Sun Nov 24, 2019 10:32 am
My grandmother drank tea Eastern European style. My parents, American tea. Tea was cultural. Many years ago there was a Japanese store that had a tiny cooler that contained bags imported from Japan yearly, as the new sencha was released. Customers weren't allowed to open it, reach in, nor touch. It was for the initiated. I once dared.
Tea was for drinking, neither a quest nor meditation. Good tea was appreciated for being good, average tea appreciated with the people, the time and place. There was never any disappointment.
I never drank Gunpowder tea, although the tin is memorable to this day, because I couldn't reconcile the name with a tea, but the "Yunnan Tuocha" packages that were so easy to find were my beginner's novelty.
From black teas and Japanese green, later, oolongs too were to my liking. Then came internet commerce and the world of tea opened up like never before.
I have added nicer pu'er to my tea cabinet, and am happily preparing for my taste at the moment.
I drink tea as a beverage, and as part of my leisure time, but a greater interest may be tea ware. The visual, as well as tactical, is of sublime enjoyment.
It's safe to say that I enjoy learning from the ground up; terroir, locations, farmers, producers, the history, botony, pairings and traditions. All that derived from a leaf in hot water.
