19th Jun
Well, another Dragon Boat Festival has come and gone, and I’m sorry to be so late posting up on it, but I’m also behind on a lot of other posts now, as well (long story). At any rate, instead of rehashing what I posted last year, you can just go check out Dragon Boat Festival for yourself and save me the trouble! Read the rest of this entry »
12th Mar
No, I don’t mean lemon and black pepper! New pots need to be cleaned thoroughly before use to remove residuals from the firing process, clean out the pores, and prepare the clay for infusing tea. There are many ways to do this; here I’ll introduce one method that has worked well for me, and is pretty easy to do. Read the rest of this entry »
3rd Mar
Have a question about tea you can’t find an answer to? Post it here, and I’ll see what I can do to help you out. Also, if you have any general comments about my blog or ideas for future posts, let me know here.
You can also send me an email at asktheteaguy@taiwanteaguy.com.
If I don’t have an answer, I can check with some of the local experts here and get back to you.
19th Feb
The importance of using good water to brew good tea cannot be overstated. “Tea is 99% water” is a commonly used quote, and while it seems quite obvious, water quality is often overlooked or taken for granted. While there are dozens of water filtration systems and methods on the market today, there are some simple, traditional, low-tech ways to improve water quality. One method commonly used by tea afficionados here in Taiwan is bamboo charcoal. Read the rest of this entry »
14th Feb
Usually when we think of ‘tea snacks’, we think of British High Tea. silver tea service, scones, tarts, biscuits, and etc. However, Chinese tea drinkers also have an awesome assortment of snacks to go with their oolongs, baojongs, Tie Kuan Yins, and even Black teas. In this first installment of my new ‘Tea Snacks’ series, I’ve decided to introduce my personal favorite: Pineapple cakes.
31st Jan
It’s Chinese New Year (again). Welcome to the Year of the Ox!
Hope you all have a wonderful year!!!!
4th Jan
The 2008 Taipei Tea Expo was held at the end of November, and I apologize in not getting this report posted up sooner. I’ve had some frustrating computer issues to deal with, as well as a lot of work (Taiwan kindergartens and ‘cram schools’ like to put on huge Christmas shows to show off to the parents, so there’s a lot of preparation to do). Anyway, the show this year wasn’t as big as 2007, but we still had a lot of fun. Here’s how it went:
27th Nov
No visit to the Mystic Grove is complete without a tea session, even if it is a short one. Having Aliang along on this trip made it an absolute necessity! (Actually, having tea was the point of making the 30-minute drive up from Jiji). There’s something indescribeable about being in a bamboo forest - there is more light penetration and less ground foilage than in the traditional pine forests of the western US, and the wind rustling through the leaves create a light, airy feeling that is extremely soothing and relaxing. This particular spot also seems to have very good ‘energy’ and has always been my #1 spot for ‘getting away from it all’, either on my own or with a few select friends. Read the rest of this entry »
24th Nov
WARNING! THIS POST CONTAINS GRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPHS OF OVER-BREWED HUNG CHA (BLACK TEA) THAT MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO SOME VIEWERS! IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 YRS OF AGE, HAVE A HEART CONDITION, OR ARE ON MEDICATION OF ANY KIND, PLEASE D O N O T R E A D F U R T H E R ! ! ! Read the rest of this entry »
6th Nov
On the way home from our Landrover Camping Trip, we decided to make a short detour up into the bamboo groves for a visit to my favorite spot in all of Taiwan - we usually just refer to it as ‘the mountain’ - a dead-end farmer’s access in a natural bamboo forest that overlooks the valley I lived in before the 9/21 (1999) earthquake hit the area.
