Welcome. This is where I will post notes about tea I drink. There will not be any photos of tea on this blog (probably), instead, each tea will be accompanied by a sketch I made while drinking the tea. The idea is simple. I want the sketch to somewhat represent the experience of drinking that tea. An addition to the notes. Because writing about tea is hard. And I don't have a fancy camera to take beautiful photos of tea :)
The first tea and sketch is a 2013 "Wa Long Village" Yiwu from Yunnan Sourcing. This is a sample that I got together with a whole bag of samples to taste over the summer. So far, this has been one of the best. The wet leaves are very pretty and have a complex and almost hypnotizing aroma. Buttery fruits and flowers, yiwu grass. The first cup is mild in taste but has a good body and is very "juicy". Honey, butter, hints of flowers and fruit. After the second steeping I'm having a hard time separating my nose from the gaiwan. I want to live among those leaves. Forever.
The taste is still mild but the mouth-feel and texture of this tea is like a intricate dance. Swirling and playing around in the mouth long after the last sip. As I'm sitting and enjoying the sweet aftertaste I start to notice some qi. Emptying my head of thoughts, putting me in a meditative state.
The more I drink the less I want to write and my notes starts to get a bit silly. Short sentences like:
"Mouth is tea."
"Power."
"The tea looks magical in the sun."
The qi is really kicking my butt and it's hard to drink this tea fast. Each sip is like taking a big bite of some kind of unknown exotic fruit. The tea is really cooling and thick, has a good kuwei that transforms to something like sugarcane sweetness.
The session was like a journey. Each brew was a bit different than the one before. Varying between honey, fresh fruit, cooked fruit, sugarcane, grass and grains. Always tasty. Very powerful.
