I am definitely interested.
I love the history of tea, and I enjoy talking about it, even if it makes the eyes of my friends glaze over in boredom as Intuit said yesterday lol
Recently I've been looking into the Menghai Tea Factory in the Yunnan Province of China. From what I've read it was Menghai, and one other factory, that perfected the way to create shu pu erh at about the same time. The production process of pu erh is really interesting. I'm also really interested in China and it's history, starting with the provinces and how some are autonomous, like Yunnan, which makes it possible for the Menghai Tea Factory to trade with the rest of the world.
After a really good cup of sencha, I started looking up more in depth some info on Japanese teas, but I haven't gotten as deeply interested in Japan as I am with China.
There is something about China...
This morning - Dragonwell.
Jul 15th, '09, 11:47
Posts: 316
Joined: Jul 23rd, '09, 10:30
Location: Concord, New Hampshire
My thoughts exactly. I have a general interest in history, but I'm a student of medieval (primarily but not exclusively European--my multilingualism only goes so far!) history. Herbal concoctions, yes, tea, not so much.olivierco wrote:My interests in tea and learning about a country aren't correlated.
There is entirely too little tea in my cup at the moment. Must remedy that.
I think if you get serious about your tea, you can't help but be curious about the cultivation and processing specifics of various tea types and subtypes from countries from which your tea originates. You need to make informed decisions on how to prepare these fine teas. That inevitably drives learning about tea brewing and that, in turn, promotes acquisition of fine teaware crafted in these countries and a bit of knowledge of how to use your teaware to match various brewing qualities to teas of interest. That requires a bit of knowledge of teaware function and quality and it's affect on the brewing of various better-to-high-end teas.
You might become familiar with the geography and climate of these countries, for the love of tea. Fortunately, you can do it at distance quite comfortably, thanks to the internet and books. One needn't travel, unless your aim is to visit the locale of your favorite teas, learn firsthand from master brewers or acquire tea and teaware that isn't exported abroad.
>I particularly feel the need in the case of Oolong to learn the differences between the 4 main production areas.
Agreed!
By analogy, if you wish to delve into greens, you will want to learn of the growing regions, typical production methods, brewing specifics/teaware and qualities of their specialty teas.
I am still exploring the broader world of teas, have no specific destination in mind, and therefore am content to learn at a distance.
Sencha to start my day, for a change.
You might become familiar with the geography and climate of these countries, for the love of tea. Fortunately, you can do it at distance quite comfortably, thanks to the internet and books. One needn't travel, unless your aim is to visit the locale of your favorite teas, learn firsthand from master brewers or acquire tea and teaware that isn't exported abroad.
>I particularly feel the need in the case of Oolong to learn the differences between the 4 main production areas.
Agreed!
By analogy, if you wish to delve into greens, you will want to learn of the growing regions, typical production methods, brewing specifics/teaware and qualities of their specialty teas.
I am still exploring the broader world of teas, have no specific destination in mind, and therefore am content to learn at a distance.
Sencha to start my day, for a change.
I am interested in how tea is produced in different countries and the history of their tea production, but that's about as far as my interest goes. Although last year Victoria posted a link to the Glendale tea estate in India, and I would like to go there someday, but it's far down on the list of places I'd like to visit.
Iced Ginger Peach this morning.
Iced Ginger Peach this morning.
Jul 15th, '09, 14:12
Posts: 796
Joined: Sep 3rd, '08, 11:01
Location: Washington, DC
Contact:
Maitre_Tea
I like to learn about the regions my teas come from so I can appreciate the differences between them, and it helps my understanding of how/why a certain tea is prepared that way. It's also fascinating to learn the history of tea, and the legends that surround a tea's name.
For instance, legend states that Bai Ji Guan (White Cockscomb) was named so because a monk saw a rooster defending his young from an eagle. Think the most interesting creation story of a tea has to be Oriental Beauty. I mean, a tea that needs to have insects biting at the leaves
For instance, legend states that Bai Ji Guan (White Cockscomb) was named so because a monk saw a rooster defending his young from an eagle. Think the most interesting creation story of a tea has to be Oriental Beauty. I mean, a tea that needs to have insects biting at the leaves
Jul 15th, '09, 15:50
Posts: 147
Joined: Apr 17th, '09, 11:36
Location: Mississippi
Jul 15th, '09, 16:38
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
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Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
It has been a busy couple days ... forum spam and the Hagi special offer have taken all my TeaChat time.
I am very interested in the regions of my fave teas. So often these regions reveal so little to the West. Uji, Kagoshima, Shizuoka, Yame and certainly at least several regions of China to name a few areas of interest. For now, I pick up bits of information here and there and have not dedicated near enough time or effort in this.
Began the TD with Yutaka Midori from O-Cha. VERY good. This is a little fickle this year, but it just needs more heat and leaf and then it really shines. SweeTea noticed the increased temp while Pyrit hung out.
Off to Korean Markets today and enjoyed a blend of mugi and roasted corn tea with lunch.
NOW I am ready for REAL tea again.
I am very interested in the regions of my fave teas. So often these regions reveal so little to the West. Uji, Kagoshima, Shizuoka, Yame and certainly at least several regions of China to name a few areas of interest. For now, I pick up bits of information here and there and have not dedicated near enough time or effort in this.
Began the TD with Yutaka Midori from O-Cha. VERY good. This is a little fickle this year, but it just needs more heat and leaf and then it really shines. SweeTea noticed the increased temp while Pyrit hung out.
Off to Korean Markets today and enjoyed a blend of mugi and roasted corn tea with lunch.
NOW I am ready for REAL tea again.
blah blah blah SENCHA blah blah blah!!!
Another interesting tea/history/country - Kombucha. According to Wikipedia the recorded history of kombucha began in Russia and Ukraine during the late 19th century. I've always been fascinated with Russia, and especially in books written by The Motherland's many disillusioned authors. Anyway, I found some Kombucha today at the local health food store. It's called GT's Organic Raw Kombucha. It even had a little bit of a colony floating in it! I found a way online to make a SCOBY from a bottle of this stuff, so I bought two, drank one and used the second for the science experiment.
I apologize in advance if I inadvertantly trigger a zombie apocalypse.
The Kombucha has a great taste! Not very sweet, with a slightly vinegar-like taste and smell, which I don't mind at all. Very effervescent, very refreshing stuff! I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.
Even if my homemade batch bombs I'll still get GT's from time to time.
If you're interested in making a SCOBY from a bottle of this, here are the directions I found online:
http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-to-grow ... cha-scoby/
I apologize in advance if I inadvertantly trigger a zombie apocalypse.
The Kombucha has a great taste! Not very sweet, with a slightly vinegar-like taste and smell, which I don't mind at all. Very effervescent, very refreshing stuff! I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.
Even if my homemade batch bombs I'll still get GT's from time to time.
If you're interested in making a SCOBY from a bottle of this, here are the directions I found online:
http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-to-grow ... cha-scoby/
"The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation." - Bertrand Russell
Yes, I'm always interested. It helps me to understand the tea much better.
Yesterday I had a really full tea day. I started with the last of my Yunnan Black Gold from Tillerman Teas. Then I accompanied my husband over to Berkeley, where he had an appt and I used the occasion to visit my friends at Imperial Tea Court. They had four fresh oolongs just into the store: BaiJiGuan (White Cock's Comb), FoShou (Buddha Palm - I think this really is about "praying hands"), a really roasty Old Bush ShuiXien, and DaHongPao. So, of course I had to have four gaiwans going at once - shared with everybody. The FoShou was new to me and although less roasty than the toasty teas I tend to favor these days, I found the flavors in the tea quite full and interesting, like a ripe melon in some way. I enjoyed it with food as well to avoid the stomach acidity that I get from med as opposed to dark roasted teas. Also the BaiJiGuan had a lot of surprising variety in its flavors. The ShuiXien really roasty, rocky & with its own sugar. I found myself drinking more of this than any other. DaHongPao had a robustness with a beautiful, strong honey finish in the scent of the empty cup.
THEN we started on a 2002 ChiTse cooked puerh cake. The 9th and 10th steeps were amazing to me and the other drinkers - perfect: still amber red color, very clean finish, sweet water, refreshing. We went to at least 15 steeps, still rich amber red colored tea.
And THEN... somebody brought in two white puerhs bought from other local teahouses. One was a loose white peurh from Far Leaves; the other was a small pressed cake bought at Om Shan Tea house in San Francisco (a Master Wang cake). I tasted blueberries in the loose white puerh from Far Leaves. But - the pressed cake was like nothing I ever tasted. Many different flavors in this raw white puerh. I almost never drink white teas - but I had to head over to Om Shan Tea to check it out.
Om Shan Tea I'd never been to; it's fairly new. I really enjoyed the "Tea Bar" atmosphere. This is such a great idea. It reminded me of David Wright's (Chaikhana of Santa Cruz) Empty Boat. Although I came for the white puerh cake, I left with the Yunnan Black "Honey Oak" and a sack full of 30-year aged uncooked mini tuo chas (also Master Wang tea).
Haven't tried the tuo cha's. I am now enjoying the Yunnan "Honey Oak" black. I give it a really good steeping which I think it requires (at Om Shan Tea they did a very quick steep which left it more astringent). I was very pleasantly surprised by a deeper steeping. It's delicious, very rich and minus yesterday's beginning astringency. I'm still on the first steep. So I'll have to see what comes. This looks really interesting: looks like a dark loose puerh, but the taste has a good keemun sense to it as well as the distinctive Yunnan punch. Will have to keep working on it
(It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it)
Yesterday I had a really full tea day. I started with the last of my Yunnan Black Gold from Tillerman Teas. Then I accompanied my husband over to Berkeley, where he had an appt and I used the occasion to visit my friends at Imperial Tea Court. They had four fresh oolongs just into the store: BaiJiGuan (White Cock's Comb), FoShou (Buddha Palm - I think this really is about "praying hands"), a really roasty Old Bush ShuiXien, and DaHongPao. So, of course I had to have four gaiwans going at once - shared with everybody. The FoShou was new to me and although less roasty than the toasty teas I tend to favor these days, I found the flavors in the tea quite full and interesting, like a ripe melon in some way. I enjoyed it with food as well to avoid the stomach acidity that I get from med as opposed to dark roasted teas. Also the BaiJiGuan had a lot of surprising variety in its flavors. The ShuiXien really roasty, rocky & with its own sugar. I found myself drinking more of this than any other. DaHongPao had a robustness with a beautiful, strong honey finish in the scent of the empty cup.
THEN we started on a 2002 ChiTse cooked puerh cake. The 9th and 10th steeps were amazing to me and the other drinkers - perfect: still amber red color, very clean finish, sweet water, refreshing. We went to at least 15 steeps, still rich amber red colored tea.
And THEN... somebody brought in two white puerhs bought from other local teahouses. One was a loose white peurh from Far Leaves; the other was a small pressed cake bought at Om Shan Tea house in San Francisco (a Master Wang cake). I tasted blueberries in the loose white puerh from Far Leaves. But - the pressed cake was like nothing I ever tasted. Many different flavors in this raw white puerh. I almost never drink white teas - but I had to head over to Om Shan Tea to check it out.
Om Shan Tea I'd never been to; it's fairly new. I really enjoyed the "Tea Bar" atmosphere. This is such a great idea. It reminded me of David Wright's (Chaikhana of Santa Cruz) Empty Boat. Although I came for the white puerh cake, I left with the Yunnan Black "Honey Oak" and a sack full of 30-year aged uncooked mini tuo chas (also Master Wang tea).
Haven't tried the tuo cha's. I am now enjoying the Yunnan "Honey Oak" black. I give it a really good steeping which I think it requires (at Om Shan Tea they did a very quick steep which left it more astringent). I was very pleasantly surprised by a deeper steeping. It's delicious, very rich and minus yesterday's beginning astringency. I'm still on the first steep. So I'll have to see what comes. This looks really interesting: looks like a dark loose puerh, but the taste has a good keemun sense to it as well as the distinctive Yunnan punch. Will have to keep working on it
(It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it)
Jul 15th, '09, 17:50
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Location: Gainesville, Florida
Now that's a good tea day! Thanks for sharing it with us, Janine.Janine wrote: I used the occasion to visit my friends at Imperial Tea Court ...
A Da Wu Ye Dan Cong in my cup tonight after a day finishing off some a 90's aged Taiwan Pin Dong Jia-Le-Shui, Harbor Tea, that it has been a chore to get through ... IMHO quite lifeless stuff.
Jul 15th, '09, 18:43
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Herb_Master