Miaoli Tea Party
I just got my photos from Ah-Liang, my tea-roasting guru in Mucha. He invited us to his
We arrived in the afternoon. It was pretty windy, as the ridge their farm is on is unprotected from the ocean winds. I was surprised they could grow much in the sandy soil, but they had a large garden (Ah-Liang’s father is semi-retired, so doesn’t farm a large amount of land). They loaded us up with radishes and other garden veggies.
The family seemed quite amused to have a foreigner make tea for them, and later in the evening Ah-Liang’s regular crew of students/drinking buddies showed up and we took turns manning the teapots. I introduced them to the organic oolongs I’ve been studying with Master Tsai, and they seemed to go over very well. The pictures below show us drinking tea in the courtyard. As per the usual custom, they set up a large tent outside the house with tables to accomodate all the family and guests. I’m using the gaiwan Ah-Liang gave me to brew a medium-roast oolong tea before dinner. The tea ware is my own. I supplemented my usual formal traveling set with my good cups, which I normally don’t use outside my home tea studio.
When it got cold later, we moved into a side room (through the door in the background of the pictures above) and crowded around a small coffee table. They brought in a large clay pot modified to burn charcoal to warm the room and boil water on. I didn’t get any pictures of it, but will try next time, or maybe do some video.