It floored me a little when I actually thought about it. Eleven years of all things tea and I had yet to visit an actual garden. They remained just images and visions – pictures that I have pored over for what seems like decades. Those pristine gardens of Japan where … Continue reading
No food can claim to be more basic to civilization than bread. Bread features prominently in almost all cultures across the world. So does tea. So naturally they go together in metaphor as well as in spirit. The two are most often paired together at tea-time and at breakfast, both meals that … Continue reading
What movies and dramas come to mind when thinking about tea? Tea and Sympathy? Tea with Mussolini? Movies that are of the drama genre, right? After learning that I write posts for T Ching, my cousin Andrea recently sent me a copy of Tea Fight!, a 2008 movie first released … Continue reading
Yoon Hee Kim is an oasis of calm as she steeps a beautiful Korean early spring green tea. With deft movements and the deepest focus, she is a dynamo, sourcing and blending tea, teaching the Korean tea ceremony, and in the process, paying homage to her family’s long history of … Continue reading
Handling the guywan is easier to demonstrate than to describe. The cup is never removed from the saucer. If right-handed, place the saucer holding the cup in the palm of your right hand and steady the cup by resting the thumb on its rim. The lid is used as a … Continue reading
Having recently returned to the corporate world after a wonderful two-year sabbatical, my biggest dilemma has been how to brew tea at work. Simple, you say: heat some water, get one of those neat little cups with its own filter, put your tea in, and go. OK, that’s true – … Continue reading