Last night was the Chinese Midautumn Festival (although some places, such as Hong Kong, are celebrating it today). It is said that the moon on the fifteenth night of the…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 10:58 PM on Monday, September 15, 2008 | Comments (2) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Bai Juyi
Bái Jūyì 白居易 (772—846) was a poet of the late Tang dynasty. He is considered one of the most accessible of the Tang Dynasty poets.
Juyi had a strong sense…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 09:53 PM on Wednesday, August 06, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Far-flung Consort
Wang Zhaojun was indubitably an intelligent woman, and it was said that she was skilled in many arts, such as the…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 02:20 PM on Tuesday, August 05, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots
7 Bowls of Tea
“A message of thanks to Meng Jianyi for the gift of new tea” 《走筆謝孟諫議寄新茶》was written by Lú Tóng 盧仝 in the middle of the Tang Dynasty (around 1200 years ago).…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 10:08 PM on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Sable and Cicada
Of the four beauties, there is one who is arguably a fictional character. While she plays in important role in the…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 10:42 PM on Monday, July 28, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots
Tea Joy
There is a tea shop in Singapore, at North Bridge Centre, opposite the National Library. Their name in English is “Tea Joy”, and their name in Chinese is Cháyuè 茶樂.…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 10:02 PM on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Her Cloudlike Clothes, Her Flowerlike Face
One of my favourite teapots, the Yang Guifei pot is based on a poem by Li Bai, who…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 11:00 PM on Monday, July 21, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots
Beauties
As I mentioned before, Lu Yu makes limited edition teapots, some of them themed. One of my favourites was the four Sacred Beasts set, which were very…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 10:31 PM on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots
Tea Good or Bad
I realise that I sometimes sound like an elitist, talking about good and lousy tea. But to be honest, I drink almost any kind of tea in a pinch. I’m…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 11:24 PM on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Black Tea Related
Teabags
Tea ought not to be infused too long in hot water, and ought therefore to be removed after the appropriate amount of time has passed. For this reason, convenient infusers…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 10:15 PM on Wednesday, July 09, 2008 | Comments (1) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Tea Related
More Science
For most varieties of tea (but not all), the ideal “pick” is the topmost two leaves and a bud (一芯二葉 yīxīn èryè), because this is the part of the tea…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 10:31 PM on Wednesday, July 02, 2008 | Comments (2) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
EGCG
A wide number of health benefits have been claimed for tea, in particular, it is claimed that tea (particularly green tea) has beneficial effects on high blood pressure and on…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 10:08 PM on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Sainthood
To be worthy of the title of “saint”, a person must of course display qualities well beyond the average human. Although Lu Yu was not called the Tea Saint during…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 10:48 PM on Monday, June 23, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Death
There are moments when words just seem too trite, where nothing you say is right. What do you say to someone who has just lost a loved one? “Is there…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 10:33 PM on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Friends
A recent wine tasting I attended in Bangkok reminded me that I have never been good at large parties and I especially hate weddings or social events where the majority…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 10:11 PM on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Too Much Of a Good Thing?
While talking to some friends yesterday, they divulged that they had friends who relied on “slimming teas” to retain their figure, drinking it every day. Slimming teas, if they are…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 04:56 PM on Saturday, May 10, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Black Other uses Tea Related
Precious
Tea for so long has been the beverage of the upper class and good quality tea was priced beyond the reach of most hoi polloi. The last few decades have…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 10:38 PM on Monday, May 05, 2008 | Comments (1) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Tasting
When presented with a perfectly prepared cup of tea, this…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 10:38 PM on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Fragrance of Flowers
Tie Kuan Yin is famous for its 官韵 (guān yùn); the phrase is a pun, as “官” in…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 10:12 PM on Monday, April 28, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Wulong Tea Related
Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma (also known in Chinese as 达摩 Dá Mó) is traditionally acknowledged to have brought 禅 Chán Buddhism (more commonly…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 11:21 PM on Friday, April 25, 2008 | Comments (1) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots
Catherine of Braganza
Tea was not widely available in England in the first half of the 17th century. In the diary of Samuel Pepys, there is an entry dated 25 Sep 1660, in…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 10:34 PM on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Empire
In the 18th century, the wealth of the British Empire was underpinned by a small number of commodities: among them, sugar and tea. The triangular trade saw British ships carrying…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 10:50 PM on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
A Trip To Chinatown
[Miss Neddy: Today another good friend of mine es el queso has kindly agreed to do an entry for me, about his trip to San Fransisco’s Chinatown. He also runs…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 09:27 PM on
Monday, April 14, 2008
| Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea
Green
Jasmine
Tea Related
A Cup of Tie Kuan Yin
As the taste of Tie Kuan Yin is very distinctive, even overpowering, I don’t as yet have a dedicated zisha teapot for it. So, usually I would use a porcelain…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 11:57 PM on Friday, April 11, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Wulong Tea Related
Small
This is my own Yixing teapot sitting on my computer keyboard [a Macbook]. This teapot pours just enough tea for two cups.
Posted by 醉茶生 at 09:51 PM on Wednesday, April 09, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots
Good Cups
I’m afraid I still have not hunted down my elusive memory card reader as yet, so I will have to find time this week to go buy a new one.…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 10:38 PM on Monday, April 07, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Buying Tea In England
Miss Neddy has misplaced her memory card reader and so is unable to upload the new photos she has taken. She hopes to distract you with an excellent entry by…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 11:09 PM on
Friday, April 04, 2008
| Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Examples of Small Tea Sets
Here are some pictures of compact tea sets which are suitable for small apartments, rooms or even the office. Many of them were designed to be given as gifts, and…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 11:03 PM on Wednesday, April 02, 2008 | Comments (2) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots
Tea Tools
When making kungfu tea, aside from the tea-making and drinking equipment (known in Chinese as 茶器 chá qì), there are tools to help handle the tea leaves and hot tea…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 11:07 PM on Monday, March 31, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Little Birds
I recently bought a new camera, so I thought I would show off two of my favourite teapots. Both are from Lu Yu, the branch of the tea company Tenren…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 11:02 PM on Friday, March 28, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots
Elements of the Japanese tea ceremony
The full Japanese tea ceremony or chanoyu 茶之湯 (also written 茶の油) takes hours to perform and is seldom seen by foreigners, both because of the length of the ceremony and…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 09:51 PM on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Sieves
Not everyone has the time and patience to use Yixing clay teapots and drink from dainty little cups the size of thimbles. It is a problem steeping loose tea leaves…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 11:42 PM on Monday, March 24, 2008 | Comments (4) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots
Kungfu Part 2
Today’s entry is a continuation of the previous one on Kungfu tea:
Wūlóng rùgōng 烏龍入宮：
“The black dragon enters the palace.” The literal translation of oolong is “black dragon”.…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 10:25 PM on Friday, March 21, 2008 | Comments (2) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Kungfu Part 1
The Chinese word gōngfū 功夫 (more familiar in its Wade-Giles spelling of “kungfu”) has two related meanings. The first is “skill” (most commonly in the Chinese martial arts), but the…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 10:23 PM on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 | Comments (1) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
A Cup of Kindness
Lu Yü was brought up in a monastery, and made to study the Buddhist scriptures. This showed in his personality, which was described in the Qing dynasty work “Complete Essays…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 10:23 PM on Friday, March 14, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
茶鏽 Rust
A well-used teacup will, after some time, acquire a brown stain on its interior. This stain is often unwanted (especially on white porcelain) and may be removed by a dint…
Posted by 醉茶生 at 09:30 PM on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 | Comments (7) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots
Bak Kut Teh
A popular dish in Singapore is Bak Kut Teh (肉骨茶), literally “Bone Meat Tea”. No worries, the tea is not made from meat and bones. Meaty pork bones are combined…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 11:57 PM on Monday, March 10, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Wulong Tea Related
Fishing For Tea
In Singapore, there is a kind of lingo that locals use to order beverages from the more traditional types of coffee shops and drink stalls. A cup of Milo (a…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 08:55 AM on Friday, March 07, 2008 | Comments (3) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Caveat Combibor (Drinker Beware!)
The tea ceremony scam is prevalent in Shanghai and Beijing, but very likely some of the other big cities in China will have hustlers running the same kind of game.…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 08:30 AM on Monday, March 03, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Tea Competitions
Tea competitions or dou cha (斗茶) began in China during the Tang dynasty, but gained great popularity in the Song dynasty onwards. From the commoner in the streets, passing their…
Posted by Miss Neddy at 08:40 AM on Friday, February 29, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
The Four Essentials
With regard to the appreciation of Chinese tea, four things are necessary: jìng xiǎo shǎo màn 靜小少慢。
- 靜 Jing “Quiet”
- The setting should be quiet and free from distractions.…
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Posted by 醉茶生 at 08:30 AM on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Tea and BuddhismFrom Tibet to Japan, tea is inextricably associated with Buddhism. As monks were not allowed to eat during their meditation, tea was found to be a excellent beverage for staying…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 10:19 AM on Monday, February 25, 2008 | Comments (2) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Tea eggs 茶葉蛋A simple but delicious recipe is hard boiled eggs cooked in tea. None of the quantities are exact and you may vary the recipe as you wish.
Hard boil eggs…
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Posted by 醉茶生 at 09:00 AM on Friday, February 22, 2008 | Comments (3) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Rules of ThumbThere is an old English rule of thumb for making tea in a teapot, “One for you, one for me, and one for the pot”. It is true that when…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 08:30 AM on Monday, February 18, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Treatise on TeaThe Song Dynasty emperor Huizong (徽宗) is a historical figure viewed with rather mixed feelings. He was unmistakably a bad emperor, implementing disastrous foreign policies, putting his trust in corrupt…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 08:30 AM on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Saint Of TeaThe Book of Tea (Lu Yü‘s 茶经 Cha Jing, or literally Tea Sutra, not Kakuzo Okakura’s excellent book of the same name) begins “茶者， 南方之嘉木也， 一尺， 二尺， 乃至数十尺。” Roughly translated…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 11:15 PM on Friday, February 08, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
More on PotsWe spoke of how teapots were useful for different kinds of teas in an earlier entry. Today’s entry is more on how to assess if a teapot is a good…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 09:13 AM on Monday, February 04, 2008 | Comments (1) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots
All Those LettersAs my esteemed friend explained in the previous entry, “CTC” teas are leaves that have been crushed, torn and curled by machines. But a look at your packet of English…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 12:26 AM on Friday, February 01, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Indian TeaIn 1833, the British East India Company lost its monopoly of the tea trade. As tea made up the bulk of the Company’s revenues, this incited panic in London.
Charles…
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Posted by 醉茶生 at 08:54 AM on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
EphemeraGood tea has vintages in the same way that French wine does. The flavour of the tea varies every year according to the rainfall and sunshine. While the tea from…
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Posted by 醉茶生 at 08:41 AM on Monday, January 28, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Wulong Tea Related
CreamSince the British East India company established the first tea plantations in Assam in the 19th century, Indian tea (Camellia assamica) has gradually supplanted Chinese tea (Camellia sinesis) as the…
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Posted by 醉茶生 at 04:47 PM on Friday, January 25, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Chinese Methods of Brewing TeaThe Japanese tea ceremony is famous for its formality and strong emphasis on symbolism and aesthetics. From the tea set to the surrounding ornamentation to the movements of the tea…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 08:44 AM on Friday, January 18, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
TimingLu Yü 陸羽 introduces the medicinal uses of tea in the first chapter of the Tea Classic《茶經》：「茶之為用，味至寒，為飲最宜」 ‘As to the usage of the tea leaf, its flavour is exceedingly cooling…
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Posted by 醉茶生 at 08:30 AM on Monday, January 14, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Green White Tea Related
Imperial AnecdotesIn Hong Kong and Southern Chinese teahouses and restaurants, you may frequently find people tapping their fingers, bent at the first joint, on the table when they are served tea.…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 10:40 PM on Friday, January 11, 2008 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
WaterWhisky drinkers will often add a small amount of water to their whisky because it brings out the flavours of the drink, and dedicated afficionados will tell you that only…
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Posted by 醉茶生 at 08:46 AM on Wednesday, January 09, 2008 | Comments (2) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Tea and HealthTea is widely acknowledged to be a beverage that is good for the health. It is a pick-me-up for many people in the mornings, a soothing cuppa after a stressful…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 08:30 AM on Monday, January 07, 2008 | Comments (2) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Tea As An OfferingIn certain Asian countries, it is fairly common to see small altars outside shops with joss-sticks, and sometimes cups of tea as well. Tea is used as an offering, in…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 08:41 AM on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 | Comments (2) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Visiting A TeahouseThere are very many different teahouses, some differ by function, others by culture. There are teahouses which serve tea only as an afterthought, concentrating mainly on food, such as the…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 07:34 AM on Friday, December 28, 2007 | Comments (2) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
The Tea MindToday’s entry is submitted by a guest writer, my good friend 醉茶仕 (Zui Cha Shi or The Gentleman Drunk on Tea):
Solitary drinking, or so I am told, is one…
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Posted by 醉茶生 at 08:15 AM on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Pouring of TeaAs promised, I will explain a little on why the pouring of tea into cups is known as “General Guan Patrols the City” (关公巡城） and “Han Xin Counts His Troops”…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 12:31 AM on Monday, December 24, 2007 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Let’s Talk About PotsIt takes several things to make a good cup of tea. Naturally you need good leaves, decent water, and a controllable source of heat so that water temperature can be…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 09:57 AM on Wednesday, December 19, 2007 | Comments (2) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots
The How of Tea Part OneReading a 1956 book by Gervas Huxley, entitled “Talking of Tea”. Old books offer a window into the past, not just on how things were done, but how people then…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 08:00 AM on Monday, December 17, 2007 | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Why is tea so expensive?Tea leaves can vary substantially in price, even for the same kind of tea. In my local supermarket, there are shelves of teas, and i can buy Longjing (Dragon’s Well),…
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Posted by Miss Neddy at 08:00 AM on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 | Comments (1) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
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