Way of Tea

Some people may notice that I drink a lot of tea. I'm a tea fiend of sorts. This is true, it's obvious and it's probably confusing to them. Well, if they knew why I drink it and beside simply 'drinking tea', it's the whole culture, if you will, behind the drinking of the tea. The way of it.

Well, my mom has always been a tea person. Moms has always been on the flowery tea, which are personally not my favorite, but at the moment, I respect their benefits. So anyways, my mom always had a box of chamomille in the shelf and would drink those. The parentals always had some of that Japanese Green tea from Costco, boxed by 'Ito-En', etc., But what truly sparked my interest in the depth of the whole way of tea, was my brother. He began bringing home loose tea leaves and brewed em at the stove. Being close, I asked him about the whole process and he proceeded to educate me. The taste, the process of obtaining the liqueur, etc. Through him, I tasted white tea for the first time - an incredible gift he's given me.

So it started with him. After that, we'd tell each other about spots where we think might have some good tea, ready made and serving to raw and loose leaved. He got into it because he enjoyed the taste, and he knew the health benefits of Tea. My boy was at the point in his life when he was gamin up the females and he was on a mission to loose weight and stay healthy. I appluaded this cat for changing his mind state on health. We was both in it to win it.

Aside from learning that there were several different types of teas available - i didn't know there were blacks, greens, whites, yellows, oolongs, puh ers, etc., available hahaha - i had no idea of the different countries various types of processing or species of leaves for their teas. Interesting stuff. Something you can drink, something that had a process to it (brewing), something you can buy AND sell for a lot of money, etc., it somewhat delves into a category where wines do. Tea is in fact collectable and tradeable. Strange, right? :P

Anyways, the process of making tea, the 'ceremony' if you will, was introduced to me a few years ago in 2005 when I visited the Philippines, of all places (a country who isn't a huge tea drinker as a populous, nor an Asian country who does not mass grow the crop of tea). Basically, it was my aunt's neighbor in Manila, an English-speaking Taiwanese cat who treated me and my pops like we was fam. At about 12am, we swooped up on my aunts house on our way in from Hong Kong. Homeboy was out with his family across the street from my aunt's house, where we had been chillin in our dress clothes, straight off the plane (it was hella hot at 12am! lol). He was bbqing something viscious! It was the Manila ghettos, so it was 24/7 active... kids and people were still out partying, walking around, playing, etc., something I didn't expect because I've never been to Manila that late, outside of the house (My family isn't from there except a few aunts and what not...) So dude cooked up some good bbq chicken and asked us if we wanted some tea and if we'd like to join him with his family. We obliged, so he proceeded to demonstrate the brewing process, also known as Gong Fu (tea washing, temperature control, etc.,). It's a brewing process which takes place upon a small kit/mat which held small tea cups and small bowls for straining and what not. Pretty sick, at least i thought. So he breifly mentioned some customs, which I forgot (lol FML), except the pointing of the tea pot and how it shouldn't be pointed at the guests. Either way, the water and cleaning of the kit bowls and cups were all in synch, like the swishing of the wine in a glass. Not exactly, but it's simply a process that takes place. Customs and respect aside, the process is scientific. Part of the 'Way' is physics and chemistry. Currently, I have only a small collection of teas. I do not plan on collecting or saving them, but I only hope my sources strive so I can get it whenever I need to. I will continue on my journey to understand the process fully, while trying to taste the teas of the world - my favorite part. Every kettle of water I boil up and prepare, I remember my brother. I do it for not only the memory of my brother's gift, his interest and respect for the process and flavors of tea, but simply because I love the taste of it in general.