Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The sun changes everything


A childhood friend who became tour operator in Bali (Indonesia) once faced his biggest customer complaint after a week of continuous rain. Every little imperfection started to bother a group of tourists. The rain and lack of sun had a direct negative impact on the minds and feelings of his visitors, he found out. This was reinforced by the fact that they had come to Bali expecting nice weather.

Tea leaves and tea drinkers are also influenced by the sun! Without sufficient sun, tea leaves don't grow healthily. They absorb too much water and the brew looses clarity and concentration.

Even the pictures look much better with sun than without! The leaves of this luanze (qingxin) Oolong look a vivid and deep green. They were harvested by hand on May 6, 2011, on Qi Lai mountain, at an elevation of 2200 meters.

The pure, flowery and fresh fragrances of the dry leaves carry a light sweetness. The size of the leaves is a little bit smaller than usual for Oolong coming from such a high plantation. The harvest had to happen early, because rain was coming.

The oxidation is on the light side and this gives this Oolong a strong cooling effect that was particularly welcome this day on the white beach of Kenting.

This High Mountain Oolong delivers the finest fragrances with a sweet lingering sweetness and lots of power. Drinking on this beach means missing some of the detailed smells. But, on the other hand, the connection with the energy of the sun is felt much more intensely, inside out.

Woooh!


Children build sand castles.
Tea and sun dance in my cup.
Happiness is easy.
Wish you were here!

3 comments:

Philippe de Bordeaux filipek said...

Like a dream!
Kind of Blue.
Thanks Stéphane.
It's wonderful.

TeaMasters said...

Thank you Philippe,
The blue Cha Xi is a great match for tea on the beach. It reflects both the color of the sky and of the sea. The white porcelain (gaiwan and cups) act like white clouds. This is also the spirit of the qinghua style (of the jar).
This sky/ocean blue knows no limits!

Ulla C said...

Blinking sun
vivid life vibrations
a true tea moment