Let’s use a metaphor here.  If I say, “Think of Miles Davis,” you may begin to associate his name with jazz, trumpet, solo, and revolutionary.  I’ll throw in my favorite association with Miles – space.  The use of space (rests, in musical terms) made his solos stand the test of time.  It was never about how many notes you could play, but how you played them.  The rests are something that you never usually pick up on when you’re listening to a solo, but it’s what happens (to me) after you listen to the same piece of music year after year.  

My suggestion?  Try the same teas again and pick up on any and all nuances.  Even though you are drinking the same tea, you really are drinking something slightly different because there are so many variables – the water, the kettle heating the water, the amount being steeped, the temperature outside, the teapot, what you ate prior to drinking, how much sleep you got the previous night, your emotional state …

I’m not suggesting you think about all that while you’re preparing the same tea on a different day, as that could take you far away from the experience of the moment.  Be aware of it, rather than think of it.

Be that as it may, the last few weekends have been extremely sunny and I have hope for the weeks to come.  I love putting a few bags in a skinny glass container and letting the water soak up the loving rays and the even more tender Camellia sinensis.  I became inspired last year to start making sun tea when I stumbled upon Yumi Sakugawa’s illustrated guide to making sun tea on Wonderhowto.com, How to Make Sun Tea: Secret Tips from the Yumiverse.

I decided to follow her directions because I love DIY tips, tea, and her meditative aesthetic.  I’m not going to go into the details of how to make the tea because you can follow the link above, but I’ve been using this recipe off and on for almost a year now.  Although I don’t have as much time to hang around on my front porch and cultivate a garden in my little yard, I’ve been trying to take care of plants in a little outside area at work.  Maybe if I start brewing sun tea at my job next to the sunny spot where the flowers are growing, I’ll become a more attentive gardener AND tea brewer.

MAIN | IMAGE 1

“How does one go about celebrating the 100th anniversary of one of a tragic accident in which 1,514 people died? You make a tea bag holder, of course! The Tea.Tanic (€11; roughly $14) is designed to resemble the ill-fated RMS Titanic, crafted from stainless steel with a mug-filling body that allows you to press on its sides to squeeze out all available goodness. Play ‘My Heart Will Go On’ while drinking to complete the experience.”

Gordon Alder, whose pursuits range from photographer to designer for the auto industry, has sold over 2,000 of his tea bag holders.  His product, which can be purchased from his Tea.Tanic site, is his first foray into the tea industry.

Mind you, cherry blossom tea – called sakuracha – is actually made from salted cherry blossoms that come from a very different kind of cherry tree, one that produces no fruit. The ritual of making the beverage involves rinsing off the salt and then infusing hot water with the blossoms. There is no actual tea in the drink, although to make matters even more confusing, some Japanese tea vendors do, in fact, use sencha as a base and scatter dried cherry blossoms throughout the tea, a beverage far more accessible to the Western palate.  

For my concoction, I, too, use sencha in an homage to late spring, but instead of using cherry blossoms, which actually have very little fragrance (and probably are past their moment by now), I use the fruit of a different kind of cherry tree. The dessert is easy and quick to make; the only onerous part involves pitting the cherries, a task best done with a coverall apron, unless you wish to have cherry juice stains all over your best shirt.  

In this creamy fruit and tea gratin, the green tea flavors the cream with its grassy, gently sweet character, and the cherries, pitted and halved, are submerged under liquid custard that is baked and then caramelized. Here’s a bit of crème brûlée-like heaven in a shallow dish (you might wish to use ovenproof tea bowls as the appropriate vessels for the dessert to underscore the Asian correlative here).

Cherry-Sencha Crème Brûlée

Serves 6
1 lb. fresh cherries (the darkest, sweetest, plumpest ones you can find)
1-1/2 cups (12 ounces) whole milk
2 T. sencha (make sure it’s fresh and fragrant)
1 cup (8 ounces) heavy cream
5 egg yolks from large eggs (generous 3 ounces)
Generous ½ cup (approximately 4 ounces) granulated sugar
Additional sugar, as needed, used to caramelized the tops of the finished custards before serving

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Pit the cherries, halve them, and divide them among 6 ovenproof 1-1/2”-deep dishes, each with a 6-8 ounce capacity.
3. Bring milk and tea to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes more.
5. Pass the mixture through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl and then transfer to a heavy saucepan. Add the heavy cream and return just to a boil.
6. Whisk the egg yolks and first quantity of sugar together until the mixture is light in color.
7. Temper the heated milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture and pour an equal amount over the cherries in each baking dish.
8. Carefully place the baking dishes into a baking pan. Add just enough hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the molds. Bake for about 30 minutes or just until the custard sets. Don’t overbake.
9. Remove carefully from the oven. Allow to cool to room temperature. When cooled, the molds should be covered and placed in the refrigerator to chill. The dessert may be made up to this point early in the day on which you wish to serve it.
10. Just before serving, sprinkle the second quantity of sugar, as needed, evenly over the tops of each dessert. Using a kitchen torch, carefully and evenly apply the flame to melt the sugar and serve immediately.

MAIN | IMAGE 1 | IMAGE 2

As I research stress and find endless information on how it leads to just about all of our diseases, I am most disturbed by what children are exposed to on a regular basis and how seriously it is affecting their lives, their brains, and their futures.

Of course, tea is the vehicle I encourage grown-up people to use to combat stress. Taking a few precious and life-sustaining moments daily with a cup of tea to unwind and release stress can be a life saver.  But what about our children? If a child grows up in a stressful environment – one of neglect, abandonment, and abuse – this causes trauma. Peter K. Gerlach, MSW, has a very good site for understanding this a bit better. Childhood trauma is strongly linked to mental health problems later in life, as well as physical ones.

According to Stress and Early Brain Development by Megan R. Gunnar, Ph.D., Adriana Herrera, MA, and Camelia E. Hostinar, BS, which was published online June 10, 2009 by the University of Minnesota:

“Stress is a condition in which an individual experiences challenges to physical or
emotional well-being that overwhelm their coping capacity. While some experience with manageable stress is important for healthy development, prolonged, uninterrupted, overwhelming stress can have toxic effects. This type of toxic stress is often associated with childhood abuse and neglect. In the early years of life when the brain is developing rapidly it is particularly sensitive to environmental influences. Toxic early life stress (ELS) may induce persistent hypersensitivity to stressors and sensitization of neural circuits and other neurotransmitter systems which process threat information. These neurobiological sequelae of ELS may promote the development of short and long-term behavioral and emotional problems that may persist and increase the risk for psychopathology and physical health disorders into adulthood.”

According to Dr. Steven Sharfstein, former president of the American Psychiatric Association, “Trauma is to mental health as smoking is to cancer!” In the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, there’s a growing interest among educators and mental health professionals in better understanding and addressing trauma. “Childhood trauma, in public health, is probably considered today the single greatest preventable cause of mental illness,” according to Dr. Ken Spiegelman, a Manchester pediatrician. “Trauma actually is very treatable. As quickly as it’s recognized and treated, you can have very, very good outcomes,” according to Dr. Kane, a psychologist. “It’s really when trauma goes unrecognized and unaddressed for many years that it becomes more difficult and it really becomes more disruptive to somebody’s individual life and their success into adulthood.”

Trauma can result from a one-time incident, such as a natural disaster, a shooting or murder, a car accident, or the death of a loved one. But generally, for Toxic Stress Syndrome, abuse (sexual, physical, or verbal), neglect (limited affection or attention), or abandonment (by one or more parent) was ongoing. This may also happen in an environment of poverty, drug or alcohol abuse, gang violence, bullying, teasing, threatening, hunger, lack of medical attention, and instability.

One woman’s name surfaced again and again as I was researching Toxic Stress Syndrome – Dr. Nadine Burke Harris. Dr. Burke Harris has recently embarked on a new project to create the Center for Youth Wellness, a comprehensive health and wellness center that integrates medical, mental health, holistic, and social services for an evidence-based approach to improving the health and well-being of urban children and youth. Her areas of interest are health disparities, childhood trauma, nutrition, and asthma. In particular, her focus is on serving communities where issues of poverty and race present challenges to conventional healthcare and education. She also maintains her clinical practice at the CPMC Bayview Child Health Center.

The first indication of a “stressed-out” child is in his or her behavior. This is the language of children who cannot speak for themselves. Often, we label or drug such children, identifying them as suffering from other diseases. When Toxic Stress Syndrome goes undiagnosed and untreated for years, it surfaces in adults in the form of one or more symptoms (per Christine Forest, MD, of Los Angeles):

• One’s increased adrenaline level no longer comes down. Blood pressure and heart rate don’t either, wearing down the circulatory system and leading to hypertension and heart failure.
• The chronic increase of stress hormones (steroids, adrenaline, and noradrenalin/norepinephrine) makes platelets more prone to aggregate and mobilize energy in the bloodstream and increase the level of fat, glucose, and the LDL type of cholesterol that leads to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques.
• The muscles remain tense and ready for “fight or flight,” but the prolonged tension is weakening them.
• Pain and headaches become daily companions.
• Stress hormones inhibit the formation of leukocytes by inhibiting the thymus function and inhibiting the innate immune response. Stress induces a miscommunication between the brain and the immune system, weakening the body’s response to infections and even cancer.
• Digestive symptoms like discomfort and alternating constipation and bloating with diarrhea.
• Increased predisposition for ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome; changes in appetite, eating too much or too little.
• Delays healing from wounds and other illnesses accelerate the aging process.

Stress is a very BIG problem in our society today! With tea having a long and well-steeped history as the beverage of tranquility, serenity, and spirituality, it seems that this is what we should be selling our customers – a CUP OF COMFORT; most are in dire need of it!

These de-stressing adults will then be much better prepared to deal with the hurting children around them – those who are crying out for help. We are all they’ve got and they not only depend on us, they deserve our attention, affection, and love to help them cope with our crazy, stressed-out society!

MAIN | IMAGE 1

Yes, really.

While there are lots of references to “hot as a tea kettle” or similar metaphors, in this post I’m sticking to some of the more interesting ones, the ones that actually discuss the act of drinking tea.

(A quick warning for the language-sensitive: though this article doesn’t contain any profanity, if you hunt down any of the songs therein, you may stumble upon some.)

First up is Sage Francis’ “Cup of Tea” from his Personal Journals album, where Sage writes about a nightly routine of facing his anxieties and problems over a cup of tea:

Every night it’s that same damn routine
One green cup of tea
And me stuck all by myself once its empty
And then I’m off to bed with plenty of caffeine to keep me up and thinking

An MC named Psyonik has an odd track titled “Green Tea Swag” where he not only references drinking green tea and incorporates it into the song’s hook, he makes a pretty obscure reference (for hip-hop, at least):

Sip cups like I meditate in Heian-kyō
So I could sit back and regulate the aeon-flow

Heian-kyō, now Kyōto, is certainly a place one might find a good cup of green tea.

Though this one is kind of cheating, I have to include “Weird Al”‘s “White & Nerdy,” which proclaims:

M.C. Escher – that’s my favorite “M.C.”
Keep your 40, I’ll just have an Earl Grey tea

Action Bronson, who is a self-professed foodie, mentions green tea a number of times as well as oolong: “Strictly Oolong on the tea, the shirt straight from ’93.”

Busdriver also enjoys the partially oxidated teas:

They wanted a Moulin Rouge and some bullion cubes
But we jettisoned all that by the megaton
Now they’ve got their Oolong brews and their futon stools
And a reticent sun

In addition, a number of other rappers have made passing references, including Community actor Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino (“You wanna criticize me / Just so you can drink green tea / With Lykke Li at a speakeasy”), Mos Def (“Sometimes that’s just how it be, / Partner, wash you down with green tea and some lime”), Murs (“This is for all of us, lovers and the free thinkers / Rosay sippers and the green tea drinkers”), Detroit’s Elzhi (“You say you love me but is it really real / Would you, fix me green tea if I’m feeling ill”), Asher Roth (“Wake up around 12 and I go back to sleep / Wake up around 3 and I make some green tea”), and Sage (not Francis) (“Green tea, man that’s what real G’s brew / Paper airplanes, that’s what real G’s flew”), and even yours truly (“You’ll never find me tired, strictly wired off of green tea”).

While hip-hop and tea may not historically have much connection and we have yet to see anything rhymed with “Camellia sinensis,” tea references seem to be on the rise. Who knows … maybe some day, there will be a Hip-Hop Tea Shop.

Oh, wait …

MAIN | IMAGE 1

Almost at the same time, Brian Chang from Taiwan also contacted me via Facebook about the history of Tukvar. This made me realize that I do not know much about it, although I did manage to put together a few paragraphs from the memories of people who were in some way connected with this tea estate. Brian later wrote, “Thanks for your great help. It’s very useful to have this information. The study of history is meaningful and interesting and helps us learn more about Darjeeling, not only the tea, but also the evolution. Combining these, the value of the tea is not only in the taste, but also in the history behind it. Thank you very much!!”

Kandy Smith visited from England some time ago, looking for her roots in Darjeeling, a touching story that was covered very lucidly on T Ching by Dharlene Marie Fahl. Since then, people living in many parts of the world have contacted me for information on friends and family who may have lived in my part of India.

Very recently, China National Tea Museum officials visited Darjeeling on the trail of Robert Fortune, but the trail is not strong. The Indian Tea Board does not recognize Robert Fortune’s contribution to Indian tea history, so there is little official documentation on this topic. We were able to arrange a courtesy meeting with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) at Siliguri during the Chinese officials’ visit, but there is more work to be done. This has given us the incentive to document better this missing part of history and present it to the world. There are many nicely printed books, some badly printed books, some well-documented books, and some old books, but nothing describes fully the history of the 89 tea gardens planted in four sub-divisions of Darjeeling, Kurseong, Mirik, and Kalimpong.

Dan Robertson has an assignment here.

For many at the table, this was their first experience trying a tea from Nepal and while the teas were not unfamiliar due to their taste profile, which echoes that of Darjeeling teas, they had a distinctive quality that stood on its own. Certainly, the conversation and slide show of images from Kathmandu, a local village school, and trekking along the Annapurna Range of the Himalayas added a richness that enhanced the tea-drinking experience for those new to these teas.

The teas themselves were from late-season 2012 orthodox tea harvests from the Jun Chiyabari tea garden in Nepal. The dry leaf was a twisted leaf with a light floral aroma and, when infused, released the honey/muscatel notes familiar to Darjeeling tea drinkers. Previously considered a value tea in comparison to the prices fetched by Darjeelings, the quality of Nepal orthodox teas over the past couple of years has improved considerably and the price has crept up accordingly. The tea industry in Nepal has faced challenges in maturing to its full potential, transitioning from mostly government-owned tea gardens to more private-sector ownership with outside investments in tea production and processing. While segments of the tea industry have focused on organic tea-growing practices, the much larger category of CTC tea production is dependent on the use of high levels of fertilizers and pesticides and there is increasing tension over these practices and the exporting of these teas, particularly to neighboring India.

While a tea-tasting event is naturally focused on the tea itself, Sydney was able to bring the group out of our tea-induced fog to appreciate the wider context of the role of tea in Nepal, the lives it touches, and the spirit of the people she has enjoyed on her trips to Nepal. Later in the day, a few of us gathered for dinner at Shangri-La, an appropriately name Nepalese restaurant a few blocks from the tea shop. As with the teas, much of the Nepalese food at the restaurant was familiar by association with flavors and spices from Indian dishes. The owner proudly pointed out the distinctions and we happily agreed to selections that were more authentically Nepalese. As the food was being prepared, we marveled at the way a simple cup of tea can take us on a journey. While we physically never left Bethesda, Maryland, the aromas and tastes of the Nepal teas we sampled took us to Kathmandu, snow-covered majestic peaks, and Shangri-La, all in one day.

White tea – origins unknown

White tea is the least processed type of tea, its processing consisting of just two simple steps – wither the leaves in the sun and then dry them by either light baking or sunning. Experts, however, are divided as to white tea’s origins.

Some say white tea’s origins trace back to 1064, based on Emperor Song Huizhou’s treatise on tea in which a “white tea” is described as one covered with downy fur, not unlike the white teas of today. However, it was believed that although that may have been the precursor to the white tea of today, it may have merely described the appearance of that tea, similar to why “Anji White Tea” is still classified as a green tea.

Another school of thought places the birth year of white tea at 1554, when the first records of withering leaves in the sun in lieu of chaoqing (roasting to halt enzyme activity) were found. At that time, chaoqing was still a relatively new technique and often inexperienced producers burned the tender buds. Consequentially, they turned to sunning the leaves instead.

What is commonly known as white tea today, though, traces its beginnings to 1796 in Fuding, where the first silver needles were made by withering and baking buds made from the Dabaicha cultivar, a tree that yielded sturdier buds with white downy furs. Teas made from the Dabaicha cultivar produced tea with a fuller, sweeter taste that won the hearts of tea lovers.

From white tea to black

Black tea was birthed by combining the fundamentals of producing green, white, and dark teas around 1650 in Xingcun, Wuyishan, Fujian. It added the withering of tea leaves to the basics of green tea production and modified wodui to wohong, a step that expedites the oxidation of tea leaves via heat and humidity. This created a markedly different product from green tea and the production method was eventually exported to the entire world.

The rise of Black Dragon

Oolong (or wulong) tea is literally translated as “black dragon.” As to how it got its name, there are several theories. Like yellow tea, its discovery was almost certainly accidental. Whichever theory you choose to subscribe to, the process of yaoqing, or rattling the leaves to bruise them and cause oxidation, was unlikely to have started as a deliberate act.

In any case, this beautiful “mistake” resulted in the most diverse and (in my somewhat biased opinion) rewarding category of tea. From the almost green tea-like taste of green-style Tieguanyin to the aromatic black tea-like nature of Oriental Beauty, there is no other category of tea with such a wide spectrum.

Like white tea, the origins of oolong tea are somewhat disputed. However, most are certain that by the 18th Century, the production of oolong tea was prevalent in Fujian, both in the north (Wuyishan) and the south (Anxi). Eventually, oolong spread to Guangdong and Taiwan and it is these four areas that remain the main oolong production areas in the world today.

MAIN | IMAGE 1 | IMAGE 2

Some of the descriptions of the coffees reminded me of an oolong tasting class I went to.  One was described as having floral and balsamic notes; another with the words “nectarine, juicy, cherry cola.”  One was even characterized as having notes of black tea.  Having never thought much about the depth of flavor and different notes within coffee, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that there is a true coffee connoisseur culture that is interested in the “nose” of the coffee and the undernotes as well as the initial flavor and the caffeine buzz.

So when I went to this shop, I was a little apprehensive about ordering a tea.  Would they give as much care and thought to preparing a cup of tea as they did to a cup of coffee?  Or would the experience be ruined by a teabag plunked in a cup of lukewarm water?

When I asked what kind of black teas they had, I was thrilled to find that my choices were a Keemun and “Bailin Gongfu” black tea.  I opted for the Bailin Gongfu, as I sometimes find Keemuns too astringent.  I sat down at a table to wait for my tea, and noticed that they prepared it with loose tea leaves, steeping the tea for a precise time in what I assume was water of the correct temperature.  I was then presented with a cup of lovely, dark golden tea, with a sweet, almost bready aroma.  

The tea didn’t disappoint.  After a few days in meetings drinking Lipton out of a paper cup, I was rewarded with a light, yet rich, tea with a good depth of flavor.  As I sipped the tea during our meetings, I was able to have a moment of peace and calm, just enjoying a wonderful beverage.

So for this trip at least, tea and coffee culture were able to co-exist quite happily.  I am very pleased to find a place that my coffee-loving colleagues adore that treats their tea-drinking customers so well.  There’s hope in this world for peace just knowing that!

MAIN | IMAGE 1

Myanmar Tea-Leaf Salad

When it comes to Myanmar tea, it is impossible not to mention Myanmar tea-leaf salad. What sets this salad apart is laphet, that is, fermented or pickled tea leaves, which are regarded as a national delicacy in Myanmar. It is said that “of all the fruit, the mango’s the best; of all the meat, pork’s the best; of all the leaves, laphet’s the best.” This will give you some idea how much the Burmese like their laphet.
 
Although I strongly suggest that travelers try Myanmar’s tea-leaf salad, I also suggest that they pair it with a bowl of plain rice. That is because the salad is very salty. The first time I ordered it, I was not very hungry, so I just ordered the salad, not aware of its saltiness.  Although it is referred to as tea-leaf salad, it only contains small bits of tea leaves, and after the pickling process, the tea leaves lose most of their tea flavor. Together with other ingredients, the overwhelming experience is that of a strong salty taste with a bit of spiciness. So, do try tea-leaf salad with a bowl of plain rice.
 
In addition to laphet, tea-leaf salad is a collection of fried beans, toasted sesame seeds, fried garlic, and dried shrimp, dressed up with fresh tomatoes, green chiles, fish sauce, peanut oil, and squeeze of lime. So although it is called tea-leaf salad, it is comprised of only a small amount of laphet. Laphet reminds me of the taste of homemade pickled vegetables from my childhood. When I was a child, people did not always have a lot to eat, and unlike today, there weren’t always fresh vegetables in the market, so homemade pickled vegetables were necessary. They were very useful when food was scarce because of their strong saltiness or spiciness and the fact that they contributed to eating more rice. Of course, people still eat pickled vegetables even today in China, but since people pay more attention to their health, they tend to eat fewer pickled vegetables than before.
 
Myanmar Puerh

Sadly, I have never found Puerh tea in Myanmar, presumably because it is not readily available in markets. To find Myanmar Puerh tea, it is best to contact Myanmar Puerh tea businessmen directly. As I found out, Myanmar Puerh tea has gradually become accepted by Chinese Puerh tea lovers. Sometimes, Myanmar Puerh tea is sold under the name of Yiwu Puerh tea, but it is easy to tell the difference between the two if you know Puerh well. For one thing, there is a large price difference between Myanmar Puerh and Yiwu Puerh. However, since the Chinese tea market is so vast, it is still possible to pass Myanmar Puerh off as Yiwu Puerh, allowing the fake tea market to prosper.
 
Myanmar Green Tea
 
Before I left Myanmar, I went to the only tea shop I could find that sold Myanmar green tea. I bought almost all of their stock (since it was a very small shop). Based on the look of the tea leaf, I think the green tea I bought was made from big arbor tree leaves. According to Chinese preferences regarding green tea, the tea I purchased was over-cooked and over-fried. For green tea, it is important that it keep its pure tea flavor. However, it is possible that the Burmese like the over-fried flavor given that they like strong tastes. There were two kinds of green teas sold in this tea shop. One was a pure green tea and the other was a blend of the same pure green tea and other leaves with a strong smell. The smell made the blended tea very strong and more expensive than the pure green tea. When the Burmese make green tea, they put the green tea leaves in a tea pot with 100-degree water for at least five minutes! Since the tea leaves are big arbor tree leaves, this may be reasonable, particularly since they usually use big tea pots with relatively few tea leaves.

MAIN | IMAGE 1 | IMAGE 2

Sen no Rikyū (千利休), who was ordered by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to commit seppuku in 1591, had two legitimate sons, Sen Dōan and the adopted Sen Shōan (1546-1614).   Shōan became Rikyū’s son-in-law when he married Rikyū’s youngest daughter, Okame, and the couple gave birth to Sen Sōtan (1578–1658).  It was the fourth generation, blood-descendants of Rikyū, that is, Sōtan’s children, who, under Sōtan’s guidance, founded the San-Senke (三千家), not in Sakai, but in Kyoto.  Sansenke literally means “Three Houses of Sen.”  

Sōshitsu (1622-1697), Sōtan’s fourth son, inherited the one and three-quarter tatami tearoom, Konnichian, and established the Urasenke (裏千家) School.  Through the centuries, other tearooms were constructed for various purposes, greatly enriching the estate.  None, however, seem to be open to the public on a regular basis, thus one can only appreciate their exquisiteness and antiquity via website photos.

Does the Japanese dictionary specify ura in Urasenke as an antonym of omote as in Omotesenke?  Ura means back or inside, and omote means surface or outside.   Kōshin Sōsa (1613–1672), Sōtan’s third son and successor, inherited the one and half tatami tearoom, Fushin’an, which, being the front property, led to the school name, Omotesenke (表千家).

For his own retirement, Sōtan built Konnichian in the backyard and later bequeathed it to Sōshitsu.  Now we know that Sansenke, or Three Houses of Sen, was not aimlessly named.

So what happened to Sōtan’s first and second sons born to his first wife?  Sōtan’s first son, like Rikyū’s first son, Dōan, seemed to have drifted into oblivion.  Sōtan’s second son, Sōshu (1605-1676), established the third House of Sen, Mushakōjisenke (武者小路千家), on Mushakōji Street.  Kankyū-an is this school’s most famous tearoom.

Slightly reminiscent of the Rothchilds, the founding of the Three Houses of Sen incited no discord or sibling rivalry.  There was a common mission statement though – Preservation and Remembrance.  The passing of the centuries has transformed the three schools into independent entities.  Discussion on the three schools’ differences, such as their tea ceremony practices, warrants another post.   

When Black Ships appeared and Captain Perry was mentioned in one of Yae no Sakura’s very first episodes, I thought, “Not again.  Not another drama about that conflict…”  The previous Taiga production, Taira no Kiyomori (1118 -1181), was refreshing because it recounted an era when samurais were deemed base, second-class citizens.  It unfortunately received low ratings in Japan.

My work in the tea industry began on a grassroots level at the farm. My grower friends with whom I connected during my work with the International Tea Farms Alliance knew they were making tea that was highly desirable in the U.S. market. At first, I was reluctant to tell people in the industry (retailers, buyers, and wholesalers) about what I wanted to do because I thought it was too disruptive to the status quo. Over time, I started to open up more and, to my surprise, people were really excited. Introductions were made to friends of friends in the industry and now I feel that Tealet has been a vehicle for quickly integrating disparate parts of the tea industry. Tea lovers love the idea because they want to explore more teas from origin and retailers are excited because they are looking for a secure way to do business with independent tea growers. To satisfy this demand from retailers, we are building an exciting wholesale platform for exclusive access to farm-direct tea.

I started Tealet with no experience as a tea marketer. Within the first few months of starting the company, I realized that sourcing tea from the growers and ensuring they are paid a fair amount makes it impossible to be price competitive with the rest of the market. I looked at comparable online tea retailers and was shocked by the low prices, knowing that we would not succeed if we competed with these prices. Instead of changing our sourcing model and going for more commodity teas, we took a close look at our marketing strategy. We tested the hypothesis that consumers would be willing to spend more on their tea if they knew from where it came. For this reason, we focused our marketing on telling the stories of the growers instead of focusing on fancy names or features. It’s too early to say if this strategy will be successful, but we have been receiving positive feedback from happy customers. Other retailers that are interested in promoting farm-direct tea should note that they can’t compete with the commercial brands. They must make their own brand and must not be hesitant to tell the story of the growers.

The demand for high-quality, farm-direct tea is driven by a growing interest in cultural products among youth. Reports say that Baby Boomers and Generation Y are the largest contributors to the expanding tea market in the U.S., but it is the youth that are looking to explore the culture and origins of tea rather than just reaping tea’s health benefits. The most valuable contribution this market brings to tea culture is the rate at which these customers are sharing their love for tea with their friends and followers online. Tea retailers that want to educate the market about tea culture should leverage their local communities to share content on social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Tumblr. These are all the tools that we have started to use as we identified engaged groups of tea lovers online that wanted to help us tell our story. There is a right network for all types of communities. In fact, we are utilizing Google Plus for a network of wholesale buyers and will use Hangouts for virtual tasting sessions with the growers, judges, and buyers. The new tea market is very connected, and connecting with the origin of tea is their top priority.

As I begin the second year of my journey to build a transparent tea industry, I go with a great amount of energy and the assurance that the world is ready. There is still much more to learn, but it has definitely been very educational thanks to a large group of new tea friends who have taught me along the way. I am excited to work with tea retail buyers as we launch our wholesale platform.

On the contrary, when we met, at the brilliant The London Candy Company on the Upper East Side (where Nina was overjoyed to find Tunnock’s Teacakes), I did not feel judged at all, but rather embraced as a new student. It was such a relaxed and pleasant experience that I was already looking forward to meeting again soon.

While I was on a business trip in Mexico, I was thrilled to receive an email from Lady Sippington inviting me to her home for afternoon tea. I was so excited I accepted immediately, of course. She was kind enough to meet me at Grand Central.  From there, we took the train together to her home, just a short distance away from Manhattan.  On the train, we discussed the “evolution” of tea, especially in the U.S.  We also talked about how David’s Tea has grown in popularity so quickly and whether or not the next generation of tea drinkers craves the fun tisanes and herbal blends over a traditional Earl Grey or Darjeeling.  

Once we arrived at Lady Sippington’s home, she showed me around. Her kitchen was filled with a huge variety of tea in colorful tins, including Ahmad Tea. Everywhere I looked, there were hints of tea time – a stack of books with a beautiful teacup on top, elegant silver teapots, and a book entitled, The Book of Tea, displayed on the mantlepiece. I was in a tea-time fairyland.

In the kitchen, Lady Sippington was making cucumber sandwiches, preparing scones, and brewing the tea. We decided to begin with a pot of jasmine green tea followed by a cup of Earl Grey.  Lady Sippington offered several tips on creating the perfect afternoon tea.  For example, the best way to keep your cucumber sandwiches from drying out is to cover them tightly with a damp paper towel before serving them.  She also explained the difference between “high tea” and “afternoon tea.” (In its simplest terms, “high tea” is typically served at a higher table, while “afternoon tea” is served at a lower table, like a coffee table).

Our afternoon tea setting was nothing less than perfect!  Beautiful teaware – check.  Warm scones – check.  Cloth napkins – check.  And for an added touch – matching white tulips.  As we sipped our tea, I asked all of my “how to” questions, such as, “what is the proper way to eat a scone?”  When eating a scone at a low table, Lady Sippington recommends breaking it up into smaller pieces with your fingers and adding the cream and jam to each piece before enjoying.  That way the other guests can be passed the cream and jam pots.  At a high table, you may wish to use the knife provided.

However, the biggest lesson I learned was that afternoon tea is an experience and one should truly enjoy and relish the moment.  It’s a great excuse to relax and catch up with friends and is much easier than hosting an entire dinner (still a challenge for me).  I plan to invest in some charming teacups and saucers and accessories to host my own afternoon tea.  My multi-use mugs just won’t cut it anymore.  Who would have thought that there could be so many “do’s” and “don’ts” for tea?  But there’s no harm in asking and, as Lady Sippington taught me, it’s always fun.  I’m curious.  Do any of the readers out there host afternoon tea?  I’d love to see pictures and learn of any other tips or suggestions.

The temptation for the ordinary person is to see a report on how good tea is on an authoritative site, such as that of the BBC or a respected university, and assume it must be true. In fact, for some, a simple testimonial by “Aunty Beeb” is enough to make a believer out of them.

The problem is that reporters have little or no knowledge of the scientific method and the public at large has even less! That makes it difficult for most people to look at these reports objectively. A reporter’s job is to make news reports as interesting and appealing as possible, so he or she make not take the time to explain everything. And the scientists who publish their research know the limitations of their work, but are unlikely to communicate them, other than in a short paragraph that could easily be overlooked or ignored by the reader.

The main points about the studies carried out on green and white tea are:

Point 1 – The sample size and experimental period are small, too small really in most cases to be extrapolated reliably and definitively to the population as a whole.

Many studies have involved less than 50 people and, according to the National Cancer Institute (U.S.-based site), the results of many tests are inconsistent, which makes you doubt whether the research is as conclusive as you might have thought. And just when you thought it was good to drink tea, the UK press reported recently that a Scottish research group found that if blokes drank 7 or more cups of tea per day they had an increased risk of prostate cancer. Oops.

One of the biggest problems with any medical research is that of control. Biological systems are complex and one person’s body reacts very differently than another’s. It is also difficult to control what subjects eat and drink in addition to tea during the test period; even if a subject’s diet is controlled during the research, it is possible that what the subjects have eaten in the weeks or months before will have influenced the results. Nor is it possible to control the genetic makeup of the sample. Where samples are large, the results are anecdotal, gathered by questioning. Again, there is no control over the conditions and the results are subjective and not scientifically observed.
 
Point 2 – The research has been carried out on non-human animals.

While there are many similarities between mammals, their genetic compositions are very different and there is no guarantee that what works on a mouse or a beagle applies to a human.

Point 3 – The research has been carried out on cells that have been grown in the lab, not on naturally grown cells.

The most reliable observations of the effects of tea (or chemicals extracted from tea) on body cells are those that involve actual body cells, but such observations do not take into account the processing of chemicals in the body. If chemicals were not altered as they pass through the digestive system and liver, it would be easier to predict the effect, but that is not the case. In addition, this type of research does not take into account how the cells would react “in situ.”

The most reliable research is that which is based on identifying the active ingredients in tea. That cannot be refuted. Teas definitely contain a range of known antioxidant chemicals that do indeed appear to have a beneficial effect on the body. However, it is pointless to drink tea because you think it will keep you healthy or help you lose weight. All the available evidence suggests that because it contains antioxidants, it could contribute to your well-being. But if your diet is not balanced, no amount of tea can compensate.

The conclusion: Drink tea because you like it – happy supping!

MAIN | IMAGE 1 | IMAGE 2

Over time, I adopted a few Japanese customs, finding comfort in their rituals and customs. Japanese people live regimented lives. They catch the same train to work, sitting in the same car next to the same person. I tried to adopt this mindset. I wanted to fit in. Eventually, I chose which customs to practice. One custom I practiced every day was drinking tea. Everyone drank tea all day in Japan. My tea background was limited to herbal teas and soy chai lattes.

My tea journey began at work. I taught English in “cram” schools. The school secretary offered me a cup of Sencha, steamed Japanese green tea, every day. I drank it because it would have been rude to refuse. She was the only staff member who spoke to me. I appreciated her kindness. Intuitively, I knew not to ask for sugar. I learned to like the sweet grassy flavor.

I have fond memories of drinking my tea, with the leaves in my cup, and preparing my lessons. It took me a while to realize that the green tea gave me just the boost of physical and mental energy I needed to teach my lessons. Making English fun and interesting to young Japanese children was challenging. After a few months, the aroma and taste of Sencha became familiar.

Recently, I researched Sencha’s history. I learned that Sencha means “boiled tea.” For centuries, royalty and rich Japanese primarily drank expensive powdered tea called Matcha. Because Sencha was a leaf tea, it was cheaper and widely available. In the late 17th Century, Japanese tea scholars translated tea-brewing-etiquette publications from Chinese into Japanese. Common Japanese people had access to the wonderful art of brewing and serving tea. Japanese people felt the ability to brew tea gave you a certain sophistication.

I remember how drinking green tea helped ease my nervousness and improve my focus. Now I drink Sencha in Los Angeles while I work. I associate a good cup of Sencha with a positive productive work day.

MAIN | IMAGE 1 | IMAGE 2

The purpose of the World Tea Tours – Immersion: Pu Er program this past November was to gain a deeper understanding and knowledge of this ancient and sometimes esoteric tea through intensive, hands-on training with some of the most renowned experts in the field. These experts live in the world of Pu Er tea and understand things in a more intrinsic way. They have acquired their knowledge within the context of their own culture and senses and by spending countless hours drinking in the lessons from trees hundreds, if not thousands, of years old.

In the West, we often consider our perspective to be the best and most accurate way of understanding and communicating a subject. Yet, it was on the first day of the program that we learned that we needed to expand our minds and look at something as basic as tea tree classification differently from how we are used to thinking about it. We are taught that the tea plant belongs to the genus Camellia. We simplistically consider that there are two members of this group, Camellia japonica, a flowering bush, and Camellia sinensis, from which tea is made. Further, we believe that from the latter, there are three varietals, Camellia sinensis sinensis, Camellia sinensis assamica, and Camellia sinensis cambodi. From these, there are a number of plant cultivars, which can, in turn, be further segregated into thousands of sub-cultivars. According to the Chinese system, however, these classifications are notably imprecise and oversimplified.

We tend to consider things from the point of view of the present and to forget that plants as we know them now have evolved over millennia. There are uncountable variants from the “original” source – if you can even say there is one source. The Yunnan/Guizhou plateau of southwestern China is an expansive, yet contained, ecosystem from which thousands of plant and animal species have proliferated. From prehistoric times, there have been many Camellia varieties. One of them is referred to as “Dali” – also the name of a region in western Yunnan province. Over the ages, this plant (thought of as a bush that can easily grow to 30-40 feet in height) had been domesticated and cultivated in organized gardens. As a result of the adaptation to the environment, these plants transformed into tea trees that are called “guo du,” or transitionary trees. Though rare, some of these trees still exist today. They, in turn, developed into a number of types, one of which is referred to as “Pu Er.” Again named after a place in Yunnan, it is these Pu Er trees from which the other familiar tea plants across China came.

In addition to the local big-leaf “Da Ye” plant, Yunnan also has a small-leaf plant. This is the ancient source for, among others, the small-leafed Dragon Well bush in Zhejiang Province. It can be said that Yunnan is the primordial origin for the cultivars that are used for making oolong and black teas as well. It is thought by Pu Er scholars that the Assam plants in India also come from the progenitor Pu Er trees.  

Yunnan is not only the cradle of the tea plant, but also the birthplace of post-fermented teas, the most famous of which is also called Pu Er, named after the ancient tea-trading town. This point can be confusing in that the name Pu Er refers to both a plant varietal as well as a specific type of manufactured tea.

So then the question ultimately comes down to: What is a Pu Er tea? In fact, this is a matter of some contention and even experts disagree on the precise guidelines of what qualifies as Pu Er tea. Some say that any post-fermented tea that is made from the Yunnan big-leaf tea bush can be called a Pu Er tea. Others maintain that big-leaf tea bush leaves that have been processed as green tea and dried under the sun must be used. Some maintain that the geographic location is also critical and that the transplanting of a Da Ye bush to another region disqualifies it as true Pu Er, even if the same manufacturing procedure is followed. There are several Pu Er production centers in Yunnan and certainly Dali and Lin Cang producers also feel they are producing genuine Pu Er tea. In China’s Pu Er tea circles, books and magazines abound that debate the finer points of the definition, citing the views of various renowned, but conflicting experts.

Besides environmental factors, small differences in processing methods also lead to distinctions between different manufacturers. Length of withering time, temperature, pan-frying duration (to arrest oxidation), amount of rolling, and drying conditions all result in nearly limitless variations. The microbes that create the fermentation can vary. Then come the effects of steaming and compressing into cakes, either immediately or after some time has passed.

The two types of Pu Er are based on method of fermentation, namely Sheng (raw) and Shu / Shou (ripened). While the Sheng method has been in use for centuries, the Shu method is actually quite recent. Raw Pu Er tea was shipped from Menghai to Guangdong province in the southeast. The warm, humid coastal environment accelerated the fermentation of the leaves, turning them a darker color and rendering the taste decidedly more earthy and robust in only a fraction of the customary time. With this knowledge, the famous Menghai Tea Factory (in Yunnan’s southern XiShuangBanNa prefecture) initiated this accelerated process in the mid-1970s. Though Pu Er connoisseurs will easily tell the difference in taste and aroma, this new technique effectively reduced the fermenting time from years to about 47 days. This made Shu Pu Er a much more viable business in that more product could be produced and sold in a shorter time. This tea is highly favored in Guangdong, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other Pacific Asian areas.

Tea from South Yunnan has been an important trade good for well over a thousand years.  Transported in many ways, one of the most romanticized routes is known as the Tea/Horse Road. More of a network of trails that linked a number of trade routes in Yunnan, Sichuan, Tibet, and Qinghai, the Cha Ma Gu Dao (Tea Horse Ancient Road) was the artery for trade of all goods.

Tea was carried by both mule and man along the often precarious and always arduous trail. It is said that the naturally fermented Sheng Pu Er tea came to be so not out of conscious planning, but rather serendipitously through prolonged exposure to the elements. Taking months for a consignment of tea to reach its final destination, along the way it would have been subjected to a range of moisture and heat conditions. Since tea leaves are in essence a green leafy vegetable, it is no surprise that it should begin to degrade along the journey, even begin to mold and compost. Natural, fresh tea at its origin became something quite different when it reached the cup of the drinker so many miles and months later.

Now this process is done intentionally under controlled conditions to produce a distinctive tea that is not only appreciated by millions, but also collected as a treasure. A well preserved cake of 30-40-year-old Pu Er can fetch amazing prices on the collector’s market. In the 1960s, a 2.5-kilo Golden Melon Pu Er was discovered in storage in the Forbidden City in Beijing (among a huge trove of tea). It had been a part of a tribute gift in the late 1800s and was insured at a value of $2.6 million.

As Pu Er tea becomes better known outside China, more dealers are offering more choices from more suppliers. There can be a wide range in quality, so it is best to start slow with smaller quantities or lower grades. Get to know a particular brand and grade first; then start branching out to discover the range of tastes of Pu Er.

So it was with some trepidation that I decided to sample three tea blends from Tiesta Tea, a Chicago-based tea company that began thanks to a memorable loose-leaf tea experience at a teahouse in the Czech Republic.

My original plan was to write a post on teas designed to address specific health concerns, but my focus changed when I sipped the first of the samples – Earl Grey De La Crème, also known as Energizer.  It was good.  This is a chilled-out Earl Grey – full bodied, but as smooth as satin, thanks to the vanilla and blue mallow blossoms.  I usually like to add a bit of sugar or agave to my black tea, but this tea is naturally sweet all on its own.  It reminds me of another favorite tea blend that I have not purchased in awhile – the American Tea Room’s Tangier Tea, a Ceylon black with saffron and apricot petals.

The second sample was Eternity, which also goes by the name of Gojiberry Superfruit.  This green tea blend begins with sencha and adds gojiberries, lemongrass, and a mixture of pomegranate seeds and blueberries.  The dominant scent when you take a whiff of the dry tea is that of blueberries.  The liquor, however, is clearly that of a sencha, although all the flavors come through.  It is doubtful this tea has the power to bestow immortality, but it does make life’s journey all the more enjoyable.

Relaxer – or Nutty Almond Cream – was the third sample.  The dry tisane – no true tea, so no caffeine – looks and smells like granola, with apple bits, crushed almonds, cinnamon, and beetroot.  Once you have steeped it – six minutes is recommended – you can’t help but notice that it also tastes like granola.  Although it does not need a sweetener, after my first few sips, I decided to add a half a teaspoon of honey.  Heavenly.  Of course, if your reaction is “Granola?!  Eew!” then this is obviously not the tisane for you.

Sadly, Tiesta Tea has not yet made it into stores on the coasts – both east and west.  But their teas and tisanes are available for ordering online and there are plenty of other delicious-sounding combinations, so check them out!

I’m in the midst of putting together a piece on the best currently available electric tea kettles – something I have a personal interest in as a long-time tea addict. Just so that everyone is clear, by “electric tea kettle,” I mean a kettle specifically designed to heat water to different temperatures for different types of teas. So what better place to come to than T Ching’s audience of tea experts. Specifically, I’d like your thoughts on to a handful of questions regarding what to look for (and look out for) in an electric tea kettle.

You may respond to my questions as a comment on this post, or you may send me an email (timb@thewirecutter.com) – whatever works!  So here goes:

1. Do you use a kettle? Electric or stove-top?
2. If you use an electric kettle, does it have variable temperatures or is it a simple boiler?
3. Are you happy with your kettle? What do you like (or dislike) about it? How long have you been using it?
4. How do you feel about plastic kettles? Does boiling water in a plastic container bother you?
5. What kettle would you recommend to a friend or family member who wants to get into tea drinking?

MAIN | IMAGE 1

Clockwise from top left: The minimalist signage, an ornate Peranakan tile, the comforting sound of water boiling from a tetsubin, my favorite cozy corner

I have been so tired. At tea lessons, I fall asleep while pouring tea. At home, my once meditative tea ritual has been reduced to popping a tea bag into the largest mug I can find and getting a catnap while waiting for the water to boil. My tea blog is bordering on comatose and I have made promises to my tea friends about supporting them at tea events, only to break them by not showing up at the last minute.

This is the point in my tea journey at which I am humbled, broken, and learning to receive. And so I’ve been going to my favorite tea spot in Singapore. It’s a place I’ve written little about because I’ve guarded this place jealously for years. The owner is extremely private and doesn’t like “unnecessary exposure.” But I feel safe sharing Tea Bone Zen Mind with the T Ching community. It’s a place I think you’d appreciate.

Tea Bone Zen Mind is essentially a teashop located in a three-story heritage shophouse in Singapore. It offers tea-sampling sessions for no more than ten people every afternoon, during which you get to try 3-4 teas with some light snacks. It’s the sort of place you need to dedicate a whole afternoon to – talking to a friend or two, wandering around and being entranced by the range of teaware from all over the world (there’s even a secret Japanese tea ceremony room on the top floor).

Clockwise from top left: Cooling down with iced lychee oolong (Tea Bone Zen Mind’s own blend) with crunchy chicken samosas, an illuminated water kettle, admiring an Alishan Jin Xuan oolong leaf, pu’erh with pineapple tart and a side option of masala syrup

Here, the whole tea experience emphasizes the details. Moist towelettes are served at the beginning of each tea-sampling session, and the service staff speaks in hushed (yet articulate) tones when explaining each tea that is being served. Every piece of teaware is selected and arranged with utmost care, and the accompanying snack complements the profile of the tea. There’s always some element of a plant to decorate each tea set. Sometimes, if the owner is free, she takes out her favorite antique teaware and has tea with us (I got to sip Earl Grey from some gorgeous vintage Wedgwood china once). It’s a deeply intimate tea experience that is hard to find anywhere else in Singapore, or in the world, for that matter.

The teas here are usually sublime and I love both Tea Bone Zen Mind’s blends (I always bring copious amounts home, especially their lychee oolong and Eight Treasures tea) and their selection of single-origin teas. I like how I’m mostly just left alone with my tea and am able to partake of it in silence and privacy. I like how they play old jazz songs in the background (note how I like my tea with jazz) and produce receipts in handwritten Chinese calligraphy.

But most of all, I like how my Tea Bone Zen Mind afternoons recalibrate my energy and focus, especially during this period of my life when I am feeling too weary to do this on my own. I love how all these creative ideas pop into my head when I’m just resting at my tea refuge, and it gives me new hope that I’ll be back on my feet one day.

Initially, I had a vision as to where I wanted to take my humble one-man-enterprise, AKA Teaometry.  The focus was to be on curating tea selections for restaurants with a gongfu appreciation.  In this fully realized vision, there were puerhs and oolongs served gongfu-style that the patron could explore via clay pots, gaiwans, cups, and trays.  Of course, that is (for now) somewhat of a utopian vision.  After all, people need to operate restaurants and get tables turned around in due time.  

Currently, I’m happy to announce that I do have a Wuyi Oolong at both locations in Los Angeles.  On the menu, it’s known as “I AM ZEN,” since every menu item at Cafe Gratitude is an affirmation of a world of plenty.  In time, I also aim to be supplying a loose-leaf organic puerh and perhaps even my canisters in their retail corners.  The tea is not served in the gongfu style, but each pot is prepared with love and care and the patron can pour his / her tea at a leisurely pace, taking in wonderful organic + vegan food in a lively atmosphere.

Then, about six months ago, we transitioned to Kraft paper-lined bags.  There are a handful of reasons why we switched, but I want to touch on the Top 4.  We still offer all of our teas in one tin size.  We didn’t entirely do away with them, but we wanted to have the bags be the primary packaging for our teas.

First of all, the bags are lighter.  This is important for both shipping from our vendors as well as shipping out to our customers.  Gas for shipping is one of the largest contributors to our carbon footprint.  By reducing the weight of packages coming into, and leaving, Joy’s Teaspoon, we help to reduce that footprint.  

Secondly, the bags are made from post-consumer recycled materials and are simple to recycle, unlike the tins, which are created from fresh materials.

Third, we were able to lower the prices of all of our teas by offering them in the bags.  Believe it or not, those tins are pricey, even in a wholesale setting.  The bags cost 10% of what we were paying for the tins and we were able to extend that price break to our customers.  

Finally, because we bag/tin our teas as they are ordered, and we store our teas in airtight, light-blocking containers, the freshness of the tea when shipped has not suffered.  

We’ve had a great deal of feedback since changing to bags.  Many of our customers appreciated the price break, which leads me to wonder: How important is the make-up of the packaging when you are purchasing tea?  Do you look for teas in tins?  Do you, like me, have a bunch of tins to put the tea into, making the packaging unimportant?  Does the packaging have any bearing on what you purchase? 

MAIN | IMAGE 1

Too much stress?

The seemingly dreaded “cortisol” hormone was designed to help us. However, according to About.com:

“While cortisol is an important and helpful part of the body’s response to stress, it’s important that the body’s relaxation response be activated so the body’s functions can return to normal following a stressful event. Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture, the body’s stress response is activated so often that the body doesn’t always have a chance to return to normal, resulting in a state of chronic stress.”

When do we have time to relax?

NOW! Don’t wait until you are in the midst of stress. Plan ahead – plan daily.

Almost a decade ago, I began my tea journey with two questions:

1.  What is tea?
2.  Why is tea associated with tranquility and spirituality?

We rarely think of tea as something to pump ourselves up with – we usually think of tea as something to drink to calm ourselves down. This goes back thousands of years to the Buddhist monks who first discovered the calming, yet stimulating effects of the tea leaf – but they weren’t drinking it, they were eating it. They found the leaf of the Camellia sinensis perfect to prolong spiritual meditations. It calmed the mind and the body, thus allowing for mind, body, and soul alignment – the ultimate stress reliever.

Along with drinking tea, there are many other things we can do to keep our stress levels down: physical activity, yoga, tai chi, aromatherapy, visualization exercises, music, deep breathing, journaling, meditation, sex, laughter, singing, and self-hypnosis, along with many other simple practices. Can you combine any of these activities with drinking tea? Of course you can! Most of these can be enhanced by adding a simple cup of tea!

Again, from About.com:

“Higher and prolonged cortisol levels in the bloodstream can have a whole host of negative effects on the human body, such as:

• Impaired cognitive performance
• Suppressed thyroid function
• Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
• Decreased bone density
• Decrease in muscle tissue
• Higher blood pressure
• Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and other health consequences
• Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of metabolic syndrome, higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!”

Who’s got time for any of these?

Since stress seems to be something that is part of our daily lives, we must do something daily to negate its effects. Can you pick just a few things from the aforementioned suggestions and add them to your daily routine?

Yes, yes you can! Don’t wait until stress manifests itself as a disease. Start now. Start with something simple and start sipping along and making the activity more enjoyable.

The time to relax is when you take the time and make the time. When else will it happen? Even our sleep is affected by the stress levels in our bodies. Consciously and daily – very simply – we can find ways to relieve the stress hormone “cortisol” and live happily and in a healthy, more empowered way.

Everyone deserves this – so make time for yourself. Put the kettle on and go to your happy place. Even smiling makes us feel better – let’s try that, too!

MAIN | IMAGE 1

Perhaps you haven’t noticed any prime tea-bombing spots in the areas where you live, work, shop, and play.  Some areas that look promising might not be particularly fertile for growing tea.  They could be (1) weedy, (2) full of trash and glass, (3) uncomfortably placed near pedestrian traffic, (4) or vulnerable to lawn mowers or construction work.  So what do you do?  How do you find the perfect place to grow your tea bombs?

The trick is not to be too picky.  With guerrilla gardening, there is no way to ensure the health or growth of your plant – it requires a little luck and trial and error.  Since it’s not your property, any number of factors may get in the way.  Still, it’s worth a try.  Guerrilla gardening is increasing in popularity around the world  (especially in populated places in need of a little cheer or additional sustenance).  

Essentially, you can throw your tea bombs wherever you want.  This all depends on the situation, including (1) your need for expediency (you may not want to spend too long in one place), (2) the quantity of seed bombs, and (3) soil availability.  If you decide to plant the seeds for aesthetic reasons, you should choose an area that is fairly visible.  If you care more about producing and harvesting herbal tea from the flowers that will grow, you may opt for a spot that is hidden from the public eye. 

MAIN | IMAGE 1

Ritual

1: of or relating to rites or a ritual: ceremonial ritual dance, 2: according to religious law, or purity, 3: done in accordance with social custom or normal protocol. 

We have many rituals that we participate in every day; just think about your mornings. Do you have certain routines you follow daily? Brushing one’s teeth might be such a ritual. How we wash ourselves in the shower might follow a certain order. Take a look at how you dress each day. Is there a consistent sequence in which you put on your shoes and socks? Many Americans start their day with a cup of coffee that is brewed in a specific way. If we took the time to closely observe our actions throughout the day, we would begin to notice many rituals that become unconscious activities that shape our lives.

Rituals give structure, meaning, and order to our lives. What if they also brought greater peace and improved health? I would like to invite you to create a tea ritual in your life. By simply taking a few moments to drink a cup of tea every day, you are likely to improve your physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

Why not replace the standard “coffee break” with a much more elegant tea break? Unlike coffee, tea does not cause a physiological crash an hour after ingestion. Take a few minutes and simply empty your mind while you savor the delicate taste of a white or green tea and create a sustainable spaciousness that can accompany you through the rest of the day.

My favorite tea ritual takes place on Sunday morning. My husband and I like to unplug on Sundays and have a lazy, relaxing day, which can include a hike if we’re so inclined. Something wonderful has evolved over the years that I’m so delighted to enjoy each week. My dear husband brings us both tea in bed. It’s a special time to sip tea and talk in an unhurried way. It feels so warm and cozy, as if we’ve created a special retreat for ourselves. Not having to get out of bed for this simple pleasure somehow makes this ritual especially appreciated. The view of Mt. Hood is what we both marvel at as we’re lying in bed enjoying our tea.

When I worked outside the home, my favorite time to enjoy tea was at home after work. It provided a clear distinction between work time and personal time. The luxury of a few quiet moments and a delicious cup of tea helped me transition from the stimulation of making things happen to the anticipation of relaxation.

Drinking tea with a meal is another wonderful opportunity to benefit from tea’s powerful antioxidants as well as aid in the digestion of oils and other heavy foods.

What is your favorite tea ritual?