWI/AAAAAAAALSU/tWFBLVlQABg/s1600/IMG_0969.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wtLKawkL8Vs/VCNZSJVqRWI/AAAAAAAALSU/tWFBLVlQABg/s1600/IMG_0969.jpg" height="640" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tai He side of Mt. Ah Li. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-75350840605531983552014-09-16T16:11:00.003-07:002014-09-16T16:11:34.228-07:00Coffee Vs. Tea by Andrew HessYou can almost feel the tension build
thinking about this one simple question: Do you drink coffee or tea?
So often I hear this question presented in this manner: coffee or
tea? Coffee, or tea? Why does it have to be "or"? I find,
more often than not, people will have a specific answer one way or
the other. This is when I find myself in the middle ground. I drink
coffee AND tea. As a matter of fact, I drink a lot of both.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The similarities of the two drinks is
impressive, and frequently I find that the people who only drink tea
or coffee have the same reasons for sticking with their beverage of
choice. And many of these people don't realize that the other drink
may have just what they are looking for.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When you begin to look at the two
drinks, you realize just how similar they are. These four things are
just a few aspects that come to mind:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
1. True with both coffee and tea: if
pre-ground and low in price, you will never have as satisfying of a
taste as a fresh ground, whole bean or full leaf tea.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
2. You are able to find teas and
coffees in a wide array of prices. These prices typically dictate
quality as well, whether you are buying an ounce of Sun Moon Lake
black tea or a pound of high quality Kopi Luwak coffee beans. The
price will be high, but the quality is even higher.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
3. Deep, roasty, sweet, floral, berry,
savory, rich, malty: all words to describe coffee and tea.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
4. People drink both to wake up in the
morning, and some even drink them in the evening before going to
sleep. People relax over cups of tea and coffee everyday.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
While there are many similarities, for
every one thing that is the same there is probably at least one thing
that is different as well. One of the main differences I have noticed
amongst the two cultures is using additives to the drink, namely
cream and sugar. This is where I differ drastically between the two
drinks. Allow me to explain: Right now my two favorite types of tea
are high mountain green oolongs and formosa region teas. Both of
these have more delicate flavors with many sweet, floral, buttery and
smooth flavors. I prefer all of these unadulterated. Tea is, in my
opinion, best enjoyed pure; simply water and leaves.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My coffee, on the other hand, is
anything but "pure." While I do enjoy a good strong cup of
black coffee, I prefer it on the sweeter side. This may be an
understatement, actually. There have been times when I've had my
"coffee" described as hot chocolate with a shot of coffee.
Like with many things, this difference in preference shows that there
is a time, place and mood for both drinks.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
While I do find myself enjoying both
drinks, I too am guilty of being able to distinctly answer the
question: coffee or tea? If I had to pick one, it would always be tea
for me. There are many reasons for this, but my main reason for this
is the process. I am fully enthralled with tea, and I love the
motions performed to brew tea in the gong-fu style. From the moment I
open my tin of tea and smell its wafting scent, I can feel a wave of
comfort and relaxation come over me. While I brew most of my coffee
in the pour over style, which I guess is the gong-fu of coffee, I
still never quite feel the enjoyment I get from gong-fu cha.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So while I thoroughly enjoy both
drinks, the lack of process and care that coffee requires will always
make it fall short of tea for me.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So what does all of this rambling boil
down to? My name is Andrew Hess, I drink coffee AND tea, but given a
choice between the two I will always reach for the cup of tea.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-21088336779338453062014-09-10T22:05:00.003-07:002014-09-10T22:05:22.618-07:00Locally Grown Tea - Oregon Black Tea<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
People continue to be fascinated with
the fact that there is locally grown tea right here in Oregon.
Locally grown <i>Camellia sinensis</i>, no less. We are not talking
about herbal tea, but the actual tea leaf, growing right here in
Oregon. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When picking tea, as with different tea
types, there are different picks. With high mountain green oolong
tea, the standard is two leaves and a bud. This means that you will
often see the baby leaf, the tip, or the bud, accompanied by the two
lower leaves.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I was looking at some "Two leaves and a bud" tea the other day. One thing I noticed, it was <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">three leaves</span> and a very small bud. It
is as if they waited just until the bud started to grow and then
picked this batch of tea as if to nip it in the bud... See the two pics of <a href="http://jteainternational.com/tea-shop/high-mountain-roasted-oolong-tea/dong-ding-light-bake/" target="_blank">Dong Ding Light Bake</a> below:</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e_-0UIcn-cE/VBDdp3ytSRI/AAAAAAAALRA/fxrcmGHcvXs/s1600/photo%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Dong Ding Light Bake" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e_-0UIcn-cE/VBDdp3ytSRI/AAAAAAAALRA/fxrcmGHcvXs/s1600/photo%2B2.jpg" height="320" title="Dong Ding Light Bake" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dong Ding Light Bake</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
And zooming in on the baby tip:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5qSxECnqPPI/VBDe-1K07-I/AAAAAAAALRM/KZTrgsAk6BM/s1600/photo%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5qSxECnqPPI/VBDe-1K07-I/AAAAAAAALRM/KZTrgsAk6BM/s1600/photo%2B2.jpg" height="400" width="283" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Then with something like the Yunnan
Gold Tips, it is all tips, but the tips are much more mature than the
tips of the Dong Ding Light Bake. The latest picking of the Minto Island Tea made me realize that if you are only going to pick tips, and only
include tips into your batch of tea, then you can wait for the tips
to get bigger. You can pick the tips when they are more mature. The
tips will still be pliable and able to be influenced by the
processing. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
But if pick more than just tips when the tips are already big, the additional leaves might be too mature. Try as you might to influence the leaves' rate of oxidation through massaging or rolling the leaf, you are wasting
your time. These leaves have already developed a protective surface
that make human manipulation nearly impossible. Maybe this is the
over-mature orange pekoe that gets thrown to the leaf shredders for
the cut and sift or the tea bag cut leaf processing. It's just too
dang stubborn to do anything else with. If the bud is more mature
than all we get to work with is buds.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
There is nothing bad about that, it's
just that you will have to pick a lot more tea because each
pinch that is a plucking of the leaf from the plant is just of a bud. Buds, even big buds, by their nature, are small and light weight. If you pick the two leaves and
a bud, each pinch has more leaf as well as some stem which makes the
weight of tea per pluck much more substantial, thus less picking. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wVtJxWJW6MA/VBDkayudm4I/AAAAAAAALRk/yD1eqldxAsg/s1600/photo%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wVtJxWJW6MA/VBDkayudm4I/AAAAAAAALRk/yD1eqldxAsg/s1600/photo%2B1.jpg" height="640" width="196" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Below we have the locally grown Minto Island black tea. The big brownish leaf is what we want to avoid. Generally we want our tea to look consistent, but this leaf is the inconsistency. These leaves look this way because they were already too mature and too tough at the time of processing. We managed to pick most of these over mature leaves out. This most recent batch is our best batch yet. It has a lot of furry tips and this is promising. It has some similarities to a silver tip oolong. Flavor notes for the Minto Black include: pine, mint, cinnamon, and honey.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHmwHOjRrXRwgGEtsu1gv900nAz65CgZTc2B-EUhamIzZEKZ_b7sBClYaHLYpOFinnjzIBedCxx2GTU6MGcIAkTejGKAgEtm5ahqoMAIDwDcZ9R5C5IZ_SuiwMvUSnX8ernsUdA/s1600/IMG_0367.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHmwHOjRrXRwgGEtsu1gv900nAz65CgZTc2B-EUhamIzZEKZ_b7sBClYaHLYpOFinnjzIBedCxx2GTU6MGcIAkTejGKAgEtm5ahqoMAIDwDcZ9R5C5IZ_SuiwMvUSnX8ernsUdA/s1600/IMG_0367.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Minto Island Oregon Grown Black Tea 2014</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rpa5wPmJq_0/VBDLzx_Y5QI/AAAAAAAALQo/AOzXgJ8GUZg/s1600/IMG_0369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rpa5wPmJq_0/VBDLzx_Y5QI/AAAAAAAALQo/AOzXgJ8GUZg/s1600/IMG_0369.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Minto Island Grown J-TEA processed black tea, August 28th, 2014</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-82771366353231079862014-09-08T15:47:00.001-07:002014-09-08T16:13:46.910-07:00Oregon Grown Tea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jzyNlVvcC0o/VA4sjZgBjkI/AAAAAAAALPw/rjwTUubV76k/s1600/IMG_2326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jzyNlVvcC0o/VA4sjZgBjkI/AAAAAAAALPw/rjwTUubV76k/s1600/IMG_2326.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.mintogrowers.com/" target="_blank">Minto Island Growers</a> is a
farm located in Salem, Oregon that has grown tea for over 20 years. It did take me a while to find out of their
actual existence. Upon meeting Elizabeth's mother on our last visit
up north, I learned that this was not an accident. It seems that the
man behind the tea, Rob Miller, preferred not to publicize any of his
tea experiments on the web. So after hearing rumors of the alleged
tea farm in Salem, I went searching for them on the almighty Google,
and there was nothing... nothing. What?!!! How could this be. I had
no choice but to wait. And wait I did, almost a year.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Flash forward to present: <a href="http://j-tea.blogspot.com/2012/09/oregon-grown-introducing-minto-island.html" target="_blank">working with Minto Island Growers</a> to produce some high quality black tea. Is
the stuff awesome? I'd say it is pretty good. But one of the
challenges has been narrowing in on harvest times, as well as
organizing the picking of the various flushes that come at different
times of year. The plot was created as a tea experimentation plot by
Rob Miller and several varietals of tea plants were planted on the
land some 20 plus years ago. Mostly the tea just grew. They worked with experts and learned what they could, but were unable to produce anything that they felt confident bringing to market.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u-vuXxmdYIA/VA4si2WCQjI/AAAAAAAALPk/AS4C1je0voc/s1600/IMG_1024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u-vuXxmdYIA/VA4si2WCQjI/AAAAAAAALPk/AS4C1je0voc/s1600/IMG_1024.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1y7umdFi0BQ/VA4sjf_PxmI/AAAAAAAALPo/9GbdsisJqz0/s1600/IMG_1025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1y7umdFi0BQ/VA4sjf_PxmI/AAAAAAAALPo/9GbdsisJqz0/s1600/IMG_1025.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now, J-TEA and Balez Oh'Hops Hanger are
the only ones currently processing tea for Minto Island. You can also
buy the J-TEA version from J-TEA, at the farm in Salem and at the
Portland State University farmers market. The Minto Island Farm also
has an amazing food cart that they sell delicious creations straight
out of the farm. Minto is the real deal.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It has been a great experience working
to help bring this tea to market. Inspiring all the way. I've
learned a thing or two about processing tea. Is it feasible that tea is a farming cash crop? The answer to that question has yet to be proven. Signs say, US grown tea is coming to market.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPmN0DP9hhmEz3mSIvAoVZwasVBdUVjMBld3_oXWkQ6MoJdmgaN8BtLNdlY_30KnDBQbHoMpiAsYioHJItS3cpb3XDgNYxYs5hKAuNTExg_C-LJcctazezxl5KAGJveFli9ZVmg/s1600/IMG_2361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPmN0DP9hhmEz3mSIvAoVZwasVBdUVjMBld3_oXWkQ6MoJdmgaN8BtLNdlY_30KnDBQbHoMpiAsYioHJItS3cpb3XDgNYxYs5hKAuNTExg_C-LJcctazezxl5KAGJveFli9ZVmg/s1600/IMG_2361.jpg" height="326" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
To try our <a href="http://jteainternational.com/tea-shop/black-tea/oregon-grown-minto-island-black/" target="_blank">Minto Island black tea</a>, you
can order it online off our website, come into the shop to get a package, or try it by the cup.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-1637778779428975742014-07-14T00:20:00.001-07:002014-07-15T20:25:50.448-07:00Not Your Typical Taipei Field Trip Like drunkards returning home from an
all-nighter, we staggered away from the bus as the sun broke through
the horizon to the left of us. We were tea people returning home
after one of the most epic tea adventures ever. As we started out the
day before, the plan was to take the high speed rail to Taipei, tour
an artist's home, attend a spring roll festival, visit Taipei tea
spots, meet elder tea teachers, and either sleep over or head back.
The plan was left open, with room for flexibility. We got most of the
way through it and here's what actually happened.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As soon as we got to Taipei, I broke
off with Teacher Wang for a tour of Yang Po Lin's home / studio and a
visit with the artist himself.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Teacher Wang had arranged the tour and
invited me along the night before. I had no idea who he was so she
quickly filled in with some background information. She made YPL out
to be a national treasure. In short, he was an extraordinary artist
who came from nothing and had a tough childhood.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We woke up early, at 7 am, to get on
the 8 am high speed rail to Taipei. A big group of us were headed up.
As our party convened at the rail station, I was temporarily alarmed
to find that the party consisted of seven or eight upper middle-aged
Taiwanese women. The scenario seems overwhelming this early in the
morning. This dynamic presents a high level of cultural difference.
But, after getting more sleep as we floated over the magnetized
tracks at a speed that I am generally uncomfortable with, interacting
with the group started to seem like it would be interesting. A friend
of Teacher Wang picked us up at the Taipei Station. The driver,
originally from Tainan, was using GPS to guide us to YPL's home.
Although it guided incorrectly at first, we eventually made it to the
windy mountain road that led to the house.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We parked the cars at the end of the
drive ,which was more like a jungle road lined with a maze of
shipping containers. The containers showed signs of use. My guess was
that they were being used for work, storage, or something else
completely. They defused some sort of creative energy and were in the
process of being consumed by the jungle. I wanted to stay and
explore, but the party was being whisked forward. Within the Taiwan
jungle, there lay a public art piece. I wanted to slow down again and
take it all in, but I would then be holding up the line, which
wouldn't be polite, so I struggled to keep up. Upon entering, we were
informed that we could take pictures, but were not to specifically
take a picture of a particular piece, not to try to capture a piece
in a photo. I wasn't really sure what this meant, so I observed. What
I saw was mind expanding. I later learned that he rarely allowed
people into this space, but Teacher Wang had insisted that we meet
him here as it was vital to her research. He had agreed and he was a
tolerant and gracious host. His assistant brought us personally
specialized coffee, and he signed our names in one of his books if we
chose to buy one. Of course I did and the copy of his rendition of my
name is here:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_H2MIgVmpTg/U8OEPZbpuHI/AAAAAAAALOA/0p04KggidWY/s1600/photo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_H2MIgVmpTg/U8OEPZbpuHI/AAAAAAAALOA/0p04KggidWY/s1600/photo+1.jpg" height="400" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My name in Chinese: 陳博倫</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As he states in the English Preface –
Craziness and Self-Discipline: “I was born in the most destitute
fishing village of Yuanlin County.” His fate, to go from
destitution to extreme wealth in the span of a lifetime, was a
result of his creative endeavors. It was impressive, but I couldn't
help but think that he was not yet satisfied. As I was clear that
accomplishment and apparent success do not rid us of feelings such as
emptiness or loneliness. I wanted to ask him, “Are you there yet?
Have you reached your goal?” He probably would have said that each
and every moment his goal is to be in the flow. Creating his vision
and bringing it to life is the goal.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I signed his guest book with something
to the effect of, “Your creative spirit leaves a path of
inspiration in its wake,” or my best version of that in Chinese. He
read it over and smiled because I used some strange Chinese words,
but said that it was understood and acceptable. I am always glad to
be understood...</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As we piled back into the cars
for the ride back down the hill, all of us were changed. Changed in
the soul and serene. If you want to know what happened next, wait for
me to brew up this next cup of tea...</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-82126344863841620962014-07-08T00:15:00.001-07:002014-07-08T00:15:41.445-07:00Don't Dump that Tea!<span style="font-family: inherit;">The other day a customer asked
how long the first rinse infusion should be. He mentioned that he had
read that it was supposed to be about one minute. I let him know that
one minute is a hearty infusion. However, that is because I am always
brewing tea at a high tea-to-water ratio in little unglazed teapots
that retain heat like a son-of-a-gun. This particular customer was
brewing out of a bigger pot and using less tea. So I recommended that
he add just enough water to fully cover the leaf, maybe a tiny bit
more, and then pour this off immediately. This is long enough for a
rinse infusion. I mentioned that some people even drink this first
infusion. For those of you who see pouring out the first rinse akin to dumping tea into the Boston Harbor, there is also hope for
you. Some tea masters even encourage consuming this first rinse.
Maybe this will make sense as I explain that the first infusion is
not as much of a rinse as it is a waking of the leaves.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bgnmf1dBdO8/U7edQhjgC7I/AAAAAAAALNY/yIF3CeONjEc/s1600/IMG_0833.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bgnmf1dBdO8/U7edQhjgC7I/AAAAAAAALNY/yIF3CeONjEc/s1600/IMG_0833.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As a warm infusion comes to an end - Photo by Andrew Hess</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My goal for the timing of the
rinse infusion when brewing the old fashioned gong fu way is to pour
the liquid from the brew pot as quickly as humanly possible while
refraining from appearing rushed. There are several steps that need
to be taken when doing a rinse infusion. After bringing a freshly
drawn pot of water to a boil, pour water from the kettle into the
small yi xing pot, replace the lid to the small pot, return the
kettle back to its home and pour the out the liquid from the small
tea pot. It's ok to use both hands. The right hand can be doing one
thing while the left is doing another. And, like a yoga routine,
knowing what you are going to do next with your left hand, with your
right hand, makes the process more fluid and thus quicker, speeding
the whole process up a bit, while maintaining a sense of even pace
and calmness. Practice makes perfect. Or in this case, because tea
people are so much more humble by nature, practice makes better.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-right: 0.05in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-right: 0.05in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In Chinese, the technical term
for this first rinse infusion is referred to as 溫潤泡
(wen1 run4 pao4) “warm infusion.” This is something I've only
seen done with gong fu tea. People think that the point of the warm infusion is to rinse the tea leaves. You might have heard me say,
“Tea is an agricultural product. Just like fruits and vegetables,
before eating them, it is a good idea to wash them.” Now I just
say, “hogwash.” The previous statement is hogwash. Whether or not
tea needs to be rinsed, I am not sure. When people steep their PG
Tips in a brown betty, is there a rinse involved?
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-right: 0.05in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-right: 0.05in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The point of the warm infusion is to “wake up” the tea leaves. If you wake them up,
they will be better suited to wake you up. Is that true? No... Waking
the tea leaves means that you get them to open just a bit. Why do we
need to do this? My current favorite reason is that it gets
everything positioned in the pot just so, so that the next infusion,
the first drinking infusion, will come off without a hitch. The water
will pour smoothly from the pot without getting clogged. Does this
always work perfectly? No, but when it does, the feeling is sublime.
It takes a bit of practice, and this part of what makes the reward of
well steeped tea so sweet. </span>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-46586602395086259852014-07-02T13:26:00.000-07:002014-07-02T13:26:15.093-07:00Tea People<span style="font-family: inherit;">As butterflies dance around each other,
so too do people get to know tea. Sometimes they are dancing around
tea, but they haven't yet been made the connection. The greatness of
tea is still outside of their awareness. There is a special kind of
tea person: the tea person who is a tea person before they even know
they are a tea person. We can call them a latent tea person. A person
who loves tea, but does not yet know they love the tea. This is
mostly because they have either not had the right kind of tea, a good
tea, or they have not had tea presented in a way that makes them fall
in love with the tea. But once they experience the right tea in the
right setting, that is just what happens, they fall... and fall hard,
deep into the world of tea. They are different than the average
person who gets into tea, because when they do, it's as if they have
just met a long lost friend. There is no doubt for them that tea fits
into their life. They know they will be enjoying high quality tea
from that moment when they first experience it until they are no
longer with us, here on this earth.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's funny, after being in the tea
business for a while, I can practically smell a tea person, even a
tea person who does not yet know they are a tea person. I can almost
tell by looking at them, and observing the way that they hold
themselves. But then after talking with them for a bit, I can be 90
percent sure if they are a tea person or not. What are some common
characteristics of a tea person? They like to travel to distant lands
and learn about cultures that are very different from their own. They
might be a food person, or a wine person. They are generally into
expansive thinking and view the world through a positive framework.
They are very often intellectual and exploratory in their thinking,
meaning that they want to learn how to view the world and their place
in the world in a positive light. Sometimes people are into tea for
their own reasons. I once had a customer tell me that he drinks tea
because he doesn't eat vegetables. Thus, a tea drinker is a tea
drinker, but they might not be a tea person.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-38179742836349675302014-06-30T20:36:00.000-07:002014-07-01T23:09:49.674-07:00Lin Tai Ping, Are You Dead Yet?<span style="font-family: inherit;">I met Lin Tai Ping about ten years and
the man struck me as a nut. He was crazy, crazy about joking. On my
last trip, I was sitting in a local tea shop when I looked over and
saw this old guy ordering a drink. He had a hat on pulled down, so it
was hard to make out his features, but his voice was familiar.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Lin Tai Ping,” I called out his
name. He walked toward me saying, “I am Lin Tai Ping.”
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“I know,” I answered.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Who are you?” he asked.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“I am that foreigner friend,” I
answered.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Oh, that is you! You are more
handsome than before. I didn't recognize you.”
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He sat down with his tea and asked me
if I wanted one. “I've got one,” I said, showing him mine. In our
greetings, since I know he is a big fan of photography, I showed him
the six physical photographs of Elijah that I carried with me
everywhere I went. He was pleased, laughing and cajoling as if Elijah
were there in person.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“He looks just like you! It is
amazing. Look, look,” he said holding the photo up for Uncle Ray to
see. “This baby is this man's child,” he said pointing at me.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“There is no way that kid is his.
I've met his wife. There is no way that the two of them made this
baby.” Uncle Ray said skeptically.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“You are an idiot!” he says to
Uncle Ray. He turns to me, “That man is stupid,” he says.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“He's jealous,” I reply.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“You are an idiot, Uncle Ray! Look at
how much this child looks like him.” He gives me back the pictures
and starts talking to me.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Do you know, I just had the funniest
thing happen to me. The newspaper reported that a man from Taiwan was
traveling in Mainland China and was the unfortunate victim of a bus
accident. His name was Lin Tai Ping, the same as mine, and he was the
same age as me.” I'd heard about this story, and it was fun to hear
it straight from the man himself.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“I tell you, my Auntie is 90. She saw
the news at midnight. She didn't want to call so late, but she
was so worried. She waited as long as she could, but when she
couldn't take it anymore, she called me at 4:30 in the morning. My
phone was on, but when I answered, I was still half asleep and my
voice was very horse. “Who is this?” she asked. “Lin Tai Ping,”
I answered. “No, really. Who is this?” “I am Lin Tai Ping.”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After she knew it was me, she started
crying and told me that she was so worried. In the end, 83 people
called in after hearing the news story, enough people for Tai Ping
to start to have some fun with it. When a good friend would call, Tai
Ping would answer, “This is Lin Tai Ping, I am dead.” When his
religious cousin called, he answered, “I am sitting next to God
now. Is there anything you want to ask him?” Tai Ping describes his
sense of humor as a contagion. “Maybe you are in a bad mood and
don't feel like joking. But by the time I am done with you, you will
be joking right along.”
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I ask this man what he is doing out and
about. He is a professional photographer by trade and as luck would
have it, he is in the neighborhood to take some pictures. At first he
played it cool and humble, “Oh you know, I'm just on a walk about
with my old friend the Nikon here. You know about this kind of Nikon?
These things take amazing pictures.” He has some Nikon S2 Range
Finder from about 50 years ago in mint condition.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“You know, a funny story about these
kind of cameras,” he starts “I was in France taking pictures of
the Eiffel Tower, and I see a French man with the same camera. But he
didn't have the original lens like I do. He said he couldn't afford
it. So I told him that in Taiwan, only poor people buy these cameras.
The guy was shocked and he was wondering how it could be true. I told
him it was absolutely true, because after you buy one, you are in the
poor house. The man said, well all be damned, I had no idea everyone
in Taiwan is so funny.”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now that I got him talking, he gives me
a copy of a postcard that his photo was featured on. “I was
recently in this photo exhibition. The exhibition featured some
carving, some calligraphy, and some photography. You know,
calligraphy is a very important part of Chinese art and culture. Hey,
I have something I want to give you. I'll be right back.”
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“No, no, Taiping don't worry about
it,” I protest. “Come on, take it easy.”
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Will you be here?”
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Yes, I'll be here writing my
journal, but don't worry about it. You go on with your day.”
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He could see that in earnest, I didn't
want to accept his gift. In order to circumvent any attempt at
politeness he rebutted, “I'm not giving it to you, I'm giving it to
your son. Now, you say, I'll be ready for you when you come back,
like we are going to fight, and then I'll say, I'll be back to settle
the score with you. That way it sounds like we are getting ready to
scrap and it makes us sound cool and tough.”
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAugeEzoMzTxTjnUcA9LT9kCfdSOUbz2Xd7jabS4b29Q4j0LO_BiW38oXwomuTpcsDLShVYaev9gmQkMqZ5a72vTdkf1I6L7Xvw9yoZ5iWutGVpx9eCg5O1DQuTMnwkiZjYhgMUw/s1600/IMG_1999.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAugeEzoMzTxTjnUcA9LT9kCfdSOUbz2Xd7jabS4b29Q4j0LO_BiW38oXwomuTpcsDLShVYaev9gmQkMqZ5a72vTdkf1I6L7Xvw9yoZ5iWutGVpx9eCg5O1DQuTMnwkiZjYhgMUw/s1600/IMG_1999.jpg" height="320" width="107" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is this 64 year old man acting
like he wants to fight with me. So I'm writing and writing, and guess
who pops back...Tai Ping. He grabs an manila envelope, opens it, and
unfolds a series of words. “Long Fei Fong Wu,” he states. It
means “Dragon Flies, Phoenix Dances.” I actually came here to
take a picture of this tree. He points to the tree across the street.
The funny thing about Tai Ping is that he is always observing. He is
always looking at the changes in patterns and mostly, I think, the
changes in light. He had noticed it, the moment he was waiting for,
and he went out in the street to get a photograph of the tree. I
could hardly pick up my phone and chase after him fast enough to get
a couple of photos of him taking pictures of the tree. Then I went to
the exact spot where he was crouching and assumed the same position
and took a photo. I took it back and showed him.
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz1RoWNNHfPyIsvp5hofXGpxB1c1pi4JPSpfjHzT0Hp0oCNDuqlueS8QGkmRn6OqYRme7Vc_MqXDu6WdtNePVUcQhAZbLxm47IAyrbaFJI_R8BF3W_hSoa5jX74N-xd0rZQKbqKg/s1600/IMG_1968.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz1RoWNNHfPyIsvp5hofXGpxB1c1pi4JPSpfjHzT0Hp0oCNDuqlueS8QGkmRn6OqYRme7Vc_MqXDu6WdtNePVUcQhAZbLxm47IAyrbaFJI_R8BF3W_hSoa5jX74N-xd0rZQKbqKg/s1600/IMG_1968.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Pretty good,” he said. “But my
picture doesn't have this post and this building, just the tree and
the sun.”</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He showed me where the sun was through
the clouds. So I went back and retook this photo according to his
instructions. I proudly showed him and he said, “Now you are
getting it.”
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MJXqowascOM/U7IraVfpvzI/AAAAAAAALM4/Q8Idu4tjZ-s/s1600/IMG_1970.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MJXqowascOM/U7IraVfpvzI/AAAAAAAALM4/Q8Idu4tjZ-s/s1600/IMG_1970.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then we got a group shot together, and
when he is getting up to go, I thank him for the calligraphy. “When
I die, that will be worth a lot of money. When you come back, come
visit me. You can come to my house. Bring your son and he and I can
box each other.” The image of this man in his sixties or seventies
boxing with my toddler pops into my head and we both start laughing. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-43876779546807475192014-06-24T16:28:00.003-07:002014-06-24T22:43:36.798-07:00Sun Moon Lake Solstice Tasting Recap – Anna V. Smith & Josh Chamberlain<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DTReCQe2QiI/U6oJCxTV23I/AAAAAAAALMg/2vyQvUvK0cw/s1600/IMG_0118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DTReCQe2QiI/U6oJCxTV23I/AAAAAAAALMg/2vyQvUvK0cw/s1600/IMG_0118.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by Anna Smith </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Saturday's</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> tasting of Sun Moon Lake
tea for the summer solstice yielded a great group of people eager to
explore new tea and thought. Here are a few of their descriptions of
the tea itself:</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Nice vermilion color. Hints of
mint, menthol, and prunes. Astringent." - John</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"The tea is bold and at first
shocking, but then almost instantly refreshing. The flavor was a
taste unrecognizable but is very calming. I think besides the flavor
the tea was unusually intense/striking. As the tea unfolds, it
softens and it seems as if it matches the flavor." - Darren</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"The perfect Solstice Celebration
tea. Slight minty flavor, feels smooth on the tongue. Can taste hints
of traditional Assam." - Eileen.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3e6TRROaA8o/U6oJBYhhcfI/AAAAAAAALMY/FhtLOncNfMY/s1600/IMG_0117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3e6TRROaA8o/U6oJBYhhcfI/AAAAAAAALMY/FhtLOncNfMY/s1600/IMG_0117.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by Anna Smith</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Notes by Josh Chamberlain:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The tea was brewed in glass tea ware
and it was brewed a little bit light. The two factors might have
something to do with each other. One participant noted that the
overall body feeling was distinct. He was describing the feeling in
his own body, no</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">t the body of the tea. He mentioned that checking in
with the feeling in his body and had a sense of lightness and
euphoria, and an overall sense of well being. He asked us to check in
ourselves with this feeling. I did notice the feeling and he asked me
to talk about this, but I was a bit shy on the subject. "I feel
it, but I don't like to talk about it because I'm not sure how much
of it is the power of suggestion." "Yes, but do you feel
what I am talking about?" "Yes." And I did. It was the
feeling of ultimate tea euphoria, in which somehow by just drinking a
tea, we are buzzing with contentedness. It's as if the feeling is
created in the room. People realize that the feeling is there and
they cherish that feeling. It almost amplifies the power of the
feeling.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What a wonderful tea experience! I feel
so grateful having shared the day with fun tea loving people.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was also able to share my summer
solstice poem with the group. It’s still under revision because it
isn't done, but nonetheless stands as:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Have you ever felt the sun and the moon
at the same time?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the dead of winter, this feeling is
sublime</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Shuffle the deck, let your heart decide</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We enter the world alone, with nothing
to hide</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">On the moons face burns the sun</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The longest day! The longest day calls
for celebration!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The sun says, “Moon, I don't need
your help today.”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The moon says, “Sun, today is your
day.”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Evolving as we revolve around the sun</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Soon to become that which was once
undone.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was 5:18 pm when the light started
to seem a bit dark. Anna flipped the light switch. The hue had
textural value. Because of its crowd pleasing nature, it hung around
for the rest of the party.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-56288909091381481962014-06-20T21:21:00.002-07:002014-06-20T21:21:22.357-07:00Winter Solstice PoemOn the eve of summer solstice, I've decided to post last years winter solstice poem. Just a reminder of how far we've come, and where we are headed.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-10P0VItC25g/U6UH83I9U2I/AAAAAAAALMI/6vH4ZV2_dOI/s1600/IMG_4268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-10P0VItC25g/U6UH83I9U2I/AAAAAAAALMI/6vH4ZV2_dOI/s1600/IMG_4268.JPG" height="226" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teahouse 6/1/2010</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dark, as we move from the depths of the</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bah-Hum-Bug</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Warm beams transform us with rays of
energetic light,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As decay manifests, taking hold...</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When it seems things just can't get any
worse, but then they do, because anything is possible.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With the unfolding of life's cycle,
with something as simple as the knees of bees.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It starts with a giggle, gurgling warm
until a full boiled laughter takes hold.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Until darkness peaks, and there is
nothing else but... light.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-71741755668957002172014-06-20T13:29:00.001-07:002014-06-20T14:02:14.743-07:00Gettin' to Know Tea... With Anna V. by Anna V. Smith<span style="font-family: inherit;">J-TEA impacts people in a lot of
different ways when first coming into the teahouse. Some are excited
to find such a vast treasure trove of hard-to-find teas. Some are
awed at the selection, and can't wait to explore each category.
Others are overwhelmed by the choices, since they feel that they
don't know "enough." I was certainly the latter, when I
came into J-TEA a few years ago for the first time. I didn't know
anything about tea, and had essentially nixed it off my list of
beverages since all the teas I had drank thus far were either watery
and tasteless, or too fruity or bitter.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The first time I came in, Josh gave me
a puer to try and I was shocked at the fullness of flavor; it tasted
like sweet soil and minerals, and made me think of a damp forest
floor covered in pine needles, the scene of so many Willamette Valley
hikes. I was surprised how a flavor I'd never tasted could so easily
transport me to another place.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Since then, I've explored green
oolongs, roasted oolongs, formosas and puers, though still shying
away from the herbals and strong black teas like Lapsang Suchong. At
this writing, a few of my favorites are the Bee's Knees Bird's Nest
Puer, and the Dong Ding Triple Blossom Roasted Oolong. A big reason
why I was overwhelmed when I first came in was a feeling of
intimidation, and knowing that I had a big hole in the section of my
brain marked "Tea Knowledge." The good news is that it's
not hard to start learning about it, you just have to be willing to
start drinking lots of cups tea, and have the patience to try, try
again.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I also discovered that my initial
disregard for tea was based off of generic low-grade teas; it wasn't
that I didn't like tea overall, I just hadn't been exposed to the
teas that I like. So, if you come in and have no idea where to start,
Josh, Andrew and I will do our best to get you started on the path to
finding right tea for you. It'll be fun, I promise!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-81587576712940908982014-06-18T15:37:00.002-07:002015-07-10T14:26:14.026-07:00Oolong Rise Up!Chinese is a fun and interesting
language, albeit a difficult language. What other language would call
an airplane a flying machine, or a computer an electric brain, or a
kind of tea, black dragon? One of the cool things about Chinese is
that there are infinite possibilities for those who enjoy word play.
But sometimes, even for those who have been studying Chinese for
decades are taken aback by learning about just how much there is to
know.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Just on this last trip to Taiwan, I
learned a new word play joke, that I might have said before, but
didn't grasp its full meaning until this trip. When people would ask
me, “What are you doing in Taiwan?” and I would answer, “<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">我來找茶”
</span>or “I came to look for tea.” One person with a good sense
of humor thought I was saying “<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">我來找碴”
</span>or “I come looking for trouble.” You see, <span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">找茶
</span>(look for tea) and <span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">找碴 </span>(to
pick fault with/to nitpick/ to pick a quarrel) have the exact same
pronunciation and the exact same tone. This joke evolved into the
following sentence: <span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">在台灣當時找茶,跟美國茶界找碴。“</span>While
I'm in Taiwan looking for tea, I find a fault with the U.S. tea
world.” My quarrel is over the term <i>blue tea.</i> As I stated in
my previous post “<a href="http://j-tea.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-color-of-oolong-is-never-blue.html" target="_blank">The Color of Oolong is Never Blue</a>,” calling qing cha “blue
tea” is a mistranslation. Qing cha is, in fact, a category of
oolong tea that is less oxidized and closer to the green end of the
oolong spectrum.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This term “blue tea” was really
getting to me. It's as if one source started calling oolong blue, and
everyone follows. Now it is as if everyone is copying everyone else.
Oolong is not blue tea. Oolong has never been blue and it never will
be. Given the difficulty of this beautiful language, it is no wonder
that when presented with a word, like “qing,” that can be
translated both as green and blue, there is some confusion. I knew
that there was some confusion, so I decided to get to the bottom of
it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NNXN57_c148/U6IT5CcnWcI/AAAAAAAALLo/UK4wfREKKeM/s1600/IMG_1767.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NNXN57_c148/U6IT5CcnWcI/AAAAAAAALLo/UK4wfREKKeM/s1600/IMG_1767.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I asked a tea teacher in Taiwan, “What
color is qing?” He showed me a color very close to the blue on this
pouring pitcher shown above. My heart sank. Maybe they are right in
translating <i>qing cha</i> as blue tea, I thought. He went on, “But
when we are talking about tea, this is not the color. When we are
talking about tea, qing cha is green. In fact it is supposed to be
the color of a frog's back. It includes green, red, and even white.
This is qing's color when it comes to tea.” In this case <span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">青色
“</span>qing se” or the color of qing, and <span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">青蛙
“</span>qing wa” or frog use the same first word, <span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">青”</span>qing.”
Like I mentioned in my previous post, I think most Americans can
learn to call oolong simply “oolong” and don't need to rely on an
arbitrary color code.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Oolong Qing Cha is the color of a
frog's back. Frog's Back Oolong... An oolong by any other name would
taste as sweet. Let's just not call it blue.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-15511844582256379782014-06-16T18:11:00.001-07:002014-06-16T18:11:14.748-07:00Oolong Curiosity<span style="font-family: inherit;">As we get to know oolong tea,
curiosity is a great mindset to have. This mindset of experimentation
allows us to be open to all of the flavors that oolong has to offer.
Brewing oolong is a constant experience in trial and error. In the
beginning, it is common to brew the tea too weak or too strong. If
the tea is too strong, the tea is bitter. But with high quality tea,
even bitter tea has something to offer. This bitter flavor is less
familiar to the American palate, but in Asia, bitter is a flavor that
is also appreciated. Bitter flavor has the ability to remove heat
from the liver. The heat of summer is the best time of year to go for
bitter. When high quality tea brewed too strong, a string of deep
rich floral and fruit undertones delightful to the senses can follow
the initial bitter flavor. A pleasant surprise.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-drrl3Fguxkc/U5-VRkUwl2I/AAAAAAAALLU/9mtjBdP5NUQ/s1600/IMG_0021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-drrl3Fguxkc/U5-VRkUwl2I/AAAAAAAALLU/9mtjBdP5NUQ/s1600/IMG_0021.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Industry practice for comparing tea:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> When we compare two teas it is
important to use the exact same standards for each tea. To compare
teas fairly, it is important to use the same amount of tea. Often
professional tasters will use 3g or 5g of tea. The same temperature
water. For most oolong teas, tea masters in Taiwan will use water
that has just boiled. Use multiple sets of the same tea ware. This
way, differences in tea ware will not cause any unfair advantage to
either of the teas. My favorite tea ware for comparing teas is the
Jian Ding Bei, or professional tea tasting set. By using the same tea
ware, it is easier to use the same amount of water. This is
important, because the tea-to-water ratio should be the same for each
tea. Finally, brew each tea for the same amount of time. Often,
professionals will brew multiple teas at the same time. This is
tricky at first, but gets easier with practice. This is a good
practice because it is also important to taste the teas side by side
at similar temperatures. Our senses are always in flux. Slurping is a
technique used to enjoy a tea's entire breadth, as well as replace
what was previously on the palate. By slurping the tea deep into the
sinuses, through the roof of the palate it is possible to go through
a line of several teas and make decisions and not become overwhelmed
or confused about the flavors. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-85531519910387909062014-06-14T13:48:00.001-07:002015-07-10T14:27:11.159-07:00Blue Tea<span style="font-family: inherit;">The first time I heard the term “blue
tea”, I thought it was totally bogus. A UO professor asked me if
I'd ever heard of this kind of tea before. When I said that I hadn't,
he offered to bring me a copy of a book that he had just brought back
from Mainland China. Flipping through the book, I was shocked to see
that the tea the author classified as blue tea was oolong. I
dismissed it as a fluke and hoped I would never come across the term
again. If only I had been so lucky...</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have one request of the tea world.
Let's agree not to call oolong blue tea. More and more, I see books
and magazine articles referring to oolong as blue tea. We have to put
a stop to this. I am slightly color blind, and maybe for that reason,
I want things that are called blue to really be blue, or sad, and </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">oolong is neither of the two. 青
or “qing” is one type of oolong. Qing can be translated as
either green or blue. This category of oolong is what we at J-TEA
refer to as “green oolong.” We call it green oolong, well,
because it is green. But maybe, because qing can be translated as
either green or blue, then maybe it could be called blue tea. But in
my mind, for the reason stated above, and because qing is only one
type of oolong, it should not be called blue. To leap from this one
mistranslation, to calling the entire category of oolong “blue tea”
is absurd.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1KVIwaR8Q8k/U5y0VRLXtMI/AAAAAAAALK4/P4XzQJmvOaI/s1600/ps_new_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1KVIwaR8Q8k/U5y0VRLXtMI/AAAAAAAALK4/P4XzQJmvOaI/s1600/ps_new_2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">An example of qing oolong tea</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When I was trying to make sense of
this nonsense, I reached out to the online tea community. “Tea
enthusiasts, what is this nonsense about calling oolong blue tea?”
It was here that I learned that there was some genius who thought,
because other tea categories were named by color, that all teas
should be named by color. This makes sense right? I mean white tea is
not white, and black tea is not black, unless it is Lipton, which
uses food coloring, so why can't oolong be blue? I guess we could if
we really want it to be.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But do we? Do we want to be this lazy
in our approach to classifying tea? Are we really going to call
roasted oolongs, amber in color, the traditional color of oolong, are
we going to call this blue? Formosa oolong's or eastern beauties;
intoxicatingly translucent red, are we going to call this blue?
Traditional iron goddess of mercy, a dark rich ruby red, should we
call this blue? I must protest. I must find a way to put a stop to
this. There is such a wide range of oolong teas, and it makes no
sense to give them the color code blue. Classifying all oolong as
blue is too lazy, and classifying qing as blue is a mistranslation.
So it looks as though I have another fight with the tea world's
status quo. Let it be known that I am fighting for transparency, not
obfuscation. We can all say oolong, weather you spell it oolong or wu
long. So say oolong like you mean it, like you are proud, and it
won't be too long before everyone knows this amazing category of tea by
its proper name. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf69kjSy9L-zwgzdY5nlF24MjWcdhLFg1_uKkrGhaN2EPsEfz2OJUD8zcYijNz8TsKV33EO-aG8dbz9apuz3J-2oi8GCWE3JW2QNKtDq18fd7WbYWnA1kXYB91Cdi655FPuIFNLA/s1600/1986Dong+Ding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf69kjSy9L-zwgzdY5nlF24MjWcdhLFg1_uKkrGhaN2EPsEfz2OJUD8zcYijNz8TsKV33EO-aG8dbz9apuz3J-2oi8GCWE3JW2QNKtDq18fd7WbYWnA1kXYB91Cdi655FPuIFNLA/s1600/1986Dong+Ding.jpg" width="221" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Aged 1986 Dong Ding Oolong, looking anything but blue.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-58178316906799325002014-06-12T22:40:00.001-07:002014-06-14T13:19:55.968-07:00The Psychology of Tea – Laughter and Appreciation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vDGTpOeU__4/U5qNwryCS5I/AAAAAAAALKQ/BGK4Wgxe1BY/s1600/photo-32.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vDGTpOeU__4/U5qNwryCS5I/AAAAAAAALKQ/BGK4Wgxe1BY/s1600/photo-32.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The psychology of tea is stuck in my
head. On reflection, I have a lot to say about this subject. This is
a huge topic simply because there are so many psychological benefits
of tea. There is no doubt in my mind that tea has many subtle
benefits to health, both physical and psychological. Just today,
taking my first sip of tea, I am revived. “I can make it. I will
overcome my obstacles. I will achieve my goals. Life is good.
Gratitude.” All of this came to mind the moment the tea touched my
lips. This is the profound impact of tea.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
Psychology in a nutshell... our
interpersonal relations, who we get along with, why we get along with
them, how we get along with ourselves. Why do we dislike the people
we dislike? What are our obstacles? How do we overcome them? What is
our outlook? People are difficult to understand. Even understanding
ourselves is difficult, let alone understanding others.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
Tea has an introspective energy,
shedding light on the essence of who we are. This provides the
opportunity for personal growth.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
Many people have described before how,
for example, by setting aside a time for tea for the whole family,
when the whole family comes together to drink tea, improves familial
relations. This is akin to eating meals together as a family. It is a
way to spend time together. On multiple occasions, more than I can
count, and more than I am even aware of, tea has facilitated with a
feeling of togetherness, bringing people together, establishing
connection, and a sense of well being.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
“If I've taught you one thing, it's
how to pivot.” Martin told me this after I conveyed to him the
following experience. I was conducting a tea tasting at <a href="http://kivagrocery.com/" target="_blank">The Kiva</a>. Several teas were in the line up, steeping in the Jian Ding
Bei, professional cupping set, and decanting into colorful teapots.
One steep at a time, doling out the samples, until that infusion is
used up. Then I steep the leaves again. This process is repeated
several times until the leaves have lost most of their luster. I only
brew one infusion at a time, so there is just a little bit of tea
sitting in the colorful teapots at any given time. I do this, so that
when I pour the sample into the porcelain sample cup, the tea is hot.
This works pretty good, but on this particular day, business must
have been slow. I'd been there a couple of hours, steeping and
re-steeping, and my mind was starting to wander. A man approached and
I cordially offered him a taste of tea. Upon tasting the tea, the
man complained, “This tea is cold.” Something about his attitude,
maybe it was his lack of appreciation, was less than endearing. So I
answered, “No, the tea isn't cold. You are late.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
As soon as the words left me lips, my
core was vibrating with a sound and sensation similar to that felt
when sitting at the base of a huge waterfall. This was Martin's
laughter. Uncontainable and wild, not in bursts, but more like a
lion's roar.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
I remember feeling afraid that I would
forget things about Martin, but I can hear it as clear as the day we
were sitting on his sailboat and I told him this story. He liked my story. “That is a pivot!”
he exclaimed. This is the psychology of tea. And it is true, the pivot, he taught me
well.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;">感恩 </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-31768940305520709262014-06-09T23:33:00.002-07:002014-06-14T13:24:06.844-07:00Tea House Takeover - Josh Answers Questions About Tea<span style="font-family: inherit;">We recently had a group of special
visitors from <a href="http://sodeliciousdairyfree.com/" target="_blank">So Delicious Dairy Free</a> take over the tea house for a private tea class. This was fun for
several reasons, but one of the fun things was hosting a class for
seventeen enthusiastic food people. They were very interested in
learning about tea.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I asked the group to give us a list of
questions at the beginning of the class so that I could address the
questions as we went. Below, I've included a list of the questions
and some answers.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJD_KXxBJF9S1CoGFj-EqWZoV3q9HECo7Tp1uB7QKmEH35eYW-40tpGoqlKanh8uURUPTeuJKWn5aFmseS-xyNoOvFbjHxBmxCkPtwXWr20ZJTeUvWvtIQeeOft9xfq_wfYkswSw/s1600/IMG_0782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJD_KXxBJF9S1CoGFj-EqWZoV3q9HECo7Tp1uB7QKmEH35eYW-40tpGoqlKanh8uURUPTeuJKWn5aFmseS-xyNoOvFbjHxBmxCkPtwXWr20ZJTeUvWvtIQeeOft9xfq_wfYkswSw/s1600/IMG_0782.JPG" height="230" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What are the temperatures and times for
brewing different teas?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Let it be known that my favorite way to
make tea is in the small unglazed Yi Xing tea pots. This brew method
is commonly known as “gong fu cha”. I use these pots for oolong
and puer. This brew method is outside the scope addressed in this
class. We used what I refer to as a benchmark brew method. The teas
brewed are: Green Spring, Charcoal Dawn, Eugene Breakfast, Scholar's
Mountain, Cooked Kilo Brick, Iron Goddess of Mercy, Eastern Beauty
Twisted Leaf, and Starry Night.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We used the same brew method for each
tea. Four grams of tea, water right off the boil (210 degrees
Fahrenheit), steeped for two minutes in ten ounces of water. We used
the <a href="http://jteainternational.com/tea-shop/teaware/forlife-tea-infuser/" target="_blank">Forlife infuser</a> and a twelve ounce glass teapot to steep these
teas. At the time of this blog post, almost all of the teas we sell
at J-TEA can be brewed this way. We wouldn't want to brew Japanese
green tea this way, but we do not currently have Japanese green tea
on hand. Using the same method for each tea simplifies the process.
One of our goals is to make tea brewing easy for people new to tea.
After tasting the tea, you have a benchmark, or a general idea of the
teas characteristics. Depending on how you like this infusion, you
can adjust make some adjustments the next time you brew. If you like
the taste of this infusion, great! If it is too bitter, you can
either reduce the water temperature, or reduce the steep time. If the
tea is too strong you can either reduce the amount of tea used,
reduce the brew temperature, or reduce the brew time. If the tea is
too weak, you can either increase the brew time by one or two
minutes, or increase the amount of tea used. After brewing for two
minutes, we steeped the tea again for four minutes. Remember, with
high quality tea it is possible to steep the tea several times for
multiple infusions.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AEN-hjUi2R4/U5alqan_LsI/AAAAAAAALJI/t9kth3xkDKg/s1600/IMG_0775.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AEN-hjUi2R4/U5alqan_LsI/AAAAAAAALJI/t9kth3xkDKg/s1600/IMG_0775.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Do / can you grow tea plants here?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The answer is yes. Many of you have
tried our <a href="http://j-tea.blogspot.tw/2012/09/oregon-grown-introducing-minto-island.html" target="_blank">Minto Island Farm tea</a>. This is all grown in Salem,
Oregon, just one hour north of J-TEA. We also have several tea plants
living at the J-TEA tea house that survived the great freeze of 2014.
These plants are hearty and are growing in popularity.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What is the process of processing tea,
from plant to package?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This will vary greatly from region to
region. It will also vary greatly depending on what tea the farm is
trying to produce. This subject is a bit dry and there are a variety
of books and articles devoted to it. I'd say that the main flaw with
everything written about this that I have seen is that they often do
not cover the extensive amount of variation in that can occur within
any particular process. Imagine a wine master making a pinot noir.
There are infinite variations in the process that can occur depending
on the variations that exist within any agricultural product. If you
want to learn more about this you might check out <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_processing" target="_blank">Wikipedia's tea processing page</a>.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What are functional teas?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Functional teas are teas that are meant
to cure. These teas are generally herbal and have specific medicinal
benefits. A good example of a company that produces functional teas
is Traditional Medicinals.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-amTym4Kmm0o/U5alcnooLII/AAAAAAAALI4/GfDvSjf2Gl4/s1600/IMG_0787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-amTym4Kmm0o/U5alcnooLII/AAAAAAAALI4/GfDvSjf2Gl4/s1600/IMG_0787.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What causes tea euphoria?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">L-Theanine combined with caffeine. This
is what <a href="http://steepstories.com/" target="_blank">Geoffrey Norman</a> has referred to as “happy juice.” Tea makes you happy, there is
no doubt about it, and the better the tea, the happier it can make
you. Another common tea term is “tea drunk.” Tea drunk or “Cha
Zui” is the result of drinking too much tea. It really has a
euphoric overtone and has a similar feeling to being a bit high. But
generally this over consumption of tea is not viewed as healthy and
from my experience, it's fun to experience when you first start
getting into to tea, but over time, as one gets further and further
down the road of their tea existence, this feeling becomes less and
less appealing. Tea is a good thing, but like all things, moderation
is key. The amount of tea one can drink in a day will vary from day
to day. I find that if I have enough rest and eat three good meals,
then I can drink more tea. If I am not taking care of myself, then I
often feel like drinking less tea. You can pay attention to the way
you feel regarding tea. If you feel like drinking more, it is ok to
drink more. If you feel like drinking less, just drink less. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZOkZRWschbc/U5altO6qOiI/AAAAAAAALJQ/9qAgTnjVLyU/s1600/IMG_0767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZOkZRWschbc/U5altO6qOiI/AAAAAAAALJQ/9qAgTnjVLyU/s1600/IMG_0767.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What is tea culture in other countries
vs. US tea culture?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">US tea culture is in its infancy, but
it is growing fast. One of the main differences is that in countries
where tea culture is strong, such as Taiwan, China, India, and Japan
to name a few, tea culture is very old. Having been around for an
extended period of time creates depth. There is a popular saying in
Taiwan, “<a href="http://j-tea.blogspot.com/2014/06/if-im-not-in-tea-house-im-on-road-to.html" target="_blank">If I am not in the tea house, I am on the road to the teahouse</a>.” The people that say this are basically
saying that they live within tea culture. They don't have to be
drinking tea at any given moment, but they have tea in their heart
and they are living in a way that is profoundly impacted by tea. Tea
is on the mind all of the time.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Much of US tea culture is very
commercial. Much of the tea sold in the US has perfume added. Pick up
a package of tea in your local super market. Read the ingredients. If
you see “natural flavors” listed, don't buy it. These flavors are
not good for us. Natural flavors are chemically synthesized in a
laboratory. They are artificial; not real food. The only reason to
add anything to a tea is that the tea quality is lacking. Much of the
US tea culture is focused on selling tea regardless of quality.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We'd like to thank So Delicious Dairy
Free for creating this private tea class. We would also would like to
thank them for their great questions. It is was a good time drinking
several types of tea. I will now start boiling water to brew up a pot
of oolong tea to help me think of the topic of our next blog post.
Until then, keep sipping great tea!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-450874774405872562014-06-08T22:15:00.000-07:002014-06-14T13:25:40.296-07:00What is oolong? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XDMoPp88ZHU/U5VCfTSqk6I/AAAAAAAALIg/JDQ0zy_LOcc/s1600/IMG_1298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XDMoPp88ZHU/U5VCfTSqk6I/AAAAAAAALIg/JDQ0zy_LOcc/s1600/IMG_1298.JPG" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Widely defined, oolong
is the range of tea between green tea and black tea. This is a broad
range of tea. Ranging from 11% oxidization for the greenest oolongs,
such as <a href="http://jteainternational.com/tea-shop/high-mountain-green-oolong-tea/top-bao-zhong/" target="_blank">Wen Shan Bao Zhong</a>, and then going all the way to 70%
oxidized, for the eastern beauties and some iron goddesses. There is
also aged oolong, which is further oxidized after processing, so it
is often referred to as “post oxidized tea.”</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Oolong is complicated and, for the
most part, is not well represented in the U.S. Generally a tea shop
will carry one or two oolongs generally not of very high quality. So,
as a predominantly oolong focused tea purveyor, one of our constant
objectives has been to redefine oolong to the consumer. We do this by
getting people to taste high quality oolong.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sometimes we even go so far as using
stall tactics when offering samples. When asked about what kind of
tea we are offering as a sample, we wait until the person has tasted
the tea. That way they can come to their own conclusion about the
tea, rather than judging it based on a name. Then we say... It's an
oolong. Surprise! You like oolong! It is true, we are confident that
you like oolong tea, you just might not know it yet. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Meaning that if you do not like
oolong, it is probably because you have not had a good one, or it was
not prepared well. Either way, this is a sad state of affairs. But,
it is also why we will continue to toe the party line, dousing the
nation with amazing oolong tea. We've got oolong way to go, but we've
made it J-TEA's mission to expose everyone to amazing oolong tea.
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-44786831131838795862014-06-07T03:58:00.002-07:002014-06-14T13:26:40.286-07:00The Psychology of Tea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l5q-C2dZH4E/U5LwLb4SkRI/AAAAAAAALIM/yZQxPqo1gPs/s1600/IMG_0274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l5q-C2dZH4E/U5LwLb4SkRI/AAAAAAAALIM/yZQxPqo1gPs/s1600/IMG_0274.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The psychology of tea is such a hot
topic in Taiwan right now. With psychologists as parents, I've tried
to write on this topic previously. He Lao, a friend and tea teacher,
mentioned to me that people have written about the psychology of tea,
but everything written so far has been a bit shallow. “They just
say things like: having a ceremony makes you feel calm, and that this
type of tea has this kind of effect and so on,” he begrudgingly
remarked. Keep in mind that when He Lao is speaking of tea, he is not
talking about herbal tea and he is not suggesting that we achieve
some type of altered psychological state by drinking a hallucinogenic tea.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He said, “What we need are some real
scientific findings or opinions on the psychological benefits of
tea.” I explained that I tried to get some of these answers from my
parents, two exceptionally qualified psychologists. Unfortunately,
this did not work. Why is a psychologist going to talk about why tea
is good, unless they have a vested interest? When Martin was alive, I
tried to get him to talk about tea and he wouldn't let me pin him
down on anything. This was insightful in of itself because I knew
that he would have done practically anything to help me and my tea
business. But he wouldn't let me say that he said anything regarding
“the psychology of tea.” The message was loud and clear. Any
psychologist worth his or her salt would not endorse a product, no
matter how good it might be.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So I have decided instead to focus on
the psychology of tea as I know it: buying tea, doing tea business,
and learning about tea in Taiwan as well as how to live your life. If
you want to live well... drink tea.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-84296026180115305612014-06-05T05:05:00.001-07:002014-06-05T05:05:09.173-07:00If I'm not in the tea house, I'm on the road to the tea house.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BHH8zBVk2-U/U5Bc00f0MBI/AAAAAAAALHM/z6QPUgFidXg/s1600/IMG_1224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BHH8zBVk2-U/U5Bc00f0MBI/AAAAAAAALHM/z6QPUgFidXg/s1600/IMG_1224.jpg" height="400" width="246" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Taiwan
is a country rich with tea culture. It is a place where it is not
difficult to find yourself surrounded by tea and tea paraphernalia.
It is a world in of itself, and stepping into this world can be as
vast as jumping into the ocean. This world is commonly known as “The
Tea World,” and it’s made up of tea people. These are the people
that eat, breathe, drink, and live tea. Sometimes they are tea
vendors or they sell tea ware, maybe they are artists who have a tea
room. Or they are involved in tea production such as growing tea or
roasting tea. Nonetheless, tea is very important to them and it plays
a major role in their lives.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">I
remember when I first got close to the precipice that is the divide
of the tea world. I was warned...“Be careful.” Many people have
thought it would be fun to play with tea, only to fall into the
vastness of the tea world. Once you fall in, it is difficult to get
out. As I've seen time and time again, people have invested most of
their time, energy, and finances into tea. Once they get in deep,
they truly are in for life. It is not a bad thing. It is just
something that with will change one’s life. It is not something
that happens at once, but it is the beginning of a new path. Often,
this path leads to many unexpected adventures and opportunities to
learn. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
depth of feeling that exists in the tea world of Taiwan is profound
and it has been my luck to know it as I have. With this trip, the
journey continues. </span>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-35873994382652366182014-06-04T07:11:00.000-07:002014-06-04T07:11:04.466-07:00A story of Mina in Taiwan... <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9KKj6wYMZcU/U48o0fN2fuI/AAAAAAAALG0/SA0E3aWsGwA/s1600/IMG_1707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9KKj6wYMZcU/U48o0fN2fuI/AAAAAAAALG0/SA0E3aWsGwA/s1600/IMG_1707.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
Mina is from Japan. Every day she walks
out of her flat into the alley. She sits down for her breakfast and
the old women tell her how pretty she is.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“You look very pretty today!”
Every day, they tell her. And she wonders why they tell her this.
Tomorrow? She thinks, will they say I am pretty again tomorrow? In
Japan no one ever told her how pretty she looks. Especially not every
day. She wonders if it is because she is Japanese. She wonders if
tomorrow they will still think she is pretty. Though she has doubts
about their sincerity, she accepts what they say, and secretly, it
makes her feel good.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Looking at this cup of tea, I think:
“This cup of tea looks delicious.” Before long, I find myself
telling each cup of tea that it looks delicious. Every day, I look at
the tea and say to it, “You look very delicious. This tea is good.
This tea is delicious."</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When you look at your cup of tea, tell
it how it is. Say, “You are a wonderful cup of tea.” We taste
the tea every day, but the taste sometimes differs from what we say.
The real flavor, differing from the perceived flavor, is more
beautiful because it is real. This connection to reality is more
important and resonates with us on a deeper level. So even though,
sometimes after telling the tea how wonderful it is, upon tasting the
tea we find it to be bitter, or strong, or light, this connection to
the reality is more beautiful to us than any perception of tea.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-11637919472702777722014-05-31T22:41:00.001-07:002014-05-31T22:41:53.656-07:00Spring Harvest Taiwan 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nri2qGjH0Qo/U4q8NzK0n9I/AAAAAAAALGg/oKliU3OMPKg/s1600/IMG_0926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nri2qGjH0Qo/U4q8NzK0n9I/AAAAAAAALGg/oKliU3OMPKg/s1600/IMG_0926.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fq7Uf1-89LA/U4q8XAe6mGI/AAAAAAAALGk/am6QcEi9HZc/s1600/IMG_0918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fq7Uf1-89LA/U4q8XAe6mGI/AAAAAAAALGk/am6QcEi9HZc/s1600/IMG_0918.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
This spring in Taiwan it was raining
for the high mountain tea harvest in the highest elevations. Li Shan
proper and Li Shan's Da Yu Ling had rain throughout most of the
harvest season.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Rainy weather is not suitable for
picking and processing tea. Not because people don't want to stand in
the rain and pick tea, but because for the most part, the results are
subpar; too bitter. Some farmers went ahead and picked tea anyway,
but we haven't been able to find any that we are satisfied with. For
the most part we will not be buying high mountain tea from Taiwan
this spring.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
At harvest time, rain is a constant
threat, especially in the Spring. Spring tea starts growing in the
coldest part of winter, thus it grows very slowly. Slow growing tea
results in a thicker leaf. Conditions are ideal and the result is
high quality tea. The main threat to spring tea is that at harvest
time, there is more chance of rain.
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Some of our farming friends that have
more experience decided not to pick this spring, instead they will
wait until the rains stop and use the leaf to make high mountain
black tea. Many of you have tried our Li Shan black tea. It is
exceptionally sweet, fragrant, and delicious. Sweeter than most black
tea, people often do not believe that it is just tea with no
sweetener added. If you want to try some amazing black tea, we
wholeheartedly recommend our <a href="http://jteainternational.com/tea-shop/black-tea/li-shan-black-tea-summer-08/" target="_blank">Li Shan Black 2008</a> and <a href="http://jteainternational.com/tea-shop/black-tea/li-shan-black-tea-summer-09/" target="_blank">2009</a>.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28015963.post-46675720740185724762014-05-29T10:34:00.000-07:002014-05-29T10:34:00.318-07:00A Short History of the Tea-bike<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hOq4bjztsl8/U4dqt4GW64I/AAAAAAAALGA/LOCaHBaT1dc/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-05-29+at+10.12.50+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hOq4bjztsl8/U4dqt4GW64I/AAAAAAAALGA/LOCaHBaT1dc/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-05-29+at+10.12.50+AM.png" height="391" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; page-break-before: always;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; page-break-before: always;">
J-TEA’s vision, a bicycle built by <a href="http://www.catoregon.org/" target="_blank">CAT</a>,
and a cart transformation by <a href="http://www.studiogorm.com/cms/" target="_blank">GORM</a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
What was the original vision for the
tea bike cart? The vision for the bike came around the idea of having
fun in the moment, or working in a way that allows us the most
enjoyment of life. By being at the festivals, and street fairs, we
are living our dream as a college student. The vision was really
about being able to participate in the fun of working by working in
the places that are fun to be. That way, at least if we want to have
a good time, we are already at the party, and tea at a party is...
well, a party. At J-TEA, we bring tea to the party.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And in the name of “Party!” we are
now parking the tea-bike in <a href="http://www.thehealthypet.com/" target="_blank">The Healthy Pet</a> parking lot, former home
to <a href="http://partyeugene.com/downtown.html" target="_blank">Party Cart</a>. However, we will not have the same geographic
footprint as the iconic and legendary food cart that was the best
thing that happened to the neighborhood since it was named after the
iconic and brilliant Sam H. Friendly, Eugene's 12<sup>th</sup> mayor
(1893-1895). A little bit close to home, you might gripe. Well I
tell you, loading and riding that tea-bike all over town is no joke.
Talk about ultimate fitness! You work the legs and cardio on the way
to and from the selling location, and you get an upper arm workout
from shaking iced tea. It's basically the entrepreneur’s workout
plan. No time to leave the office and take care of your general level
of fitness... thank you tea bike! Problem solved.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“CAT” stands for Center for
Appropriate Transport and their method of transport is appropriate.
CAT is known for their hand-built Tri-hauler cargo bikes that you
will see from time to time blocking the streets as you are innocently
stuck behind a slow moving bike as it works its way from point A to
point B. CAT is world famous and a great place to learn everything
there is to know about bikes. They offer a unique membership which
allows you full reign over their bicycle work stations, providing
access to enough tools to build an entire bicycle from the ground up.
When it comes to specialized cargo bikes, CAT builds each bike by
order. For J-Tea, they built a yellow Tri-hauler. Once I had the
bike, I knew I had a start, but to get to the tea-bike, there was a
long way to go.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Enter GORM, the husband and wife design
team established in 2007. Jon Arndt and Won Hee came up with the name
for their company as part of an inside joke. Won Hee had a copy of
Matilda from Rauld Dahl. Won Hee asked John about the meaning of a
word used by Rauld. "What is gormless?" John didn't know,
so they turned to Won Hee's electronic Korean / English translator.
It meant slow; dim witted; not bright. And so to them gorm was
incorporated into their lexicon as the opposite of gormless. They
started to use the word to describe things that they saw which were
sharp. Their style is minimal and their focus is utilitarian, and so
we got a custom made dream tea-bike. More of Studio Gorm's objects can be found here: <a href="http://studiogorm.com/cms/category/objects/" target="_blank">Studio Gorm's Object Page</a>.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So far, the bike has sold its frosty
frothy iced tea at the Bite of Eugene, <a href="http://whiteakerblockparty.com/" target="_blank">Whiteaker Block Party</a>, UO
Street Faire, and Eugene Sunday Streets. As we mentioned, we will
soon act as a beacon to the parched as they follow the flow of West
28<sup>th</sup> Avenue as it curves around Healthy Pet's parking lot
in the foothills of South Eugene.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03824278691673282558noreply@blogger.com0