The Universe

Within Tian Di Ren is the universe. Let's look at the definition of Tian Di. It means Heaven and Earth / World / Universe; doesn't that cover almost everything? Almost. In this case, it doesn’t cover people. When mentioning all that influences finished tea that is ready to brew, we have to look to the people (Ren) as well as to Heaven and Earth / World / Universe (Tian Di).

So if we look at just Tian Di's influence on tea, how does Tian Di make great tea? A pampered leaf will not make the best tea. One of my favorite tea master quotes is: “Give me three cups of tea that are like sweet nectar and I, the drinker, will grow bored and become sick of it. Tea has to be bitter and astringent as well.” But it's a question of how much bitterness and how much astringency and at what point after the tea is tasted and for how long?

Plant stress created by Tian Di is beneficial as long as it slows leaf growth, but not so much that no leaves grow. The plant that has to struggle to put forth leaves has a special character. This is much like a tree that grows just below the tree line is often gnarled, strong, and visually striking when compared to those that grow in the supportive environment of the Willamette Valley. It’s almost as if the plant has to look within in order to be able to grow. When we look at the tree, we see the outward expression of its inner experience; as we taste the tea, we experience its bitterness, its sweetness, and its character. The tea strikes a deep chord within, resonating as we connect to nature and to the universe over the course of a few sips.

On the other hand, if the plant has an easy life, the leaves grow very easily. When looking at factors that lead to plant stress which result in slower growing tea, we see that these are factors resulting from Tian Di. 

What does it take to make great tea?

It's just a question of TDR: Tian, Di, Ren or heaven, earth, people. Is it a noun? A person, place or thing? Tian means day / sky / heaven. Di means Earth / land / soil. Ren means human being / person, people. Tian Di together means heaven and earth; world; universe. Add Ren and we have TDR. It’s everything that we concern ourselves with. Mostly I'm concerned about how TDR can bring about good tea.

天地人

Heaven, Earth, People

It is said that the synergy of these three elements (heaven, earth, and people) are what lead to the highest quality teas.

The possibilities combine into an infinite number of outcomes, giving us a multitude of combinations. It is no wonder, then, that the variety of tea available is so wide.

Tea Friend 茶友 (cha you)

New tea friends at U of O!

I am so excited because I've met so many tea friends here in Eugene. After participating in the ASUO Street Fair at the University of Oregon. It happens twice per year, in the Fall and the Spring, on 13^th Street in the heart of campus. I say all of this because I feel that, as far as fairs go, to this point (October 12, 2012), it is poorly marketed. Why? It actually doesn't have to be well marketed due to its location. It actually blocks students path, distracting some and feeding more than a few, as they try to get to class.  But still, as a business person, who enjoys the concept of marketing, it seems like an oversite.

I graduated from the U of O in the Summer of 199? Wow, that's a bad sign. But, here I am, back on campus, just outside of Friendly Hall. After all of my education, I turned out to be the street vendor that students can boss around if they don't understand manners. And I am here to tell you, if you really make it in life, you will be a street vendor, right here on this very campus, where you currently go to school. Well, I guess that's what success meant to me because there I was...a campus street vendor of tea. Actually that has a nice ring to it.

What does it mean to have a tea friend? Is a tea friend someone who you sit around drinking tea with all day or night? It might be, but here is one version of a tea friend. It can be compared with poet friend or, 詩友 (shi you). A poetry friend is one who you take turns sharing poems with. A common interaction between poet friends might be that one of them would read or recite a poem that had a particular theme. Then you would continue on that theme or expand upon it, leading to something else. Tea friends share infusion after infusion of tea. There are no rules about sharing, and this is not a normal way of drinking tea with friends. I see behavior most like this when I drink tea with other tea vendors. It is almost as if we are taking turns sharing the tea and sometimes it is relaxing, but sometimes it is competitive, as if to see who has the better tea. Some play to win, others play to participate and share. It is usually with the aim of a mutual enjoyment of life. Say one person has a nice Yunnan black tea 滇紅 (dian hong), there are many quality levels available (see Tea Matrix 1A) and some are harder to find than others. So part of the fun is if you have one or someone else has one that is of exceptional quality, it is almost as if the game is called to a halt and everyone just takes part in fully enjoying that tea. Like a tasting format, going from lower quality to higher quality is more enjoyable.  

What's your favorite kind of tea?

Some Answers to an Impossible Question by Josh Chamberlain

People often ask me, “What is your favorite tea?” When I look puzzled, sometimes the question is rephrased as, “If you could only have one kind of tea for the rest of your life, what would it be?” I always thought that was a hard question to answer. But recently, I

have figured out a way to answer this somewhat impossible question: I would choose only the good kind (see the Tea Matrix 1A comparing tea type and quality below). 

I've noticed that quality and type can often be confused. There are so many types of tea.  Even excluding herbals, which I often do, we are left with thousands of choices. The type of tea is not so important, but the quality of the tea leaf is of upmost importance.  Do you like bad iron goddess oolong?  Hardly. Do you like good, great, or amazing iron goddess oolong?  Yes, of course. I love it! Teas of high quality have a common thread even if they are different types.  

I definitely get on tea kicks and become obsessed with a particular tea for a period of time. It is like I cannot get something about that tea out of my head and find myself compelled to brew it again and again. This is not unlike having a favorite song and wanting to hear it over and over again. Making that tea again is the only logical choice because its characteristics are what I am relating to at that particular moment. It is not unlike choosing a person to discuss an important matter with. You choose that person based on what you know of them already, what you think they are going to say, availability, closeness and so on. You could say that the same is true for tea.  

Imagine this: If you could only talk to one person for the rest of your life, who would it be? Now we have the answer. If I could only talk to one person for the rest of my life, it would be a person of high quality. When deciding on favorites, I focus on quality over type. 

That being said, I don't mind the question. Let's talk about tea. Know tea types and subtypes; know the seasonal variations; know farms, regions and elevations; know processing methods; learn how to properly brew tea. Tea is an agricultural product; all of these factors affect the quality of the final product, each creating subtle variations. After you know about this and more... you’ll discover that there really is no favorite. I love you tea!

October Tea Classes

Oregon Grown: Introducing Minto Island Growers' Tea Project

Minto Island Growers is situated southwest of Salem, Oregon on the edges of Minto Brown Island Park. Summers bring ruby-red strawberries, bright bunches of rainbow chard, and sunny orange-blossom tomatoes. Co-owned and operated by Elizabeth Miller and Chris Jenkins since 2007, produce grown on this 40-acre farm is certified organic by Oregon Tilth.

A surprising crop occupies two acres of this bountiful organic vegetable farm—tea. More than 200 varietals of Camellia sinensis thrive in a mature block that stretches north, up a gentle hill.

This agricultural anomaly arrived in Salem as the result of a collaborative venture between Rob Miller, Elizabeth’s father and tea expert John Vendeland. Miller purchased the Salem in the 1970s, as part of Mt. Jefferson Farms, a family farm and nursery operation that included forestry, large-scale mint production, and research plots. In 1988, Mt. Jefferson Farms partnered with Vendeland to research the cultivation of Camellia sinensis in Oregon.  They selected a wide range of cultivars to evaluate both growing and flavor characteristics with the goal of establishing an Oregon grown tea product.

Miller and Jenkins inherited this project when they took over the farm 5 years ago. The now-mature tea block presents both a challenge and an opportunity: Is Oregon-grown tea a viable product?  Miller is optimistic, “The Tea Project really fits into our business plan, which is direct marketing of local agricultural products. We really feel like there’s a market for tea here.”

To this end, Minto Island hosts tea classes in conjunction with fall and summer tea harvests. On the hottest day of the year, 15 enthusiasts fanned out across the tea plot, gently plucking tender tea leaves under the sweltering August sun.

J-Tea is excited to have the opportunity to visit Minto Island during the Fall Harvest

Oolong Tea in the United States

Tea Farm, Minto Island Growers, Salem, Oregon 

Truth be told, we Americans love tea. Intertwined with America’s history from the beginning, tea consumption has evolved in pace with the nation’s cultural climate. We went from hopped up rhetoricists drawing the concentrate from a samavar to microwaving water and adding a teabag, and sipping sweetened iced tea. Tracing the roots of America's tea culture, inevitably leads to the Boston Tea Party.

However, tea culture in America has evolved considerably since the Colonial and wartime eras and now embraces a wide spectrum of cultural traditions, including those of Taiwan and China. What are the marketing barriers for high end tea such as Taiwanese oolongs in the US? Are you excited about growing and producing tea in the US?

Take a Tea Class at J-TEA

Puer class in session at J-TEA

Tea Education: Summer Classes at J-TEA 
by Mical Lewis

In the last month we've had three classes at J-Tea: Tea 101, Puer Class, and Oolong Class. They have all been great successes, not to mention a lot of fun. We would like to extend a huge thank you to all of the customers who attended these classes. This is the first time we've attempted to streamline our curriculum and we appreciate your assistance as we refine our methods. Our classes can only get better from here.

With all of our classes thus far, our goal is to demystify the process of making tea by sharing our one easy method to make a great cup of tea anytime and with any tea. We're also dedicated to teaching you skills to help you navigate the tea world in general, so that no matter where you are you can find and make yourself a good cup of tea. Bottom line: we want to help you discover your own personal likes and dislikes about tea and to give you a real feel for this amazing beverage. After all, taste is a personal thing that you develop over time. And the only way to develop a taste for tea is to drink more of it.

There are more classes headed your way so stay tuned.

Coming up in July and August:

Dong Ding Class: Learn what makes tea grown on this Taiwanese mountain so awe inspiring

Formosa Class: Discover how leaf-hoppers make this tea so amazing and why

Tea Stories: Learn the fascinating histories behind the names of our teas

Tea on the Road: Reuniting with the Guywan

On a recent road trip I was happy to reunite with an old friend, the guywan. I hadn’t planned to be reunited with this vessel in such a way. In fact, I didn't have much of a plan for how I would be drinking tea on this particular trip. I was making a solo journey of about 1,660 miles and I brought a minimal selection of tea tools: a guy wan, a thermos, and some tea. Somehow, I knew that this would be enough. Yet, I didn't connect the dots that I would be drinking straight from the guywan. Or I guess what I didn't imagine is the positive impact that this reunification would have on the trip.

I enjoyed many simple elements about this process. First on the list: how well the guywan fit into the vehicle’s cup holder. This particular cup holder was thoughtfully placed on the end of the wide central console armrest. I never thought I would refer to a car’s cup holder and a guywan in the same sentence, but this just reminds me that life is never actually how we think it is going to be. But let's not digress. After a few practice brew sessions, I had it down. I was drinking brew after brew, switching the leaves by scooping them out of the little bowl, tossing them on the floor mat, doing a quick rinse using as little water as possible, and then using that to water the leaves I had just dumped on the floor mat. Then I added a different type of leaf and started again. In this way, I would brew tea for hours at a time.

Lessons from Brewing on the Open Road

Use less tea; about 5 grams is enough. If the tea starts to get too strong, you have two choices. Drink strong tea or add hot water for a milder version. Sip the hot infusion and as it cools a bit, drinking will become easier. I find I can take sips from very hot things and if you feel comfortable doing this, I totally recommend it. Sipping away, I noticed that the tea cooled as time went by. Eventually I was down to the last drops. Sometimes this would be very strong. For the first couple of brews, I didn't relax enough to realize that instead of drinking such a strong infusion, I could just add water. But eventually I did have this revolution. Then I could choose. I could either drink the strong stuff if I was feeling tired and needed a boost, or I could add a bit of water and keep it going.

I have a large thermos with a tight seal because I feel that this is one of the tools that really helps me enjoy tea on the go. Regarding the thermos, I recommend purchasing a brand new thermos and using it for hot water only. Never put anything other than water in this thermos. I filled it up before I left and the hot water flowed for a full 24 hours following. In fact, I found that I enjoyed the tea for the second 12 hours even more. By then, the water temperature had dropped and it was more tolerable for drinking (tea) and driving.

Speaking of hot beverages on the road, there is some danger involved in brewing and driving. If possible, train members of your travel team to assist in driver's tea preparation. Added risk aside, I felt as though I benefited greatly from this miraculous tea rediscovery. Instead of feeling bored as miles loomed ahead of me, I felt both alert and relaxed. The miles faded away as I enjoyed whole leaf oolong tea of various types and strengths. Really, tea is the perfect driving companion.  

Leaves sit dry in cup, hot water is added, leaves unfurl and open and are happy to be in water, as if coming back to life.