A colorful friend and inspirer

A dream came true last Saturday. Sasha and I met in person around a cup of tea in the mountains for the first time. This Israeli tea friend and I have stayed in contact since his first tea order. His photography is very creative and he makes good use of today's post processing capabilities to enhance the colors of his pictures in a very joyous way. Buildings sometimes turn into butterflies! And just looking at his smart, innocent, happy and skinny face brings a smile to mine!

Sasha does not just bring happiness to those around him, he even brings good weather! The sun made a long awaited appearance during his weekend trip to Taipei and has disappeared behind new clouds as soon as he left! That's why we were able to brew in one of my favorite spots in the mountains. We started with this High Mountain Oolong from Da Yu Ling (95K). Then, since it was a little windy and cool, we brewed 3 warmer, more oxidized jassid bitten Oolongs.

Fall 2016 Zhuo Yan Oolong from Shan Lin Xi

First the 2016 Zhuo Yan Oolong, then the 2013 concubine and the 2001 concubine Oolong at the end. They are a taste of sweet and pure life! And they were interesting to compare one against the other.

After showing Sasha how I brew my Oolongs and also let him practice his skills with my accessories.

And when the sun started to set and stopped shining on our spot, I lent Sasha my beret and vest to keep him warm!

I later found out that Sasha is vegetarian (like many serious tea drinkers) and not a smoker (even if his hair sends a different message, as he joked!) That's why his palate is very sensitive to very clean and natural flavors and why he's such a fan of high quality teas.

I was very happy to share this colorful tea moment with such an inspiring friend.

Toda raba Sasha! Lehitraot!