mamafufu

Tea is good for the body and photography is good for the soul. The tea happens to be the new 2010 Spring Dragon Well. Absolutely wonderful with great and lasting aftertaste. Photography is still mamafufu.

清茶代酒, 不醉無歸. 也許這是給自己一個留下的好理由.

Life has been so stressful lately for many reasons.  Perhaps taking the time to enjoy a cup of tea in a quiet afternoon will help.  The keyword here is “taking the time”.  The pictured gaiwan is one of my favorite general purpose tea brewing and drinking cup.  It is simple and does a pretty good job for most types of tea.  The tea is 2009 Spring Long Jing (Dragon Well) from San Wan Chang in Suzhou.  A very good Long Jing and hope I will be able to get some of the 2010 Spring tea when it becomes available.  I am at my last 200g of green tea now.  (hint hint)

i am “particular” about the chinese tea i drink.  how “particular”?  it is bad enough that i bring my own tea when i eat out at chinese restaurants.  although there are art, science and culture in chinese tea drinking, enjoying a good cup of tea doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive.

although a single-serving tea bag in foam cup with hot water will do, there are a lot more to experience.  i am not an expert in chinese tea drinking other than a happy consumer of chinese tea.   in the morning i drink long-jing which is, arguably, the most well-known kind of green tea from the hangzhou area.  for the rest of the day i switch to tie-guan-yin.  as for special occasion, i would brew myself a small pot of pu-erh.  this sounds a bit like drinking red wine doesn’t it
tea is both seasonal and even time-of-day sensitive for serious tea drinkers.  some tea is meant to be drunk fresh (i.e. long-jing) and some tea improves with its age (i.e. pu-erh).  the pot and cup matter in many ways such as material, size or even shape.  good tea usually doesn’t come in big pot and many tea brew better in cup or gaiwan (see picture above).  water temperature and mineral content do matter as well as something less tangible such as the environment that you are drinking tea in and your companionship.

this is my cup of tea.  what is yours?