Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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A Perennial Passport to Pike Street
Back in early September, my mother was visiting us from out of town. It was the week of my brother’s wedding, and she was – as any mother would be – flustered. On an innocuous trip to JC Penny’s, the unthinkable happened. She set her purse on a random chair as she went to return…
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A Bourbon Barrel Pu-erh Origin Story
I talk a lot about new and interesting teas on this blog. It’s kind of my thing. But this article’s going to be a little bit different. I’ve always tried to talk about the origins to unique teas, or the regions they stem from. This is the first time where I was actually there when…
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The Moonlight of 2013
Earlier today, I finally clicked on my “2013: Year in Review” thingy on Facebook. For those not on the accursed social media site – all two of you in Zambia – at the end of the year, your most frequented status updates are compiled logarithmically. The Top 20 are listed in order, giving the user…
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Deck the Halls with Balhyocha
T’was the night before Christmas, And all through the flat, Every creature was stirring Because of my hungry cat. For the last couple of weeks, I was feeling humbuggish. But I awoke with a streak… If a little bit sluggish. After running some errands For the night’s holiday supper. I thought to myself, Man,…
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Russian Tea Finds You
I can’t remember when this quest began, but it all started with a random Google search. It was probably in the Fall of 2010, and I ran across an article about Russian tea. What astounded me was that there was mention of Soviet-run tea plantations. That immediately got me digging. Russia has a long-standing love…
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The Golden “Tea”-cket – A Tandem Tea Tasting
Back in March, when I was visiting The Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchants, I ran across a particularly unusual tea. It was a small brick wrapped in gold foil, bearing an uncanny resemblance to a candy bar. I asked the teatender on duty at the time if I could sample it. She obliged and explained to…
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Oolong for the Old Otaku
I have always had a fascination with Japan for as long as I can remember. The first seeds of wonder were planted by early-80s dubbings of Robotech, and continued on well into my teens and twenties with samurai films galore. One could even say my otaku (read: fanboy) brain was hardwired to like everything Japanese…
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Nan Nuo – My Favorite Mountain
Anyone that’s developed some sort of taste for tea starts to identify flavors with places. As palates develop, so do preferences for terroir – i.e. the characteristics tea plants take on based upon their geography. Where do Assams get their malt, or Darjeelings their muscatel notes? Why do Hawaiian teas tend to have fruit-sweet/tropical sensations…
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Tandem Tastings and Tea Moment Tags.
I was originally saving this blog space for a totally different write-up, but two occurrences have sidelined that extended anecdote. First was the advent of another Tandem Tea Tasting via Google+ Hangout, and the second…was a blog tag. And I’m not one to ever turn down either. As such, priori-“tea” dictates that I cover those…
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