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Tea Adventures

Ate at the farms with the families most of the times, so not much…

Tea Adventures

Ate at the farms with the families most of the times, so not much food to report. The meal with the government officials though, had this spectacular soft tofu freshly made and in its wooden tub, that you can ladle in 3 kinds of sauces. Tofu tastes like tofu here in China like no where else.
Conversation at dinner: how to make better Chinese liquor for export. IMHO, Chinese alcohol is at the other extreme of Chinese tea. The baijiu 白酒 is the most vile ‘vodka’ imaginable, the Mal Tai just burns, wuliangye 五糧液 smells like a NY subway drunk, the rice wine tastes either sweet like syrup or bland, the beer is basically water. The grape wines? Acidic, flat, no aroma. The tea is sublime. The alcohol is good to throw up with.
I didn’t share my opinion with the government officials. I said why not make a Tieguanyin alcohol. They thought it was a great idea they hadn’t thought of.
Really? They didn’t notice their alcohol could stand improvement any imaginable way possible?

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We refuse to carry any certified organic teas that do not meet…

Tea Adventures

We refuse to carry any certified organic teas that do not meet our taste standards。 Besides the fact that certifying ‘organic’ means a lot of cost and most farms like Mr. Lin’s can not afford to, the fact that they are de facto organic, we feel that it is far more important.

Luckily though, Mr. Lin and his vast family, including many serving as government officials, were able to get all the EU, JAS( Japan’s), both very strict certifications. USDA means little to us regarding tea, but those other two are important to have. So here it is, great quality, high mountain grown, produced by nice families, AND certified organic.
Mr. Lin was an M.D. for 7 years before switching back to tea. What illnesses do the villagers have? I asked. Not much, he said, so I had no business as a doctor! Only in a tea village would a doctor not be able to make a living…..

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Location, location, location. Grown on narrow ledges, Mr. Lin’s…

Tea Adventures

Location, location, location. Grown on narrow ledges, Mr. Lin’s farm on the mountain top is pristinely full of organic matter, like bamboo husks, weeds to be hand pulled, wild flowers. The wind put through is quite strong, a little known locational advantage against bugs. Mountain streams trickle down. Iron rich soil is another natural environmental factor for his superior crops. Still too young for harvest, the leaflets will need to grow another 2 weeks.

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