A Tea Addict's Journal

Yes, I’m still alive. Not sure how many of you will see this though.

Today I went to a tea producer’s house to chat with him here in Taiwan. He showed me a bunch of teas he made while we talked about the state of the industry, etc. Aside from drinking some pretty interesting teas, one thing stood out to me – he’s constantly watching what I’m doing with the cup.

This is I think something that is underrated for a lot of people who don’t often gather for tea, and for those of you who tend to drink alone. The person doing the brewing for a group tends to overly focus on their brewing – I’ve done this in the past too. I’m watching myself, thinking of what to do next, talking, etc, and forgetting that there are other people drinking. I’m still pouring, but I’m not really paying attention to their drinking, when in fact, they’re giving you hints.

How fast are people drinking the tea? How are they reacting? The person I was with today was watching me like a hawk – one of the teas he brewed was a tea he rescued from some production problem. It’s not great – it’s fine, but clearly muted as a tea. The tea he brewed previously, a black tea using qingxin oolong, was great. So the moment he noticed that I was drinking the new tea a lot slower, he went back to the black tea – which lasted a good while longer. We never drank the rescue tea again – and I’m not even a customer. I was just there for the conversation. Now, having said that, I smoked plenty of second hand smoke today, but there was no way around that.

When doing a gongfu session with folks, you don’t have to brew every tea to its natural death. Some teas are not so great, or not to the taste of those who are present. Be happy to just give up on a tea and move on – rare is the tea that gets better with more infusions. If by cup 3 or 4 it’s not good, that’s it. It’s done. If someone’s not drinking, maybe re-make something that they liked previously. Part of being a good host is to notice these things, and to give the guests something they like. It’s the little things that count.