14 Jun
slow movement

Mistake Tea: Emperor’s Golden Monkey

Great things come from accidental discoveries, penicillin, champagne & now my own new v modest addition. Chinese character for ‘vinegar’ combines 3 characters for ‘wine’, ’21’ & ‘days’: wine that’s been left to go off for 21 days!
How I ‘discovered’ Emperor’s Golden Monkey and found it was surprisingly delicious! Red tea is really ‘black’ and black tea is actually ‘red’ – an accident of history, or a misunderstanding. Emperor’s Golden Monkey tea liquor is red/mahogany, tastes malty, earthy, caramel, marmalade & sweet longan.

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26 May
slow movement

tea and meditation at kyoto garden

Nine of us gathered with our own tea-sets in a silent & serene tea-sharing circle round the Kyoto Garden’s stunning lake. I spent a restorative, meditative 45 min at Holland Park enjoying a simple ritual of sharing tea with eight amazing people! Rain stayed away and the sun came out for last Sunday’s 1st open-air medTEAtation in beautiful Kyoto Garden Holland Park! The ducks, squirrels and tourists were curious & bemused as we sat in the park to brew our teas for medTEAtation. Holland Park medTEAtation went so smoothly, all were delighted, & we came back to Chaya Teahouse for more tea & chitchat.

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18 May
slow movement

t – video profile of a tea artisan

Profile of tea artisan Pei Wang, at teanamu chaya teahouse, explaining how he has made the sensual gong fu cha tea ritual central to his lifestyle. Brewing tea is pressing a pause button in a stressful life, taking a few minutes to be in the present, attend to the tea leaves ‘dancing’ in their tea pot and enjoy the calm, focused, meditative state that we need for social, emotional, physical, spiritual and mental wellbeing. Pei takes the tea ritual out into unlikely, busy, spaces: an unusual tea event in Trafalgar Square promoting mindfulness. Teanamu chaya teahouse is in Notting Hill, London (www.teanamu.com).

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27 Apr
slow movement

conjugal tea – Peranakan wedding tea ceremony

Peranakans are a mix of Malay & Chinese. I love their 12-day weddings, ‘nonya’ food & gorgeous costumes! For days before a peranakan wedding, rice flours are made, veg chopped, sambal fried. All the women folk get involved! Bridesmaids on the peranakan wedding night serve pig trotters, roast pork, pig’s kidney, heart, liver & tripe. Peranakan newlyweds ritually kneel & bow before their elders serving them a sweet ‘tea’ of Chinese red dates, longans etc. A Nonya bride must be serious, not show her excitement, while the groom’s friends try to force her to laugh! Recipe for Bak Wan Kepiting (crab and pork ball soup), a must have for traditional Peranakan wedding night.

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22 Apr
slow movement

connubial tea : a celebratory post about the Royal Wedding

Tea since Ming era integral to weddings: bride & groom ‘respectfully offer tea’ to guests/elders & perform 3 symbolic tea rituals (‘sancha’). Bride & groom eat date/lotusseed soup in setting-tea ritual to ‘stick together’ their hearts & drink ‘hehuan cha’ for life of conjugal bliss. On 3rd day of marriage new couple serve tea to wife’s parents & receive gifts including a cockerel and hen as pets (plus tea & jewellery!) Candied winter melon, candied persimmon or dried longans signify sweet, mellifluous marriage & red fruits are auspicious at weddings. Dropped teacups at wedding are very inauspicious. Good matchmaker immediately says luo di kai hua (hit the ground and blossom) to make it ok!

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15 Apr
slow movement

tea: a living expression of eastern philosophy

Chachan Yiwei 茶禅一味 (tea zen one flavour) is the motto of teahouses like teanamu Chaya, now open Sat/Sun 12-6. At our new Chaya teahouse, we’re using the Gongfu Cha ritual – it lends a Zen quality to our tea drinking. Fill the tea cup, empty the mind and getting out of your own way. Restoring the natural function of mindfulness, imagining swaying bamboo in a gentle breeze, tea-drinking for the soul! ‘Let our tea cup be an extension of our hand’: a touch of Zen mindfulness.

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01 Apr
slow movement

silk stocking milk tea

Strong black tea with a big dollop of condensed/evaporated milk would fill & warm my tummy as a kid. My Hainanese Grandpa used traditional cotton conical sieve & woodfired stove 2 mk smooth sweet creamy tea! ‘Gou cha’ is the typical Hainanese way of brewing thick creamy black tea I remember from childhood. V calming! My Grandpa sold his own special blend of delicious milky tea in Malaysia. Lovely with kaya toast!! HongKong has a milky black tea called ‘silk stocking’ after the cotton sieves used to make it.

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25 Mar
slow movement

yuan yang: mandarin ducks of coffee-tea

Yuan-Yang tea-coffee is the ‘Mandarin duck’ of Hong Kong beverages, i.e. a solid tho unlikely pairing! Mandarin Ducks symbolise conjugal affection & fidelity & the name’s bn gvn 2 this tea-coffee-combo concoction! HongKongers appreciate the oomph of Yuan-Yang tea-coffee. I tried it out in Birmingham! Yang (warming) coffee mixed with Yin (cooling) creamy is a delicious HongKong drink: here’s the recipe! I’m intrigued by Yuan-Yang, complex, nuanced, East-West fusion of tea and coffee!

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11 Mar
slow movement

teahouse culture

Ancient legend of teaseller accused of being witch! She flew from her cell in dead of night tkg her tea urns with! The Tang dynasty capital was chockfull of teahouses, tea pavilions, tea societies. A wonderful era! The Song dynasty saw beautifully decorated tea houses with calligraphy hangings & bonsai plants. Singers & storytellers in Ming teahouses told gripping tales of the 108 heroes from the Water Margin. Some Qing teahouses reserved a table 4 a wise old sage to whom people wd bring grievances & disputes.

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