Seven Cups cruises the canals of Nanxun

Seven Cup has posted some wonderful photos of their trip to the ancient city of Nanxun, China.



A house situated on the city's famous canal.


—Mellow Monk

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Two books—tea espionage and the gardens of Japan

Read a review of For All the Tea in China, which chronicles the tale of an Englishman who stole the secret of tea from China in the 1800s.


Another book you may find interesting is The Gardens of Japan, which is reviewed here.



A landscape at the Adachi Museum of Art, which is one of the many featured in The Gardens of Japan.


—Mellow Monk

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Steeped in tradition

Until November 29 at UCLA's Fowler Museum, you can see tea items "practical and ostentatious" at the Steeped in Tradition exhibit.



I'd like to see this exhibit just to learn what the object in the foreground is.


—Mellow Monk

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Lantern festival

The traditional tea masters of Tianjin's tea houses certainly do impress, but what the city is perhaps most famous for is its annual Lantern Festival.



"Local Chinese visit an ancient cultural street to celebrate the annual lantern festival in the city of Tianjin, located 100 km (62 miles) east of Beijing February 9, 2009. The lantern festival marks the last day of the two-week Chinese lunar new year or Spring Festival." (UPI Photo/Stephen Shaver).


—Mellow Monk

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China's tea growers too busy to watch Olympics

Yi Feng is a tea grower in the Chinese farming village of Fan Sheng. Two-thirds of China's 1.3 billion people live in farming villages like this, and like most of them, Yi Feng is far too busy with everyday chores to pay attention to the Olympic events going on in Beijing, to the north.

"The Olympic Games?" she asked, apparently perplexed that anyone would bring up such a subject at harvest time on these prime tea-growing slopes in coastal Zhejiang province. "With all I have to do these days, how could I pay attention to the Olympic Games?"

Carrying bags of freshly picked tea leaves down a narrow lane in Fan Shen.


—Mellow Monk

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More teas from auraTeas

I just tried auraTeas' Formosa Baihao Oolong Choice. It's less tannic than black teas. A complex but subtle flavor, and even a short steeping time of only a minute or so produces a surprisingly flavorful infusion. The flavor held up well for two more infusions, and the instructions suggest up to six, although being subtle, the flavor beings to fade a bit after the third.


I occasionally like to brew a super-strong cup of tea, so I tried it with this Baiho Oolong, brewing 2 teaspoons of tea leaves for 4 minutes. The result was excellent—flavorful but not bitter.


The tea leaves themselves unfurled nicely during brewing, and I saw many small whole leaves, many with stems, which may explain the tea's smooth flavor.


I also tried their Formosa Minglian Green Tea. Chinese greens in general are usually lightly oxidized before processing and so are very different from Japanese green tea, which is processed immediately after harvest to keep oxidation and fermentation to an absolute minimum.


The Formosa Minglian was very aromatic. The infusion was bright but lightly colored and very subtle in flavor. The taste is light and refreshing. Your palate feels cleansed afterwards, although there is also a light, pleasant aftertaste. This is a refined tea that is sure to please the refined of palates.



auraTeas' Formosa Baiho Oolong Choice — a very good choice!


—Mellow Monk

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Documentary "All in This Tea"

Here's a trailer of the documentary "All in This Tea," which chronicles the journey of an American tea buyer through small villages in rural China.




—Mellow Monk

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Tea review: auraTeas' Formosa Wenshan Baochong Choice

I recently received a sampling of teas from auraTeas, a British Columbia-based importer of teas from Taiwan, so here is my review of the first of tea I sampled, Formosa Wenshan Baochong Choice.


Bottom line: I really liked this tea. It has a subtle but definite (if that makes sense) oolong aroma and flavor, which is to be expected as it is an oolong tea.


I was surprised by the instructions on the tin to let the tea steep for only 1 minute (for green tea, the average is 3 to 5 minutes); I was equally surprised that such a short steeping time produced such an aromatic infusion.


For the second infusion (the label suggests up to six) I let the tea steep a little longer and was again surprised—this time at how flavorful the tea was for a second steeping. The flavor still held up for a third infusion, without any of the unpleasant overtones that will come out in an inferior tea.


In short, this tea is the real deal. If you like oolong—but not overpowering oolong—then you'll love this tea. I highly recommend it.



auraTeas' Formosa Wenshan Baochong Choice


—Mellow Monk

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