Category Archives: Tea
Leaf Journeys, Leaf Ageing, and the Heights
It was upon the months’ long journeys along the Tea Horse Road that the big-leafed ‘assamica’ material and eternal panacea, tea, would transform and morph from a simple green tea into an almost compost-like blend that many Tibetans began to … Continue reading
A Tea Comes Around
The joy of a bit of time-hit leaf beauty. Age hasn’t always been something I’ve ever been convinced matters in any tea. Age of bushes, of trees, or even of the producer maybe, but age of the cake or how … Continue reading
Pomo – The Girl Who Could Do It All
‘Cheshi’ in the early morning in her family’s nomadic camp of Shin’zhu’gong at close to 5000 metres. I continually messed up her name, though I spent weeks with her and family. She patiently dealt with me until she reminded me … Continue reading
The Goddess and the Butter
Her’s was the last tent in the windblown nomadic community of Ala Dhotok (Stone Roof), before we headed up the snow pass of Nup Gong La. It was another morning of cold along a portion of the Tea Horse Road … Continue reading
Interview with Tea Biz – Tea’s Precious Informality
A few thoughts shared in a recent interview with Tea Biz here. In the great rush of tea paraphernalia and in the increasingly creative marketing and usage of fantastical descriptions and flavour wheels; in a time when the ‘names’ of … Continue reading
Tea Horse Road Chronicles – A lusty bit of Leaf Tribute
One of the most exquisite pieces of tea porn I’ve come ever across was this compressed mass of large leaf material, formed into seven gourds, sized in ever-descending size to form a large pyramid of vegetal fuel. It was also … Continue reading
A Snow Pass, The ‘Feel’, and Karma’s Chai
The mind wanders back to a mountain pass, a blizzard, and that wonderful thing that exists still: instinct. On a day of few words along a portion of a trade route in Ladakh as a blizzard piled in at 5000 … Continue reading
Tea Horse Road Chronicles – He Was Late
The horseman assured Sonam and our team that he would appear at 7am sharp the next morning. He promised over several cups of tea, and that was usually the sign of a deal that was done and agreed upon. The … Continue reading
Tea Horse Road Chronicles – The Tea That Never Came
A simple tea room in Weishan, Yunnan, and one of the only tea rooms in my life that I failed to actually have tea in. Weishan was another of the understated hubs along the Tea Horse Road, and it marks … Continue reading
The Tea Sessions – Part 2 – Gyokuro Trip, Umami Grip
Continuing my tea-fuelled series for Outpost Magazine, The Tea Sessions, as it takes a (brief) break from Puerh and into Japan’s fabled world of umami as it plays out in a stunning Gyokuro serving session in Kyōtanabe. Article here: Gyokuro Trip, … Continue reading