No global warming or climate change they say? Perhaps one can take either side politically, but in my 15+ years of tea buying trip, this is the only Spring Harvest with: Super early growth from heat (March 20th). Followed immediately by snow and frost (an occurrence only 9 times in a 1000 year recorded history in many regions). Imagine snowing in Hawaii. Non-stop drenching rains — that never happens this time of the year. Usually a light rain in mid April called ‘Gu Yu’, is a benchmark rain (as in Pre-Rain Dragonwell) and lasts a couple of days. This year Gu Yu is supposed to be April 20th. Today, Yellow Alert rain conditions in Hong Kong, after the blackest day of pouring sheets yesterday in GZ. I bet the dinosaurs didn’t spend time debating about this. I bet the tea plants will mutate and adapt to these new challenging weather…

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The mystery of the Ya Bao tea, solved. They are the unopened bud of a tea like plant that is not Camellia Sinensis. The locals have no idea what this plant is, but they would take the seeds and press its oil for cooking. Is it tea? No way, said the farmers. I knew that, but just wanted to be sure. A city slicker is never really that knowledgeable, when faced with such other country life items, like the rice paddies next to the tea bushes, the wild tea plants next to the bamboo, the chickens running amok, and what to do with any of it. To say that a mere tea buyer would know more than the local tea farmer or producer would definitely be arrogance. Myself, I enjoy learning, and sharing, that’s all. Bringing back some great teas to share though is a matter of course. I have put in enough time legwork to make tea PhD, but in every trip, I still feel like a middle schooler. Tea is special, deep, and wide. A bit of humility helps. A lot of things get lost in translation, and I know people even call stuff like ginger tea, ‘tea’. As for Ya Bao, all one has to do is look and taste, without having to actually see the plants in the ground. But don’t take my word for it, I am always highly skeptical due to over 15 years of buying tea from farms. Think about it: If Ya Bao is tea, does it taste like Silver Needle/yinzhen? Does it look like any other Camellia Sinensis leaf buds? No? And no? ….. Neither does mint ‘tea’.

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Happy Chinese New Year, Year of the Monkey   Chinese Lunar New Year is the single most important holiday in China, if not in Asia. It is celebrated for almost one month straight, where society at every level is honored:  the young pay respects to the old and the old indulge the young with red envelopes and candy, friends honor each other with personal visits, businesses curry gifts to their customers and acknowledge their employees with cash, symbolic gifts, foods, and decorations are ubiquitous, and artists and lion dancers put their best performances on display at daily street festivals. Chinese New Year is about celebrating abundance, but at its core, it is really about honoring one’s relationships to other people.  Celebrate year of the Monkey, by enjoying some Monkey Picked Tieguanyin oolong at 25% off from now through February 8th, the beginning of the new year! Although not at all picked by monkeys, this is…

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