Monday October 27, 2008 | 1 comment
I guess you could say I’m a reluctant user of technology: I was late to get comfortable with the computer but peer pressure required me to join the 21st century and get an email address; I share a cell phone with my husband, but his recently has been upgraded to an iPhone. Yes, it is amazing technology. As an avid reader and lover of books, my husband wanted to get me a system for reading books on the computer. I had to draw the line there. I love holding and reading my books – in person thank you very much.
I was quite put off when I saw an article in a Hindi paper which states: “An electronic nose and vision (ENV) system that is capable of measuring the aroma, colour, appearance and other quality parameters of both finished and “in-process” tea is likely to be commercially launched in a year.”
Can you imagine that the centuries’ old custom of apprenticeship of tea masters may become replaced by a
machine? Please tell me this won’t happen. The training of blenders and tea masters evolves over a lifetime. This ancient ritual of training of the tea master is an integral part of the culture of tea. An e-nose will never be able to match the subtleties of a trained tea master’s multi-sensory approach. I, for one, will always seek the more traditional assessments of tea. Perhaps there will evolve a new labeling system – approved by a human nose and eyes. I’m eager to hear what others at T Ching think of this ENV system.
MAIN, Image 1, Image 2
I don’t know, Michelle. Sometimes I wish I had a mechanical nose so that I could fully tease out more of the subtle nuances in the tea that I think I sometimes miss or can’t put a label on. But then I would be missing out on the experience and the challenge myself. One of the things I love about tea is that it continues to be a mystery and that each new harvest brings new flavors and new aromas that exist to be teased out and appreciated by the human nose and brain even with all of its fallibility.