New tea sea
Making tea kungfu style needs a tea sea (a cumbersome translation of
the Chinese 茶海 or 茶盤). The function of the tea sea is to act as a
drip tray for all the spills that occur naturally as part of the
tea-making process.
I travel a…
Bleach
Tea rapidly stains white porcelain, but plain water, a scouring pad
and elbow grease will remove them. If you have a lot of stained China,
then the fastest way of removing the stains is by soaking it in
bleach. Not all porcelain will stand up to this…
Scent to Impress
If you have a fragrant tea you want to show off, especially a fragrant
wulong, here’s a trick that will impress your friends. Use hot water to warm
your teapot or gaiwan, and after pouring out the water, put in the tea
leaves - but don’t pour…
Solitary
There are many different classifications for tea, but there is one
practical classification that I use, which is this: I. teas that may
be drunk with a meal, and II. teas that are meant to be drunk alone or
with a light snack. My favourite teas are…
Jade Rings Revisited
Just a short entry today, as I unearthed my batch of Jade Rings from the
bottom of my office pantry drawer. I had bought 100gms of the lovely white
tea from London in August last year, and probably due to the fact that I had
kept them…
Teapot Poster
A few days ago, a European tourist walked into the teahouse and asked
earnestly if she could purchase a poster of teapots that was paste on the
wall near the window of the teahouse. The poster was not for sale, and it
had been purchased more than…
Tidbit
Here’s a little tidbit to tide you over till July. The teahouse manager, A, braved the H1N1 epidemic to travel to China recently in search of fresh spring tea. Her travel was rewarded with some excellent tea, which is now flying its way to Singapore, and she personally brought back…
Announcement
Apologies for the long hiatus, as health problems and life in general got in
the way of my tea appreciation. But I will be starting up again in July,
with more tips and musings on tea. There is so much to be said about the
culture, history,…
