Tea Obsession

Orchid in bloom

2012-01-26T21:24:00.000-08:00

Flower is a must have decor for the Chinese New Year. Visiting the flower market after new year's eve dinner is also a popular activity. In the southern part of China, flowers are plenty even in the winter, chrysanthemum, peony, peach flower, plum flower, orchids, kumquats are the most popular. This yellow dandrobrium is one of the favorite orchids I have. It is the first rebloom in 3 years and bloomed on Monday, the first day in Chinese calendar!
Charcoal was burning in stove, spring water is boiling in Shao Diao - clay kettle, my mother and I drank some Zhi Lan Xiang and Cha Wang - King of Tea Dan Cong Oolong. My mother is not much of a tea drinker as it distract her sleep. She drank one little cup while I had 6, at this ratio, I drank about 1.5 littler of tea in one sitting. It was a peaceful afternoon to have tea with full set of tea gear.

Spring water is from the Santa Barbara area, thanks to K walked 6 miles round trip to fill up bottles of water from a water fall. This kid is considered ruined by tea! :P

Chinese New Year Special

2012-01-21T16:26:00.000-08:00

Every Chinese New Year we offer a special deal to show our appreciation. A special gift of antique cup with purchase of Wu's Chao Zhou sandy clay teapot for the year of dragon 2012. One free cup for each tea pot purchased. Hand made antique cups with small imperfections. Only 6 available, first come first pick. Offer is only good for purchase of the named teapots.

Happy New Year!

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5 (out)

#6

An afternoon at the temple

2012-01-19T20:47:00.000-08:00

Today is my mother's knitting day at the Xi Lai Temple. She joined a group of women whom share a common hobby knitting. Every Thursday afternoon, all the members meet from 1 pm to 4 pm with their projects to share knowledge, skills and tricks. My time is well spent with a book at the reading room or strolling around.

As Chinese new year is approaching, Monday the 23rd, Xi Lai Temple is well decorated for the holiday.
Yu Lan Hua-Chinese magnolia flower, a flower I remember as a child. It can be bought occasionally for a few pennies, tuck in hair behind ears, a symbol of femininity in the most natural and environmentally safe way, perfume in the most original form as the universe intend it to be. I love this Chinese magnolia varietal, I love the ever green foliage colored like jade, I love the small white flowers simple yet enigmatic, a humble tree yet outstanding. I will bring a thermo cup of Yu Lan Xiang - Magnolia Flower Fragrance Dan Cong to the temple next time.
As for today, I brought a thermo cup of Quin Ti - Osmanthus Flower Dan Cong with me today. Osmanthus tree is not commonly found in the US although it is one of the most common fragrant floral trees in China. It is a must have green in any and all Chinese garden. It is well praised for its fragrance as it drifts with light breeze. The flowers can be consumed as herb in medicine, teasane or pastries. Half a doze osmanthus trees are blooming in the temple garden near the stair cases of the main hall. If you wonder what an osmanthus tree is like, you can smell them here this season. You may also find it in the Huntington Library inside the Chinese Garden.

Time flows like water

2012-01-18T16:56:00.000-08:00

似水流年

一叶轻舟

有茶有你
有悲有喜

Chinese New Year is coming! Time goes by, water runs by, tea flows through, life moves on. Wish for the better, live for the moment!

Happy New Year to all! 2012 is the year of Dragon, the most powerful and symbolic zodiac. With this sacred power, may everyone reach your goal this year!

Surprisingly lovely pomelo flower fragrance tea

2011-12-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

It's a cold morning, and cold morning calls for a hot cup of tea immediately upon getting up from a warm bed.

Water is boiling in a non-whistle kettle on the stove, tumbling bamboo charcoal noise is the tell tail. Quite morning with sound of percussion, instantly warms the air.

A random pick out of a pile of teas, what a surprise to find such smooth sweet leaves. 2011 You Hua Xiang - Pomelo Flower Fragrance. What time can do to mellow down a tea, so to human~ I shall put in on the recommended list of Dan Cong oolong teas.

Jiang Mu Xiang - Ginger Flower Fragrance (mother tree)

2011-11-21T19:30:00.000-08:00

Free Gift: 3 g Jiang Mu Xiang with purchase of $150, 20 samples available, valid while supplies last.
Thanksgiving is around the corner, I have much to thank for, so giving a bonus to share our passion with our customers , whom are a bunch of great tea lovers, selective, appreciative of the finest teas nature has to offer.

Each year I keep a few special teas in stock for friends and family to share. This year, 4 very special teas that I am particularly proud of.

Ginger flower fragrance Dan Cong Oolong tea is one of the most desirable or should I say the most desirable tea on mountain of Phoenix. After 5 years of chasing after it, this year I finally got my hands on a pound of Jiang Mu Xiang, which was auctioned for 63,000 RMB with exchange rate at $1 to barely 6 RMB, well , you do the math.

Happy Holidays everyone!
Cheers~

Chao Zhou stove set --- last set in stock

2011-11-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

Found this stove set in warehouse today. It should be the last set in stock. It has minor flaws but fully functional. Shipping from China was the biggest headache. I end up with lots stoves for myself over the years, yeah large cracked ones are all mine. :D But they work just fine and last many years with out signs of break apart.

Today's Dan Cong Tea Cupping - Second Round

2011-11-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

Fall~
is the season of Dan Cong Oolong. High mountain old single tree Dan Cong completed processing between May and June, after a 3 months rest, fire flavor subsided, true flavor finally reveals. Starting mid to late September, most DC teas should taste smoother than it was a few months back. Well, I know it's November now, I know I got a little lazy...

Today, is the beginning of another round of re-cupping the inventory. 3 teas I had and still drinking are: Gu Shu Lao Cong - Ancient tree old bush (sounds redundant eh), Gong Xiang - Tribute Fragrance, Rou Gui Xiang - Cinnamon Aroma.
Gong Xiang - Tribute Fragrance is getting better and better, it was very nice when it arrived, almost flawless compare to others of the same year harvest. The fragrance is beautiful as it should be. It's my very favorite then, and still is one of my favorites.
Rou Gui Xiang - Cinnamon Aroma, don't mix up with Wuyi Rou Gui Rock tea. They are two completely different teas in terms of origin, varietal, process, style, flavor and aroma. I remember during the first round of cupping, the flavor is unique and sharp. Today's impress is much improved! It has a minty cool after taste that last, smooth like butter, try brushing your teeth left and right with tip of your tongue, I think ice skating is about as smooth as I can imagine. :P The flavor is more pronounced than most of the sweet floral Dan Cong teas, masculine may I say. The kind of cinnamon as if you break a small piece of a cinnamon bark, place it in your mouth and let the saliva slowly extract the sweetness, spiciness off, not overwhelming as apple pie.

Jars, Jars, lots Jars~ #6

2011-10-23T10:31:00.001-07:00

Jar #6
3"X4"
Fits 1.5 oz Dan Cong tea, or 3 oz Tie Guan Yin.

Shen De Tang Porcelain Jars

2011-10-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

Tea is like a can of worms, once you open it, it doesn't end. Tea ware is a big part of tea, pots, cups, jars are some of items a tea drinker accumulates over time. I went through a period of cup hording, maybe still do. :P

Following cups, jars are my favorite collectibles. I may like jars more than pots, simply because I can't use too many pots, but I can use endless number of jars, for tea, grains, spice, herbs, other cooking ingredients, etc...
Last week, I got a hold of a small lot ROC period jars through the old Jing De Zhen Factory. Shen De Tang was an imperial kiln started during Dao Guang Period (1820-1850). Before the end of Qing period, all productions were designed and made of superior quality, hence highly valued in the collectible world. After Qing dynasty ended, all imperial kilns stopped producing imperial grade items. To remain in business and feed the family, civil china wares composed a large part of the production. This trend continued until 1949. The new government took over, combined all manufacturing studios into one central company. All products were marked Zhong Guo Jing De Zhen in Chinese, MADE IN CHINA, and an assigned batch number or alphabet.

In 1985, new privatization regulation is part of the new economy evolution, Jing De Zhen factories once again are in private hands. I met an older gentleman whom took over 6 factories and the entire warehouse collection back dated not knowing when. Over 100 thousand boxes of china ware in deteriorated cardboard boxes. Mid to Late Min Guo ROC through 1985 is a safe estimation of the age (1930-1985).

It's such an education to learn from the current factory owner, he explained how to differential reproduction of old items from authentic antiques, different clays, glaze, firing techniques, color formulas, reproduce from blank old base with old color formula using old firing technique, or reproduce with new base old color formula and old firing technique, etc..

These hand made and hand painted jars are distinctively ROC style. The paint color is also of old formula. Bottom marked Shen De Tang which makes them as least 62 years old. They are so lovely, incorporating a time piece element into tea life is a story of romance in itself.

Jars, Jars, lots Jars~ #5

2011-10-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

Jar #5
4"X5"
Fits 2 oz Dan Cong tea, or 1/4 lb Tie Guan Yin, etc.

Jars, Jars, lots Jars~ #4

2011-10-17T11:09:00.001-07:00

Jar #4
4"X4"
Fits 2 oz Dan Cong tea, or 1/4 lb Tie Guan Yin, etc.

Jars, Jars, lots Jars~ #3

2011-10-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

Jar #3
4"X5"
Fits 2 oz Dan Cong tea, or 1/4 lb Tie Guan Yin, etc.

Jars, Jars, lots Jars~ #2

2011-10-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

Jar #2
4"X4"
Fits 2 oz Dan Cong tea, or 1/4 lb Tie Guan Yin, etc.

Jars, Jars, lots Jars~

2011-10-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

Jar #1
4"X4"
Fits 2 oz Dan Cong tea, or 1/4 lb Tie Guan Yin, etc.

Green Elf email

2011-10-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

Robert,

Your email inquiring tea recommendation is received, however we tried writing back via the email you provided beginning with "green", somehow it's not a deliverable address.

Please email me again when you get a chance.

You may also check out this current stock recommendation list, updates are done periodically.
http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2011/09/whats-good-now.html

Thank you for your interest!

What's good now

2011-09-01T16:38:00.000-07:00

We often receive emails asking for recommendation. It's not easy to pick out a tea base on the name, look or tasting notes. There are many rating systems out there to help tea lovers to know more about a tea. Such as how many stars for aroma, flavor, smoothness, so on. It's much easier to use such a system when teas are quite different in style, quality or far off by region. I find it difficult to apply this rating system when teas have very similar characteristic and quality within a small niche.

Dan Cong oolong evolves as time continues on. Fresh new tea is aromatic in the nose, a year or two later, it's aromatic in the mouth, 5 years later, it's all in the texture. Something may not
be outstanding in a bunch now, it might become extremely appealing a year or two later. I often find surprises like this. Periodically re-cupping our selections to track the development is a big task from time to time. Although drinking tea is a daily activity of mine, drinking mindlessly and cupping are rather different matters.

As an attempt to make it easier for our customers to select teas, here is a list of teas I revisit in the last couple of weeks which I think that have reached prime. This condition can last 2 to 3 years in sealed container. Two key characteristics I look for in teas are aroma and texture, aroma must be present in flavor that is drinkable not only detectable by nose, texture is rich and smooth leaving your tongue smooth like silk afterward. A good tasting tea leaving your tongue feeling like sand paper does not quality as great tea. A great tea must satisfy these two requirements.

2007 Ba Xian - Eight Immortals

2008 Honey Orchid Gold Medalist #1

2009 Au Fu Hou - Gardenia Fragrance

2009 Kan Tou - Stone Wall Edge

2009 Zhong Ping Lao Cong Zhi Lan Xiang

2011 Bai Ye Wang - King of White Leaf ***NEW

2011 Gong Xiang - Tribute Fragrance ***NEW

2011 Lao Cong Dong Fang Hong - East Rising Red ***NEW

2011 Ming Cong Jin Si - Gold Thread ***NEW

2011 Rou Gui Xiang -- Cinnamon Aroma ***NEW

2011 You Hua Xiang -- Pomelo Flower Fragrance ***NEW

Note: keeping tea air tight is very important in sealing in the flavor. I have lots open bag teas laying around, some are in zip-lock foil bags. However no matter what you use to close, tea quality do deteriorate over time. I had a bag of Ba Xian in a zip-locked bag for over a year, every time I drank it, it was not satisfying compared to others. Today I open a heat sealed bag which was sealed 2 years ago, wow, the fragrance is there, the texture is smooth, butter is the word! It performs very well as an old tree Dan Cong should be. A great buy for the value! It's a lesson to be learn and practice consistently for some one who has a lot of teas laying around. :P

Green Tea 2009

2011-08-08T16:54:00.000-07:00

Green tea is a rare visitor in my tea life. Once in a long while I drink one voluntary. For the past week on the other hand, I have been drinking a green tea 5 days out of 7. It is more than the total number of greens I'd have in a year.

After 2 years of sleep in a plastic bag, a sunbath for a week gave it a whole different life. Reroasting is not an option since it takes 3 months to mellow out the fire. Sun radiation, especially the hot scorching sun of California does the trick. The green color may turn yellow, the fresh aroma may be disappeared, but it takes on a whole different complexity in texture, mellow, smooth, rich minus the grassy taste.

Large Grid Iron Spot Cup/Bowl

2011-08-07T18:59:00.000-07:00

Large Grid Iron Spot Cup/Bowl
It's as big as a gaiwan bowl, with a borrowed lid, wahlah~
Lid and dish do not come with the cup/bowl. :P

Large green crackle glaze cup/bowl

2011-08-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

Green crackle glaze cup/bowl

Brown Gold Spot Glaze Tea/wine Cup

2011-08-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

Brown Gold Spot Glaze Tea/wine Cup

Two tone glaze jar

2011-08-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

Two Tone Brown Ceramic Jar - Small

Gong Mi Lan - Tribute Honey Orchid 2011

2011-07-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

A hot day today in South Cal, although I shouldn't complain compared to the inland with a 20 degrees cooler temperature and sea breeze. Hot tea as usual, if you call me crazy.

With the new 2011 Dan Cong tea arrival, tasting each tea with various methods and multiple times is a huge task. After all drinking more than half a dozen a day is excessive to my taste buds. The first round of cupping was done in gaiwan for 5 minutes, the basic tasting notes were based on that.
Today's method is gaiwan gongfu style with Bai Ye Gong Mi Lan - White leaf tribute honey orchid. Honey orchid is the most reliable tea out of all, it's straight forward, present, good flavor, easy to brew, no down time waiting period, no disappointment each and every time year after year. Out of almost 20 new teas arrived, this is one of the most ready to drink teas.

Upon opening the bag of Gong Mi Lan, a strong passion fruit, lichi, ripe peach aroma you can't unnoticed. It's much stronger than others without anything added.
A sweeter lichi and peach aroma can be smelled as soon as the water is add, flavor is just as it smelled, after taste has a little like mango. Each infusion is slightly different varying from fruit to fruit in mixed combination. Complex, soft, interesting and pleasing. The signature honey sweetness and fullness last many infusions. A tea does not require a lot of attention to enjoy the wholeness within.
Wet leaves are still semi rolled up and thin at the end of the session, signs of high altitude from old trees due to slow growth rate of aged trees in cooler climate covered with clouds. Meaty leaf is not a good sign, either located at low altitude hot temperature environment and or fed with fertilizer.

Aroma: 5
Flavor: 5
Texture: 4.5
After Taste: 4.5
Over All: 4.75

Honey Preserved Dan Cong Oolong Tea

2011-07-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

Home remedy is widely used and relied on by many villagers of the remote mountain, even today's modern medicine is readily available. Phoenix mountain residents keep aged teas for minor colds, coughs, fevers, stomachaches of the like. Aside of the dried method of aging tea, honey preserved tea is also a popular regional treasure. Honey from local hives and Dan Cong tea combined together is not only a tasty drink, but also medicinal.

High grade raw honey, glass jar preferred, and good Dan Cong teas, simple as fill the jar with dry tea leaves, then add honey to top, seal and let it sit for a week before consuming. However the longer it is put away, the better the medicinal effect it has, years, 10, 20, 30 years. One word of advise, if you plan on keeping it for a long period, good tea and good honey is a must. After all, the time you invest in is more worthy of the ingredients. I don't think you want to wait 10 years for something mediocre.

Raw honey is relative hard to find in the states because FDA require honey sold in the states must contain less than a certain percentage of moisture. Hence, most available commercial honey are heat treated to reduce moisture, therefore losing many nutritious contents such as enzymes and vitamins. Also runny but not watery honey is necessary, crystallized honey contains impurity as well which is less desirable. Spring honey and Winter honey also have different benefits. Drink Spring honey in Spring, Winter honey in Winter to counter seasonal sickness is suggested by Chinese medicine. For example, Spring honey has detoxing benefit due to bacteria/virus spread in Spring, Winter honey has lung nourishing benefit due to dryness in Winter .

Tea selection needless to say the better the tea, the better the result. Good tea does not necessary have to be tasty tea. Good tea is naturally rich with substance which can be visible and detected in texture. A rich tea is round, thick, creamy, smooth or buttery, while all these are present does not necessary make this tea tasty automatically, but in most case it is. Tasty or not in flavor is also subjective by each drinker.

My first choice of tea to be preserved is Hong Yin, since I will invest a LONG period of time, I choose 1978 Wild Hong Yin. In 20 years I'll have a jar of 53 years old honey tea. :D Hong Yin is also very rich in texture compared to other Dan Congs, there isn't much aroma, hence would not be overwhelmed by the floral aroma of raw honey. The other choice was a tea from a 220 years old Dan Cong tree. It also has a rich texture that is savory in taste, but aroma is less appeal than other floral Dan Cong teas. Will try the second one in a week, then a few months, a year and so on to see the difference in evolution.

Lotus of Gu Yi Yuan

2011-07-18T22:28:00.000-07:00

Gu Yi Yuan being one of the landmarks of Shang Hai attracting millions visitors from around the world, hosts many special seasonal events each year. Summer is the season for lotus, this year is particularly spectacular. A national lotus show is going on now in the garden compound, showing off more than 1000 varietals. My girlfriend whose husband manage the garden has done an excellent job. Knowing lotus is one of my favorite plant, here are some of the hundreds pictures she shared with me. I shall attend in person one year to flow through the green waves of lotus leaves, inhale that fresh lotus fragrance through my pores.

6th Stop - Shang Hai

2011-07-17T00:55:00.000-07:00

Shang Hai was a brief stop in the previous trip. The local hostess is a girl friend of mine. If you like Xiao Long Bao - Shang Hai steam dumpling, the best is in a garden restaurant in Gu Yi Yuan - one of the four famous Jian Nan Garden compounds in Shang Hai.

It's my great honor to be invited for tea after a delicious lunch at a private section of the garden behind these walls. This group of structure used to be the sleeping quarter of the owner whom was a salt merchant in Qing Dynasty. Salt trading was and still is government controlled business as well as one of the most profitable.

Other parts of the garden

Flourish

2011-07-15T02:08:00.000-07:00

Lao Xian Yong-Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong Tea, a moment I shall remember....

With this year's good harvest, it's to be celebrated with a few private selections of my own. Have I had a tea only to bloom after it disappeared in form of liquid? It's a new life experience with tea for me. Not a sign of impression in searching for that typical aroma, flavor when I drank it. A tea without a head turn so I mentally noted it at first. As the cup was released from my fingers, carelessly put down on the kitchen counter, heading to flip the next page of Li Qing Zhao - one and only famous female poet of the Song Dynasty. The most delicate aroma began to open up in my mouth, the flowers in her poem came to alive as it appeared. The fragrance occupied all my senses through my nose drifted well beyond one's mind. Let it be, let it be! Let it permeate~ Let it linger~

Li Qing Zhao is famous for her love poems. She had a loving marriage but short lived. Living apart with her husband and soon passed away, her sorrows were painted on her words with Spring blooms and withering willows.

A poem can strike a soul, a tea can nourish one, I am in the mood for love-a song compliments the two.

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/Qaew_aORpZk/

Huntington Library - Summer Lotus

2011-07-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple of years since I last set foot in the Huntington Library located in the city of San Marino, which is LA in a grand scale. We are fortunate to have many gardens in the surrounding areas both in LA and OC counties. Huntington Library is one of the must visit spot in LA.

Orchids are my obsession as some of you may know. Lotus is my love since early age before I know anything about orchids. As a young child, my school friend and I went to a garden park named East Lake during lunch hour to watch lotus and catch butterflies in summer time. A large pond filled with pink blooming lotus, of course the flowers were smart enough to locate themselves no where near shore. After a couple of visits, we finally got to steal a lotus flower which was an instant envy of the class without the teacher's knowing. It wasn't an easy task to pick a flower 2 yards away from shore in filthy mud, but I should be happy that we didn't fall in the pond.

Growing Lotus is a challenge so I have not made an attempt. One day I shall try in a large container.

2011 Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong Tea is in the house

2011-07-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

A long 2 years wait finally came to an end! New 2011 crop has arrived! It's exciting and a lot of tea cupping to do. Writing tasting notes is never a strength of mine, so bare with me for a couple of days. A few teas a day is my maximum work load. So far so good though, a few that I had tried are satisfying with rich texture. My opinion of tea emphasize on the texture which is the base of good flavor, aroma and energy. Will post them on the Tea Habitat website as soon as possible.

红帐花影
镜帘倒挂蝶千重
芬草欲醉
试问梦几回

June Inventory reduction Sale

2011-06-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

2010 was a disaster year for crops of high mountain tea on Phoenix Mountain, both quality and quantity were drastically lower than previous years, we decided not to carry 2010 Dan Cong teas. After a long period of wait and hope, 2011 finally has arrived, great news that this year’s weather has been kind to the tea trees we love so much, hence producing one of the better productions in the last few years. We are excepting new teas to arrive some time in June! How exciting!!! To make room for new inventories, an inventory reduction sale will be held until the end of June. Hurry in!

5th Stop --- Hang Zhou

2011-04-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

It took a while to step into the next stop. :P

Here we are Hang Zhou, Xi Hu - West Lake is notorious for centuries for its beauty in history of China. It was part of the Pacific Ocean during the Qin dynasty (220 BC). Through out the next 2 thousand some years, Hang Zhou mayors worked hard on flushing out the salt water and mud, built it into a large fresh water lake with center islands piled by mud excavated from the lake.
Who's looking at whom? I am part of your nature, you are taken in my picture frame. :P

West Lake is known for its beauty differed in each season, Spring being the best, so is Winter after a fresh powdery snow fall. My time wasn't the best choice, but do with best under the restriction.

Surrounding the lake are many temples, pagodas, private residence of the rich and fame. Zhang Jie Shi gifted a min guo style mansion to his last wife Song Mei Ling along the lake before they fleet to Taiwan.
I had not enough time to visit each place that left me a very good reason to revisit time after time.

Energy of water

2011-04-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I write anything about tea. I have a hard time writing anything lengthy for a while. Here I thank you all readers for your support, and I apologize for not posting much and replying your emails later than sooner. But without your questions, I may not gather up to write anything meaningful. So thank you for your patience, your quest is my motivation!

We all know water makes a whole lot of difference in making a cup of tea. Let's go over the technical/chemical issues commonly known:

1, water source
Tap water, purified tap water, spring water
The ancient texts agreed spring water or running stream water from the mountain maximizes tea grown from the same mountain, hence most people think spring mountain water is best, however best only for teas grown in the same mountain. It may lessen or worsen tea flavor grown else where. For the safest practice, purified water is the most suitable for us drinking a wide range of teas from many different regions, especially across an ocean. Tap water is a big no no, as we all known and should know by now.

2, water temperature
Temperature is crucial, it can make a tea and can kill a tea. With the right temperature, you can extract a cup of golden liquor, leaves are eager to show its best releasing essence of earthy gathering. When too hot, burning leaves are compromised, when too cool, there's not enough force to extract. Learn your tea is the key in finding the right temperature of water, it comes with your six sense, don't trust a thermometer or machine, it limits your sensitivity.

The third mater here I mention is a subtle issue which can not be seen but only perceived with your body and mind.

Energy of water
In modern concept, energy water we think of vitamin water or red bull, something chemically enhanced to accelerate meridian energy movement. The ultimate result of energy is to keep meridian moving so to arrigate every cells of our body, hence keep us alive. But the speed of such movement in human body is slow, one can not keep pumping your blood constantly as you just ran 5 miles, you will die out of energy exhaustion.

Everything on the planet contains energy, water, rock, plants, air, human. Each item's energy varies from each other, a rock from the Rocky has different energy from a rock from China. Crystals for example are rather obvious to sense by placing your hand over it. Human, one person's energy level is different from an other, we can't argue with that, right. When it comes to water, the earth it runs through, the speed it moves, the season it's in, can change the energy reserved in water. Think shower and bath, same water source, however one is running, one is still, shower is refreshing and awakening, while bath is relaxing. When energy of water is absorbed by human, it changes the movement of our body energy, hence change our mind. Mineral content is a source of nutrient that effect human health, mineral can be tasted in roughly 4 ways, sweet, bitter, spicy, and sour. Only sweet water enhances human health, although others may not kill you, but sickness and symptoms usually associate in later life. Regional sickness is most likely originated from source of pubic share water before tap water era, also in most parts of the third world countries.

When choosing a water to brew tea, how you want to feel after drinking a cup of tea can be achieved by selecting water and pouring adjustment. Fast running water, fast moving energy, soft running water, soft energy. Human energy is soft running most of the time, and you do want to remain that way for longevity. Selecting a water runs softly according to human is the most comfortable and well accept by our body even with out anything added. Lu Yu talked about the best water for tea is mountain spring water, then water from middle of Yangzi river. Both water are gentle moving. Well, most of us may not have the luxury of have a running spring in our back yard, we can take maters into our hands. Adjusting pouring speed can be effective as well. Try pouring from high and fast, then soft and slow but steady, the same tea will show you different personalities. For those who likes experiments, this body sensitivity game is a fun challenge. :)

Clay stove

2011-03-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

Clay stove came larger than I need them for sha diao (Chao Zhou style kettle).
5 inches tall
4 inside diameter
6 outside diameter
Fits kettle larger than 4 inches at bottom. Suitable for clay, metal, cast iron tea kettles.

Large antique cup 170 ml

2011-01-25T20:14:00.000-08:00

Antique Cup VIIII

Antique cup plain design

2011-01-25T18:13:00.000-08:00

Antique cup VIII

Perfect condition blue mark antique cup

2011-01-25T18:03:00.001-08:00

Antique cup VII

Large 100 ml antique cup

2011-01-25T17:51:00.000-08:00

Antique cup VI

Signed Brown Antique Cup

2011-01-25T12:21:00.000-08:00

Antique cup V

Brown cracked glaze

2011-01-25T12:16:00.000-08:00

Antique cup IIII

Celadon Cup

2011-01-25T11:36:00.001-08:00

Antique cup III

Ming Blue and White cup

2011-01-25T11:26:00.000-08:00

Antique cup II

Antique cup

2011-01-25T11:11:00.000-08:00

Single cup I

Website is up!

2011-01-24T20:27:00.000-08:00

I am relieved to let you all know www.teahabitat.com is back online. If you encounter any issues while shopping at www.teahabitat.com, please let us know. We appreciate your feedback so we can fix the problems asap!

Website outage

2011-01-24T08:42:00.000-08:00

Teahabitat website is currently down due to tech issues. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have cause. We are working to get it back up as soon as possible.

Please email tea@teahabitat.com or call 310-921-5282 for any order inquiry and questions. Thank you!

4th stop - Zhou Zhuang

2011-01-11T16:22:00.000-08:00

Zhou Zhuang is a little over one hour drive from Su Zhou. A small water town like many others in the region. Water ways were main merchandise transporting route for centuries in the region. Silk, rice, china ware and tea had been shipped via canals out to sea for exports. Small towns like Zhou Zhuang was one of the dozen major economy hubs. During Ming dynasty, the wealthiest man of the country resided in Zhou Zhuang, he paid to build 1/3 of the Nan Jing city wall, hence invoked jealousy of the emperor then confiscated his wealth and exiled his family to Yunnan. The town is a major tourist spot which comes with the unnecessarily chaos. The town itself is rich in traditional feel, time has put its stamp on this earth spot. I love it only if it wasn't as touristy. High traffic season is even more intolerable.

3rd stop - Su Zhou

2011-01-03T21:09:00.000-08:00

City of Su Zhou is probably the one stop I expected so much of and in fact exceeded my expectation.

It's a city of ancient romance, a city of modern day casual living compared to other major cities. Prague of China is what I feel about it. Prague is Paris of east Europe. Su Zhou was Paris back in the days, more like Prague today in terms of commerce in the theme of Paris.

The beautiful gardens are most notorious in Su Zhou. Many of which were built for and by government officials and merchants for the government. The word mansion is not elaborate enough for them. Landscaping combined with natural scenery, water ways, pavilions, bridges, corridors, the design concept is to capture the nature (mountain, plants, lakes and architecture) then shrink it down to a private home of only a few. It's a small world for only a few to enjoy, but today any one can visit the elaborate composition. Modern day architecture are about tall and functional, some would argue about the artistic value. Upon visiting many ancient architectures of China, it's all about details! Every detail also entails a meaning that reflects culture.

Ping Tan is a must experience in Su Zhou. Dinner and live music, best combination at an old house converted restaurant.

Second stop - Dong Guan

2010-12-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

In Chinese culture, home town is where a line of family originated, not the same concept as the west which means where one is born. Dong Guan is my home town, so I made a point to visit this town that is right next to Shen Zhen. As a little child when I last visited the city, I had very little memory of it. Each time my family returned to town was to celebrate my grandmother's birthday.

I still don't have a clear impression of the city today. A friend and I went into town to meet a few friends for tea, hopping from one shop to another. It turned out to be a huge gathering of over 15 people. Head of Dong Guan tea association spent half a day showed us the tea city (market) that he designed. Dinner at a local country style restaurant next to a pond was interesting, sauteed cow feet was monstrous! Of course wine was not to be omitted, a bottle of 1997 Zhu Ye Qing (Green Bamboo Leaf) was smooth and sweet, perfect main course for the dinner. :P

After dinner, more tea was to be drunk at a special tea shop. The owner is knowledgeable of not only tea, but various Chinese traditional arts. The right person to learn more about tea from! I will go see him again quietly in the future.

Here are some of the teas I received as gifts from here.
1999 ancient tree silver tips, very rich and sweet!
1997 Jiao Gu Lan Pu-er, only batch ever made.
25 years old Bai Mu Dan, creamy and honey sweet.
Da Hong Pao brick...

Blue & White porcelain

2010-12-21T19:01:00.000-08:00

Ming Tao Fang Qing Hua (Blue & White porcelain)

Tea culture has become mainstream again in China, tea ware play an important role in the renaissance. China wares representing all dynasties can now be found in tea shops.
Blue and White porcelain is one of the main styles in tea ware and decoration pieces. Demand creates supply, on top of good clay, firing technique, blue color formula, painting on porcelain is the far most visible demand that separates daily ware and art collectibles.
The far most expensive modern day BW tea ware is by Gui He Xiang, a tea cup can easily cost $300, USD that is! This years BW price compare to last year is another leap and bound. Inflation is the problem. None of these in pictures are Gui He Xiang, I'd rather buy antiques with that kinda investment.

I like Ming Tao Fang, for one, the price is right relatively speaking. Clay is pure, glaze is even, painting technique isn't the best, but not bad for the time and effort that goes in it, especially for the price. The composition of painting is clean but not simple. They are made for tea in function, not made because of tea. Small details in the finishing improves the ease of tea brewing, simple as lifting the lid, not easy to tip, less burning, all of which tell me the maker know what it takes to make tea at ease. Ming Tao Fang porcelain is at the artistic level of daily teaware, not collectible that you only put away behind those glass doors of your China cabinet. I'd feel bad if I break a cup, but not heartbroken. This is how I like my teawares.

2010-12-21T14:32:00.000-08:00

Translucent white porcelain in dark, light comes thru inside of cup.
I bought a bunch of porcelain tea wares from Guangzhou tea expo last year. I thought they were shipped but lost in the mail early this year. Heart broken that I was for a long time. When I discover they are still alive and wholesome, thrilled that I was. Taking them with me in my 2 large (over weight) luggage was hard work that I was willing to take on. They arrived after a year sleeping in China!!!

These are made by Ming Tao Fang studio, all hand painted on Jing De Zhen white porcelain. Qing Hua Ci(blue and white porcelain) has been a favorite nationally and internationally for a few centuries. In recent years, revival of Qing Hua gather a large number of porcelain makers reinventing tea wares in the artistic level.

Out of numerous hand burning experience, I become rather picky in selecting gaiwan by shape rather than pure appearance. Here are a few absolute essentials as a good and functional gaiwan (mainly to avoid burning):
1, cup opening must be flare out with a wide rim
2, lid handle must be tall and thin
3, footing of gaiwan must be tall as well
Depending on size of individual hands, length diameter of gaiwan can vary, I have small hands, so I prefer small gaiwan for gungfu method. For drinking, size does not mater as much, perhaps bigger is better.

I prefer my gaiwan thin, less heat is being absorbed to the cup rather than contributing to the tea. Thicker the cup hotter it feels on your hand, cooler the tea is. The old saying never judge a book by its cover, in the case of selecting a gaiwan, it is half way true. Function and look are both essential, with function comes first in my book.

First stop -- Shen Zhen

2010-12-19T14:12:00.000-08:00

My flight landed in Hongkong and then I across the border to Shen Zhen to meet up with friends. Although I went in and out of Hongkong 4 times, but not a whole day I spent in Hongkong.

The first official stop should be Shen Zhen. We had the privilege to visit the private section of the East Lake Garden Park. The designer/builder/keeper of the garden is a famous landscape designer from Su Zhou, he was commissioned to build a new Southern Chinese style garden park in Shen Zhen before 1997. Within the park, he built a private garden as his residence. In this section, a large size lake with various pagodas, pavilions, bridges, more than 1000 pieces of hundreds years old Pen Zai (Bonzai), ducks, fishes, a hidden world within. We had dinner and tea sessions at the pavilion above water as moon light shimmers beside us. Beautiful and serene!

We also had the honor to visit the private art collection, paintings, furnitures, etc. A particular piece caught my eyes is a large flat cut tree trunk fossil tea table, with diameter about 3 to 4 ft long. I was flabbergasted!!! Out of respect, I didn't take any pictures of the private collection. Here is a small piece of wood fossil to show you what the material looks like.

Clay Stove

2010-12-17T00:43:00.000-08:00

***Sold***

12 inches tall, 6.5 inches wide on top, rustic surface design

I hand carried this clay stove all the way home from China across thousands miles of ocean. I wanted a tall stove for years!!!! Due to shipping difficulty, I had not had one until now. I didn't even attempt to carry home this 5 lb heavy weight last year when my heart pounded fast as my eyes laid upon this baby. But I did it this time! And it survived!!!

Of course I bought it to satisfy my own selfish desire. Otherwise why go through the trouble right?! Yeah, that thought lasted a few weeks until I realize already 3 stoves are sitting in my office, one on my desk, one under my desk, and one wrapped and tucked under a chair. Do I need that many stoves for myself? There should be a couple more in the warehouse. Sure they are all different in style, but really, do I need that many stoves?

So here I have an idea, actually an excuse. I am going to put this stove up for sale with a Sha Diao (water kettle) until xmas day, if no claim, the stove is mine with a little bit of guilt. :P

The reason for a taller chamber is to increase air flow for faster heating. It can hold a larger kettle, even heavy enough to hold a large cast iron kettle, it can heat up a large pot of water faster than the small version I carried, hence better for large groups. Hmmmm group tasting!

email me at tea@teahabitat.com

Hand twisted and machine pressed Tai Ping Hou Hui

2010-12-16T23:33:00.000-08:00

Huang Shan - Yellow Mountain is notorious for sun rise and teas reside here. Sun rise of Huang Shan is ranked number 1 in the world, follow by Egypt, Norway and Ali Shan of Taiwan. The reason for that is the sea of clouds where the sun arises. That means the location has what tea trees want to shrive!

Tai Ping county is nested in Huang Shan, local soil is deep and rich before reaching the granite layer, decomposed granite allows water to sip through and provides rich minerals that nourishes plants and give tea trees its unique regional flavor.
While attending a tea research meeting in An Hui province, hunting for Tai Ping Hou Hui is on top of wishlist, it's I admit my top choice when it comes to green tea. Hence I spend the time to hunt for the right source and learn about it. Here are 2 TPHHs for learning purpose:

Hand twisted from Hou Keng, Spring harvest, leaves are not uniformed, darker in color

Machine pressed also from Hou Keng, Fall harvest, leaves are uniformed, lighter green in color

Flavor of the two are rather different, Spring harvest is rich, sweet, smooth, and very aromatic, aromatic and sweet after taste. Fall is aromatic, can be bitter if over heated and over steeped, however after taste is sweet and lingering, not as smooth as the hand twisted one for 2 reasons: Fall leaves and machine pressed. Stems and partial leave tissues are broken which cause the bitterness and rough texture.

Back from Asia

2010-12-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

After a month of exiling, I am back! I am glad to be home, there is nothing like home! Although it's exciting to travel abroad, home is where I belong!

Brief feedback of where I had been in the last month:
Hong Kong, Shen Zhen, Dong Guan, Shang Hai, Su Zhou, Zhou Zhuang, Hang Zhou, Shang Hai (again), back to Hong Kong, Gao Tshong (Taiwan), Tai Chong, Alishan, Tai Pei, back to Hong Kong, Macau, Zhu Hai, Guang Zhou, He Fei, San He, Chao Zhou, Guang Zhou, Hong Kong

It seems that I spent more time on the road than anything else. It was great to see places I had long to be. Su Zhou is my favorite city, dinner at a restaurant next to a canel, listen to Ping Tan (a regional music dual), feeling the cold breeze as we stolled along the old granite paved walk way, surrounded by century years old homes with light leaked through wood carved window panels. As though time was set back centuries. My next favorite place is San He, a small water town in An Hui Province. It's not so commercialized as a tourist town, although it's moving toward that way. Here is where real people live, you'll find ladies knitting on the street, dry vegetables and meat hung along the bridges, you might even find the shop runner taking a nap on a sofa while the door is wide open for business. Some how people here are more real than other tourist towns I went to.

Anyways, there are too much to write when my brain can function better, after recovering from jet lagging.

I brought back tea weres, lotsa tea wares! Will post them as soon as I have time.

Business is now back to regular operation, we will ship all orders in the next day til New Year. Hurry in if you'd like your purchase arrive before xmas and New Year.

www.teahabitat.com

Going to China and Taiwan

2010-11-09T06:56:00.000-08:00

It's time for Asia again! Total of 14 cities to go around in this trip, I am looking forward to visiting some of the places I have longed to be for a long time. Hangzhou, Suzhou, Zhouzhuang are cities with history dated back more than 2000 years, fabulous architectures combined with nature, favorites of generations of poets and painters. I want to be part of the picture so eagerly for at least once. Taiwan is next going from the south traveling up north then return to Hongkong and Macao. Hunan is the next destination, an other town named Phoenix is also an unique place I long to drift down the river just like a ladle of fresh water, floating by wooden houses along both sides, look up ancient bridges as I drift under the arches, perhaps I left my footprints on the bridges lives ago looking down the same water drifted under. Of course I can't go to China without hunting for tea. Hunan is a place to find great green tea and black(not red) tea.

I will be in the Pacific of orient from 11/11 to 12/8, all orders received during this period will be processed after 12/8. Sorry for the inconvenience. Happy early Thanks Giving to you all! I'll be back with tea before xmas~

Cups --- aged, wise, deep, soothing to the soul

2010-10-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

I don't remember when, I started collecting cups, began with various shapes, sizes, colors of new age cups. Then an obsession spread wide, collecting old cups became just as important as finding great teas in my book.

It all began with these fishes...
Various cups of the typical Qing batavian style, a gaiwan and soup bowls, a few more at friend's antique store in Beijing. I can't wait to get them next time I go to China.

The cutest one...

Double happiness during Ming is a popular style and my second favorite...
Bowl...

Transparent Rice style, end of Qing, Min Guo and early PROC, my most recent collected style....

Tin cans

2010-10-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

Tin cans are used for tea storage, because it keeps moisture out and does not rust. Tin does not give off metal smell, hence does not change flavor of tea during storage.

Octagon shaped tin can....

Small dent on one footing....

Flower shaped tin can.......

Tiny dents.....
Small dent at rim of lid

How much tea do you drink in a year?

2010-10-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

How long does 1 lb or 500 grams of tea last you? Do not include RTD bottled teas.

I never really count how much tea leaves I drink in a year. So let's do some calculation. Personal use only (not including for work or friends), I drink 3 sessions of tea per day, average of 3 to 4 g per session, that's 9-12 g per day, a 500 g bag can last me 1.5 months. In a year, I use up 8 to 9 lbs of tea. Right on the average of Chao Zhou tea consumption per capita.

On the higher end of the scale, a lb of TGY or High mountain oolong can be consumed quicker due to the density of the leaves, averaging 20 days for a pound by normal daily drinking. This number is shared by a bunch of TGY tea heads, mainly Chinese.

Feel free to share your habit... :D

Competition green teas

2010-09-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

To anticipate in the first open tea championship by the International Tea Expo, Tea Habitat hand selected a few teas to compete in the Pan Fried Green Tea category a couple of months ago. Oolong competition is held in February next year.

I am greatly disappointed for a number of reasons which I can't bring up openly. The result is the cause of disappointment, but not the origin.

Jade tip is one of the more than 250 teas under the same category which entered the championship. Highest score is 89 out of 100, second place is 88, third is 87, Tea Habitat's Jade Tip got a 84 rating. Another green tea we entered is Three Cups Fragrance which got a 83 rating.

Let's take a look of the leaves of Jade Tip...
Grown in mountains of 700 meters above sea level in Zhe Jiang Province. Spring tips of 2010 harvest, some of the best and very limited production of green tea. Absolutely excellent quality!
$63/125 g, only 375g available, Price is sold at cost.

Three Cups Fragrance....
Also grown in the same altitude of 700 meters above sea level in Zhe Jiang Province. Three Cups Fragrance is a varietal only local to this region--Tai Shun county. I personally slightly bias toward this tea compared to Jade Tip in terms of flavor, thickness and intensity of texture, although the look is less uniform than Jade Tip.
$54/125 g, 375 g available, Price is sold at cost.

2nd place winner by another company, will include a sample with purchase of above teas.

Mid Autumn in SF

2010-09-21T23:36:00.000-07:00

In less than 30 minutes, the annual Mid Autumn or Moon Festival holiday will arrive. Wish everyone a wonderful holiday and a happy family gathering!

I will be in SF looking at the Autumn moon by the bay in the next few days. All orders will be shipped on Monday the 27th. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Mood for Fall

2010-09-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

Fall is here. Season's changed so is my mood. Sitting in the sun on a Saturday afternoon sipping a cup of tea is leisure. Fall is harvest season, human body is also in harvesting mode, although we do not hibernate, but our body collect nutrients and prepare for winter. Tea to drink during this time has moved toward matured selections, such as darker oolong, black, aged or cooked pu-erh. Taoism emphasize on living according to nature's changes. It's the season that tea trees begin to bud. So my take for this afternoon is 2003 Liu Bao flower buds. Sweet and soothing, just the right amount of nurture.

Dat mythical tree

2010-08-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

I heard of it, I talked about it, I got my palate around it this morning!
Jiang Mu Xiang! Ginger Mother Fragrance --- sold for 60,000RMB per 500 g this year, almost $10,000.

Yesterday my Korean friend called me up in the morning, interested me in going to the Fowler museum at UCLA. A temporary exhibition of Koran potteries by 5 contemporary artists and burial figures from the 19th century is currently held at Fowler. I jokingly said to my friend, let's take a pottery making class afterward.

Three other exhibitions are held at the same time. Textile making from Indonesia, Masks and other ritual figures from mostly Africa, south America and southeast Asia, silver ware of the 1800's and 1900's from England. I found 3 eye catching silver cloisonne pieces made by Russian silversmiths in the mid to late 1800's.

Upon returning to home, I found a package from China. Although I have expected its arrival for a week, but knowing the content of this package, excitement can't be subsided.

After a busy yesterday, I was not ready to drink this tea last night. As I woke up in the morning, taking the time to prepare at a spot where I can pay full attention to my tea, a cup of Jing Mu Xiang is rewarding.

The color is unusually light, and deceiving. As I took a sip, a tingling ginger spice sensation can be felt on the first half of my tongue, it lingers for a long while, even as I am typing at this moment. It's not floral fragrant as many other Dan Cong oolong, although subtly fragrant. The money is all on the after taste and sensation. It's so thick, almost pasty as I sip it. A layer of buttery film coats my mouth for a long time. Without breakfast, my system is clean to take in the effect of this tea, and sure enough, I feel bloated after only 3 little cups, as I just had a meal. My eye balls are popping out right now!

Along with a small 10g sample of Jiang Mu Xiang, Tian Yi Xiang-Heavenly Leisure Fragrance, 08 Chuan Du Lao Ming Cong---the very first old bush Dan Cong that knock me off my socks in 07 and has since made me an addict, rather spend all my savings on tea rather than buying clothes and purses, devilicious fairy of tea tree! There are more of the 05 Ba Da wild Pu cake came with the Dan Congs.

Shine on me

2010-08-28T01:41:00.000-07:00

I have been raising this little Chao Zhou Zhuni pot for about a month with old bush Dan Cong teas. A layer of shine is my pride and happiness. :D

2010-08-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

I should be at a party in Hollywood. Instead of having fun socializing, it's a night for staying in shells of my oyster world. A sandalwood incense, a flickering flame, a pot of 1978 Dan Cong, allow my mind travel back in time to where it belongs.

Top 40 tea blogs award in 2010

2010-08-21T22:38:00.000-07:00

Thank you all readers! My blog has received the top 40 tea blogs award in 2010. I am very grateful for your patronage of the blog. Your encouragement is my drive to continue writing about tea "regularly"! As I should have keep up with posting materials in the past couple of months. Change of work load, change of store location caused plenty of unsettling emotions. I apologize for the lack of posting lately. Everything should get back on track shortly.

Many thanks to you all!

Inspiration

2010-08-21T00:45:00.000-07:00

This article has been long over due since the second class at UCLA in May. My world has been a whirlwind due to the move of the store, my mind is still up in the air as cloud of dust waiting to be settled.

First of all, thanks to all the organizers and members of NCAM at UCLA, special guests Jason, Davin and Saneou, for providing the opportunity and time to make this a successful evening. The tasting part of the night was the highlight. Look forward to another year of tea event with greater success!

The second year agenda was a bit tougher to choose compared to the first year. Simply because we have new and repeat students, new comers needs introduction, repeat students wants new contents, skipping intro is not possible, yet same material might bored the others. I don't think I have done this well this time around. Question session was omitted as well.

I feel that the goal I want to achieve when teaching young groups is to introduce and better yet inspire the young minds, invite their inquisitive minds to explore the world of tea, get involved with tea, experiment with tea after I leave the classroom, or at any moment in their lives later on! Next time one holds a cup of tea in hand, they remember a thing or two from that evening, why they pick the tea they are drinking in the cup!

I can't teach everything in 40 minutes of speech, I can't expect everyone to remember everything I said in that 40 minutes either. My role is to excite the minds to learn more after I left, to let everyone know there are so much to learn and enjoy with tea if willing. It's out there, it's available, it's deep, it's wealth of knowledge, it's wealth of health waiting for anyone to reach and grab.

酒咪

2010-06-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

三朝日上西杆瘦汗眼一线横斜焕
犹观天地人间界轩窗满推轻回眸
篱栏丈八百步短石榴顾盼云梢头
疑是雁翅展华盖却是菊裙脚边一醉猫

Tea Habitat website is up and running

2010-06-22T01:40:00.000-07:00

After a wrestle and some kick boxing with technology (the fighting part is done by SL, I just ring the bell), our website is back up and running without makeup at this point. But it's functional accepting paypal only. We continue to make improvements in the near future, hopefully with little to no interruptions. Thank you all for bearing with us, the delays, confusions of links, inconvenience etc..

http://www.teahabitat.com/store/

Many thanks to SL and RS!

Temp site for product browsing

2010-06-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

Many many apologies for the Tea Habitat website outage. We are making progress but not yet complete. Here is a temp web page for product browsing ONLY. Please do NOT make any purchase through the website as it's not entirely functional.

To make a purchase, please email me with the item link. I apologize again for the inconvenience and grateful for your patience and loyalty! We look forward to serving you better as soon as possible.

tea@teahabitat.com

Website outage

2010-05-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

Tea Habitat website is down for the time being, we are experiencing technical difficulties and in the process of building a brand new website. Due to my lack of web building experience, I am very good at destroying, wiped out everything down to the bone.

I am turning this issue to the professionals now, it might take days tho. Please email me at
tea@teahabitat.com for any questions you may have. Sorry for the inconvenience. Hope to see you again with a new web face soon!

Sound of Gu Qin

2010-05-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

Gu Qin is one of the oldest music instrument of China, more than 5000 years some say. 5 silk twisted strings on a long wooden box was the early version of Gu Qin, it became 7 strings later on.
Music of Gu Qin is not pop music that appears to the younger generations. I sure didn't like it when I was young. It sounded depressing to the immature ears. Without life experience, one can not comprehend it's intensity.

Music had always been a great addition in life but not an addiction to me until the sound of Gu Qin reappeared in my life. A friend - non Asian male said to me once, you must like string instruments, and it can touch you deeper. It takes intense sounds to move an intensely emotionally complex human being. I paused for a long while, searched through all the music pieces in my head. He was right, out of my very limited knowledge of music, one can say passionless, I do find string instrument pieces move me more than anything else. Cello in particular if I cared to pay attention to a classical piece. String instruments echo with mind piercing effects, makes one think, makes one feel, makes one move, soft, firm, sweet, sad, high, low, vibrate, still, bodyless....

Music is sound of nature, part of nature, just like tea. One can drink a cup of bag tea everyday, or one can take the time to brew a cup of great old bush tea. What you get out of the experience is day and night.

Most artists are classified as performers, it's true that it take training, personal intuition, emotion involvement to reach a certain level of artistry. My question is, when performing at set times, is the performer at his/her most suitable mood for the piece. Often when some thing inspiring at a particular moment, presentation at that moment is the most optimal. One can only imitate emotion, but hardly the same as the actual emotion. Gu Qin is a instrument meant for personal playing rather than a performing art. Today is different due to modern economic marketing promotion. Hence very few great "performers".

A term to describe best friend in Chinese is Zhi Yin - Understand music. The best language can not express human emotions fully. Music can! When drinking tea, who can share your passion about what you are drinking? Words can not describe tea that can be understood to most audience. Only a sip of that tea, a simple facial expression resonates with another simple facial expression. That is Zhi Yin!

A truly moving piece of music lays pictures in your eyes closed or open. Swifting clouds, soft running water, hiking amongst Spring flower bushes, butterfly lands softly on your lips, shimmers of sun glaze on breezy lake, not just imaginations, but true pictures in mind.

This piece of music is my absolute favorite out of all. I can't sleep without it each night. It was downloaded a long while back when I first learn about Gu Qin, it didn't come with a name, I played it without knowing the title for a LONG time. Turns out this piece of music is named Wen Wang Cao - about Zhou Wen Wang. I didn't even know about my heritage when I already love it. A quick reminder, Zhou Wen Wang-writer of Yi Jing (Iching), father of first emperor of Zhou Dynasty, ancestor of my family. It's strange how the universe works. There's frequency, voice, messages everywhere without ones awareness. This piece combines Gu Qin and western string instruments, soft and intensely touches every strings in my mind and body, rolling clouds before Storm, glares of the sun ray pierce through layers and balls of dark, gray, soft white cloud, dissipate and drift under the warmth of late afternoon sun, bamboo forest beyond human world, slots of soft sun ray playing its own string music, dancing between swaying leaves... endless emotion, endless feeling, endless images.....

文王操

斜阳弄竹弦
轻风勾叶韵
呤听先贤颂
意涌犹清明

Han Dynasty cup

2010-04-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

This cup is so old, the glaze is chipping off. Smell of earth reminds me of dirt after a Spring rain shower.
Brewing unknown age of Fu Zhuan Black tea brick from 2 days ago, the piece is still solid in a big piece. Although I had enough of it for almost 3 days, but the sweet red date flavor is still going.
Never though I'd drink out of something this old. Now I would be eager to find something from Xi Zhou - Western Zhou dynasty, when emperor Zhou Wu Wang ruled the land and time. Imagine drinking out of something made in time space when my ancestor was alive.

Ming Yue Hu

2010-04-24T22:37:00.000-07:00

If I keep thinking of keeping all the cute pots that come in, I'd starve. Another small (90 ml) round pot that looks good with the other two I kept. Should I?

Afternoon tea

2010-04-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

Cheese and Longyan honey, a pot of aged Fu Zhuan black tea brick, easy Saturday afternoon.

Tea getaway

2010-04-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

山中半日闲
人间已千年
愿作一幽草
香浅溪映间

Thanks SB~

Going to the east side

2010-04-15T23:54:00.000-07:00

I am going to the east coast for the weekend. Ya'll Enjoy your weekend as well!

Updates on Southwestern dought

2010-04-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

Water Storage

Water coming out of a new well
Narrow dirt road is not built for auto vehicles, especially large trucks
Dangerous work! Heavy truck load cause edge of dirt road slide off, tree save the day, but also block the road.
Documents stating donation from who to whom.

Thank you letter from the village school
Total collected donation by the group is close to $10,000, 63,000 RMB. Not a lot, but we do what we can. So far, 500 boxes of water was shipped, donation for 5 storage unit was confirmed, using less than half of the total collection.

Volunteer group has limited experience, although meant well, but human resources and experiences are essential in handling large disasters. In the past couple of weeks, this group's effort was plausible, however, some people got sick, work load was also larger than they could handle. They decided to stop the action, rest of the proceeds will be donated in currency for well building or contract shippers for water shipping. They also stop taking donation. No matter what, the effort was plausible, they did what they can. I will not stop on my part, and continue to find reliable volunteers to send my donation to. At this point, straight donation may be a sensitive subject, so I will stop taking that. 14% of my monthly sale will continue to be put aside til I have enough to wire in a substantial amount. Wiring money to China is costly and troublesome. This is a continue battle between man and nature.

Total of 6700 RMB was sent to China as of 2 days ago, approximately $1000 usd. That's all the money I had collected so far.

Thank you all for your participation! Bless your kind hearts!

PS 7.1 earthquake in northwest China.... speechless....

April donation record

2010-04-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

TI donation: $100
LK Pot: $33.15
RH 3x#6+3x#7: $270
PS donation: $50
The above amount has been sent to China.

This portion of money will be sent to China by 6/30/2010 (end of this fund raising event), since TH website is down, sales were down drastically. Will combine enough money to send to save wire transfer fee.
SB 2x#6+2x#7: $180
SN 2x#4+2x#5+$150 donation: $250

14% monthly sale collects at end of month

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

Items for sale, donation to Yunnan China

2010-04-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

Please list items you want to sell on the comment session and email me a picture of the item, price and weight.

Other tea sellers are encouraged to list your items here to share your compassion!

Here are a few items of mine, please do not purchase through tea habitat website for these items. All sales from this listing are 100% donation.

#6 Tian Yi Xiang - Heavenly Leisure Fragrance Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong Tea (5 available, sold out)
This is the best Single Bush oolong tea I ever had. I bought 250 g of this tea as a reward for my effort in the tea business, as a result of its high price, I hardly drink it. It's been sitting in its bag for many months. I feel this is the right time to sell it at minimum. It is resource I can redistribute to the needy, at the same time ones who want to have a chance to experience something so rare where it used to be available only at my store when the occasion was special, they can now have a taste of it where ever you are.

#7 Cha Wang - King of Tea Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong Tea (5 Available, sold out)
This is one of the top ten famous old trees on the hill side of Wu Dong Mountain, more than 600 years old of age. It was purchased to comfort my so called hard ship with building a tea business on my own. I also have 250 g of this tea as well, same reason as the other out of this world DCs I obtain for my selfish enjoyment. My obsession with tea has brought me to the realm where I'd give up clothing, handbags and makeup for a cup of best out of a batch of great teas. I was oblivious to the rest of the world. How many families this 250 g tea could had fed? In remote areas, it might feed a family of 4 for 3 months or more maybe? I don't know, even a month is more than enough for my effort.

#1

Chao Zhou Red Clay Tea Pot #7

#2 (sold to LK, thank you!)

Chao Zhou Sandy Brown Clay Tea Pot #19

Chao Zhou Sandy Brown Clay Tea Pot #20

#4 (5 available)

Yu Lan Xiang (Magnolia Fragrance)- Special Grade

#5 (5 available)

Da Wu Ye (Big Dark Leaf) - Special Grade

I should have a few 80's yixing pots coming my way as a result of a charity auction, funds also go to build wells, water storage and delivering water to the needy. I'll list them here once they arrive, proceeds will once again go to the people of Yunnan.

email: tea@teahabitat.com

These people need help!

2010-04-04T16:28:00.000-07:00

Source of water~
Dried up water reservoir

*pictures provided by the volunteer group

Ever since September of last year, southwestern China has not seen a drop of rain until last week, for a brief 10 minutes. Drought condition is the worst in the past 100 years. As Spring is well into its midst, harvesting is no where near in sight except dried twigs on cracked soil. Nothing but yellow dirt!!! We can blame global warming, government policy and what so ever for the cause of such devastating out come. The priority is to help the local people to get through the drought immediately, saving lives before fixing the environment.

This has nothing to do with tea drinking, as a tea drinker without tea in mind for the moment, it's livelihood that supersedes every matter! Water for drinking, food for hunger, these people needs help NOW!

Unlike other natural disasters with sudden impact, drought has the effect of boiling a frog in a pot of cold water, slowly cooked to death before you even realize it. Slowly in the past 50 years, Yunnan has turned from a lush foresty province into bare dirt plateau of today. I don't want to get in to the cause of it, for one, I don't know enough to say, 2nd there isn't immediate solution to turn thing around right away.

Donating money to a civilian volunteer organization (non-government related or regulated) is what I have been doing. This organization ships drinking water to the most remote and most affected areas deep into the mountains, providing funds to dig wells and build water storage unit at cost of $440 each, well digging is extra. Donating to charity organizations always leave an empty void at the other end, not knowing what they will do with your money, how much is used for administration cost, at what discount rate will the receiver obtain if and when they do, all of these unanswerable questions keeps people and myself from giving proudly. With daily almost live feed backs from the organization I donated to, my mind is at peace that my intend was well presented in best of what one can do without being there personally.

Due to the confidence in this volunteer group, I ask many of you for help on behave of the sufferers far from our comfort zone. By doing so, for the next 3 months, 14% of all sales through Tea Habitat website will be sent to China. Your donation is also welcome, I'll post total being sent at the end of each month. You may also participate by selling tea items you no long use frequently, I'll start a new page for the listing, please provide a picture, weight of item (for shipping estimation) and price. All sales will be donated to China as well. I will email buyer shipping info to seller. Please link this article to every possible media if you can. Thank you and wish our world the best!

It's great to share your interest with like minded, but it's a great deed to lend a helping hand when in dyer need.

锦上添花虽好
雪中送炭更刻骨铭心

PLEASE HELP!

email: tea@teahabitat.com
paypal: tea@teahabitat.com

For donation: you may paypal tea@teahabitat.com directly. All proceeds will be wired to China first week of the following month.

If you'd like to donate directly to China, here is a list of banks for Sanzui, volunteering for supporters whom couldn't reach the suffocating land.

银行名称开户行户名、帐号电话银行
招商银行
西安城东支行户名：伍刚
95555 029 0012 5878 95555

建设银行
西安经二路分理处户名：伍刚
4220579980102076555 95533

中国银行
西安互助路支行户名：伍刚
4563513600008381758 95566

交通银行
西安东开发区支行户名：伍刚
60142835817375208 95559
中国工商银行
西安市解放路支行户名：伍刚
6222023700005529864 95588

农行西安兴庆路支行
韩森路分理处户名：伍刚
9559980210266243117 95599

Today's tea - Kan Tou

2010-04-02T12:25:00.000-07:00

Kan Tou Old Bush Dan Cong Oolong, means edge of retaining wall, gained its name due to its location. It is a confusing name since most of high mountain DC's were grown on hill side with retaining walls everywhere. Well, out of that many, only this one marked its territory in name of history, and for good reason!

For almost a month, today is the first time I spend time to observe tea whole hearted. I choose Kan Tou out a few that I have not posed on website out of procrastination. There are a few trees I got after last year's China trip.

Fragrance is between Orange flower and Pomelo flower, lighter than orange flower, and stronger than pomelo flower. The fragrance is mostly in the taste lingers on every surface of mouth, warmth of tea soothes every inch of through as the liquid traces down, embracing with nectar of nature - sweet and floral. It's been more than a month since I had this tea, procrastination is not to be praised.

For some reason, I like spending time to learn about a new tree before posting it. 3 to 5 times over the period of months is not a long time to learn about a new subject, person, job, place, so is a tea. Kan Tou is definitely one of the teas on top of my list now.

My new year resolution is to be more diligent, especially on tea reviews. :P

Jars

2010-03-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

(Small jar from Ming dynasty, a present from my tea master. The tea in this jar is worth a lot more than the jar.)

For 3 years I spent most of my Sundays at the tea shop. The weekly Sunday Farmer's market is held in the parking lot, sneaking a 10 minutes walk through the market was a leisure out of a day of work.

The past Sunday, a few friends and I was in the LB marina for lunch. At the marina parking lot is the 2nd street Sunday's farmer's market, a craft market has been added since the last time I was there which was at least 3 years ago.

A pottery stand caught my eyes, jars! Why do women like jars? Is it because we stay in the kitchen so much? Is it because we like neatness? Is it because we like orderly ingredients? Whatever the reason is, I love jars! Use to buy them at the 99 cents stores, glass jars, ceramic jars...

Moving into my tea drinking days, jars are more than keeping things in order, they are part of the decoration, it then turned into favoritism, as more jars are accumulated over the years, only good teas deserve the best jars. Unfair eh!

What's the relation between a jar and what it contains? I had not thought of that ever. Buddhism talks about reincarnation, every living matter on earth are reincarnated from previous lives. I love discovery channel and National Geo, a show about earth without human had a preview of what earth mater will become other than human. Concrete towers will become a pile of dirt in a few hundred years. By the same theory, a ceramic jar will return to its original form - a pile of dirt in x amount of time. Is this reincarnation? I think perhaps it is in transition of reincarnation.

A ceramic jar holds tea in this life, when it become dirt again surrounding roots of a tea tree, this jar will be part of the tree, giving the tree nutrients and minerals. This jar is now a living plant, tea is its physical form, kept in another jar. Spent tea leaves are put back into earth, decomposed into soil as part of the dirt, a pot maker one day decided to make a jar out of this part of the soil. Time, space, matter.... We are some what the same as law of nature....

Missing

2010-03-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

I have a Dan Cong old bush oolong tea named Missing Knot. In the last couple of weeks of post store days, the knot is in my chest, missing my days of hosting tea tastings, days of interesting people walking through my door, sitting at my tea bar, chatting away while drinking tea, then leave with a smile longing to come back soon. I miss it immensely! I miss holding a gaiwan gently shaking the golden dews of Dan Cong teas, landing each droplet softly into cups of golden liquors, ripples bouncing on walls of white porcelain cups. I miss the freedom to create my tea environment, playing with water, crystals, fire, smoke, discovering the taste of teas in combination of many parameters at the convenience of a well equipped surrounding. I miss the freedom to immerse myself in my own research and discovery of the tea world at will. It was sanctuary of my soul, where it was the most creative, comfortable and peaceful (minus the business operation of course)!

The reality is I was too busy with other important matters, I didn't want to lift my wound of closing the old store location. I am sure I'll feel better when the new location is ready to open.

Missing......

Disastrous year on the hills of Phoenix Mountain

2010-03-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

Posted on 3/11/2010, worst ice frost disaster since 1943, estimated lost 2 billion RMB.
Foot long ice crystals
I had experienced this 15 years ago in a cold winter of Illiniois. Never in my imagination to see this in Chao Zhou which is in a MUCH warmer climate.
Speechless....

Earth weather has been temperamental for the last few years, it's been coughing up a few symptoms in this new millennium. Tsunamis, earthquakes, warm weather then cold weather, freezing Springs caused failing crops. In 2007, China experienced the worst freezing temperatures across a large tea growing regions up north extending to the south. This year, it has come back, reaching far down south. Phoenix Mountains got the hit this year. Temperature reaching 5 Celsius degrees below freezing consecutively for several days. Ice blocks are as thick as a foot. The entire new growth are wiped out from 500 meters above sea level. 1/5 of the entire growing region is wiped out with 99% casualty. Other areas are affected with 30 to 50% casualty. Very few late sprouting varietals have a chance to survive and produce in later months, but there is no guarantee. Low altitude commercial grade teas are commanding 50% higher price than last year at this point. There will be VERY few high mountain old single bush teas this year, 1%!!! *sigh*

Other years of this time around, the mountain is covered with jade green leaves, vital and tender, so were the spirits of the farmers. This year, the mountain is covered with brown wilted young leaves limping over balding branches, much like the after math of a battle field. Lifeless and messy.

In the last few days, I have experienced and seen many vallies in life. Perspective has changed, fog is drifting away, I am able to perceive with a less tainted mind. What is important in life, what is essential in life, these are questions bubble in mind. When disasters strike and threaten lives, others whining about what color wall paints to pick and choose is the last thing I want to discuss. When families have to worry about how to put food on the table for the next year to come, others complaining about petty office politic at the comfort of a corporate shield is not something I find appropriate. This is the matter of how you circle your sky I suppose. Looking from afar, or looking from the bottom of a well. Most people choose to be in their own well.

When I first heard of the news, the initial panic was will I have enough supply for the year? Selfish bottom of the well mind set. Then my consciousness begin to feel for the people whom farm those lands, what will happen to those families which waited a whole year for the Spring, then hopes were shattered over night. My own concern seems so petty compare to the livelihood of the tea farmers and local tea merchants whom make a living solely base on this piece of land. I am not sure what I can do. Should I take a journey to Chao Zhou, lend a hand helpful or not, or just let time go by, let nature take care of its own course? What is the best I can do? What can I do if I were there physically?

Moving

2010-02-20T13:12:00.000-08:00

Tea Habitat is moving to another location, the PV store will be closed starting Monday Feb 22nd. We will announce our reopening date and location once everything is finalized. During the moving period, our online store is still in operation as usual. Thank you for your patronage and look forward to serving you better at a more convenient location.

Pu erh - YiWu Wild mao cha 2004

2010-02-18T21:51:00.000-08:00

Harvest year: 2004 Spring
Production year: 2004
Name: Mao Cha
Tea type: Wild Large Leaf
Region: Yiwu
Maker: collected from villager

This tea is bundled up approximately 100 g each, collected from ancient wild trees.

Clean liquid, has chicken stock texture without the chicken flavor. :P
2 to 3 leaves on each stem, large thin leaves, a sign of old trees on high elevation.
Fresh dried tobacco flavor, rich, sweet and very soothing to the throat, making you crave for more. I think the tobacco quality makes it addictive just like real tobacco. A very nice green one.

Sold by each bundle 100g: $30
No small samples.

Pu erh - mid 90's cooked

2010-02-18T20:37:00.000-08:00

Harvest year: Mid 90's
Production year: Mid 90's
Name: Chen Nian Pu Erh
Tea type: Cooked - Shu
Region: Meng Hai
Maker: unknown
Weight: 250 g

This brick comes in 250 g each in a box(torn&broken), unwrapped and not labeled. Typical of the 90's practice in Yunnan. Small broken leaves.
Clear dark red in color.

This pu-erh is one of the better cooked pu examples. Clear liquid is a sign of clean well stored tea. Taste is smooth, rich and thick, Chinese medicine for the first 2 brews when using 3 g or more leaves at a time. Subsequent brews are very nice with after rain fresh forest floor aroma, not dirt, it gets better as the color lightens, sweet and barky.

Whole brick is $98
2 are available in whole, 1 will be divided into sample packs.

Pu erh - Shen Nong Wild 2005

2010-02-18T18:34:00.001-08:00

Harvest year: 2004 Spring
Production year: 2005
Name: Shen Nong Ye Sheng Cha Bing
Tea type: Wild Large Leaf
Region: Xi Shuang Ban Na Ba Da Shan--Ba Da Mountain
Maker: Meng Hai County Xiang Shan Tea Factory
Weight: 357 g

This cake is composed of entirely wild grown tea leaves from the deep woods of Ba Da Mountain. Spring harvest including large young leaves and buds covered with white downsWet leaves are tender, soft and thin. Signs of high mountain tea.
Leaves can be as long as 3 to 4 inches long, still thin, tender and translucent. Only high altitude old tea trees can grow large leaves with this thinness.

Taste is floral, soft with a bit of sour. The sour taste is from aging -- not astringency, anything green (green tea, green oolong, green pu-erh) will turn sour within 10 years of aging. This tea is about 5 years old, so sour is essential and not a negative characteristic. It is a good sign that the post fermentation is taken place. Although it has a sour note, but not strong, it's easily over powered by the floral note and Yun - thick sweet and nourishing texture that last a long time from mouth down to throat. It has an obnoxious effect due to its wildness. I felt tipsy after a couple of infusions. Over all, it tastes great as is now, and will taste excellent in 10 to 20 years. You can put this cake to contest with any other pu-erh. It's that good!

Whole cake is $169
I'll put together a sample pack with other pu-erh teas soon.
only 3 cakes are in my hand right now, 1 will be divided for samples.

Wrappers are damaged in transits, also due to years of storage of these tea, do not expect pristine condition. Sold as is.

Quick update

2010-02-10T22:14:00.000-08:00

Pu-erh has arrived!

2 green wild old trees, 2004 and 2005
4 cooked, Ban Zhang, Nan Nuo, 9599 and a brick

2005 green pu is obnoxiously powerful, taste tho feminine and floral. Gave me a buzz soon after a couple of brews....

Will follow up soon...

2 special tea events coming up soon..

Feb 20th Tea class and tasting at PV library, Saturday at 10 am
Address and map

April, Tea class and tasting at UCLA, Monday evening either the 5th or 12th

Both events are free to the public

Ginger Jars

2010-02-04T20:39:00.000-08:00

Need to find lids for these 2 jars.

Just braggin...

2010-02-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

Batavia Gaiwan from late Qing Dynasty, large 180 ml. I use it as drinking cup. (not for sale)
Song dynasty celadon cups, rustic, 20 ml. Very very nice, best for tea out of all tea cups I have. (not for sale)
Brown glaze cups, they are not Batavian cups. Older, thiner, and better made than the fish design Batavian cups. Makes second best tea out of all my cups, 25 ml. (not for sale)

YES, I have a thing for brown cups! :P

I am sentimental toward the brown cups, ecstatically pleasing to the eyes for me are celadons and blue and white porcelain, occasionally Fun Cai.

Antique cups for sale

Journey of water seeking

2010-01-26T21:15:00.000-08:00

Rain season is here in LA, after a week of heavy rain, the sky above is brighter, clearer, and calls for reaching above. Hiked and high above the basin of San Gabriel valley, I reached for the sky, hiked and low below the mountain valley, I reached for the pure water. It's a day to seek high and low, so much as in life itself.

Water is the mother of tea, utensils are father of tea. I have collected a few tea wares to improve water and tea flavor, improving water quality on the other hand is an endless goal. To start, I have a 5 steps reverse osmosis purifying system, bamboo charcoal to further purify, Chao Zhou red clay Sha Diao to improve flavor. From there, I inserted an extra step, using Yixing clay jar to store water, adding bamboo charcoal and crystals. Last week, I caught a couple pitchers of rainwater, the water itself is sweeter than all that I could do to improve water artificially.

This results in my trip up the mountain then hiked down to find that natural water. Well, the water is found, but I couldn't bring them back up the mountain by hand. So I filled up from the water fountain which is treated local water.
San Gabriel Mountain
Small trail heading down to the stream, sound of water is music to my ears as I hopped down the hill.
Tree: I can handle the pressure...
In my way...
I can get pass you...I can see you now!
I am right beside you now..
Standing in the middling of the stream now... Strange rock with a rock within, without seams.
Flowing down the stream, casual as usual, soft yet powerful! Water, is life, is part of me, is part of you. It brings joy to many, it brings destruction to others. Cheers to all, the living and the not!

月刚上梢头
愁才下眉头
念又上心头
泪已下阶头Sunset at mountain topSan Gabriel basin from above...

New old stuff arrived

2010-01-20T23:12:00.000-08:00

Got a big box yesterday! In this cold weather accompanied with pouring rain, what'd be better than having a fire going, collect heavenly rain water and brew myself a cup after cup of nice tea!

I have been rewarding myself with several good trees this year, in side of this box, I once again got a nice little gift for myself, 08 Cha Wang Dan Cong. A set of Batavian gaiwan with 4 cups for myself, and 40 Batavian cups of the gold fish design, will have them posted on www.teahabitat.com soon. They are best for pu-erh tea or for drinking large cup of tea, hand made during Guang Xu Nian (late 1700's).

I am slowly acquiring as much 07 old bush dan congs as possible to commemorate the opening of Tea Habitat. The rest of the 07 Zei Shi - Thief Shit and some others are now in LA. Also accquired the entire stock of 98 Honey Orchid, no special meaning of the year, it's just good tea and it will be 21 years old in just another 10 years. :P Have been collecting 10+ years old teas (both pu-erh and Dan Cong), and 07 old bush Dan Cong. I should have 100 kg of 07 old bush Shui Xian/Dan Cong stored away in China by now. Will store 100 kg or more each year as my retirement fund.

6 small 50 to 80 ml Chao Zhou red clay pots! The 50 ml pots are sooooooo cute! One is mine, the other is available.

Mama pot (80 ml), baby pot (50 ml)... I am keeping these 2... :P
During my trip to China a little over a month ago has opened many doors for me, one of them is pu-erh. Will have some unusual pu-erh teas arriving soon, vintage, wild old arbor teas, etc... :D

A little side note, rain water is great for tea! After collecting the rainwater, let it sit for a few hours, drain the top 3/4 into a clean container, boil then make tea. Enjoy!

I might visit one of the mountains near by and fill up all my 5 gallon water jugs with fresh rain water from local stream or water fall.

Tea review - Jan 2010

2010-01-08T19:41:00.000-08:00

I have fallen behind on tea review for a couple of months. Well, I have been busy with time and other interest, plus the holidays made me a bit lazy. So, as my first attempt of this new year, I am slowing posting my thoughts on new teas in stock for now.

Yang Mei Ye: got its name from the shape of the leaf when fresh. Here is a picture of the tea after 20+ infusions. Good looking leaves, thin large leaves, very soft and flexible, mixture of open leaves and still rolled up younger leaves, a sign of aroma with Yun both present in this tea.
Taste is sweet with a hint of plum wine flavor, with long lasting sweet after taste concentrating on the throat. It can last up to 20 some infusions. The Yun is what I love about this tea the most.

2003 Liu Bao Flower Buds. Yunnan open flower teas are quite easy to find, however Liu Bao flower buds only tea is not so common. These are all unopen smally flower buds that have been stored away for 6 years. The initial flavor is clean and sweet, the fragrace become stronger as the number of brews increases. Some times I forgot about it and left it brewing for a long time and cold, the fragrance is so delicately strong as it's blooming right in the mouth. Very lovely tea!
As my tea age increases, the more I look for in the substance of the tea. The Chinese name this substance Yun. It's how the tea make you feel, sweet, rich, smooth, stay in throat centering by the neck. The richer the Yun (substance) a tea has, the lower it reaches down your pipe. Tasty teas stay mostly in your mouth, good teas stay in the back of the throat, better teas travels down the neck, excellent teas reaches the chest, the best tea I ever had got all the way down to my heart.

*** to be continue with more tea reviews

My last name 单 - Shan4

2010-01-07T17:57:00.000-08:00

It's a shocking day! I have not had an emotional day like today for a long time, I actually cried. The last time was reading Lu You and Tang Wan, but that doesn't count since it had nothing to do with me.

While I was in Guang Zhou, I met a couple which we had a brief discussion about population migration in Guang Dong Province, and my last name caught her attention. My last name is rather unusual in Chinese. She told me it must be from a noble ancestry. Chinese uses a phrase Gui Xing (noble/precious last name) when asking another person's last name due to respect as common practice. But Chinese phrases are rarely composed randomly. So the more rare the more noble?

Shan's family history

Today, some how, out of the blue, totally random, I googled my last name 单 - Shan4. I am related to Zhou Cheng Wang (1055 - 1021 BC) - 2nd emperor of 周 Zhou dynasty! Zhou Cheng Wang assigned land (county) in He Nan today to his youngest son, named the land 单邑 - Shan4 Yi4 (county). His descendants take on the last name 单 after the assigned county name ever since. The original last name of the Zhou family and also mine was 姬 - Ji. The entire family are descendants of 黄帝 - Huang Di, 1 of the 5 earliest Chinese emperors in the history. Huang Di's original last name was 公孙 - Gong Shun, he lived in 姬水, He Nan region for a long time, then changed his last name to 姬 - Ji. Zhou Wu Wang assigned over 53 counties to the dukes and princesses of his, each descendant later took on name of the county as last name. 姬 - Ji was no longer a main last name as in the 黄帝 - Huang Di period for that reason.

Zhou Cheng Wang is son of Zhou Wu Wang whom is the son of Zhou Wen Wang. Naturally, the Shans were one of noble families of the Zhou dynasty, over 20 generations had important seats in the parliament during Zhou Dynasty.

Zhou Wen Wang is the original author of Zhou Yi, Confucius and his dispels translated it into Yi Jing (I-Ching). The king of Chinese Classic books which shaped the Chinese culture for over 3 thousand years.

It's not up to me to decide whether I should believe in fate. Zhou Yi has been my latest obsession, it has changed my mind set, it has changed my attitude, it has changed my perception of universal matters. I owe it to this 3000 years old ancient Chinese classic of philosophy for everything happening and taking changes in my life now and till the day I die. This is a book I worship!!! When I read philosophy books from the west and the east, I find my brain wave is more coherent with the eastern philosophy, so I automatically assumed me being Chinese, my mind is bias subconsciously. Now that I found out Zhou Wen Wang (author) is my ancestor, the shock was beyond imaginable. I have Zhou Yi in my blood!!!! This is the biggest news since the day I was born! :P

Through out Chinese history, Shan's has produced many famous and capable generals, politicians, poets, inventors, and a LOT of 进士-Jin Shi. Today, there are about half a million Shan's in China. The migration in the last 3 thousand years began at He Nan, west to Gan Shu/Yunnan/Sichuan, east to Shanxi/Shannxi/Shandong/Anhui/Zhejian/Jianxi/Shuzhou, the eastern branch split up north to Shenyang/Jilin, and south to Guangdong/Fujian, this branch has branched out to over seas countries like myself. My family is the Guangdong branch station in Dongguan. Today, a Shan's family Ci Tang is still standing in Dongguan which I'll visit one day. A family tree wood carved print record from the Qing Dynasty of this Guangdong branch is now at Utah Last Name Research Association! How convenient, I'll bug the heck out of them one day! I want to see it in person!!!! Btw, what the heck is a Chinese last name family record doing in Utah???

Boy, that's a lot to live up to after finding out there are so many of my ancestors were over achievers year after year for so many thousands years. No mater what, I am soooo darn proud of my heritage!

Tracing back the family tree is fun.... I was a 公孙 - Gong Shun, then a 姬 - Ji, now a 单 - Shan. :D

Zhou dynasty combined Western and eastern Zhou, together is an almost 800 years old empire which is the longest dynasty in Chinese history. Its longevity had much to do with Zhou Wen Wang's philosophy, Zhou Yi.

I should keep this hush hush, 黄帝 - Huang Di defeated 炎帝 (神农氏 - Shen Nong Shi), the discoverer of tea... I am born to pay a 5 thousand years old Karma bill?! :P

Got milk?

2010-01-05T22:59:00.000-08:00

Fresh goat milk for sale at the street of Chao Zhou... Nice and warm... yummm... uh.. I didn't try it...

Lanterns

2010-01-05T22:13:00.000-08:00

Lanterns is one of the highlights of Chinese interior/exterior decoration. My mother's friend made a Running Horse lantern for our home back in the days. Running Horse lantern is made with an inside and out side layer, the outside is for structure and decoration, the inside is to shield the flame from wind, painted in 6 panels usually. As it's lit up, the in side turns in circular motion. Because of this reason, the paintings are usually men on horses in one direction, hence the name Running Horse Lantern. As a child, I had fancied immortal fairies in ancient clothing and hair drifting above clouds, such characters can be found on lantern paintings as well. Therefore lanterns naturally become my favorite decor.

Stone carving

2010-01-05T21:48:00.000-08:00

Roof tops

2010-01-05T21:14:00.000-08:00

Roof is the most important and elaborate feature of ancient Chinese architecture. One of the reason is providing a roof for the family is the most important life accomplishment for a man. A few ancient Chinese architecture books are coming on a boat, 1 of them emphasize on roof, its meaning and structure. I can't wait any longer for its arrival!

Old well along Pai Fang Jie-Chao Zhou

2010-01-05T20:53:00.000-08:00

This well dates back to Kang Xi year in Qing dynasty - early 1600's. Too bad I didn't think of taking some for tea. Perhaps next time, some time THIS year. Hmm, my Song Zhong Jai was born in the mid 1600's. Holy tea, the thought of drinking something when Kang Xi was alive today gives me goose bumps! It feels like I got zapped back in time to the Qing dynasty. Kang Xi is one of the well liked emperors in Chinese history.

随逸之执着

2010-01-05T12:24:00.000-08:00

花飞柳扬水自催
夕阳落处海无痕
唯有心中灿烂燃
哪怕世间艳阳缺