The Tea Letter #5 (Whisks, Smugglers, Gongfu Cha)
Welcome to the first Tea Letter of 2022! The year is off to a busy start for me but I'm excited for what lies ahead.
Every year I pick a theme word that represents my hope for the year in general. For the last few years, some of the words I've chosen are things like "balance", "practice", and "equanimity". This year, I'm going in a bit of a new direction with my theme word.
If you take a look at the three examples I listed above, you may notice they are all personal traits I wanted to cultivate within myself. This focus on introspection and internal qualities of myself is not surprising given how hard I've been working on those parts of myself over the last few years. However, this year's theme word is the first time I've felt called to choose something that reaches outside of myself.
That's why my theme word for 2022 is: service.
I am writing more at length about how I arrived at this idea and what I intend to do about it. Spoiler alert: the reason I'm sending this newsletter is precisely because I'm not done with it yet.
In the meantime, I've pulled together a selection of interesting things to read and watch that should hopefully keep you busy until I'm ready to post my full 2022 outlook.
Tea of the Week: Kukicha, by Tekuno
Tekuno is a relative newcomer on the scene of Japanese tea. They opened in San Francisco right at the early stages of the pandemic and fortunately they survived the business challenges COVID presented. Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to visit them in person before I left SF. Still, I was interested to try their tea so I asked for their 3-month tea subscription for Christmas.
The first tea just arrived a week ago and it's a lovely kukicha. For those unfamiliar, kukicha is a tea made from the stems, stalks, and twigs left over after the more "premium" teas are made. Don't let its humble appearance fool you--this tea can be a nuanced and delicious treat.
I've been enjoying Tekuno's kukicha quite a lot. It's subtle, light, and low in caffeine. It was harvested in May but they aged it to allow the tea to develop its sugars for a sweeter taste. Learn more about it here.
Recent Readings
A Large Whisk and a Long History: Evolution of the Tea Whisk - Scott Tea
For those who read my last post, The Flavor of Bamboo, this is the article that was supposed to be linked in my mention of the history of the tea whisk. I goofed and somehow linked to a business podcast on YouTube instead so I decided to send this article through on its own.
Scott is extraordinarily well-educated on the history of tea and is a dedicated practitioner of tea in all its forms. Highly recommend you read this and his other work!
Cuppa Thugs: These Brutal Smugglers Ran An 18th Century Tea Cartel - NPR
Warning: there are some slightly graphic depictions of violence in this article. With that said, it's a fascinating bit of the history of tea in politics and culture. The taxes levied on tea were a direct part of the run up to the Revolutionary War in the US, but the English themselves also chafed under the rule of the throne and turned into avid smugglers.
How to brew black tea Gongfu style - Farmer Leaf
Farmer Leaf is the only tea vendor making content I enjoy on YouTube. William, a Frenchman living in the Jing Mai mountains in Yunnan, is the proprietor of the company, which specializes in tea made in the local region as well as nearby Laos and Myanmar (Burma). He's extraordinarily knowledgeable and thinks deeply about a great many things related to tea itself.
In this video, he discusses making black tea gongfu style. It will be helpful to the beginner, but the thing that really stuck out to me is the way he points out how tea processing factors into how to brew the tea. I find this a wonderful example of the deceptive simplicity of tea and how something as simple as a black tea being sun-dried and lightly rolled has a huge impact on our end experience with the tea we drink.
That's all for this edition of The Tea Letter. Until next time, happy drinking!
Mike