Small gaiwan

This small gaiwan was looted from my friend a month ago. It's now my daily gaiwan for one, since it makes exactly one cup (left) of tea each time. It's very thin and light weight, curves well so it doesn't burn my fingers easily, the knob is big but thin and flares out so it doesn't burn my fingers easily as well, everything is proportionately well made, makes very nice tea except large quantity of fisted tea leaves. Inside of the lid has an air pocket that prevents hot air raising up the lid which also means losing heat. I am loving it!

Gaiwan can be tricky, some has small snob, some has small curve, some has thick wall, on and on. Each variable determines how well it fits in your hand and how easy to use, ultimately makes a good cup of irritation-free tea.

I can be picky about gaiwans, despite the appearance, the function enhancement of a gaiwan is particularly important when selecting a gaiwan.

Complimentary gifts at www.teahabitat.com

To commemorate our online store's opening, we are giving away many gifts as a way of our appreciation to you. Without your support, we may not be able to carry on our goal of linking the west to the east via tea.

For orders of $100 or more, you will receive one of each of the following items at no extra cost:
One 1 lb of Lychee Honey (Raw and unprocessed) $8 value
One 2 oz box of Habitat de Passion Herbal Tea $8 value
One metal tea canister with purchase of any Old Bush Dan Cong Teas $5 value
Free shipping in the US

One item of each of the above mentioned items for each order of $100 or more. Valid while supplies last.

Tea Habitat website is up and running!

Finally it's up and running! www.teahabitat.com

After more than a year of struggle, I finally have my website set up for function, not yet cosmetically acceptable at this point. But it's in business!

Here I want to thank a few people who made this happen with their generosity of knowledge, time and effort: Will Y, Roy S and Fred W.

Tea Aroma

Aroma-Marriam Webster defines it as: a distinctive pervasive and usually pleasant or savory smell.

In tea terms, this definition also applies. What dictates the aroma of teas? It's easy to figure out each tea has different aroma even from the same region, with same processing and such. In a rough summation, there are several way to determin aromas in tea terms.

1) Varietal aroma - essential aroma of a particular varietal
These varietals posses the essential oils which made them distinctive without any alteration. The aroma may subside but can not be lost. ie Ginger Flower Dan Cong, Yu Lan Xiang Dan Cong.
These are the most unique and should not be altered. They are also the most difficult to make.

2) Charcoal aroma - fire wood smell being smoked onto tea
This is fairly common, Lapsang, Russian Caravan, and some pu-erh, green etc..

3) Scented floral aroma - essential aroma of flowers being obsorbed by tea
This is also fairly popular. Jasmine ring a bell?!

3) Production aroma - natural process of tea to produce/simulate aroma.
Let's use an example: Honey Orchid Dan Cong. There are so many Honey Orchid Dan Cong's out there, how can one tell it's the original aroma or produced to simulate. Techically speaking, they are not the same. The Honey Orchid old bush is essentially aromatic as its name suggested. The commercial production on the other hand is fermented and roasted to tasted like roasted honey with higher fire and fermentation. The results will reveal over time. If both teas were left unsealed for 9 months an on, the former will still have the same aroma, verus the later will loose most of its aroma as the roasting subsides, or become something different.

Roasting can do numbers to the aroma and flavor of a tea. High fire roasting usually means sweeter, fruitier and darker teas, due to the sugar transformation from high temperature roasting. Aroma is significantly changed after high fire. Low fire and long time roasting can mellow out the texture, in turn a smoother cup, aroma is less modified.

Time to take out your forgetten Phoenix Dan Cong teas

Phoenix Oolong tea has a lot of wild characteristics even though has been cultivated with human attention for 8 to 9 hundred years. The wildness has been tamed and fine tuned beautifully. It's delightful to drink even the newest harvest. However it gets even better with time.

Every year around Chinese New Year, DCs from last Spring taste better over all, smoother, sweeter and rounder than fresh in the previous year. Fresh harvest are more aromatic with a edgy texture, with the exception of old bushes. Even old bush teas improve texture after 10 months. Commercial teas being more dramatic in improving flavors. Locals prefer drinking 1 year old DCs or older. If you had a DC that's bitter or harsh at the time you purchased it, give it a try again around this time. You might find a nice surprise.

Why such a transformation in relation to time? Phoenix oolong is composed of 38% disolvable chemicals in each leaf. As soon as they left the tree, these chemical compounds begin to oxydise, generating new additional chemicals, wilting for hours in the sun and cooling in shade ensure further oxydation, the right moisture content to provide the right amount of oxydation at the right pace. Each tossing, cooling, kill green, rolling proceedure provides the right stage for the chemical compounds to react. 2 to 4 times of roasting prepared the preliminary production called Mao Cha. The entire process takes 36 sleepless continuous hours from the time the leaves arrive. It takes another 4 to 8 roasting to finish off the Mao Cha before it hits the retail stores. The last 4 to 8 roastings are done through out the year. First one is a few weeks after the mao cha production in general. The last is around Moon Festival (mid to late September). Roasting during the year is to reactivate the glucos transformation. After 3 to 4 months rest from the last roasting, the edgie texture is significantly mellowed out. If aged for years with occasional roasting every other year or 2, your DC will be silkie smooth like an old lover. :)

Cha Tou

What is Cha Tou one may ask? Literal translation is Tea Head. Does tea have heads and tails?! It means the odds and ends of something, tea in this case. For Dan Congs, Cha Tou are older leaves harvested in each season. Better ones are the Spring harvest of high elevation trees. Pu-erh cha tou are small batches of teas left after meeting the production quota. If 10,000 cakes of 400 g each are made, what's left are either call mao cha or cha tou depending on the condition and quantity that's left.

Chinese literature insinuates meanings deeper than its literal mean in daily use. Picture cutting up a whole fish or a chicken with head, skin, feet and gills, the best part of course is the main body and served as the main entree, however the head and tails are the "odds and ends", applying to tea production, the odds and ends are less sought after are called cha tou - tea head/tea tail, usually in small batches. Cha Tou-tea head is used most often as the tail is less appealing than the head (to some). :D

Hua Zhao Jie(花朝节) - Flower Fairy Birthday

Chinese New Year is coming very soon, next Monday the 26th to be exact. It's the most significant holiday of East Asia, China, Korea, South east Asia and others. Luna calendar is rather precise base on the aliment of the sun, moon, other planets and stars. As the world turns, the climate changes and its direct impact to cultivation has been recorded for millenniums. Luna calender predicts climate changes day by day. When is time to sow seeds, when is time the birds come home from winter, when is time flowers bloom, etc.



In southern California, weather is evenly warm through out the year. Flowers can be seen all year round. One of the most important elements as part of the new year festival is flowers. Fresh flowers are must have as part of the decor, potted plants or fresh cut flowers are equality popular. Canton is cooler than LA, however being in the subtropical climate, it's one of the earliest spring arrival spot in China. In my childhood days, new year's eve dinner was an elaborate 9 course meal with family members, it's the one meal no one should miss of the year, followed by an evening outing to "flower street" well into the night. Public parks in China is quite different from American parks. Parks in China are man made architectures blended into nature with water features of large ponds and streams, hills, rocks, landscaping, bridges, pagoda and pavilions of traditional Chinese styles. During Chinese New Year, parks are showcases of million flowers attracting visitors from city and country side. My parents took us to the park each year, perhaps this is the early feed of my flower obsession.

One of the designated date in the Luna calendar is Feb 2nd (some time in March of the western calendar which we use today) as the birthday of flower fairy. This is the day we welcome the flower fairy. The arrival of the fairy represents blooming of many flowers, it also represents the waking up of plants from winter rest. An other name for this day is Hundred Flowers Birthday, it's blooming season for many plants, hence they all share the same birthday. To welcome the fairy, ladies and young girls cut up red papers in lantern shape to hang on tree branches or wear as hair pieces. The one and only Queen in China Wu Ze Tian ordered female servants to pick hundred flowers, mixed with grain flour then steamed into cakes for her court ministers.

Hua wu bai ri hong - flowers red no longer than a hundred days, meaning nothing will last forever. Although this tradition has a long history since Tang dynasty, its fate is not far from blooming flowers, Hua Zhao Jie is unheard of by many today. Its presence declined then vanished after Qing Dynasty, war fair is the #1 murderer of tradition and culture, ignorance of rulers are to be blamed as well.

broken pieces of stoves

What a sight! Boxes of broken pieces of my latest shipment of Chao Zhou stoves.
I am going to find a way to patch them to a point where it's functional, cosmetic is not part of my concern at this point. Does any one know how to repair terra cotta? Glue might not be an option, since glue may not endure the heat from burning charcoal. Any type of clay or concrete? I was told raw egg white might work. Sweet rice (sticky rice) has long been used in building as a form of ancient concrete adhering bricks together. Some of the structure are still standing after over 800 years in parts of China. Perhaps I'll try mixing cooked sweet rice with raw egg white, blend them into a paste to glue the pieces together.

A cracked stove with a broken leg, middle portion is also loose although functional. It does not wabble even 80% of one leg is chipped off. I am very much disappointed after I clean it out.


Although this stove is standing and functional, expansion and contraction from heating then cooling off will eventually break it apart. I placed 2 wires around the top and bottom to secure it from falling apart in case the cracks got worse.
It's heart breaking to wait many many days, weeks and months, everything shattered as they arrive. I am determent to put them back on their feet again.

Terra Cotta is made of soft clay fired at low temperature. Life expectancy of such clay ware is temporally. They are extremely easy to break. What contributed to this disastrous shipment is mainly poor wrapping, long period of sailing is also a culprit, boxing everything into one heavy load spells trouble. One would drop a heavy package fast and hard, right?! Aish, Oy, Aiya!

Cute Pot - 70's by Lao An Shun

Hand thrown Chao Zhou pot from the 70's, made of local Zhu Ni (not Yixing Zhu Ni) with Fen Cai decor. The dark purple color comes from high fire. It's very heavy with thick wall, unlike the usual light weight thin walled red color Chao Zhou pots. It's made by Lao An Shun, one of the 2 most famous hand thrown Chao Zhou pot makers. This style of tea pot is made similar to Yixing pots for export purpose. Exterior is glazed with finely ground Zhu Ni to give a smoother and darker color to look even more like an Yixing pot. Single hole spout, no visible flaws or damage.

Fen Cai(Soft Color or Pastel Color) was transcended from the Chinese 5 color Ying Cai (Hard color) with influence of French Enamel. Ying Cai was the main coloring agent for pottery painting in Ming dynasty originating from Song and Yuan dynasties, mainly done under glaze. French Enamel was introduced to China in early Ching during Kang Xi years. Fen Cai began in Yong Zheng (son of Kang Xi) years. Adding a white glass glaze mixture to Ying Cai gives a softer look and it's applied on top of glazed potteries. The colors are more vivid, brush strokes are cleaner as a result. The finished art work also appears 3 dimensional.

This pot brews VERY good pu-erh (green or cooked) and anything old (Dan Cong/Liu Bao). However less good for young Dan Cong because the thickness of wall conceal too much heat for too long. Probably not good idea to brew the greener/lighter types of oolong such as High Mountain or TGY. I should try a heavy fired Yan Cha with it. $360, free shipping and insurance in 48 states. tea at teahabitat dot com

HOT Pot - 70's Chao Zhou Pot

Currently, I'm obsessed with this style of tea pot! The flatter the shape the better I like it. I didn't like decorated pots since I started drinking tea seriously. Hua Huo - decorated vs . Guang Huo - plain, my preference is still Guang Huo. However this pot makes my other similar shaped Chao Zhou pot look kinda "bare", less "sparkling" in terms of "royalness", not in terms of physical shininess. I have grown to love its attractiveness more day by day, even though it has a couple of flaws. Hand thrown Chao Zhou pot made with local Zhu Ni, dark color is the result of high temperature fire. Looks like an Yixing pot, doesn't it? I feel like a teenage girl when I look at this pot, it makes me gitty! :P I am keeping this pot! :D

Same color inside and out.
A crack at the bottom of the handle, result of shrinkage from firing.
Crack lines on sides of the spout, visible on one side, a tiny line on the other side, also results of shrinkage from firing. Does not leak.

Clay stove set

I am dumbfounded! The shipment came in today, I was excited with reservation for a while until I opened the big box. Then I saw a LOT of dust everywhere out side of the small boxes, my heart sank a little more each time I pick up a box and hear noises of broken pieces. Out of 6 sets, only TWO, only TWO survived! Aaaaaaaaaah! This is absurd!


The shipment of Stove sets are still not here, I am getting frustrated at the uncertainty of its arrival. Few tea heads made reservations and I can't promise them the stock. It's not very good business practice. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Out of the 6 sets coming to the US, 5 are being reserved, and there might be breakage. Base on first come first serve, I will take one more reservation. Crossing my fingers, they will arrive well without breakage, then everyone's happy including myself. If not, we will have to start the waiting game again. :(

30+ years old hay

This is a gift from my tea master, a basket of 70's Liu Bao. I asked for a small sample and he gave me a generous basket in whole. He's the best!

It's been a while since I lost a memory chip of my camera. On top of that, my card reader was missing. It's nice to be able to take pictures at will again. :D

Cups from Guang Xu era, 1800's

Along with teas came over a week ago, there are a few surprises in the box. 4 Ching Guang Xu year cups. It's brown glazed outside, blue hand paintings inside. Yes, it does make tea taste better, smoother and sweeter. Not sure why, thought some say the initial firing (Huo Qi) is cured after such long period of time, thus capable of rounding off the edge of tea.

Happy Holidays!

Hello all,

Hope every one had a nice and warm Thanks Giving weekend! It's busy time of the year for everyone. Well, tea can help us all in times of stress. :)

I have not been able to keep up with the blog lately since 24 hours a day is simply not enough for modern day working people, maybe just for a tea shop owner. :P

Things I have done in the past month:

1) Designed new packages, meeting with manufacturers for production issues. Sample box arrived today and looking good. Also designed a bunch of fliers, post cards and business related documents.


2) YWCA Boutique sale for charity fund raising.

3) Of course Thanks Giving dinner with family.

4) Preparing holiday sales with gift packaging.

5) New teas arrived last week, a 13 teas tasting over the weekend was a nice break from work while at work. Still waiting for my stove sets after 2 months.

I am extremely delighted that a professor from my University came across the country to join the tea tasting with his family while visiting local family. I am very proud and touched, it reminded me of my college years and I felt the reconnection of youth and worry free life after years of hussle and bussel in LA.

6) Supposed to work on translating the Book of Phoenix Dan Cong, so far I only finished the introduction. Not very productive on this matter.

7) Spent a night on a PhotoShop Book, then ended up spending MANY nights on playing with PhotoShop. This software intimidated me 3 years, and I finally can say it's ALMOST like Excel (in terms of comfort level, not skill level). :P
Before


After


8) My next big task is to conquer E-commerce web design!!! While waiting for 12,000 boxes to arrive. I'll be buried again once they arrive.

9) Added a new line of product to the store "Bee's Family" Honey, Raw unprocessed honey from Hong Kong, including some of the unusual flavors: Lichi(lychee) flower honey, Longan(Long Yan) flower honey<--- my favorite, Winter honey - multiple wild flowers.

Well, that's enough to keep my head spinning even when I sleep.

Tea By the Sea - Speech at Asia America Symphony Association

It's was a privilege to be a guest speaker for the Asia America Symphony Association, here at a local PV residence generously provided by one of the members. The association promotes young musicians in Southern California, music directed by renowned pianist and composer David Benoit. The event was beautifully decorated with attendants of over 50 members and local public journalists.

Asian culture is often set behind the scene for many Asian Americans whom were born or grown up in the states or anywhere outside of Asia for that mater. The lack of exposure blind folded us from knowing more about our roots. As part of this event, I feel honored to share a small but significant part of it, Tea! My intend has long been to promote tea culture and life style impacted by tea.

Class schedule and topics

Please click on pictures to see details.

September 28th: How to brew tea

Sleepless in PV

There are times, the conflict of running a business and tea troubles me. As an end user, the purity of tea should not be tempered by commercialism. Passion for any thing is more superior than any physical representation especially when a price tag is attached. No doubt this passion is a drive for many business entrepreneurs to share such passion. As one commercializes a product which is also your passion, do you compromise passion?

I think yes, to a degree. Passion is time consuming, let's not forget. From my own experience of running a tea shop, many hours are spent on the daily operation of business, which takes the focus off enjoying tea itself. In turn, you do gain more knowledge of tea, the industry, marketing, and improve people skill. I said to myself, if I didn't have to run a tea business, being here at the shop is ideal. From an other point of view, my work is to fuel other's passion instead of my own. And I still get to indulge from time to time. I drink tons tea daily, just not able to enjoy it with a calm mindset every time.

Pu-erh, stockade by the bay and the people live in

Pu erh is a category of tea to tea drinkers whom are familiar with it or even obsess over it. What does it mean? Is it Chinese?

Pu erh is also the name of a town which functioned as a tea hub for pu erh tea trading since Ming dynasty. The center of the Tea Horse Ancient Road, collecting tea from other regions of Yunnan and distributing them outside of the Chinese border, and then some inside of China. Pu Erh region also produce tea despite its fame as a giant tea trading post. During Qing dynasty, Si Mao, Yiwu, Xi Shuang Ban Na and 6 famous mountains were part of Pu Erh county, employing over 20 thousand workers in the tea industry. The main reason for its location importance other than tea trading was salt mining in the town of Mo Hei in Pu Erh county. Salt and tea are 2 out of 7 essentials of Chinese everyday life. Wood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea. The name Pu Erh has been used continuously for thousands years for the same general region with the boundaries changed numerous times in numerous ways.

Pu erh is a tribal language of the Ha Ni tribe. Pu meaning stockade, Erh meaning bay, Pu erh together meaning stockade by the bay. In ancient times, it's referred to the people of Pu Erh, including Bu Lang tribe, Yi tribe, De Ang tribe and others, most of which were our earliest tea cultivating ancestors.

New arrival

Due to my crazy busy schedule, I haven't been able to post new stocks of Dan Cong teas until now. Out of a handful of selected trees, 3 of them stood out from the crowd, althought all of them are great teas to begin with. Here is where you'll find them. :)

http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2008/01/current-stocks-of-phoenix-dan-cong.html

Tea eating pigs

Some times I wonder why Japan has the wierdest inventions in the world?! This one is not so bad, and the least wierd?

A farmer thought tea is good for human, it must be good for pigs too, isn't it? He started a test in 1997, mixing tea in food for his pigs. When the pigs were matured for consumption, scientific examinations were done to these fleshes. The result reflected 3 times more vitamin C compare to pigs did not have tea. Amino Acid is also 3 times more, pig "smell" is significantly less, therefore taste better.

In 1999, Japan produced 40,000 of these "Tea Beauty Dolphin" pigs, catering to major cities like Tokyo in Japan.