01.08.07
they are only leaves, a novices best discovery
posted by Richard Guzauskas | 6 comments
I recently have been going on line and visiting some of the tea chat lines. I’ve been amazed at the huge amount of information available and the high level of sophistication that some of these chat rooms have attained.
It seems that we tea drinkers are really getting knowledgeable and sharing the information (some of which is a little questionable but much of which is right on target). Enticing statements such as “Tung Ting Oolongs with background notes similar to those found in last years early Chardonay” abound in some of these conversations. Wow, that’s a bit more difficult to grasp than, “they have the best berry flavorings”.
The level of conversation in these chat rooms is sometimes so abstract that I wonder what the novice tea drinker might be thinking while reading this same information. I remember my first few years of serious tea drinking and the intimidation I felt at times, I wish we had had the internet then! Actually, I remember clearly thinking that I simply would never really get teas the way some people seem to get them.
Then I had a revelation, actually a good friend revealed a tea secret to me. “They’re just a bunch of dried leaves” he said. I was shocked and wanted to reply by telling him, “no, they’re so mysterious, it takes forever to learn about them”, but before I could respond he opened the teapot, scooped out a finger full of soggy leaves and plopped them down on a saucer. “See” he said, “just leaves”. Thus my real education in the appreciation of teas began.
Novices, chins up, my friend was absolutely correct. It’s great to wax poetic about the subtleties of the aromas and flavors found in our magnificent teas but the secret to understanding and appreciating these subtleties is no magic. We’re all on the learning curve and we all start at the beginning. For me the beginning was coming to terms with the fact that yes, they’re just leaves. Once I really got that, I could not wait to look at the steeped tea leaves in the bottom of my pot or cup.
Inspecting tea leaves, dry and already steeped, feeling them, unraveling them, inhaling their wonderous aromas and checking to determine their oxidation level has provided me with more information about teas than any other single daily action I have taken to learn about this terrific beverage. The mystery began to unravel once I realized “They’re Only Leaves”.
January 8th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
It’s true, but I’d rather think that they are a bunch of dried leaves that take a lifetime of learning and appreciating. I don’t think any special talent is needed to appreciate good teas…just exposure and willingness to try new things. The quality difference between the so-so stuff and the high quality ones can be night and day, but we wouldn’t know unless we try them. And nothing to be intimidated about, except maybe by the prices of the premium stuff.
Also, I agree that a tasting note should try to break down the complex taste components of the food/beverage in question…make it simpler to understand. So I guess the proper response to statements such as “…oolong with background notes similar to those found in last years early Chardonay's” is “Sheesh!”
January 8th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
I agree that sometimes I find people “beating around the bush” when approaching teas. However, I humbly think teas are more than leaves. The way the Chinese character for “Tea” is written smartly places The human in between the Leaves and the Wood/Roots:
See the components of the Chinese character for cha (tea)
Tea is not Tea without any part of the three (leaves, human, roots). The human can be placed in the center of the whole Tea is also interesting; Human separate the leaves from the wood/roots, and from finding, growing, harvesting, processing, brewing, tasting to sharing, all require Human to accomplish. And I find teas to be amazing because not many drinks/beverage/food like teas in which the end consumers play such a deciding role: giving the same tea to 10 different people, you will find 10 different taste in the end!
January 8th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
I agree whole-heartedly with what you are saying Guang, and thank you for the wonderful link to the character for Cha. That is wonderful to see. Tea is so inextricably connected to it’s relationship with human history, art, healing, psychology, spirituality etc. that it is obviously more than just leaves. I think Richard would agree with you as well when speaking in more general terms. I can’t speak for him, but I’m sure he was just addressing the complex discussions he was seeing online regarding the nuances of tea which can be a bit intimidating for the newcomer.
By the way, I just received my book on Pu-erh and it is fabulous. I also got the 2 Pu-erh magazines but, unfortunately, neglected to read the small print that said it was all in Chinese. Oh well! A good lesson for me to read more carefully. I am looking forward to receiving my “Art of Tea Magazine”.
February 2nd, 2007 at 1:17 am
Interesting discussion. I find myself feeling a respect for the leaves the more I work with them and almost the duty to treat them in the best way possible to bring out what they have to offer. Think of them trapped inside soggy bags of any size, clumped together at the wrong temperature and stewed is so unfair. Coffee has been coddled and promoted and tea has been abused and treated as the ugly stepsister. It’s about time we who care about what tea is about let people know how much tea has to offer. I’m not nearly as much into sounding sophisticated as I am in bringing out the maximum from each tea when I brew it by treating it respectfully.
July 18th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
“…just a bunch of dried leaves…”
I had the same realization about 5 years ago when I first heard the phrase “water and leaves.” Those three simple words helped me to slowly move beyond tea novice. Two years later, while studying Mandarin, I first heard the phrase “cha dao.” When the layers of meaning in those two phrases combined in my mind I became a devoted tea lover.
September 1st, 2007 at 10:35 am
Thank you for this. The simplicity is so important to me, too. While I love to wax poetic about the magic of tea, I have to remember not only where I came from in terms of my own growth in tea, but the simple truth of the Cha Dao, as Black Dragon pointed out.
It took me literally decades to begin to understand even the most basic facts about tea! I love to watch someone eyes light up when something just clicks. Perhaps also what Richard is alluding to is that the magic and mystery only really mean something when one has grasped the simplicity first. And the magic is revealed through that, not the other way around.