As part of T Ching’s quest to turn teens on to tea, a matcha tasting was scheduled for Thursday, January 17, at noon at the local high school. Eleven students signed up; eleven invitations were sent; and seventeen eager teenagers showed up.
Never dismayed by variations from routine, Sandy and Michelle calmly set up their collection [...]
I want to remind all novices about the simplicity of brewing tea. I typically find that new comers to tea feel a bit overwhelmed by the process and I’d like to demystify it. Here’s the abridged version for the formula W+3T to the perfect cup.
W = water. If you don’t use good [...]
The ship, a fragment detached from the earth, went on lonely and swift like a small planet.
-Joseph Conrad [...]
Five miles of hiking uphill would land you at the cabin I was raised in. Water came from a hand pump, light from a kerosene lantern, heat from a wood cook stove, milk from a series of goats - always inexplicably named “Billie,” and fresh greens from our garden. [...]
Dan Chiu was an Immortal
Who cared nothing for rich foods.
But, after picking some tea & drinking it,
he sprouted wings,
And flew to the Abode of The Immortals,
To escape life’s emptiness.
Now he lives among the clouds
In a palace unknown to humans.
His tea is brewed in a golden teapot
By a young immortal who lives
Upon a peak amidst [...]
On a bright and sparkling New Year’s Day, 2008, with the temperature hovering right around 40 degrees, a group gathered down at the Metz family farm, which is snuggled just above the the beautiful Delaware Water Gap. Nestled in the foothills of the Pocono Mountains Ranger District, Stockertown, Pennsylvania, our group of happy, slightly stooped, [...]
I was delighted to have the opportunity to review Mary Lou and Robert J. Heiss’ book, The Story of Tea : A Cultural History and Drinking Guide. The term I would use to describe it is encyclopedic. The 417 pages are visually beautiful with stunning pictures and readable text. The [...]
In 1833 England’s tea business changed forever when the Charter of the East India Company came up for renewal in Parliament. The hated monopoly had enjoyed the exclusive right to trade with China for almost two and a half centuries and now the nation’s tea drinkers, the thousands of Company-licensed [...]
Ozzy Osbourne, best known as vocalist for the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, made news last week when he revealed that he “loves tea.” Having just celebrated his 59th birthday, Osbourne is better known for his spooky lyrics, drug and alcohol abuse, and sometimes disorderly behavior than he is for his [...]
On a cold winter night
A friend dropped by.
We did not drink wine
But instead drank tea.
The kettle bubbled,
The coals glowed,
The bright moon shone
Outside my window.
The moon itself
Was nothing special -
But, oh, the plum-tree blossoms!
Tu Hsiao Shan
(Song Dynasty)
[ photo credits: post main image by Nosbud at www.flickr.com ; plum blossoms by WooWooWoo at www.flickr.com ]
