Category: Tea Musings Page 6 of 23

Thoughts and commentary on all things tea.

Tea and Bullshit with Rajah Banerjee

On October 14, 2016

Two weeks ago, I attended the Northwest Tea Festival.

northwest-tea-festival

For both days, even!

It was an epic time of tea drunkenness and cuppa camaraderie. But when the time came to actually write about the two-day tea-stravaganza . . . I had nothing to say. Sure, I drank a lot of tea, met new people, reunited with old friends and contacts, but there was no story there. I drank, I saw, and then I trained home. That was pretty much it. If you want full(er) accounts on the tea fest, I suggest visiting The Oolong Owl and Delights of the Heart. Their coverage was pretty comprehensive, and I probably couldn’t have said it better. (Or more concisely.)

The festive weekend, however, did serve one weird purpose. It was a springboard for a few stories that I need to tell. This is one of them:

The first day of the tea fest, I stopped by the Young Mountain Tea booth a couple of times. One, to talk to the owner, Raj Vable, again—since I hadn’t seen him in (what felt like) years; two, I wanted to meet his guest of honor. Rajah Banerjee, owner and manager of the Makaibari tea estate in Darjeeling.

Rajah Banerjee and Raj Vable

My 40th Un-Birthday Mad Hatter Tea Party

By lazyliteratus

On October 12, 2016

In Tea Musings

Back in June, my friend Aaron asked me, “Why haven’t you ever thrown a tea party?”

To which I responded with, “Huh . . . why haven’t I thrown a tea party?!”

Then the ol’ mental gears started a-turnin’. In a few short months, my 40th birthday was coming up. I didn’t drink alcohol anymore, and other forms of mid-life debauchery bored me. The decision hit me like an Assam-fueled caffeine jolt.

Mad Hatter Tea Party!

Mad Hatter Tea Party

A Totem Tea Story

By lazyliteratus

On September 16, 2016

In Tea Musings

The definition of the word “totem” is thus: “A natural object or animal believed by a particular society to have spiritual significance and adopted by it as an emblem.” It is derived from the Native American language, Ojibwe; the word, dodaem.

The concept, however, is not limited to just Native American cultures and religious practices. Many cultures worldwide also place such significances on totems as well. Totem poles, on the other hand—at least to the tribes of the Pacific Northwest—use these objects and animals as family crests and as a way to recount stories of that family group’s past.

So why did a tea company use “Totem” in their name?

I’ll get to that.

Summer Time Tea Montage

By lazyliteratus

On September 1, 2016

In Tea Musings

It’s officially the first day of September. The outside temperature has dropped twenty degrees. Skies are gray, and big-ass raindrops are falling. Yep, summer time is just about over.

And I couldn’t be happier.

Not that I bear summer any ill will in general, and not that this summer was bad, but—y’see?—I’m a fall kid at heart. However, to usher summer’s drunk arse out the door, I thought I’d reflect on the good moments of the last three heat-searing months. And, of course, all those great moments involved tea. And, sometimes, even people.

In order to wrap up the summer in a quickie fashion, Rachel “I Heart Teas” Carter gave me permission to mooch her “Photo Micro-Blogging” format. Just this once. Brace yourself, it’s time for a breakneck Summer Time Tea . . .

montage

On the Back Roads of Vegas with Bootleg Botanicals

By lazyliteratus

On August 19, 2016

In Tea Musings

In mid-June, I made a trip to Las Vegas for World Tea Expo, 2016. (As you, fair reader, already know.) It fueled at least six blogs that took me all summer to write about. (They can all be found on my tea blog.) But there was one tale I forgot to tell. It only . . . “kinda” has to do with tea.

I had one more day in Vegas after that whirlwind convention week. For some reason, I scheduled a flight for two days after the Expo. I figured I needed a day to decompress, and—as luck had it—I had friends in the area. Team Bootleg Botanicals—Ryan and Melanie Belshee—agreed to put me up for the night.

Who are Bootleg Botanicals?

Image owned by Bootleg Botanicals.

Cups, Crossroads, and the Way of World Tea Expo

By lazyliteratus

On July 28, 2016

In Tea Musings

It was the last day of World Tea Expo, and I seemed to have lost my “Way”.

That’s how I felt that morning—kinda lost. Rousting out of bed was difficult, as per usual. But today was particularly hard. Last days of anything usually are. To kick the tiredness to the curb, I went from zero-to-“wake-the-hell-up” with a yaupon RTD.

Asi Muscadine

It did the trick.

A Tea Pairing in the Sky

By lazyliteratus

On July 18, 2016

In Tea Musings

Let me tell you a little about my “Tea Uncle”, Austin Hodge.

Austin Hodge and I. Photo by Nicole Schwartz.

Why is he wearing a Zhong Shan Zhuang, and how did someone convince me to wear a suit? I’ll get to that.

Niu-Gu, FaceTubes, and Matcha Wrestling

By lazyliteratus

On July 7, 2016

In Tea Musings

A month ago, during a tea-‘n-matcha-fueled dinner pairing, a university educator asked me this:

“What do you do?”

“I’m just a tea blogger,” I replied.

She sort of tilted her head, confusedly—like a Saint Bernard.

saint bernard

Then asked, “Why?”

The follow-up question caught me off-guard. I was both hurt and offended by it. Not because she meant it as a slight (it wasn’t and she didn’t), but more because . . . I had no clue how to answer that question.

But I’m getting ahead of myself . . . let’s get back to that tea pairing I mentioned at the beginning.

The Return of the Fellowship to World Tea Expo

By lazyliteratus

On June 30, 2016

In Tea Musings

Returning to World Tea Expo this year felt like a scene right out of Return of the King.

Returning to World Tea Expo be like

You know the one—where all four battle-weary Hobbits came back. Everything was the same . . . but they weren’t. That’s how the first day of Expo felt to me. This was the first one to be held in Las Vegas since 2013, and it looked like 2013 all over again. However, a lot had happened to me in the ensuing three-to-four years.

I was not the same tea drunk Hobbit. Still tea drunk, sure, but more . . . I dunno . . . worldly? No, that’s not the right word. Perhaps I’ll come up with a better descriptor as I write on.

A Fly on Tea Journey’s Wall

By lazyliteratus

On June 27, 2016

In Tea Musings

The idea for Tea Journey Magazine came about the way most great ideas do . . . at a party.

Image owned by Tea Journey Magazine. Front from left: Bob Krul, Susan, Si Chen, Katrina Munichiello. Back row from left: Andrew McNeilL, Austin Hodge, Kevin Gascoyne, Dan Bolton and Tony Gebely.

I wasn’t at this party, but I wish I’d been a fly on that wall.

Image ‘shopped by Rachel Carter.