26th year of life

    I quickly wrote this out and wanted to have it posted so I can never go back on my own word. I wanted to share this with everyone as well as it may interest you or spark your own little life goal as well.

"It is the eve of my 26^th birthday. My gift to myself is going to be tea. You are going to think I am crazy but hear me out.  I already have tea, I drink it and enjoy it. Although for the last few months I have lost my passion for it.  On the way home I was reading a book by a Urasenke master and he described how tea is a way of life. I had already learned about this from many books before but it just seemed more fresh from his written words.

    Chanoyu or The Way of Tea is a way of life. Everything in the tea room relates back to life itself. The four virtues are very important, especially now in such a technological society. What I am trying to explain is that I want to live by these virtues.

  Over the next 4 years I will be focusing on one virtue at a time, while learning and striving to live by them all. But by focusing on one at time for a years length I can truly live through tea.

   To devote myself I am going to post these virtues at my home, my work and eventually tattoo (one at a time) on my body; as reminders of how important these are to my daily life. I have been such a scatter brain, over spender; thoughtless, unforgiving, unloving etc the list is endless. I wish to be a true human being through tea with use of these virtues.

  I depart for a work/vacation and will keep these virtues close to my heart each day of the two weeks. But as of now I will live as I have wanted to. I am taking back tea which I lost and bringing it back in to my life as I once had.

    Ichi no Ichi- I cannot let a moment pass by without realizing how important each moment is."

Below is a link to information on these virtues:

Tea Ceremony:

'via Blog this'

Tea Guild of Canada Event- Tea and Tales

We are at it again! Another great event organized by The Tea Guild of Canada.
   This year we are leading groups through four stations and telling tales about tea. Social history, tea ware etc. Its going to be a blast!
    Sign up soon as spots fill up fast. Ill see you April 6th at Montgomery Inn! It just so happens that it is on my birthday so I am going to be dressed in Kimono depending on the weather for the day.
    Come down to have a great day with The Tea Guild of Canada and enjoy tea and food pairing.
   See you there!

Toronto Tea Festival!

   My good friend Tao of Tao Tea Leaf, has been eagerly pursuing the creation of Toronto's own Tea Festival.  After a lot of research its happening~
  All the information is at the website (click the logo above). It will  be February 2nd 2013 at the Toronto Reference Library's Appel Salon (2nd floor). The day will consists of speakers, demos and of course all of the exhibitors. Shop for all your favourite teawares, teas, and related products - this is the perfect opportunity to shop for your Valentine (hint hint).
       Together with help of the team that consists of sponsors and members of the Tea Guild of Canada, this is sure to be an event you DON'T want to miss.  Best part is that if you sign up before the new year you save $5 off your ticket! Great Christmas gift to give to your love ones who also love tea. Get one for your self you know you deserve it, see you all there!

              Here are the speakers that we have so far!

Michelle Pierce Hamilton is a Nutritionist, Certified Tea Sommelier, and Healing Arts Practitioner/Teacher. These combined philosophies and disciplines are the spirit behind “beTeas”, Michelle’s unique online tea store where exceptional teas and tea experiences now come alive in London, Ontario.

Michelle also teaches the Canadian Tea Sommelier Certification program now offered at Fanshawe College in conjunction with the Tea Association of Canada. A long-time industry professional in project management, Michelle also continues to work part-time as a Project Management Consultant and Educator for London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).

Passionate about tea and health, Michelle believes tea is the world’s healthiest beverage and that it provides doorway to healthier diet and lifestyle.

Gillian Niblett – As founder of “Tea At The White House”, a successful tea room and tea shop in Waterdown, Ontario and current owner of “Niblett and Wiggins – Purveyors of High Tea” in Oakville, Ontario, Gillian Niblett has an extensive background in the world of tea

Gillian is a qualified Tea Specialist, certified by the Specialty Tea Institute of the USA, and an accomplished speaker often called upon to share her expertise about tea at corporate events and educational seminars.

Gillian is looking forward to attending the Toronto Tea Festival where she will share her knowledge of tea gleaned through her education, her business experience, and her travels to the tea gardens of India and China.

Tao Wu – A Certified Canadian Tea Sommelier, is the creator and founder of the Toronto Tea Festival.Tao Wu is a second-generation tea exporter.Raised in the Wu Yi Shan area of Fujian, China, a region known for its oolong and black teas, Tao uses his background and experience to continue the rich history of Chinese tea culture.

Founded in 2009 by Tao Wu, Tao Tea Leaf (934 Yonge St.) is an award-winning, full-service tea store located in Toronto’s fashionable Yorkville area. Best known for it’s extensive loose Chinese tea selection, Tao Tea Leaf also offers a variety of loose teas from Japan, India, South America and Africa, as well as an extensive line of USDA-certified organic loose teas. Tao Tea Leaf hosts regular tea workshops for beginners and experienced tea drinkers, conduct traditional Chinese style tea ceremonies and offer an Annual Tea Tour to China.

Bill Kamula – Tea Sommelier professor, Created the tea appreciation certificate at George Brown College, Tea Guild Co-Chair/George Brown College Tea Sommelier program instructor.

   **Speaker information directly sourced from Festival website November 28th, 2012.**

Chanoyu and okashi

      For my past few classes I have been enjoying a dry sweet when I have my tea. To the left is what this sweet looks like. It melts in the mouth and is not as sweet as Canadian/America candies.
    These sweets come in other forms such as seasonal shapes (flowers, leaves etc) but this one can be used for any season it seems.
    This type of dry sweet is used for usucha or thin tea. Not many people have tried its other form koicha or thick tea. Thick tea, from my research, is served to all guest from the same bowl. It is passed from guest to guest till it is done. The sweets that accompany this tea is moist, like a jello consistency or almost cake like (fondant more so).

    The image I have used to show you this usucha sweet is from Rakuten, an online shop that in itself acts like a mall. I have found everything from food to kimono to even tobacco accessories (kiseru even which is traditionally used in tea ceremony if the guests smoke). The other three images are examples I found in google images of other types of sweets or Wagashi.  The pink one is my favourite that I look forward to every spring. It is a mochi rice sweet with red bean paste inside, warped with a salted sakura leaf. Truly a great sweet with any tea.
      Check out Rakuten, your local china town or even a local Japanese specialty shop to try out these sweets!!

  

      

Books on Tea

          With so many on the market now it is hard to keep up with them. Over the past few month my collection as grown more than planed. As there are so many out there I am going to provide you with my list. I would love to hear about what ones you have in your library.


-The Ancient Art of Tea by Warren Peltier
-The Way of Tea by Aaron Fisher
-The Story of Tea by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss
-Urasenke Chanoyu Handbook One by Soshitsu Sen XV
-The Art of Tea in China by Gou Danying Wang Jianrong
-The Book of Tea and Coffee by Joel, David and Karl Schapira
-A Tea Lover's Travel Diary : Phoenix Single-Tree Oolong Tea, Tie Kuan Yin Oolong Tea by Jason C.S Chan
-Classic of Tea/The Sequel to The Classic of Tea by Lu Yu/Lu Tingcan
-The Book of Chuang Tzu
-Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
-The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss
-365 Tao by Deng Ming-Dao
-Writings from the Zen Masters (Great Idea Series)
-The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura


       I included my Tao/Zen books too as some of the teachings feed back into the history of tea. I like learning about the context of certain ways different eras made their tea. Japanese Tea Ceremony is a great example.

Spring Teas at Tao Tea Leaf

With thirteen teas in all it took a little over 2 hours to go through them all.  Tao steeped most of the teas using a Professional Tea Tasting sets. Each set consists of a cup with a lid and a small bowl. This set works similarly to a gaiwan when a fair cup is used with it.  In competitions and for tea merchants this is the set that is used to pick the teas which win or get purchased.

Tao brewed the teas for us using these sets in a certain manner. If you have been part of a Chinese tea ceremony before, you will recall a part where the leaves are added to a warmed vessel and shaken. This releases the aroma of the tea. Tao used the Tasting set in this manner during our tasting. It increased the intensity of the teas aroma for us to determine which teas to purchase in the end.

            After this step Tao then added more water to steep the leaves. After sufficient time the cup set was turned into the bowl to catch the brew. Once all the tea had left the cup some leaves were placed on top of the overturned lid to display the leaves. We then used a Chinese soup spoon to spoon the tea into our cups.  This worked especially well for the lighter teas such as the Silver Needles.

            At this very moment of finishing up this post I am enjoying a cup of Jun Shan Yin Zhen, a yellow tea.  Yellow tea production is just about one step further from white tea, because of this additional time most places do not produce yellow tea. As well the way to create such tea is not being passed down from lack of interest from current generations.

 To explain the extra step required to make this tea, white tea is let to ferment covered which changes the colour of the tea to a “yellow” hue. Te resulting tea when steeped has a bit of a “fermented taste” which comes across as a little spicy as well.  For those of you who want a lighter tea but has a bit more body then certainly try this tea out before this tea disapeares.

            Tao has two big tastings a year, spring and for the Anniversary of his shop. Look out for the Anniversary tasting outing in December! Support your local tea shops in your area by checking out this year’s spring teas.

            Here is the list of teas we sampled: Silver needle Top grade, Silver needle old bush,  Jun Shan Yin Zhen, Anji Bai Cha, Bi Luo Chun, Long Jing, Phoenix Dan Cong- Honey Orchid, Tie Guan Yin, Jin Ping, Purple Puerh, and Shui jing gui.  

*** A link to Tao's blog is to the right! Check it out!

New books!- The Classic of Tea

       
       These two books just arrived the other week. I am so excited to have them as part of my expanding tea library. From flipping through them quickly , they look like a much better translation of this historical book. The copy I read back in my first few weeks at Teaopia was much MUCH smaller and very short. This is very extensive full translation of the book I have been wanting for quite sometime. Once I get part way into it, I will report back! Keep an eye out!
        As well the LONG wait for the Prosperitea set tasting will be happening this week. I am long overdue for a small multipul tea tasteing. As well I will be posting about my trip to Tao Tea Leaf and a tasting post on some samples I got from Camillia Sinenssis in Montreal! Exciting kick off towards the third year of Tea Journey!