Saturday Morning Tea

A most Happy Thanksgiving weekend to you all!

While the wind howls at the eaves outside, I am inside cozily sipping from a cup of this exquisite Formosa white tea. I watch the empty tree branches bow and sway and think about how resilient they are. While outside forces seek to move them, they simply go with the flow of the wind and then bend back to their original shape. Having strong roots and an inner core helps ground them against these forces.

The trees have much to teach us about life and change.

Tea is firmly woven into Taiwan culture, with tea houses or “tea-art” shops located all over the island. Its old fashioned name, Formosa, is Portugese for “beautiful island”. Many Taiwanese families collect teaware in the form of unglazed clay pots.

This excerpt from Wikipedia:

“Traditionally, “raising the teapot” at home is a way of life in Taiwan. Teapots are used to brew teas intensively so that the surface of the teapot becomes “bright”. This process is called “raising the teapot”, which enhances the beauty of the clay teapot. Tea stores are virtually everywhere in Taiwan. In big cities like Taipei one can easily find tea for sale on nearly every city block.”

Sounds like my kind of place. I love that they refer to their tea shops as “tea-art” shops!

Most tea grown on the island is processed as Oolong tea, or Wu-long tea. That’s what makes this particular tea very unique as it has been processed as a white tea. White tea leaves are allowed to dry slightly first and then heated up right away to prevent oxidation (darkening of the leaf) from occurring.

I steeped the leaves for 3 minutes in 180 degree F water.

The aroma is fresh and delicate. The words I would use to describe the taste of this tea.

Clean. Fresh. Soft. Buttery. Smooth. Fruity, just a whisper.

Unlike the teas I have reviewed lately, this tea is crystal clear, a pale, straw color.

About 10 years ago, I attended an arts and crafts show locally and purchased a set of teabowls and a teamug. This is my favorite piece. I remember how the potter told me that she dreamed the symbols she painted on her teaware. I love the road running through this one.

The road of tea, one that I am most happy to be on.

I can’t recall the potter’s name. I think that she was from Colorado. If anyone recognizes this work, please do let me know as I would love to contact her and see her new work.

Last Wednesday, we had a tea and cheese pairing/tasting at work. It was a new experience for me and introduced me to the wonderful world of specialty cheeses. So far, my experience has been very limited in that area. I took some photos and am hoping to be able to post and share my thoughts with you soon.

This weekend will be spent painting my bathroom over at my new place. Starting several weeks ago, they ripped out the ceiling, walls and floor to reveal the inner structure of the room. Now everything has been transformed with new wallboard and beadboard. I’ve been pouring over Benjamin Moore paint chips and never realized how many creams and whites there were! The theme of my new bathroom will be luminescence.

There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.

That will be the beginning.

~Louis L’Amour

Saturday Morning Tea

Jul11

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It’s a beautiful summer day (finally!) and I’ve invited a sunny daylily to join me for my morning tea. I love its golden light. It reminds me to let my own light shine through.

I’m sipping a Darjeeling white tea from the Okayti estate. Processed entirely by hand, this rare production tea is truly an art form. In the photo above, you can see the tiny white hairs on each leaf tip which give white tea its name. White tea is the least processed of all of the different types of tea – just a short wither and steam heated to halt the oxidation process which naturally occurs. The white tea leaf buds are not rolled or bruised at all so each tip looks very much as it did when it was plucked from the bush.

Close to the border with Nepal, the Okayti estate is located at approximately 6000-7000 feet in Darjeeling district’s Mirik Valley of northeastern India. They have been growing tea since the late 1800s.

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I steeped the leaves in 180 degree F water for 3 minutes. As I removed the basket, the tea’s sweet aroma lifted gently from my teapot.

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I delighted in sifting through each intact leaf to create this fun design. The tea itself is a light buttery color, a paler version of my daylily. Its flavor is delicate and smooth with an amazing sweetness that lingers after each sip.

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I purchased a new teacup this week and enjoyed pouring my first cuppa in its smooth, rounded shape, a perfect fit for my small palm. Created at Cornwall Bridge Pottery in CT, a beautiful dragonfly has been painted onto its side.

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I found this amazing information regarding their symbolism:

“Dragonflies are reminders that we are light and can reflect the light in powerful ways if we choose to do so. “Let there be light” is the divine prompting to use the creative imagination as a force within your life. They help you to see through your illusions and allow your own light to shine in a new vision.”

Wow…

Saturday Morning Tea

Jan17

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Yesterday on my birthday, a colleague brought in a blooming periwinkle colored hyacinth as a gift for me. As it was the coldest day on record in years and springtime seems so very far away, it brought hope and a beautiful fragrance to my day. Thank you Rebecca! With the memory of that heavenly fragrance still permeating my being, I have chosen a white jasmine tea for my morning cuppa. It is called Jasmine Downy White Pekoe.

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A white tea is scented with jasmine blossoms to create the ethereal beauty of this tea. Early in the springtime, tea buds are gently plucked from the tea bushes. These buds are so new that they are still covered with the white down of the just emerged growth. They are newly born. The tea buds are dried and then heated to halt the oxidation process that would turn them dark.

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I steeped the delicate leaf in 180 degree F water for 3 minutes.

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It is important to remember that this tea is not flavored, it is scented. Since the tea leaf is so sensitive to picking up the scents and aromas to anything that is placed by it, it is perfect for scenting with flower blossoms. Once the jasmine is blooming in the summertime, the leaves are laid out and the jasmine blossoms are laid over them. This process is repeated until the tea master is satisfied with the level of scenting. There are no dried blossoms mixed with this tea. Its fragrant jasmine aroma and flavor come directly from the scented leaf. The delicate herbaceous quality of the white tea blends perfectly with the jasmine. Truly an aromatherapy experience!

I treated myself to a big bouquet of orange carnations this week. In my healing process, I am trying to bring as much warmth into my life as possible to thaw out this frozen shoulder of mine. The beautiful salmon orange color of the flowers brings color and sunshine to my spirit.

As I focus on healing, I have been, unfortunately, away from my studio and my artwork. I yearn to feel my materials in my hands, weaving them together to express what is present in my soul. I am hoping to return to my studio soon and my Studio Wednesday posts as the pain heals and I regain more mobility. A big thank you to all of my readers for their patience as I continue to step back from my creative side just now.

Of winter’s lifeless world each tree

Now seems a perfect part;

Yet each one holds summer’s secret

Deep down within its heart.

~Charles G. Stater

Saturday Morning Tea

Nov29

I’m up early on this cool late November morning, contemplating all of the abundance and treasure that fills my life. The hamster wheel of thoughts in my mind can often bring me back to what is lacking or missing in my life, all that I have lost. We all do that from time to time, right? If only I…I should have…why didn’t I? I try so hard not to get caught up in this negative spiral of thoughts. I have found that the best solution in the face of that downturn is to stop myself, take a deep breath and focus on what is actually here, what I do have. So, in the spirit of all that is present in my life, I am sipping a China white tea called Fuding White Treasure. This tea is grown in the Fuding hills of Fujian province.

White teas are harvested from a Camellia sinensis var. sinensis (tea plant) varietal that will grow bigger leaves with more downy white hairs on the new growth. It is these fine hairs that give the leaves its whitish look and its name. The silvery white down is accentuated on the dry leaf which then turns a beautiful light green during a 3 minute steeping in 180 degree F water.

The green look of the wet leaf foreshadows its vegetal aroma and taste, much like that of a very fine green tea. To me, the difference lies in the soft delicacy of this tea, a gentle treasure. I find this tea much lighter in taste than a green tea. It also has a whisper of sweetness that lingers in the smooth finish.

White tea is hand picked in the springtime, most ideally in cool, dry weather. After picking, the leaves are withered (dried out) in the sun. During adverse weather conditions, the leaves are brought inside to be withered under carefully controlled conditions. The temperature and humidity will contribute greatly to the final taste of the tea so the tea master monitors all of these conditions very closely. After withering, the leaves are roasted or baked to further remove moisture from the leaves and halt oxidation (turning dark). White tea is the least processed of all of the tea categories so the leaf is the closest to its original state which gives it its delicate flavor.

I wrap my hands around my warm teabowl and give thanks for this treasure that is now warming my hands. I love doing that in cold weather, a lovely little ritual that helps me stop what I’m doing and be present in the moment. I focus on the delicious warmth of my teabowl and how wonderful it feels on my cold hands.

What do you do that helps you become present in the moment?

Saturday Morning Tea

Sep20

While Labor Day weekend marks what most consider the official end of summer, this is the actual last weekend of summer. While I am feeling somewhat wistful thinking about the passing of all of those deliciously warm days spent outside in the garden and lazing on the backyard deck afterwards, iced tea in hand, I am also looking forward to the crisp, colorful fall and a cup of a darker, spicier tea warming my hands. Not quite yet though.

In honor of the summer’s passing, this morning I’m sipping a very very light tea, a white Ceylon from the Adam’s Peak estate. The leaf is gorgeous, long thin slightly curved pieces resembling the delicate ribs of a fan. This represents the newest leaf on the tea plant, the tender budding leaf.

This tea is entirely processed by hand from the careful plucking to drying in the sun to the heating process to stop oxidation. Here is an interesting article from the BBC news about the processing of a white tea from a Sri Lankan tea estate.

A soft sweet aroma drifts up from my white porcelain teabowl as I savor my first sip. I have steeped the leaves in 165 degree F water for 3 1/2 minutes. The liquor holds a hint of color and tastes smooth with light fruity flavor notes.

The softness and delicacy of my white tea slows me down to focus on each sip, helping me transition from a very busy workweek to the more relaxed pace of my weekend. A perfect tea for meditating on the most recent happenings of my life and the change I can feel in the air.