Letter from Jenny C, UCLA Tea Event

This morning, I receive this warm letter from Jenny, the organizer of NCAM student group at UCLA. I too had a wonderful time sharing what I know, at the same time stimulated by enthusiasm of this intelligent group. I look forward to be a regular participant of any tea related events at UCLA as my fondness grow more connected to UCLA students, scholars and the likes. I shall make it a better event the next time.
Jenny's words:
We had a bigger turnout than we expected with over 80 people attending! And everyone loved the presentation and the tea tasting.

Thank you so much for making this event possible by donating not only your teas, teaware, talent (the kung-fu tea demonstration was awesome and we got a lot of good feedback about it), and knowledge, but most importantly your time in coming out to our event, preparing the presentation and tea tasting, as well as keeping in regular correspondence with me.

We're hoping to make this an annual event for our club and with such a successful first event, we should be able to get a bigger budget to work with next time. We hope to continue working with you in the future.

Nutrition, Complementary and Alternative Medicine at UCLA
http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/ncam

Shuffling my feathers

What I am about to say might offend some people, and certainly most business owners dare not to voice. But today I want to stand tall and proud then bitch!

Internet is a media flood gate that's open to every one in every corner on earth or above. While it's easy for information research, it's also flooded with speculations and misleading information. This is not just in the tea world. Readers expect useful information, some just expect useful information for them at that moment, despite the basic back ground to absorb such information. In a world like this, while there is freedom of speech which everyone is entitled to, it's also personal disciplinary to take responsibility of what you put out there for others to read. I take my tea seriously, so I also expect other to say something factual if you feel my business practice does not meet their demand. Putting out a comment something like a Chao Zhou Clay stove would cost $10 in China is not considered factual. I'll buy out any quantity of Clay stoves you can find in China for $10 USD provided it's the exact same thing as what I have in offer. I'll pay the shipping too. Shipping cost is more than $10 USD to ship on a boat in itself. Who's paying for the breakage? Who is paying for the packing materials? The time to unwrap then check them one by one after arrival is about 10 minutes per set, another 5 to wrap them back in the box or put them on the shelf for display, another 30 minutes to take pictures, 30 minutes to photoshop it and post it on the web with descriptions and manage inventories on zencart. Packing for shipping takes at least 30 minutes, another 15 minutes to get the paper work and postage done, another 10 minutes to take it to the post office. On average, from an item arriving my door step to the time it is shipped at the post office, it takes at least 2 hours. On top of paying rent, utilities, labor, cost of materials, health department fee, city fee, federal license fee/tax, state board fee/tax there is paypal fee, thanks to W, webhosting fee is minimal to none, accountant fee, I get lost track of how much fee a business has to pay through out the year. No business owner will ever bill you for these things or inform you what they had to do to get a product out to you. If you think you can get something in China for $10, a business can only make $10 out of it, that's why you can't find $20 set stove in the US. We all should move to China and bargain down to $8, then live happily ever after! Coffee drinkers in the US do not realize they pay $10/lb of beans which the distributors bought for $1 or even 50 cents. That's a markup no one ever question, because it only cost $10/lb when they take it home. Do I think it's a reasonable markup? To a degree, yes. Because it cost $5 to sell the coffee, then another $1 to pack it. What the retail seller pockets is a barely $1 or $2. The advertising campaign of Coca Cola spends double digit % of their over all operation fund per year to reach consumers. While this is widely accepted method of "selling' their product, why is it that a small Dan Cong seller can't market tea via teapots? Even though it wasn't my intend to seize the business opportunity of tea pots and advertising DC by soaking your pot with it everyday, I DO drink old bush DC EVERY day! Therefore I do soak my pots with old bush DCs EVERY day! Walk with me on a math equation here, 10 pots for $40 each in a week, that's $400 big smackaroos, wow, it barely pay 3 days of my rent. If I try to seize business opportunity this way, would that be a little far from self made millionaire to be? Not to mention the time I put in answering questions and researching for answers, finding resources to meet customer needs. Don't get me wrong, I love doing it, it's ways for me to review what I know, and learn what I don't know. But all of those effort is not financially rewarding at this point is what I am pointing out. If I didn't believe in DC and the Chao Zhou tea culture with this deep level of obsession, my store would had been closed a long time ago. MANY friends and family members pleated me to shut down the store a year ago when recession hit the shore. For 3 long years, I did not have one vacation, didn't and still don't get paid and carry a 6 figure debt, if you think I am ripping my customers off, I have nothing to be sorry about, but immensely insulted. You can say I am not business savvy, yes, I can agree with you on that. I am not bitching for my own learning tuition, to me it's what it is, suck it up and make things better in the future. Perhaps one day, I can tell myself it's all worth while. Because my goal is not to make money through a business, regardless of what type. My goal is to reclaim the glory of Chinese Tea more than 300 years ago.

The fundamental law of economic is supply and demand, there is a demand for CZ pots, so I provide it. If that's considered seizing a business opportunity in a negative way, so is ipod, cell phones, crocs shoes and pretty much every commercial product in this world. If commercialization does not take part in the tea industry, no one outside of China will ever have tea today. The European would never learn of tea and smuggle seeds to India for cheap labor farming till today. None of us out side of China, or Chinese don't have a tree in their back yard will ever get to know what tea is! Tea is one of the biggest and prized commodities of the world beside salt, grain and cattle. Why it has been controlled by the government for thousands years? Why do you think it will ever change? It won't, financially too lucrative to let loose out of control. China was a monopoly player in tea, so was the East Indian Company who had its own army. Why do think tea is worth fighting for for many years in war fares? Why do you think the American politic is so bitter about tea and turned the country into a coffee drinking country. It's unrealistic to expect free flow of tea without much business influence, any product for that mater. As a consumer, the effect of tea is what you want, so it should be, and let it be. As a seller, the job is to cater to that effect and getting paid to do so. There shouldn't be any conflicts. What's the difference between buying and selling tea than buying and selling an apple fundamentally? Why such negative perception on tea sellers but not the monopolized fruit distributor in the US?

Many tea drinkers complain about why US based tea companies do not provide good tea practice, there are so many reasons to this. First of all, difference in tea culture. There isn't even a British tea culture here, let alone a proper Chinese tea practice. If so it exist, how many are supporting it as a local business? I see most of the forum people talk about tea they acquire from China 90% of the time. The believe is all the good teas are in China, US sellers only sell crap for high price. Doesn't that make a seller who genuinely want to bring in good tea from China a suicidal mission, at least a retirement fund draining business. When I looked for a location for my store 3 years ago, many Realtors turned me down because tea business don't last based on their experience, it's considered a high risk tenant. Every one is buying Chinese made goods in the US, how come no one complains about buying a pack of wooden laundry clips that's sold for $0.99 at a 99 cents store, where it costs about 1 RMB in China? We can support all the Chinese products but tea sold here in the US?! This is a mind set that will take many many years to change.

Look at our economy, we produce very little, but we sell a lot of bonds - a piece paper that worth nothing that cost buyers life time of savings!

My new found tea spot

I am slowly discovering the beauty of Palos Verdes Peninsula. It's hidden and well preserved. Natural, yet among nature are modern convenience, modern architectures. After a few hiking trips along the cliffs, I favor this little spot. An afternoon of reading under this tree while sipping some Lao Cong Zhi Lan Xiang. If I had a tea boy or girl to serve me Kung Fu tea, that'd be lovely. :D







I should arrange a tea tasting and picnic here one day.

A day started low, then climaxed and still going

I came to the store in the morning only to find out there's no running water. The water company came out twice, the mall management people ran through the roof and couldn't find the issue. At about 11:25, the box of tea I had anxiously waited for arrived. But I was not in the right mindset to tasting any. At the end of the day, a friend of a friend came save the day. Apparently, a crew of workers worked in the store next to mine over night, I suspect they shut off my water unintentionally. I said "suspect" because they deny any responsibility although anyone knows it's too big of an incident right after they left I had no water. It kills my mood even thinking of it now. Nevertheless, I am just happy the water is back and I don't have to run to the next building to pee. For the most part of the agonizing day, I thought it'd end this way at a more intense level. But...

A couple of tea heads showed up unannounced, I thought what a perfect timing yet what a bad timing. Juggling between the water outage, running to strange restroom multiple times, and trying to make tea with limited water reserve, what a mess I told myself. This was when tea magically turned my day down side up.

Looking back at my tea journey, I recognize some more obvious periods, began as naive, subjective, then technical and more subjective. Then the next was trying to be "Zen" stage, yes, trying as in a artificially way to repress other aspects of life with tea, condensing all of that to emphasize on "peace" and "zen". While there is nothing wrong with peace in mind and zen to itself, I was not entirely "full" during that stage. I also hate it when Zen had to be staged intentionally, artificially. I notice the dullness in my writing, in my tea description to the point where I some what gave up. My mind was dull, clogged by techniques, methods and tea science.

We human live in herds, we feed off each other's intelligence with the right minded. Thanks to tea, it brought those sheep into my life. My dullness melted away, a surge of flood came rushing through my mind and emotions. As this new batch of teas are the high light of my tea career so far, my senses and being also reached a new realm today accompanied by these teas and a philosopher plus an artist. Ever since I began getting to know the Chinese Classic Zhou Yi (I-Ching), I see things a little differently than I used to. I am having difficulty pin pointing what it is, but it just is.

Here I'll show you a few tea descriptions and it shall give you an idea. We had total of 8 teas all new to me.

Ni Wei Yi, Affectionate Tail Ant. The name is endearing not to mention intriguing. Ni has no direct translatable term in English actually. Picture a girl leaning against her lover quietly, none of the public affection gestures that we considered as affectionate in the western world. Simple as that, something pure and innocent about it. As the tea unfolded its personality, we were in awe where it was leading us toward. The aroma seemed so near yet away, a forest full of flowers opened up a corridor for Snow White, excitement, curiosity and a lost soul in this beautiful surrounding. That was the first infusion. By the second infusion, my mind had Snow White picking Spring flowers right after the very last snow fall. The freshness, the preciousness came with singing and bird chirping all in my cup. 3rd infusion described by IR as cracked chestnuts wrapped in spinach buried in a chicken under the ground, then a flower grow on it, I added a colorful mushroom next to it. Some of you might think we were on mushrooms. :P

Da Wu Zi, Big Dark Purple, a special present to myself. The tea has a powerful female presence, started with a softer image, Elizabeth Taylor at 30 in black and white (mine) on the beach in a bikini (IR's), next infustion is a CEO of a fortune 500 company (mine) in a dark chocolate bikini (IR's). The flower aroma is strangely beautiful yet powerful in a dark and a little kinky way. It consumed my upper respiratory system, flooded me with Qi. By 3rd infusion, it was Venus in a red devil outfit with flaming fire burning from my back. It was powerful. By the 4th infusion, cloud has lifted me up from the neck up. The texture of the tea was melted black pearl (IR's). If you get a chance to go to Japan, fish up a wild oyster with a giant black pearl, please lick it and tell me what it feels like. I imagine this tea feels like that. The amazing thing is the linkage of black pearl and Dark Purple in the name. After the black pearl imagination, I realized the name also is dark, while the black pearl has an array of pearl glow ends with dark purple. These tea farmers are no dummies I said, they don't name something randomly, just like the other weird names.

I am laughing as I write this disclaimer: If you purchased these teas and did not have the same effect, there is no refund. :P

Dan Cong, more Dan Cong and a Dan Cong Book

New Single Bush Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong teas are coming. I suspect it's already in LA at some USPS location near by. However due to the holiday, no mail today! I have to wait till Tuesday to try them. I lost sleep over this batch of tea 2 nights in a roll. I am sure there will be more till Tuesday. Then I'll lose sleep again because the non stop drinking will keep me up again. :P

This batch is very special, I don't mean the other batches are not. But this batch contains 1/2 a pound of Da Wu Zi - Big Dark Purple 2004, a reward for myself after 3 years of hard work. This tea should be better than Chuan Du Lao Ming Cong (top 10 famous tree out of over 7000 on the hill), that's something to look forward to! Came with a surprise is a small sample of Tian Yi Xiang - Heavenly Leisurely Fragrance, the other name for it is Hai Di Lao Zhen-Hunting for a needle under the sea. Just the name itself insinuates its rarity. The price is 2 times of Chuan Du Lao Ming Cong and more than Da Wu Zi. :I I think I'll be satisfied to have just a sample. I call these samples the teas-me (tease me) teas. A carrot dangling in front of a rabbit, taking you to higher, and even higher grounds every time. Neither of these 2 teas will be for sale, the prices are too intimidating. If you can come visit the store, I'll be glad to share some with you. :)

Included in this batch of teas are 7 whole trees of 2009 production, 3 of them are barely a pound each, 4 of them are 2 lbs and less. If anyone interested in acquiring the entire tree production, please email me for details. tea at teahabitat dot com

Ni Wei Yi - Affectionate Tail Ant, 2 lbs (Don't ask me where the name comes from. :P)
Li Jai Ping Lao Cong, 2 lbs
Zhong Ping Lao Cong Zhi Lan #4, 1.2 lb
Zhong Ping Lao Cong #1, 1.5 lb
Zhong Ping Lao Cong #2, 0.8 lb
Zhong Ping Xiong Di Jai - Little Brothers from Zhong Ping Village, 1.9 lb
An Jiao Lao Cong Zhi Lan - Temple(Convent) Corner Old Bush Cattleya Orchid, 1 lb

Da Wu Ye is back, also raided more Mo Li - Jasmine Dan Congs. I love my teacher! My all time favorite is Zhi Lan Xiang, so I got a couple more Zhi Lan Xiangs from different villages.

The book of "Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong" will arrive with the teas as well. It's published by Shang Hai Publishing Company in June, months after the original schedule. It's a semi-professional book with lots technical information relating to cultivation, processing, selection, tasting technique and more in depth information with 200 pages of photos. Shamefully, I am only at chapter 2 of translation. :P

All of these made this batch an exciting one to long for. Worthy of 2 or more nights of sleep? :\

Kid in the candy land

Tea has led me to more facets of life than anything else in my past experience, definitely much more than years of education. Although I do not deny education has served me well, without education, I may not be able to comprehend materials I now find extremely fascinating.

I started learning Kung Fu tea almost 10 years ago. Many of those years were stagnant until the last 3 years or so when I open a tea store. Having feed backs is perhaps the most motivating force of mine to absorb knowledge as much and as fast as I could. I feel like Sponge Bob some times.

Tea is in liquid form, as water melted from glaciers from every mountains on this planet, runs down the plateaus, travels through terrains, valleys, down the streams, gathers in lakes, rushes through rivers, then mixes in oceans.

Tea has taken me through better health both physical and spiritual, opened my eyes to Chinese tea culture, then Chinese culture as a broad horizon. I am now a kid running through the prairies discovering fascinating maters one after another.

Customers with health issues send me looking for alternative remedies which lead me to Chinese Medicine. Huang Di Nei Jing is the bible of Chinese Medicine which is not about healing, but a philosophy book about human should live cohesively and compliant with nature for better health, therefore not prone to sickness. This Chinese classic has lead me down to my next fascination, Zhou Yi (I-Ching). Zhou Yi is crowned the Emperor of all Chinese classics, written more than 3000 years ago. It was then explained by Confucius and his dispels 1000 years later as another text Yi Zhuan. Yi Zhuan is a combined interpretation of Lao Zi (Daoism), Meng Zi, Mo Zi, Budhhadism and Confuciusm. For the following 2000 years, studies of Zhou Yi has never stopped. There are new theories, new interpretations based on current society conditions. No mater where what and how, as water flows, we all end up in one place only spiritually, the ocean, ocean of truth. The truth of what one should be while we are here on earth. Seek and live the truth consciously. Of course this is easier said than done. :I

Reading ancient Chinese classics is exciting. I can read Chinese as well as a 3rd grader, ancient Chinese was Russian to me at one point. With new editions of ancient classics written in today's Chinese, I am able to understand the surface of these texts little by little. The more I read, the more I find them exhilarating, each word has meanings deep and broad as the great lakes. I'll be busy for the rest of my life. :D

4 seasons and tea - Fall

Fall, as we know is the season of harvest, collecting grains, nuts and fruits after a Summer long growth. Leaves start to fall, growth is restrained during Fall. This is the season where Yang energy is changed into Yin energy. Yang energy is taken from outside elements, photo synthesis from sun rays and warm temperature. Physical representation of Yang energy is reaching outward, such as longer and more branches and leaves, flowers and fruits. Yin energy is accumulated excess Yang energy to put away, it's captured within. There is no physical representation of Yin energy since it's kept within. Or we can say, when the trees stop growing, it's the beginning of Yin energy takes over. Although the trees stop growing, the roots are still taking in nutrients, instead of growing outward, it's being collected within which is the resource of Yin energy during Fall when activity is still going at a much slower pace. This is a tell tail signs of Yin energy.

Humans also follow this collective step, subconsciously to most. This is reflected in eating and drinking habits, such as we crave for comfort foods, darker more oxidized teas (including aged teas) in Fall. Teas with these characteristics have mellowed out the strong Yang energy, hence does not conflict with the Yin energy that our body stage is in.

Our brain can command us to do anything we want regardless of our body needs, but our body will give you signs of disagreement. If ignored or not understood, it can cause harm to our health for long period of time without knowing. Most of us does not realize living against nature can cut your life short 5 to 10 years. We have the potential to live 140+ years, average is only 80+. Compare to 40ish a century years ago, our scientist and doctors proudly claim we have extended life span in the last 40 years. We truly underestimated the wisdom, power of our body and its coordination with nature.

I will say this again, find a tea that your stomach agrees with at any time of the day, month, season and mood. Listen to your body, it will tell you. Do not drink a tea just because the media says it's good for this and that, how much weight you'll loose in 30 days.

You may not know when does your body like what type of tea initially. Well, we all go through a learning period of a chosen project including learning our own body. Make a cup of tea and see how well your body likes it, if not, try another type and discard the previous one. It can do you more harm than you'll realize if you force yourself to ingest it. Because the body will have to gather much more energy to digest something it does not agree with and even more energy to eliminate it from your body. Some times it can be trapped in your body as toxins which can cause long term problems. It will take you more time and nutrient to replenish the wasted energy as well. What you gain is not worthy of what you lost as the old Chinese phrase say.

Sunset from PV

When I arrived:

2nd picture later:

Lovers watching Sunset:

Within a minute of my arrival, the sun is down completely:

A red orange haze across the horizon:

4 seasons and tea - Summer

Summer, after the stored away energy of Winter sprang life out in Spring, it's time to grow, fully utilizing the stored away energy. Hot summer temperature and long day light accelerates the growth of leaves, branches, flowers and fruits/grains/seeds. At this rapid rate of growth, nutrients can not keep up, especially after harvests in the Spring which is where most of the nutrients are captured. Summer teas are in general more fibery, astringent and bitter, hence require higher oxidation to break down the contents. Black tea and dark oolongs are mostly made with summer harvest tea leaves.

Human body in the Summer are also in the Yang Qi growth period. Yang Qi grows so that Yin Qi can accumulate in Fall. Therefore, many of us have craving for Spring teas or young current year teas during summer. The nutrient and energy of Spring and new crop fuels the Yang Qi growth.

Yang in Chinese medicine term is energy that comes from outside of our body, certain food, sun ray, and heat that enter our body. Yin on the other hand is energy reserve, excess Yang put away for later use. When we use more Yang energy than we can generate in a day, our body will release Yin energy as reserve to keep our body going.

Winter stored energy is a Yin energy, Spring energy is the initiation of of Yang energy funded by Yin Winter energy. Summer energy is the growing Yang energy for conversion of Yin energy collected in Fall. That collection of Yin energy is frozen/rested and stored away during Winter, preparing for Spring sprouting. The cycle repeats itself over and over for billions years and will not change unless stopped as the earth disappeared. As cocky as modern scientists think they can do anything they want to the universe, this is one fact that no human can ever interrupt/change eternally.

If a plant does not grow well in Summer, there will not be fruit and fruitful yin energy to collect in Fall, then there will not be energy to store in Winter, in turn, there will not be energy to sprout in the Spring.

Summer hot temperature and long day sun light are Yang energy being absorbed by leaves, since they are external heated energy. We human behave similar ways as plants as we are just a small part of this nature.

High mountain grown ancient Phoenix Dan Cong trees produce only 1 harvest each year, Spring harvest. The rest of the year is for the tree to accumulate nutrients and energy for next year, following the seasonal cycle of Summer growth, Fall collection and Winter storage. This natural growth preserves and guarantees the highest contents in Spring for best quality tea production. If harvest beyond Spring, quality will drop in next Spring, the tree's vitality is also lowered in coming years. It will take years of rest and feeding to revitalize an aging tree. So are human.

Chicks!

Peacock chicks, big chick, little chicks.

Orchid in tea

Flower in mirror, moon in water. Jing4 zhong1 Hua1, Shui3 zhong1 yue4. This analogy is to describe beauty in illusion. I am able to capture orchid in tea. Half reality, half illusion.

Picture is taken this afternoon during tea sampling. I have a bunch of commercial DCs to sample, so to decide what to stock for the year. As the sun turned, my orchid plant landed in my tea, mystical in the mist of tea. How Divine!

Fate of green and black tea

Just want to translate this story speechlessly.

A girl likes black tea, the strong flavor she likes. A boy likes green tea, refreshing the way he likes it. She dislike green tea, too mellow is the reason. He dislike black tea, too heavy is why. They met at a convenient store one day. She grabbed her bottle of black tea without a thought. He took a bottle of green tea next to a black tea without batting an eye. Everyday from then on, she takes her black tea, he grabs his green tea at the same time. They became friends, then good friends, eventually they became lovers. She discovered the refreshing flavor of green. She thinks of him when she drinks green tea. She begin to like green tea. He discovered the smoothness of black tea. He feels her presence as he sips black tea. He begin to like black tea. Smiles are bright and life is sweet for the two.

Not many days later, his ex-girlfriend resurfaced in his life after a bad break up. He no longer smiles. She felt his sorrow and silence. Her tears, his absence, they drifted apart. A letter came from her one day with a short message, soaked with sadness.

We are not meant to be together. Just like green tea and black tea are not meant to be mixed. You have your own sweet aroma, I have my strong flavor. If forced to be mixed, I am no longer a black tea, you are no longer a green tea which is what I like. Not the tea you are today. Happiness does not belong to this mix. Do not look for me as I leave the city. Do not wait for me. Find your green tea and treasure her. He tears on to the letter in his trembling hands.

Many years later, he's still on his own with a successful career. Her presence never left him every time he smells the black tea aroma. He did not look for her, she stood next to his heart. What a frightful thought if they will never cross path again. He fears.

A business trip takes him to another city, he walks into a convenient store, reaches for a bottle of black tea. Upon turning around, she stands in front of him. A long silence later, she smiles at him bright as sun ray, as nothing has ever changed. In her hand is a bottle of green tea.

16 teas and a hang over

The past Saturday was a special day for me. We celebrated our 2nd year anniversary with lots tea. Although 2 years is relatively short, but it is something to be thankful for during a time like this. I am sure the 10th anniversary would be something to look forward to. At the mean time, I am grateful for all the supports you have given us! :D

A few tea heads i refer to as drinking buddies and myself drank like fishes for a day. 16 teas in total from 11:30 till closing.

Huo La Cha - Fire Spice 09
She Men - She Entrance 09
Zu Ye - Bamboo Leaf 09
Da WU Ye - Big Dark Leaf 08
Zhi Lan Xiang - Cattleya Orchid Fragrance 08
Hong Cha Tou 04
Huang Zhi Xiang - Orange Blossom 08
Song Zhong Jai 09
Song Zhong #4 08
Ping Jai Tou Qi Zhong - Unusual Varietal 07
Mo Li Xiang - Jasmine Fragrance 09
Jiang Hua Xiang - Ginger Flower Fragrance 08
Jiang Mu Xiang - Ginger Flower Fragrance 09
Honey Orchid Gold Medalist #1 08
Hai Mei Zhan 98
Gui Hua Xiang - Osmanthus Fragrance 09

After drinking 9 or so Dan Congs, I was quite drunk. Using Roy's friend Thi's words, my consciousness was push out of my body. At a subconscious, spirit out of the body period, my palate was able to identify 2 most outstanding teas out of the 16. Mo Li Xiang - Jasmine and Jiang Mu Xiang - mother tree of Ginger Flower. I had no recognition of the aroma and taste at that point. But the creamy texture and fullness sets them apart.
(I bought a jasmine plant last week unintentionally. This is the first bloom today. Although the Jasmine Dan Cong isn't scented with Jasmine flowers like the "Jasmine tea". It seems appropriate that it blooms as we sip a cup of Mo Li - Jasmine Dan Cong.)

The Mo Li-Jasmine DC leaves are particularly beautiful, even size, nicely rolled with a sheen of shine, very tender leaves of even redness-sign of even fermentation. The aroma is beautiful as well. It's a master piece. I called today intend to hog the rest of the stock, only is too late. All sold out I was told. Oh well, there will be next year, there will be others. A few trees are coming soon tho, I hogged a few trees this time. Plus a reward for my 3 years of hard work, 1/2 a pound of my teacher's private reserve.
Mo Li - Jasmine DC:


2 years ago, one of the nicest Dan Cong I had was Chuan Du Lao Ming Cong, 1 of the top 10 most famous trees of Phoenix Mountain. I had a brew of it again today, the aroma and sweetness sipped through every cells of my body. It reminds me what is excellence among the excellence. Well, this secret private stash of my teacher's is way better than Chuan Du Lao Ming Cong according to him. The tone he used when describing the tea sounded like a lover melting in a lover's arms. That's some serious love shown by a mature Chinese man. In case you are not familiar with Chinese culture, males hardly if ever show their love/feminine sides. I wish they have wings and fly my way this instance!

Saturday was the drunkest I have ever been from tea. I couldn't sleep till 3:30 and woke up with a hang over at 7:45. My head was light, my steps were cloudy, my consciousness was still out of my body till I went to the gym and had a steam in the oven. Dopey...

Tea session

I am in the mood for a full on tea session today. All the necessary gears are out. Orchids and fresh cut peony flowers add a nice touch to the environment. The fragrance is well liked by passersby. It's much healthier than incense and oils.

4 seasons and tea - Spring

Spring, after a winter long of saving energy, it's time to sprout, "spring" out from the enclosures. Flowers bloom, creation of seeds. It's the energy of creation, vitality and life. Because of this energy, Spring teas are particularly alive and active. Youngsters in teens and 20's are also considered "spring" in human life span. Therefore the energy of a young person and Spring teas goes hand in hand, hence you'll find younger people handle fresh green/green oolong teas better than matured people. People in 50's and 60's, on the other hand may find the energy too active, tell tails are stomach upset, break outs, increase heart beats.

Assuming we live 80 (national average) years, divide 80 by 4, each 20 years is a season. However, human has the potential to live 120 to 140 years. So 20 to 30 years is a season in human life depending on the person's health condition. In Chinese medicine terms, what keeps the body alive is Qi and blood, Qi is the energy that pushes blood circulating. Qi is stronger at younger age, as we all know younger people are more energetic.

Many customers of mine asked me why do they have upset stomachs after drinking green teas, and the outrage is "If green tea is so good for you, why do I get upset stomach?" The mass population follow the most current trends, when the media say green is so and so good for health, they must be good for everybody equally. However it isn't true. Each body is different from another, it's different from it's own at each season, each mood, each hour of the day, each stress we face. The media also show science results of selected teas, not all teas by season, region, grade, type, and age. The results are measured base on a standard condition, rather than suitability of a human body condition at various times.

When it comes to selecting a tea, there isn't a best tea for health. There is better tea by grade, but not for health. Therefore green tea is not the best tea out of all for health as most customers of mine assumed. I tell my customers not one tea is suitable for everybody. Select a type that your body agrees with. Our bodily mechanism is much more intelligent than our own brain when it comes to health and what is better for our body.

4 seasons and tea

Most of us are aware of the characteristics of 4 seasons, the changes that impact how we live, how we dress, how the surroundings changes along, trees, water flow, animal behaviors, etc..

We tea drinkers also have seasonal craving of teas, when do we drink green, black, oolong or aged teas. We mostly associate it with mood. Sure, stress, happenings, people around us all contribute to mood swings. However our body supersedes our mind, the weather or should I say nature supersedes human and human behavior. Human today believe our mind can conquer all, hence under estimate the wisdom of our body. If so true, why can't we become immortal as many has tried? Our brain can not even control disease let alone death, although we have control over not to get sick. We have control to comply with nature's changes, hence less prone to sickness.

According to Huang Di Nei Jing - Emperor's Inner Cannon, an ancient Chinese Medicine text written thousands years ago, each season dictates how living things behaves.

Spring - is the time to sprout.
Summer - is the time to grow.
Fall - is the time to harvest.
Winter - is the time to put away and store.

I just realize this is a very broad and deep subject. I will divide the article into 5 pieces. Each season will be talked about in details separately.

Tea Habitat Anniversary Open Tasting

Tea Habitat has opened to the public for more than 2 years now since June 2007. It's been an exciting ride in the business with many challenges and many great happenings.

To commemorate our 2nd year anniversary, we are hosting an open house tasting on Saturday June 20th from 12 to 7 pm. There will be endless tea drinking and snacks. Everyone is invited to come join us on this special day!

We have plenty of great teas to try for the day. One special tea I must mention is the mother tree of Ginger Flower Dan Cong. This tea was sold at a whopping $7k price tag a pound. After 2 years of persistent begging, I have a small sample of the 2009 batch. It's merely enough for 2 sessions. We will be tasting that on the 20th. I have not had this tea myself and anxiously waiting for the right gathering to share with tea enthusiasts for a special occasion. :)

To thank our valuable customers, we are having a 15% off sale on our website during the entire month of June, discount apply to all teas including our special old Single Bush Dan Cong oolong teas and Aged teas as well. Great time to stock up and try the 2009 teas!

Sunday afternoon tea

I had some tea today with a friend who came back from a trip. We were just catching up and snacking away. We start carrying various California grown dried fruits last week. They are wonderful tea snacks without guilt. :D Dried persimmons and cheeries are out of this world. Cheeries were harvested and dried last week. Fresh!
Dug out some dishes from home. My most favorite China styles are Qing Hua (blue and white), Celadon.

If you look close, center of the dish has wave patterns.

Tea at UCLA

NCAM Organizers, Will, Louise and moi

NCAM at UCLA invited me to talk about tea last week. I was excited and honored to have the opportunity to open the door of tea world to young minds. About 40 to 50 students attended the event. Thanks to Will and Louise for helping with tea tasting. :)

Will's explaining steps of Kung Fu Tea

In more than 2 years of tea business operation, I learn that many people are interested in tea but not knowing where and how to start. Given that there are many products available, living habits and lack of information, it's a confusing world of tea in the US and other areas in the world, including China itself.

During the UCLA event, I did not know what to expect from the students. So I planned the topics safely, the normal introduction to tea. During the question session, I am delighted that this group of students are well informed at the level where they ask logical questions. Many of which are helpful for me to reorganize how I should teach in the future.

One question I particularly love is How to identify good tea. The original question is where and how to find good tea? This is a very important topic for novices. I could easily say buy my teas. :P But seriously, its about how to identify good tea more than where to find it. We all go through a learning curve, whether you drink tea since 3 or lead down the tea path when you meet that lovely spouse of yours, or whatever reason. For myself, I have drunk tea since I can't remember, then one day I tagged along a friend for a tea class and has been steeping in tea ever since.

Looking back at my learning curve, I find that sampling various types of tea during one session is actually confusing. Because each type is entirely different from an other. What you can learn from that is the flavor/aroma difference of the teas, but there are much more to it than the flavor/aroma. Given there can be grade/flavor/aroma/texture variations, tasting a Long Jing, Tie Guan Yin and a Da Hong Pao at the same time is like comparing apples to oranges and cherries. One can say I like the taste of cherry, and the orange is better than apple. But that does not reflect how good the cherries, oranges and apples are.

My advice to any one is taste the same kind of tea at the same time to learn the difference in grade. Pick a tea you are interested the most. Say 3 or more Long Jings from various sources or grades at a session, or 3 Da Hong Pao at a session. There ought to be a better one out of 3 right? Then set a palate profile and memorize it, use that as a standard, compare it to future purchase of the same type of tea, raise the bar as you go. After the first one, use the same method on the next type, once you get a hang of this for 3-5 types, you will be able to identify good teas no mater what they are, where they come from. This is a skill to identify good tea, not just to find the flavors you like.

Whether to try various types of tea, or try various grades of the same type of tea first at the beginning of your tea journey, is a personal choice. But the later might save you a few pennies and some shelf space down the road. You'll have to pay tuition no mater what, so don't be afraid to buy something nice and expensive.

Another question I was asked, where should I start, green white or? Well, most tea drinkers who spend the effort to learn and explore Chinese teas, most likely end up with Oolong and/or Pu-erh after trying many many types of tea. That's more than plenty to try for the next 5 years. It's necessary to try as many types of teas as you are willing, it's a process to find your preferred flavors. This is a different process from identifying a good tea.

In my opinion, a good tea is great in flavor, aroma and the most important of all substance. Characteristics of substance are texture, sweetness, long brewing duration and lingering after taste. I can't stretch enough about texture and how it separates the good from bad. Old high mountain teas of 75+ years have this thick texture like a film coats your tongue and mouth. In Chao Zhou local terms, the tea's got bones! Meaning you can feel the tea in the mouth other than the taste, it's not watery. Try drinking a cup of water and some chicken stock side by side, you'll know what I am talking about. Don't focus on the chicken stock flavor though. The substance of tea can not be imitated or hidden, flavors can change, aroma can change, taste can change, but texture will not change and can not be faked.

3 essentials when making good teas: good fresh leaves, skilled master and suitable weather. Without good leaves, a skilled master can make decent teas in suitable weather. With good leaves, an average tea maker can make not bad to good teas in suitable weather. Good leaves with substantial substance are god given and are the base of good tea regardless of the other 2 variables. Of course the tea maker and weather will later influence the out come.

Tea event at UCLA

I am honored to be invited as a guest speaker to talk about Chinese Tea at UCLA on Wednesday May 27th at 8 pm.

The event is hosted by the NCAM group of UCLA. NCAM is a health awareness group interested in learning and sharing natural living experience.

Location: Covel Commons - Westcoast Room, UCLA
Address: 200 DE NEVE DRIVE, Los Angeles, CA 90095
Building Map
UCLA Campus Map:
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Agenda:
Tea and health related games and prizes
World of Chinese tea speech
Formal Gong Fu Tea presentation
Tea tasting

World of Chinese tea speech:
History of Tea - discovery and evolution
Types of teas
Process of teas
How to brew different types of teas accordingly
Kung Fu Tea - equipment and method

Any one interested in the subject is welcome to attend the event. Although reservation is not required, but there is limited seating. Please email me in advance if you would like to attend.
tea at teahabitat dot com