Endings and Beginnings

With the last steeping of a fresh baozhong from Stéphane Erler today came what is, in short, an idea. Where exactly this blog will go in the future (or if it will go anywhere; I hope so) I can't say for sure, but I do have an inkling. This will be as much for me as for you, whoever you may be. This will be a place for me to accesibly organise my own tea journey, and hopefuly connect with others on theirs. Will I review teas, ware, and other such mundane material things? You bet. Will I time my steepings and precisely measure the thickness of my teapots? Absolutely not. I don't claim that my way is the right way or even a particularily good way, it's just what I'm doing and what I'm learning, and as such even the things that I post here as "reviews" will be more my own thoughts than any kind of arbitration on quality. To me, tea is a way to escape the confines of the idea that there is such a thing as a "right way" to do things, and to get closer to the idea that all of life is an exploration. It's an opportunity for me to de-stress and think in solitude or talk and laugh in good company. In some ways I view tea as a microcosm for life in general, and so I look at it as being as much of a philosophical experience as a gustatory one. If that seems far fetched, then I hope you'll stick around because in a some ways it does to me too, but it's an idea that intrigues me and one I intend on exploring with as many people as I can. This is a journey of good tea and good thought, so, dear reader, you down for some cha dao?




Spring 2011 Semi-Wild Baozhong from Teamasters (tasting notes to follow)