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 [...]
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, [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
After letting my new teapot soak for a week in the toilet tank (see Pot Cleaning Part I), I took it out for inspection and a good scrubbing. I found a very soft scrub pad (Scotchgard brand) that touts itself (in Chinese) as ‘safe for teacups’, so I’m giving it a go. So far it’s [...]
Well, I wasn’t planning to post about this typhoon – we’ve had a busy season this year, and they’re starting to get a bit old. Besides, this one was predicted to hit Kaoshiung (on the south west coast) and then move on into China. Unfortunately, it veered north, and the center of the storm is [...]
I brought my New Tea Pot back from Miaoli, and was quite excited to show it off to Aliang. He felt I got a good deal on it, but noticed a strange smell, which he guessed to be from brewing pu-er tea in the pot. He suggested I give it a thorough cleaning before putting [...]
I recently bought a new teapot for my travel set (the former pot cracked from a slight jar – the case dropped about 3 inches – after previously surviving falling and being dragged behind my motorbike at 30mph, falling out of a car, and being kicked and bumped repeatedly). I was in Miaoli visiting Aaron, [...]
Last week saw a new arrival in the tea room. Aaron emailed to say my water pots were finally ready, so I went down to pick them up and drink some tea. They turned out better than I expected, and I’ve spent the last week getting used to it and experimenting with my water.