Friday, July 19, 2019

Beach Chaxi of summer 2019

My mini vacation in Kenting is over and I'm bringing back familiar and beautiful memories of tea at the beach. May these pictures be a source of inspiration for those of you in similar environments, and a source of joy for all the others!

The brew took place after 5 PM, near sunset (in Taiwan), because that's when the sun doesn't shine too hard and kids can hunt hermit crabs while their dad enjoys his tea.
I chose a 2017 spring Qingxin Oolong from Tsui Luan, strored in the pewter caddy on my Chaxi. Beside the freshness, I wanted the full Taiwan experience on this beach. When you drive from Taipei to Kenting on the second freeway, you always see the central mountains of Taiwan on your left side. The majestic peaks protect the western stretch of land from typhoons and rain coming from the (not so) Pacific Ocean. And I revere these mountains even more, for they bequeath me the most refined and sweetest Oolongs in the world!
If you could devise a mathematical formula for my happiness at this moment, you wouldn't see plus signs, but multipliers and factors. It would look like:
(Sun x Beach x Chaxi Beauty)^Tea quality
If Robinson had grown tea on his island, he may never have wanted to leave!
Or maybe there's also pleasure in knowing that you will only enjoy tea this way once (or a few times) that makes the moment so special.
And indeed, due to strong winds the next days, I wasn't able to repeat a beach Chaxi during this short vacation. Grab the opportunity when it arises! Enjoy the combination of freshness and heat from the beach and a great high mountain Oolong Chaxi!

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