The Tea Letter #3 ("Kuchikiri", How to Read Books, Intelligence)
Welcome to November, the "new year" in the world of tea.
In this month, we see the arrival of the sunken hearth (ro, 炉) and the "opening of the tea jar" (kuchikiri, 口切), which tells all tea people this year's tencha is ready for grinding into matcha. This is normally a busy month for tea practitioners, as friends gather for a bowl of fresh tea and to warm themselves by the gentle glow of coals under the soft whisper of the bubbling water in the kettle.
As a tea drinker, November is one of my favorite months precisely because it's a surprising time to find wonderful tea. I say it's surprising because many people I speak to don't understand why the best teas don't arrive until the fall.
Setting aside teas specifically made for aging, the tea world seems to overwhelmingly value freshness in its tea. Every spring a frenzied rush for the spring harvest sees consumers throwing down fat stacks for fresh leaves. As enjoyable as spring teas are, they are not by default the pinnacle of quality tea.
In fact, I believe most teas are better with a little age on them. Sure, that age might only be measured in months rather than years, but even six months resting can dramatically transform a tea. I'm not alone in this belief, either. I mentioned matcha above, but also many premium gyokuros are unveiled this time of year.
Beyond Japan, across the sea to China, the first of the roasted teas in Fujian begin to become drinkable. These teas rest as long as six to twelve months after roasting to get the "fire" (huo, 火) out of them before going on sale. That means many 2021 teas from Fujian are often 2020 harvests.
What’s more, November is the perfect time for a fresh infusion of wonderful tea. In most places in the Northern Hemisphere, the air starts to bite with the first breath of winter. My California friends always hated this ("If I want cold I'll go to Tahoe," they say.), but I'm from Michigan and I relish it. There are so many wonderful things one can only do in winter that I always genuinely look forward to the end of the year.
So, as the weather turns cold and the first flakes of snow fall in some places around the US, I encourage you to find a good book to enjoy, a comfortable place to read it, and look to the teas of November for a warm and comfortable winter companion.
Tea of the Day: Aki Shincha (Fall Fresh Tea), by Kettl
I buy this tea every year and it’s a joy. This tea is kept in cold storage all summer after harvesting in May and turns rich, nutty, and well-balanced in the fall. I’d be fascinated to try this same material in the spring to see how the aging process changes it.
The marketer in me also loves the name, as it’s a masterstroke of positiong. There is no such thing as aki shincha--or there wasn’t--until Kettl invented it. Brilliant.
Recent Readings
Life has kept me busy lately (as evidenced by a lack of emails/posts), and I’ve found myself mostly swapping between work and leisure time without much in the way of reading. I do have a couple small tidbits to share I think you might enjoy.
How to Read A Book - Mortimer J. Adler
This book is helping me re-learn how to read nonfiction.
Growing up, I trained myself to read using fiction novels. What that means is I always read books cover to cover, front to back. As a student, it was difficult for me to quickly scan through academic or nonfiction materials while researching a paper or project.
This book, introduced to me by my good friend Lyssa, is showing me a way out of that torturous process and I’m now reading and learning much faster than before. Thanks Lyssa!
Beyond Smart - Paul Graham
A thought-provoking essay on the nuanced difference between intelligence and new ideas--and which we should care about most:
“It may seem a hair-splitting distinction to point out that intelligence and its consequences are not identical, but it isn’t. There’s a big gap between them. Anyone who’s spent time around universities and research labs knows how big. There are a lot of genuinely smart people who don’t achieve very much.”
That’s not a knock on people who don't make something of themselves so much as an attack on the pervasive idea that intelligence is what we should all be optimizing for. To demonstrate this, Paul offers a choice:
“Imagine you had a choice between being really smart but discovering nothing new, and being less smart but discovering lots of new ideas.”
Which would you choose? He thinks the choice is obvious and so do I.
That's all for this edition of The Tea Letter. Until next time, happy drinking.
Mike