Tea Processing is a bit like my library’s spiritual successor to Tea Growing. It’s not the ACTUAL successor, he wrote another book called Tea Manufacture that this book actually references (among others). But that book’s in my public library’s Collection, so I haven’t gotten around to checking it out because it requires getting a librarian to pull it out of the bulk storage… They just don’t trust you with access to the high density shelving. Well, there’s enough kids running around who’d think it’d be funny to try and close the shelves on someone, I suppose. Continue reading
Author: AJ
Updates and Life
My posts are so far and in between that it’s difficult to tell when I’m gone at all. So it may or may not surprise anyone to know that I was gone for a while, on field school, hiking and collecting rocks. Again. And that I forgot to take pictures of tea on mountaintops. Again.
But I did bring back a large bag of rocks. …Surprise.
Since I got back, I’ve started up classes again, finished off a load of tea samples, ordered a whole lot more, and lost my cat. I don’t mean that lightly. About a week after I got back, our two family cats vanished. One showed up again three days later… The other, my perky little tabby, hasn’t been seen for over a week now. I’ve been in contact with our local shelter, put up posters, set out food and litter, and I’m pretty much left at hoping. She’s a very chatty cat, so every time I hear a noise outside (usually children playing) I’m out on the porch in a second calling for her. Continue reading
Book: The Ancient Art of Tea
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I didn’t go in with high hopes (not to say they were low, but I cracked it with a pretty neutral expression); though, I did notice the “Tuttle” stamp, and heck, they publish a lot of gems. And that’s what I found this to be. A gem. This one was a gift from my mom–she picked it up on the ferry as a birthday gift a few years back (don’t judge, I’ve got a large book backlog), which is part of the reason I didn’t expect much. Ferry giftshop literature.
When you read the synopsis and opening words, you get the feeling the book will be, literally, just a bunch of quotes. I figured the run-of-the-mill types; Thoreau and Dickens and such (it says right there on the front cover, “Old Chinese Tea Masters”, AJ). Once I started flipping through it I realized my mistake, because it’s definitely a cohesive work with sections and actual paragraphs. Continue reading
Book: Chinese Tea: A Cultural History and Guide
This was an interesting little book I checked out of a local library. By Liu Tong, and translated by Yue Liwen, I found it informative and colourful. It’s not a dry book, and probably my favourite aspect is how often it goes off on tangents concerning tea lore.
Book: Tea Growing, by C.R. Harler
Well, it’s been a while.
Since I read the book, I mean. I know I take pretty big breaks between posts. I picked this up during the summer, and finished it off pretty quickly, but I guess I got caught up after the term started.
Welp
That’s probably a third of my wishlist right there. Plus a few freebies.
What Would We Do
SpontaneiTea’s recent (well, not-so-recent by the time I actually post this) post on the oversights of Bigelow’s new website got me thinking. And it only got worse (the thinking) when I clicked through to his guide to the Best Practices for Tea Company Websites. I live in an area blessed by a thriving (well, maybe less so now as we usher in the era of DavidsTea) industry of independent tea shops. Not as dense as some places, I’m sure, but there’s a lot within the radius of public transit that I have access to. At any rate, my question, followed by my experiences.
What would we do for our favourite tea companies?
This Just In: More Tea
Two posts? From me? Huh, that’s… something, I suppose.
After spending a day cramming for midterms, I returned home to find that I’d received two envelopes. One of tea, one containing my PAL (That’s the Canadian equivalent to a firearms license, for the yanks). I’ve been collecting licenses as of late. Well, all relevant to my field, of course. On top of my PAL, I received my level 1 portable XRF operator’s license, and so with the ability to legally handle any non-prohibited firearm in Canada, as well as shoot a gun that literally fires xrays at things, I think I’m well on my way to a life of crime and super villainy.
At any rate, on to the tea. Continue reading
No Second Annual Vancouver Tea Festival
I’ve got half a post typed up in another window, and am penning another post on paper as I read the 1960’s handbook, “Tea Growing” by C.R. Harler. But instead of working on either of those, here’s a general post of updates instead.
Green Terrace Teas made a post on Steepster about offering free samples for review; I haven’t received mine yet, but we’ll see how that goes. I’ve noticed that someone (most likely from the country) has gone through and rated all their teas at 100 without posting a review. Usually Steepster is quick to jump on this and point it out, but it doesn’t look like anyone has noticed it yet; I’m not upset, as most new companies posting on Steepster don’t realize this is considered ‘taboo’ until users speak up. We’ll see.
Otherwise, I made a trip down to the Chinese Tea Shop and then O5, where at the latter I ended up staying way longer than I meant to talking with one of the employees. But that’s one way to spend an afternoon. I like the comradery of the Independent Tea Shop Industry (TM?) of Vancouver; my CTS bag was recognized the moment I stepped into O5, and we ended up discussing puers and dan cong oolongs (as those were what I’d purchased). From there we talked a bit about other tea shops and the tea events around Vancouver, as well as the prominent “tea folk” (he was surprised at how few I’ve met from the Vancouver Tea Society, but I tend to avoid large gatherings; me and conventions don’t mix–in fact, I took the UBC bus to get to O5, knowing full well that I could ride it to UBC where my friends were currently helping host Northwest Fanfest). Continue reading