My Favorite Tea - ATB Blog Carnival

During an average week selling tea, I will be asked: "What is your favorite tea?" at least twice. Usually, I will answer that my favorite tea bounces around depending on my mood. Because I drink a huge variety of tea, this is pretty much the truth. But these teas are rarely consistent from season to season so it is impossible for me to pick a true "favorite." The best I can do is explain this to my clients and tell them more about whatever tea I'm currently the most excited about.

That being said, there is one tea that holds a special place in my heart, and it may surprise you to know that it is not an oolong or a puer tea. It is a humble and elegant Chinese green tea called Yang Xian Mao Feng (陽羡毛峰), and although I love any good tea, I am ready to announce Y.X.M.F.’s status as my "favorite tea."

The dry leaf:

Yang Xian (陽羡) is an ancient name for the Yixing (宜興) region of Jiangsu Provence (江蘇省) but this particular tea was grown in neighboring Zhejiang Provence (浙江省). Mao Feng (毛峰) translates to "hair tip" and generally refers to teas with a long twisted leaf shape.

My local friend and mentor Mr. Chen oversees the production and marketing of this organic green tea. I have been enamored of his teas for over ten years now.

A beautiful cup of green tea:

This is my favorite tea because of its healthy and pure taste. I never get tired of Y.X.M.F.’s crisp, nutty, and not-too-sweet flavor. I love it when it's farm fresh, and I love it when it's two years old. I love it when it's brewed strong and when it's brewed weak. I'd even drink it in a box with a fox. It's the tea I reach for when I want a cozy, comfortable and consistent pot of tea. It is my tea "soul food," and I drink it very often.

The spent leaves:

Do you have a favorite tea? I ask because I'm one of the electors for the up and coming "Tea Blogger's Choice Awards." I'm excited to make my nominations but I welcome my readers to comment this post with any suggestions for teas and vendors they think I should vote for.

This post is my contribution to today's Tea Blog Carnival as presented by the Association of Tea Bloggers. Our theme for this carnival is "What is your favorite tea?" You can find links to all of the other participating posts below:

Walker Tea Review
Notes on Tea
Joy's Teaspoon
The Devotea
Sip Tip
Tea Happiness
Tea for Me Please
The Cup that Cheers
Scandalous Tea
Gongfu Girl

Adagio Roots - Pi Lo Chun

Here in Seattle, I often see a bumper sticker that simply states "No Farms, No Food." It's so true and you can easily replace "Food" with "Tea."

Many people need to reestablish connections with the producers of their food and drink and this is one reason why the Association of Tea Bloggers is presenting a blog carnival to highlight Adagio's Roots campaign. The goal of this campaign is to celebrate the tea farmers that produce Adagio's tea.

Ten years ago, when I started selling loose leaf tea, not many companies were doing this. Old school tea sellers were woefully secretive and proprietary about their tea sources. Thankfully, the tea world is now better connected and better educated. Modern tea lovers demand a tea industry that is open, honest and friendly about where their teas are coming from. I believe that tea sellers should freely provide as much information about any tea they are selling as the customer wishes to know.

One tea that I now know the source of is Adagio's Pi Lo Chun (aka Bì Luó Chūn) (aka 碧螺春) (aka green snail spring).

This tea was produced by Huang Jian Lin in Jiangsu, China. I've even seen a photo of the man wearing camouflage pants and swinging a wicked looking stick.

(Photo courtesy of Adagio Tea Co.)

The man makes a fine tea. The dry leaf is very beautiful and has a sweet, nutty aroma. The flavor is brothy and satisfying. I'd say this bi luo chun is a little bit bolder than many of the other pricier bi lou chun teas I have tasted in the past. Huang's is also a bit more floral in my opinion.

Kudos to Adagio (and all the other worthy tea vendors out there) for introducing us to the makers of their teas and kudos to all the consumers, like myself, who care about this sort of thing!

You can find links to all the other ATB members who are participating in this blog carnival here:

Gongfu Girl

LeafJoy

Notes on Tea

The Tea Enthusiasts's Scrapbook

Tea For Today

Tea Pages

That Pour Girl

Walker Tea Review

Teaspoons and Petals

Blueberry Tisane

Today the Association of Tea Bloggers is presenting a new Blog Carnival. Our topic is, "Write about how you brew one type of tea." To find links to all of the participating ATB members' blogs please visit the the distinguished tea guru known as Gongfu Girl.

I chose to write about how I brew Blueberry Tisane. I don't usually drink herbal beverages or tisanes (Ha. If only I had a dollar for every time a "serious tea drinker" makes this claim!) but lately my three-year-old daughter has been requesting "Blueberry Tea."

I don't have any blueberry tea... but I do have frozen blueberries... so I came up with a new recipe.

Here's what you do. First, gather the equipment: a little mortar and pestle and ceramic teapot (my preferred teapot is Sapphire). Then take the blueberries out of the freezer and pop a few in your mouth for good measure.

The key to making it so delicious (and it really is) is to smash up the berries. I've been using around 10 berries per cup but I find that you can't use too many. The stronger the better in my opinion.

It also helps to make sure your teapot is very hot before you begin. Steep the pulverized berries for at least 10 minutes with boiling water. Placing a tea cozy over the pot while it steeps will help keep the water as hot as possible. If your infusion doesn't have a dark purple color it will probably taste too weak.

À votre santé!

J-Mo's Wedding Rehearsal Dinner

In June of 2009, my wife, daughter and I took a little trip down to California to celebrate the wedding of our good friends Janice and Mo (affectionately nicknamed J-Mo around our household). Their wedding was truly beautiful and we were so honored to be included in the ceremony.

Well before the wedding, Janice and Mo asked me if I'd like to serve tea for their friends and family at the rehearsal dinner. I had served tea for similar sized groups before (40-ish people) but it was always around Seattle and with my own equipment. It felt so good to be asked but for some reason I was really nervous about it. I agreed, and then I put it out of my mind for a while until the wedding drew near.

Traveling with a one-year-old meant that we already had a ton of important stuff to bring. I didn't want to pack too much tea or teaware so I only brought a couple little tins of tea. I chose a nice fresh Alishan High Mountain Oolong to serve at the rehearsal dinner.

The dinner was originally set to take place at Janice's parents' home but was moved last minute to Berkeley's Sushi Solano restaurant. The restaurant had a cool vibe and the menu was a mix of house-made Japanese delicacies and take-out from the amazing Udupi Palace vegetarian Indian food restaurant.

As the guests started to arrive, the scene became festively chaotic and the strong smells of delicious food filled the room. Up until now I hadn't even started to think about just how I was going to make enough tea, serve it to the guests and have it be worthy of my friends and their guests. I started getting cold feet and even thought about backing out. I started making lame excuses in my mind such as "the tables were not arranged well for a tea service" and "the strong foods will eclipse my delicate tea selection."

The guests have arrive.

Fortunately, my wife and a few other friends helped me to come to my senses. Also, the restaurant, who until recently only had large teacups, had just found a bunch of new small sake cups with my tea pouring in mind! That sealed the deal. I couldn't let down my friends. I was going to do this!

Sushi Solano loaned me their four largest teapots (two were ceramic and two were iron) and they had a couple of electric kettles at my disposal. After the feast, I was introduced to the guests and then I talked a minute about myself, the tea I had brought and my relationship to the bride and groom.

A friend and groomsman named Sandhi came to my aid. He was an experienced server and, with the help of a few other volunteers, fragrant Alishan began to make its way to the hands of excited guests!

Readying the cups.

Straining the tea.


Serving the tea.

Together, everyone sipped their tea. To my great relief it turned out fine! I relaxed a little and steeped the tea several more times. I was happy to hear some good reviews of its flavor.

I led the guests in a short "tea toast" to our beloved Janice and Mo. Everybody shared the same great feeling knowing that these two fantastic people were about to get married.

The soon to be newlyweds!

This post is my contribution to the February 2011 Tea Blog Carnival as presented by the Association of Tea Bloggers. Our theme for this carnival was "What is the most uncomfortable place where you prepared tea and how were you able to overcome the difficulty?" This month's carnival was hosted by the always fabulous Gongfu Girl and links to other participating posts can be found here.

Why I Blog About Tea

I began my tea career back in 2001 and ever since 2005 I have aspired to be a well respected tea educator and tea seller. Over the last nine years I have watched as North America's tea culture rapidly evolved alongside the Internet and I wanted to stay connected and relevant. Because of this I proudly admit that my original motivation behind tea blogging was self promotion.

I don't think I have a print tea book in me (although never say never, right?) but I do have a strong urge to share my thoughts and opinions about tea. So, back in 2007 I dipped my toes in the water by blogging on MySpace. I soon realized that MySpace was an extremely limiting format and began to consider other free blogging platforms.

Like many online tea fanatics at that time, I was already a huge fan of Chadao, Half-Dipper, Gongfugirl and Tea Masters blogs. I think those blogs (and probably several others) inspired me to take my blogging to the next level and so in 2008 I graduated from MySpace to Blogger.

As I wrote last year in my post entitled "Regarding This Blog" - "my blog has grown to include tea education, tea reviews, occasional silliness and many personal stories. I have learned a lot about myself and tea by blogging and find it to be a very rewarding hobby." To this I must include a heartfelt digital hug to all the wonderful people I have met, both in person and online, over these last few years writing about tea.

This post is my contribution to the November 2010 Tea Blog Carnival as presented by the Association of Tea Bloggers. Our theme for this carnival was "Why do I write about tea?" This month's carnival was hosted by Walker Tea Review and links to all other participating posts can be found here.

September Tea Blog Carnival

I'm proud to host this month's Tea Blog Carnival presented by the Association of Tea Bloggers. The theme is "a memorable outdoor tea experience" and it is my hope that these posts inspire readers to enjoy their own tea picnics!

Contributors to this month's carnival are:
✰ ExoticTeaBlog: Tea Experience Ethiopia
✰ Gongfu Girl: Drinking Tea Outdoors in the Wilds of Suburban Portland, Oregon
✰ Walker Tea Review: Tea outdoors with Pierre Sernet
✰ Chadao, Way of Tea Europe: Tea Outdoor
✰ The Sip Tip: Outdoor Tea
✰ That Pour Girl: Tea Blog Carnival No. 4
✰ Black Dragon Tea Bar: Blanket Time

The Pinglin Tea Museum's Garden.
I drank tea here on a warm rainy day in 2005.

Blanket Time

My wife and I are blessed with two small children. Our daughter is two and a half, and our son is almost three months old. We want our kids to grow up with a deep love of nature and a feeling that the world is filled with goodness and magic. We also believe that children learn though play and thrive in an environment that is closely connected to daily and yearly rhythms and rituals.

A new family ritual that has been happily received by my daughter is "Blanket Time." It started about a month ago when our close friends were visiting from California. They were sleeping in the living room of our small house and my daughter woke up early, ready to play. I had just made myself a cup of tea and decided that we should go out on the back deck to drink it so as not to wake our guests.

The air outside was crisp and the foggy ocean mist was thick and fragrant. Because it was a bit cold, we took along an orange fleece blanket to wrap around us. We cuddled together under the blanket and chatted while I sipped my tea.

My daughter and I had an unforgettably wonderful time talking about the trees and the sky and the sounds of the morning birds. We made guesses about the day's weather and even named a tall pine tree "Woody."

It quickly occurred to me that this didn't have to only be a one time event, so I came up with the catchy name "Blanket Time" and made plans for us to do it again. We have since repeated this pleasant domestic ritual almost every morning (except on those days when I had to be at work too early). Often times my wife and son now join us too.

When I later told my friend Arthur (an artist and father of two grown children) about our new family ritual he smiled and suggested that this tradition would probably be a part of our lives forever. Even when my kids are all grown up and living on their own, we can still perform our special morning tea ritual regardless of where we may be living.

Blanket Time is always evolving. My daughter now wants her own mug of tea (so I give her herbal or "watered-down juice tea" but I'll still let her taste mine too). She also likes to play with her fairy family as we sit together. But we still always start by talking about nature and saying good morning to Woody!

Fairy Family!

This post is my contribution to the September 2010 Tea Blog Carnival as presented by the Association of Tea Bloggers. Our theme for this carnival was "write about a memorable outdoor tea drinking experience." This month's carnival was hosted by myself and links to all other participating posts can be found here.

Emperor Huizong, Artist and Tea Lover

Today the Association of Tea Bloggers is pleased to present a new tea blog carnival. The theme is "Tea Person" and participants may choose any historical, fictional or contemporary tea person to write about. This carnival is being hosted by the honorable Jason Walker, a founding member of the Association.

I chose the Song Dynasty (宋朝) Emperor Huizong (徽宗), who reigned from 1100 to 1126. My research revealed him to be an artist, calligrapher, musician, scholar, and devoted tea connoisseur (1).

Before I delve into Huizong's many connections to tea, I want to briefly mention his love for the guqin (古琴), an instrument I also adore. In addition to playing the instrument himself, Huizong searched China for famous specimens to keep in his "Ten Thousand Qin Pavilion (萬琴堂)." This painting entitled "Listening to the Qin (聽琴圖)" is a self portrait of the Emperor jamming in the garden (2).

In regards to tea culture, Huizong is most famous for writing Daguan Chalun (大觀茶論), or Treatise on Tea. This 900-year-old work is considered an important tea book, perhaps on par with Luyu's (陆羽) beloved Tea Classic (茶經). Unfortunately, I have thus far been unable to find a good translation of Daguan Chalun from the original Ancient Chinese. If I do, I will post a link.

In Daguan Chalun, Huizong describes a favorite tea called Anji Baicha (安吉白茶). The name translates as "Anji White Tea," but should not be confused with what we think of as white tea today. It is actually a very delicate green tea named after the soft "white jade" color of its tea soup (3) after being whisked.

One of the Emperor's favorite types of tea bowls were the black glazed bowls of the Jian Yang Kiln (建阳窑) located in Fujian Province. These bowls were popular during the Song dynasty because their black interior better displayed the frothy white soup of whisked tea (4).

Example of Jian Yang Kiln tea bowl from Song dynasty:

In the end, Huizong's deep love of art and tea may have been his (and the entire Northern Song Dynasty's) ultimate undoing. He was said to have been a very laissez-faire leader in regards to politics and military strategy (1). While the powerful Jurchen armies of Manchuria were organizing their might against him... Huizong was probably kicking back with his guqin, painting a beautiful picture of a "pigeon sitting on a peach branch" and whisking up a fresh bowl of tea!

1.) Huizong Wikipedia entry
2.) Silkqin.com
3.) History of White tea on Seven Cup's Website
4.) The AMICA library

How do I fit tea into my daily life?

The theme for today's Tea Blog Carnival is "How do I fit tea into my daily life?" It is being presented by the Association of Tea Bloggers and hosted by the venerable Sip Tip blog.

Here are five reasons why I never have any problems fitting tea into my daily life:

1. I work at the Teacup in Seattle.

¡Viva la 'Cup!

2. Most of my friends and family are tea drinkers.

Chilling with my home girls:

3. Most of my travel is "tea-centric."

Whoa. That tea smells so good!

4. My house is always well stocked with great tea.

5. I make tea drinking a daily priority.

My Favorite Piece of Teaware

As part of a tea blog carnival with some other members of the Association of Tea Bloggers, I'm excited to present this post about my favorite piece of teaware!

I do have a fair amount of great stuff, so you might think it would be pretty hard to choose just one particular piece worthy of the title "My Favorite Piece of Teaware."

... but really it wasn't. I immediately thought of ...

This Thing!

I bought this pretty wooden strainer from Yoon Hee Kim at the 2009 Northwest Tea Festival. From the moment I first laid eyes on it I was smitten. I started using it right away to brew samples of tea for festival guests and was quite impressed by the rich and fragrant tea it helped me to produce.

I love this strainer for many reasons: its smooth, knotty texture; the tender way it catches the leaves that flow through it; and its earthy-woody smell when it gets wet. It has a strange way of possessing my hands, causing them to crave its touch. I also love how it has a little notch carved out of it so that it sits comfortably on the rim of most cups and decanters. On top of all that, it is beautiful, natural, portable, rustic and highly functional. What more could one ask for!

In the past six months, this strainer has helped me brew hundreds of great cups of tea for my friends and myself. It does impart a tiny bit of pleasant woody flavor to my the tea but I really don't mind. There is something special about the tea that passes through this strainer and I hope it lasts a very long time!

Green Tea Flavor Project - SEAWEED

Fellow tea blogger Jason Walker recently came across an interesting research experiment conducted at the University of Kansas' Sensory Analysis Center. The experiment identified 31 different flavor attributes found in the 138 loose-leaf green teas randomly and blindly cupped by the study's participants. These 31 flavor attributes can be seen in Table 1 of A Lexicon for Flavor Descriptive Analysis of Green Tea (I am currently checking if it is possible to link to this study).

After reading the study results, Jason proposed a collaboration among members of the Association of Tea Bloggers to pick one flavor attribute and then prepare, photograph and evaluate an infusion based on the information in the study. I chose SEAWEED, defined in the article as: "the aromatics associated with shellfish, fresh fish and ocean vegetation." The study referenced a specific brand of "brown seaweed" that I couldn't find so I used kombu (which, along with wakame, is a type of brown seaweed). The study goes on to say: "Use 1 gram of seaweed with 300 mL {I'm assuming boiling} water. Let it sit for 10 minutes."

1 gram of seaweed. Check.


Steep for 1o minutes in 300 mL water. Check.


The resulting brew:

In that last photo it just looks likes plain water but it did have a little bit of a greenish-yellow tint when held in the right light. The taste was not nearly as oceanic as the smell (which could be a little hard to get past) but once the liquor was on my tongue I felt rewarded by its thick, umami mouth feel. It had a wonderful buttery, brothy flavor with notes of minerals and sand.

I have cupped tea with people in the past who identified a light oceanic or fishy taste in some teas while I did not. I imagine that if a green tea I was sipping had such an intense oceanic aroma or taste I would be pretty turned off by it. Tea grows in the mountains and seaweed grows in the ocean... and that's the way it should be! But that buttery, thick, smooth flavor (that I found to be very intense in the seaweed infusion) is one I have noted in several fantastic green teas such as high quality gyokuro tea from Japan and super fresh taiping houkui (太平猴魁) green tea from China. I believe part of this may come from a higher amount of theanine in these types of tea.

In closing, I am glad to have tasted an infusion of seaweed and look forward to reading the other bloggers' posts about their own flavor experiments! I will add the links to the other blogs as they are posted.
10/19/09 Walker Tea Review - Parsley
11/7/09 Tea Pages - Asparagus

And after the experiment... I ate the seaweed. Yum.