TEA ADVENTURES

The Wholesale Tea District
Posted: July 20, 2009
We were presented with an extremely rare gift today: two cakes of Puer prepared and designed by an American based international tea company. It has never been done before

On our final days in China we returned to the fine Chinese Puer manufacturer, Chamasi in the city of Kunming. The Chamasi company has collaborated with Austin and Zheuping Hodge of Seven Cups of Tea to create the first American and Chinese Puer cake.

There was a limited production of 1,000 cakes. Three quarters of this collectible first edition went to the Chinese market and sold out with in hours. The rest has been shipped to the US and may be sold out before it arrives.
We all received a green and a cooked cake, pressed in 2008
We asked for one of the cakes to be signed by Austin and our guide and senior official from Chamasi, Mr. Hu.
. I may have to leave mine as an inheritance. These tea cakes should increase in value and deepen in a rich and mellow flavor for thirty years.

After the presentation of the cakes we went to the Kunming Tea Wholesale District.

I stood on a floor that was two acres in size with all of the tea sets, tea jars, collectible Yixing pottery, intricate tea tables and every imaginable tea implement. I had to buy an extra bag to bring the Puer and new tea collectible tools home. It was heaven.

Today while I study my books on the Tea Horse Roads of China my friend Yoon Hee Kim is at the same tea district in Kunming. As readers of this site know, Yoon Hee is a Korean American and a board member of the Specialty Tea Institute and a trainer in the tea certification program. She had just finished a tea and cultural trip I'm Korea and was trying to catch up with us. A savvy international traveler and professional tea photographer, Yoon Hee is a leading member of our tea family.

But she will have to move faster to drink tea with us in China.
We will share Puer soon enough in southern California.

It just won't be any of the purple Puer from the lady poet in old Puer City or the commemorative Puer won by the American team in Jinguu or the first American branded tea in the world from Seven Cups of Tea.

There are boundaries even with your tea family.

Drink your tea slowly.

The worlds largest Puer manufacturer
Posted: July 18, 2009
We spent several hours drinking Puer and enjoying a private tour of the Xiaguantoucha museum in Da Li.

Xiaguantuocha was founded in 1949 and now produces 70,000 tons of Puer. Only 3,000 tons are exported annually. The French buy three million dollars a year of the Puer.

While the name is tough to read for Westerners you may have seen the package or even a counterfeit version! The logo is an egret.
Counterfeit versions are out there because the museum showed us Puer worth 10,000 dollars for a kilogram.

This Puer is prized by the Japanese, Tibetans, Nepalese, Malaysians, Chinese, corporations and the Buddhist community. We viewed gift sets and photos of all of these countries and organizations.

I am bringing back a newly bought duffel bag. It will be full of Puer from Xiaguantuocha and all of the other special producers of this ancient and wonderful beverage.

The French have performed scientific studies on the ability of Puer to lower the lipids in the blood stream and promote cardiovascular health.
That is interesting. It tastes marvelous, too. As a Japanese writer said, "Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage". I agree.

Take your medicine!

Tea at the Gantong Temple
Posted: July 17, 2009
"Tea is good for your health and good for your soul. Please drink tea with me and help with the improvement of all of our health and souls."
The head monk, Chuan Ci, quietly delivered this blessing and then poured tea for us. Tea made with water from the temple springs. Tea that was grown and prepared for centuries in the shade of the pine trees on the serene and lush grounds of this ancient temple.

Tea has been spread throughout China by the Buddhist monks; in a similar manner to the way the Jesuits spread the use of wine in Europe. While tea with monks has been enjoyed by travelers throughout the last several thousand years this setting, this fine tea and the quiet serenity that flowed from this one man, Chuan Ci made the simple tea drinking ritual a deeply calming and centering experience.

We were in the 1,000 year old Gantong Temple. Below us was the 2,000 year old walled city of Da Li and the adjoining lake. Above us was the lush peaks of the mountains that ring the valley. The peaks are constantly shrouded with thick white clouds and eerie mists. Fast moving streams race down the mountain side through the cobble stone streets and into the lake.

Chuan Ci said he was in agreement with the beliefs of the Bai people who have populated this beautiful and prosperous valley, in their approach to the deeper meaning of tea drinking

The Bai people drink first a bitter cup of tea with their guests representing the harsh realities of the world. In a sense they are sharing their burdens with one another over this first cup of tea.

Next a sweet cup of tea that signifies the joy of living is enjoyed and the mood is lightened, laughter and light hearted conversation is shared with one another.

The third cup is a mild tea that represents the experience and now acquired wisdom of both of the previous cups of tea. The third cup of tea is to be savored with reflection and
contemplation. Serenity is said to ensue from the acceptance of both the pain and the joy of life.

Through out the last thousand years poets, architects, healers, leaders and peasants have come to drink the tea of the Gantong Temple. We were deeply moved to be in such exalted company. The feeling in this quiet and magnificent setting was one of a place that had nourished and enlarged the souls of centuries of people. We too felt that exalted and serene feeling as we walked down the shaded steps and though the forest that guards this place
"Drink your three cups slowly and contemplate the wisdom of your serenity."

Chuan Ci

The third leg of the stool: Glenn the Hippy
Posted: July 16, 2009
The third member of the notorious Internet gang we traveled through China with is known
as Glenn the Hippy.

He is the least visible of the three to the public eye. But he is well known and I have received as many questions about the behind the scenes guy as the two more public personalities: Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose.

He is a quiet,
handsome and trim young man; he got his nickname because he prefers organic vegetarian food. He keeps his hair short and cuts it himself. He has deep blue eyes and an Irish last name that is displayed in his coloring.

He ran the streets in the rain often early in the morning for exercise. He pays attention to details, but his manner is easy going. My friends in the Healing Touch community would call him an authentic personality. In the sports books of my childhood home of Las Vegas he would be called a competitor to be watched.

As a professional camera man he was always aware of his environment. He easily captured still shots and hours of video. All of this was done in an unobtrusive manner. Even his equipment was trim and elegant.

When he was working his focus was intense. I have several shots of him holding his camera over the crowd and aimed at the action. His view finder was swiveled towards his eyes. He never stepped in front of anybody to get a shot and he usually had the best angle or shot for the event.
He was the most quietly persistent in asking questions about tea. He may not have known as much about tea when he started the trip as Kevin Rose, but he learned more than anybody.

Glenn took to the Puer tea with his quiet intensity and also enjoyed experiencing the rare yellow tea Austin brought along from Seven Cups of Tea.

While business demanded that Kevin, Tim and Glenn leave the tour early for Beijing, Glenn was the most disappointed. He was enjoying the steep acceleration of his learning curve relative to tea. He always asked after a tasting, "Can I buy this?"

Welcome to your tea family Glenn. We all enjoy the learning process about tea. In China there is a saying, "You can study tea all of your life and never learn the name of one tea!"

That saying was popular before books, the Internet with Tea Adventure blogs and pros like Glenn showed up with cameras and audio devices to capture the information.

Drink your tea slowly and ponder how much there is to learn. With Glenn's help our learning can go more quickly.

Kevin Rose as a travel companion
Posted: July 15, 2009
Kevin garners a lot of attention in the online world. Traveling with him in the real world is a pleasant and intellectual experience Kevin also has a streak of mischievousness that comes sparkling out of his eyes when there is some fun to be had.

We had nonstop fun with Kevin, Tim and Glenn so I got to see that sparkle constantly.

I almost saw the sparkle bust into flames. I "innocently" bought fireworks; including under sized Roman candles and left them where the kids would find them.
They did and mild mannered Glenn shot a flaming ball past Kevin's ear and then accurately gave him a hot foot. I couldn't stop laughing and had to run as they turned on me.

Kevin has a deep knowledge of tea and added to it extensively on this trip. Kevin uses his camera gear well and in quiet moments he and Glenn played chess on a magnetic chess board.

The three Internet kids had to leave the tour early and go to Beijing for events with their Chinese fans. Kevin left behind a cheap Chinese cat clock that he bought in a delusional moment.

The remaining kids on the tour have named the cat clock Kevin and are taking Kevin's picture everywhere including fly swarmed squat toilets where the real life Kevin spent more time than the rest of us.

Kevin grew up in Las Vegas and received his eagle scout badge as did I. We both spent time with Suzzete of Peets Tea and Coffee. Being at the Specialty Tea Institute for our tea training. I informed Kevin that Suzette and he went to the same high school in Las Vegas, Vo-Tech
High. When Suzette is not training people for Peets she dances with a Korean tea society
Organized by my friend Yoon Hee Kim. I will see Yoon Hee in Kunming in two days as she flies back from tea buying in Korea.

It is a small world for the tea family.

Just when you think it can't get better.....
Posted: July 14, 2009
We visited an historic tea company and the most phenomenal tea field in China today.

The tea company is the Yunnan Dianhong Group, located in Fengqing county of the Yunnan province. It is referred to as "Dianhong" locally and around the world.

It is a tea that was presented to Queen Elizabeth in 1959 by the national government. It is the only black tea that is on the list of China's top ten teas.

The tea is exported to dozens of countries, including India where it is blended with Assam to add value and taste to English Breakfast tea. Even Lipton puts it in tea bags for the Chinese consumers. Lipton does not use the high quality Dianhong in the tea bags used in the U.S. markets.

It's history as an organization mirrors the transformation of modern China in the last seventy years.

It was founded in 1939 and became a state owned enterprise in 1950. In 1996 it became a limited liability company with five shareholders, with the state being the largest owner. By 2003 it has become a non-governmental company with sixteen shareholders.

They have 86 small tea factories throughout the region. We will walk about a mile in the morning to visit the closest one. These 86 small factories produce close to 10,000 tons of tea per year, much of it organic, much of it of the highest quality and all of it consistent.

These accomplished tea business people asked Austin for his papers on selling tea in the US markets. They were seeking advice on how to reach the U.S. and European markets.

Dianhong has their own tea research institute with several acres of tea fields with 200 different tea varieties from around China and other parts of the world

The amazing sight was one field of 71 rows of full grown tea bushes fifty bushes long. Each row was a different tea variety. They had large leaf bushes, small leaf bushes and and well known and rare bushes all in one place. All four of the varieties used for Tie Guan Yin were right next to each other; one of which is extremely rare and hard to find even in Taiwan.

These 71 rows were slightly more than one third of the tea varieties at the research facility.

China has three hundred varieties of tea. The rest of the world may have two.

We have so little time on this planet and so many teas to try.

Drink your a tea little more quickly; there are mysteries to discover and tea to be tasted.

Observations: Kevin Rose, Timothy Ferriss and Hippy Glenn
Posted: July 13, 2009
I have received a number of inquiries about the experience of traveling with three young celebrities: Kevin Rose the founder of Digg.com and the host of at least two weekly podcasts; Timothy Ferriss, the author of the best selling book "The 4 Hour Work Week", and the behind the scenes video and tech wizard, Hippy Glenn.

The two word description is: hilarious and illuminating.

I will start with illuminating. I use the word
illuminating because these three young men are intellectually engaged all of the time.

Tim, who by his own admission speaks seven or eight languages is always working on his language skills. He carries a box of cards with Chinese phrases that include not only the interpretation and the pronunciation, but the proper tones to be used in the phrase. He was very patient .
Tim also engages every Chinese person we meet in a conversation. He talks to the drivers, humble street people, tea farmers and dignitaries. When we are on the bus he sits with the translator and he practices his Chinese for hours.

Tim of course is bright, articulate and funny. He can entertain the entire table if that is needed but he can also listen and support a conversation when that is appropriate.

He sent the final hard copy edits to the revisions and update of his best selling book back to the publisher after he arrived in Kunming. So of course we all kidded him about "working" more than four hours in one week. His book has been translated into thirty five languages.

Tim is on a life long learning journey. While he may not see it in himself, I see the solid foundation of an adept and world leading diplomat. The Chinese love him and respect him.

Yes, he has the innate gifts, but most importantly, he is developing those gifts constantly.

Kevin Rose and Glenn will be discussed in the near future.

A rare glimpse into Puer making and a national challenge is issued
Posted: July 12, 2009
The bus passed through the gated walls into a sun lit compound of fruit trees, white washed three story buildings and shaded walkways. A full size basketball court was at the center of the compound and some of the young men stopped playing basketball to size us up as we got off the bus.

We were in the Cha Mashi Puer tea factory in Jinguu. In these refurbished buildings that employed hundreds of people and warehoused tens of millions of dollars of a wide variety of Puer tea we would witness the making of fine Puer.

We would also be asked to represent the United States in a game of basketball after the tour. The entire factory had been anticipating this game for over six months. This was the first we had heard of it.

Our host was the energetic Mr. Wang, owner of the tea factory and a survivor of the labor camps of the Cultural Revolution. It is his brother-in- law and marketing director Mr. Lu who has been our guide and introduction to all of the rare and private growers and processors of Puer throughout the region. The two men buy the raw leaves from the farmers and often hire their family members to work in the factory. These two men also provide scholarships to many of the students in this region to universities across China. Mr. Wang's connections from the labor camps are also invaluable.

The first process we witnessed was the making of Puer concentrate. Originally this concentrate was made only for the royal families and no one else. It is an art that had been lost in China for more than one hundred years. It has been recently revived by Cha Mashi.

The Puer is boiled in large vats and the concentrate is made in a way similar to a reduction sauce. It takes 400 pounds to make one pound of the concentrate. .
Austin is the only Westerner that has witnessed this process before we were introduced to it.
I was given several samples when I asked to have them chemically analyzed at the ChromaDex laboratory in Irvine, California.

We then watched the making of Puer bricks and cakes in an extremely clean, large and well lighted room. The smells are deep and complex and a little like the baking of a rich dark bread.
There were thirty workers loading, steaming, pressing, sizing and trimming the Puer.

It is then transported into a heated drying room where the humidity is being pulled out by a series of wall fans.
We did not witness the wrapping, packing or shipping of the Puer.

The workers also demonstrated the making of a 80 pound. "Royal Melon" of Puer. From the floor it reached up to the bottom of the pocket of my blue jeans

We were asked to help by beating on the canvas wrapped ball to keep the outside smooth as it was compressed. It was unwrapped as one part of the ceremony after the basketball game.

After the tour which included a review of the intense record keeping of the type of tea, the time and day of harvest and the weather conditions at harvest we were given a rare honor:
A pig roast.

A pig raised on the grounds ("organically" we were reminded) was butchered the morning of our arrival and barbecued for our private consumption in an immaculate wood paneled board room.

We then joined about a hundred workers for lunch in the dining room. After the customary toasts by our hosts and our return toasts, Austin lead us from table to table of the uniformed workers. He led us in toasting and honoring the all of the workers. He sincerely told them thy were the finest tea workers in the finest tea factory in China. They love the 6'5" Austin.

We returned at 5 pm for the game. A forty foot long red banner hung three stories over the basketball court proclaiming "China-US Friendship Basketball Game". Both teams signed the banner after the game.

The court was lined with spectators, the factory was now on a holiday. They cheered and applauded every basket made by either team and issued a collective "awww" at the near misses during the warm ups and the game!

Each side got our own referee with a whistle. A scorers table was set up and and operated by three young ladies.

The award ceremony after the game was longer than the game and very elaborate. We opened the Royal Melon, were each awarded a large and rare disk of Puer and signed the banner. Many, many pictures were taken

The factory team wore jerseys and t-shirts with Lakers insignia. We wore our street clothes. I wore sandals.

Each half was opened with a jump ball at half court.

Playing a full court game we called time outs just to catch our breathe. After all Austin will be 61 years young in a week, I am 56, Dr Dave is 47, Hippy Glenn is 37 and Tim the hockey player from Tucson is in his early thirties.

The other team appeared to be in their twenties. The guy wearing the Kobe Bryant jersey appeared to be unstoppable.

There were a lot of turnovers, stolen passes and one call against Dr. Dave for excessive show boating. He did thrill the crowd by a running high five of the spectators after hitting an acrobatic shot

The factory team had a capable athlete who was perhaps five feet tall and a hunch back. The crowd loved it when the 250 pound Austin guarded him.

Dr. Dave and Austin did the bulk of our scoring inside, Hippy Glenn nailed a beautiful three pointer and the Tim the hockey player carried our whole team with hustle, steals, blocks and points.

Our hosts stopped playing defense in the second half and let us think we were beating them on the fast break. We pulled away to win 27 to 24.
The five foot tall hunch back hit a shot over me. He scored, I did not.

Some things never change, even in China.

Chinese TV, Puer Science and mudslides
Posted: July 10, 2009
We are following a wild tributary of the Mekong River higher into the mountains. When the river permits it, rice paddies appear tucked into the nooks and crannies of the canyon.

But now the canyon walls are almost vertical. They are blanketed with tall, tall trees of differing varieties all battling each other to reach up to the now hot sun.

The road is littered with large rocks and mudslides. The earthquake, now a day old and 60 miles away, did not cause these conditions.

The rocks are the result of a road widening project. The rocks themselves are the size of a new washer and dryer set from Sears.

The rock piles block our lane; the mountainside lane. The bus bolts through the opening with the horn blaring.

We are in grand spirits. In the morning we participated in a hill top interview by a local Puer City television station. Austin is the star in this country. The news reporters present him with a new magazine with a long article about Austin and Puer tea . The mayor sends his greetings through the reporters. Austin is always gracious and humble. He says he is just a student of tea.
We then go to a too short visit at the Chinese Puer Tea Research Institute. We meet with scientists, researchers and academics. We beg for extra time in the rooms with the leaves of several hundred tea varieties displayed and classified scientifically. All of these leaves are used to make Puer tea. When these teas are blended, the permutations of different Puer teas are staggering.

We also reviewed and the unpublished research on the beneficial effects of Puer tea on the treatment of diabetes . The mildly beneficial attributes of green tea for diabetes has long been documented. These studies indicated an improvement in treatment from green tea's effect. The doctor in our group is amazed.

We were joined at dinner by an ethnic minority author. Her people left Tibet thousands of years ago and came south on the Tea Horse Trail. They live in the hillsides in the southern China area.

Their dialect is similar to present day Japanese which was the Japanese anthropologists studying them.

Their whole culture and spiritual grounding is centered around the fire that heats the water and the tea. Her people are extremely long lived and healthy. We will be meeting two 90 year old roof repairmen tomorrow.

The lesson?

Drink your tea; it will help you in this life.
It may also help us in the next one.

A day of contrasts in Southern Yunnan
Posted: July 9, 2009
We made our own Puer bricks today in a family owned tiny factory. We met the shy high school age daughter who was being scholarshipped to college by our Chinese host and guide.

We later hiked over the hill tops of the largest tea plantation in Asia.

The tiny Puer factory allowed us to shape the wet and steamed leaves into the circular disks. The steam is a lot hotter than the human touch can handle; so I am "updating" my facts from yesterdays discussion . We then stood on the stone press and performed the hula hoop dance to press the tea into the cake. And then put our cakes on the drying racks.

While waiting for our creations to dry sufficiently we sat on the traditional low stools around an elegant tea table that was more of a tree trunk than table and drank Puer from tiny cups. It was smooth, rich and aromatic reminding me of berries and flowers in high mountain meadows. We left and drove through the gates of the DoDuGong Tea Company, the largest tea fields in Asia.

Their tea fields are owned by the province of Yunnan. Private ownership of business is coming to China in an uneven fashion. We were told perhaps some day this would be privately owned, too.

We were told it is a 10,000 square meters in area. It was a beautiful. And grand sight. Imagine standing on foothills and gazing to a horizon with all that you see under a blue patched sky are elegantly curving rows of deep green tea plants.

Later in the board room of the plantations tea factory we discussed international tea trade issues. The factory itself is a large Soviet style concrete structure built in the early 1980's.

As we drank the marvelous black tea and high quality Puer and a common and widely popular green tea from this plantation with the senior management the talk turned to the lack of international access for Chinese teas.

The black tea in particular is superior to the tea that is enjoyed in the Middle East. This region of the world consumes 25 percent of the black tea produced in the world; yet the tea is inferior in flavor to what we were drinking in the heart of the largest tea plantation in Asia.

Although I have heard grumblings about international prejudice it is not that; it is both tradition and economics.

The international tea trade is controlled by the Indians, in particular businesses from India. The origin of this tea trade goes back to the colonial British tea industry that the Indians took over as the British left.

The Indians control the distribution to much of the worlds tea markets. The lowest cost producer is often the source of supply. On the world market, the lowest labor costs of this labor intensive agricultural product is Kenya and India. China's standard of living has made it the third lowest cost producer on a large scale. Viet Nam is also joining the tea world as a low cost producer, but still on a smaller volume.

The lowest cost producer does not always have the most flavorful tea for many reasons beyond cost; it is often knowledge that enhances the flavor

The long history of tea production techniques has made the Chinese tea workers some of the most skilled in the world. That knowledge shows up in the cup, whether it is a tiny family owned Puer tea factory or one of the largest commercial operations in China.

Posted: July 8, 2009
I stopped running down the red-dirt muddy road as my bus picked up speed and lengthened the distance between my group, my cell phone, my newly adopted tea family and my Chinese translators.

I was lost again in China. This time on a mountain dirt road in a vast jungle region in southern most China, close to the border of Laos.

I remembered a theme developed in the 1960's book, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." The theme was the dividing point between two generations: you are either "on the bus or off the bus". I was off the bus. And lost in China.

I didn't even have my Chinese tea jar with any smoothly rich Puer tea.

The Puer tea factories we had visited in the day took the mystery out of this sometimes most expensive tea in the world. It's production is elegant, simple and temperamental. It is enthralling to be in the aroma of this ancient and grounding smell. All of the Puer we tasted was blended to produce a distinctly original flavor. It is a marvelous experience. .
Puer has been produced in this region for thousands of years. The full leaves of the tea grown in this area are sun dried in the hot direct sun light for several hours. They turn black and gold, orange and richly brown even in the open air and sunlight the smell is rich, spicy and intoxicating.

The leaves are then steamed for perhaps thirty seconds, enough to make them pliable and wet. The steaming uses a low heat, somewhere near the heat of our bodies. This is a product that is not oxidized to produce the tannins for the flavors like other tea.
These teas are "composted". Great respect and care is taken to allow the microbes to work at their slow pace over years.

After the brief steaming they are wrapped in a cloth and shaped into a precise disc and then placed under a stone press.

This press is about forty- five pounds and shaped like a hat box with a handle on top. The workers stand on top of the press and perform a hula hip movement by transferring their weight in a circular motion on the top of the press. This all lasts about one minute. The stone sits on the cake for perhaps ten minutes and then is transferred to a drying rack. That is it.
Sorry to pierce the veil of hype and mystery surrounding this simple and elegant beverage. We have discussed the need for more knowledge and transparency about Puer. In the bubble years a lot of "mystique" was developed by speculators to fuel a market frenzy

As the tea drinkers of the world know the mystery of Puer and its limited production coupled with its ability to improve with age like a vintage wine caused a world wide bubble that burst here in Yunnan in the summer of 2006. The Wall Street Journal's American publication ran a story in October of that year still marveling at the rapidly rising investment value of Puer cakes. But the locals knew it was over. Their small warehouses and homes were packed with summer leaves and their were no more orders coming in from customers around the commodity trading world.

This bubble caused counterfeiters to produce average to harsh imitation Puer and flood the market. Fortunes were lost in these villages and in sophisticated warehouses as far away as Hong Kong and Paris. It is over now.

Sanity has returned to this normally niche market tea. Puer drinkers around the world are relieved and looking to their subtle favorites as the new releases are shipped to their markets. They also continue to age and appreciate their private collections of this ancient beverage.

I flagged down a motorcyclist and borrowed his cell phone. Austin found a Chinese friend with a truck and came back for me.

As we drove back to meet the group we took a short detour to look at an eight hundred year old tea tree. I asked permission to take a leaf. It is stored now in a Chinese poetry book.

Posted: July 7, 2009
We spent our first full day in China driving for a planned ten hours south from Kunming to just north of the border with Laos. We broke down in the old city of Puer and spent a charming afternoon and evening drinking rare Puer and dining in a garden restaurant with Ju An a lady poet who owns and runs both establishments.

Along the way we drove through lush mountains with ancient forests and red-tiled villages growing in the nooks and crannys of mountain river valleys. We tunneled through mountains dozens of times and marveled at the terraced tea rows on the steep hillsides disappearing into the white mists moving down the mountains.

We discussed the birth of modern tea, and the way we prepare and drink tea in the world today. It was a relevant discussion for many reasons including the contrast of the tea style we were emerging ourselves in which is more ancient and was left untouched by the controlling edict of the Ming dynasty in
1327.

That is the year the dynasty devastated the tea industry throughout most of China; and yet started a a 150 year transformation that brought all of the varieties of tea preparation, levels of oxidation and the wide variety of tea plants into a refined practice.

The Ming dynasty in a move to control and consolidate power throughout China banned the use of brick teas. The very teas we are enjoying here in the Yunnan province even as I write this.

The compressed green tea bricks had become currency throughout China and were escaping some of the forms of tribute payments to all of the levels of government, including the emperor.

In those unsettled years after that the northern Fujian province developed loose leaf green teas, oolong teas, black teas rolling and oxidation practices that the tea world enjoys today.

We enjoyed Puer tea at a roadside Puer tea shop run by a published lady poet. I shared with her my Kenneth Rexroth book of Chinese Women poets. With no common spoken language a certain respect for tea and poetry was established.

When we were preparing to leave she gave each of us a rare purple tea brick of Puer. She then signed the elegant wrapping around the brick.

Our ongoing discussion is do you dare drink this rare gift and if so, on what occasion?

Posted: July 6, 2009
I am in Kunming, China now as was described on the blog we spent our arrival day getting to know each other and drinking Puer tea in Mr Wu's tea shop.

The shop is a two story museum and warehouse all dedicated to Puer tea. Incredible discs, bricks and carvings of Puer are everywhere. The aroma is varied, complex, rich, deep and reminiscent of ancient lush jungles.

There is an antique horse cart that was used in the Tea Horse Trade Routes. This one was pulled up the rocky slopes and mountains into Tibet.

It is 4:30 in the morning here in Kunming. We cram into the bus at 8am.

The characters on the trip need to be introduced briefly.

Dave is a doctor and an inventor of medical products. He is soft spoken and drives a Harley. He lives in Tucson. Married and in his mid-fifties he is paranoid of mosquitoes.

Glen is another soft spoken late twenties guy. On the iNternet he is known as hippy Glen. It is more for his natural eating habits than anything else. He is the videographer for the two young celebrities.

Kevin Rose is one of the two young celebrities. He is the founder of Digg.com and well known for the two Internet broadcasts he does.
He grew up in Las Vegas but prefers not to mention that. He is tall with straight black hair and clear white skin. He is an easy going, matter-of-fact kind of guy. 950,000 people follow him on Twitter.

Tim Ferriss is the author of Four Hour Work Week. He is outgoing, speaks at least seven languages, including Chinese. He is blonde and muscular at 165 pounds and 5' 7".
He has competed in a variety of martial arts all of his life and has weighed as much as 225 pounds with very little body fat. His nose has been broken twice by others in these pursuits. He is funny, talkative and very humble. He mailed the edits to his new book last night and was greatly relieved to have that done. He is always asking questions and is often studying his language books or learning how to use somebody else's camera.

Austin is our leader. A slow talking 6'5" sixty year old. He is a seasoned traveler in China. His wife is Chinese and they have a 5 year old son. A book should be written on Austin.

Austin has two US based employees on the trip. His webmaster, Tim and his sales manager Christene. They are both friendly and quiet. They are comfortable with each other.

Today I will also spend time with Mr Wu, a Puer expert and Puer distributor. A Chinese college professor will be our translator and three Chinese reporters will be in the bus with all of our bags for this ten hour road trip. We have been warned about motion sickness.

Hi I'm Andy with Farmers Market Tea Company and I'm currently on a "Tea Adventure" in China that started on on March 20, 2009 to take a 2 week guided tour that will focus on traditional, handmade Chinese green tea. Zhuping will guide me through two green tea provinces – Zhejiang and An Hui – which are home to teas like An Ji Bai Cha, Long Jing, Liu An Gua Pian, Tai Ping Hou Kui, Huang Shan Mao Feng, and many other favorite green teas.

I will also be introduced to the tea masters who make the green teas and shown how the teas are harvested, produced, and judged for quality. Along the way I will be taking photos and videos to share my Tea Adventures with you. Please take a look at my adventure blog below.

Posted: March 21, 2009
The first day of spring we hiked into the mountains where the bamboo harvesters and tea pickers had never seen a Westerner. I was a marvel of tallness at 5'9".

We picked tea buds from the purple bamboo tea gardens along misty and rock hillsides. These are the tea plants discovered by Lu Yu who wrote the book Cha Ch'ing. This tea became a tribute tea, prepared only for the emperors and shuttled pony express style for ten days on dozens of horses and riders to the royal court.

The farmer laughed at the questions about fertilizers or pesticides. Many reasons prevent the use of non-organic means.

In a purely economic analysis they do not need to push their plants to produce. They only harvest for a six week period starting yesterday. Non organic fertilizer and pesticides cost money and these farmers have organic methods they have used for thousands of years.

They use chicken manure, rapeseed mulch and leaves for a lightly spread compost. The birds live in the bamboo and eat the bugs. The older leaves that will not be plucked on many of the tea bushes have bug bites. The last reason they do not use any chemicals is the reverence they have for the taste of the leaves. They visualize their tea crop being prepared for royal consumption.

Andy

Posted: March 22, 2009
Yesterday we traveled to tea gardens run by a Buddhist lady who we will see in a video in the next 36 hours. Here weather beaten workers-all women gently guided our hands in learning to pick just the fresh tea buds

We then drove into the mountains to visit the mother bush for Anji Bai Cha. This single bush is where all of the cuttings for this rare tea comes from. The mother bush has been guarded by the same family for thirteen generations and is considered a national asset.

The tea buds of this one bush are auctioned by the government to the highest bidder. The price is around 5,000 dollars for fifty grams. The tea buds, leaves or cuttings are never sold.

We hiked up a steep mountain gorge through an ancient village that looked vaguely Tibetan. The villagers gaped and giggled at us. After an hour of climbing past the village and through mountain side tea fields we came to an ancient home overlooking the mother bush.

We were served fresh tea, fruit and nuts on an ancient patio overlooking a roaring mountain stream and the mother bush.

The four of us were the only westerners the family had ever seen. As we left the family presented us with tea buds from the mother bush. These buds were from their private and secret holding.

We had nothing to offer in return but deep gratitude and tears.

We hiked back through the darkening mist in silence.

Andy

Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Yesterday we immersed ourselves in the several thousand year old history of Chinese tea ware. We spent the day in the Chinese center of pottery: Yixing.

I was taught about the often poetic, always serene message in the shape, color and feeling
of the tea pots.

My biggest revelation was what I learned about the Chinese respect for American potters. It surprised me. The American pottery thrilled me.

In the morning, after being served tea by a Yixing pottery master using her own tea ware worth many thousands of dollars we watched her create a simple tea pot from the rich and chocolate- creamy Yixing clay.

The clay was made popular by a crazy monk many thousands of years ago. It is rich in iron and holds the heat quite well. It takes decades of study with a certified master and competitive judgings to reach one of the three levels of a Yixing pottery master.

After the pottery making demonstration we walked to the Chinese National Pottery Museum. There were five floors; four of them dedicated to the master's creations of Chinese pottery styles. It was exquisite, yet all of the tea ware fell within clearly defined styles.

The last floor was the display of tea ware from around the world. It was dominated by American work. Clearly the Chinese are impressed by the comparatively wild, creative and colorful style of the American potters. Vibrant, beautiful, anything but subtle, it was astonishing.

I bought a large variety of Yixing pottery yesterday; but I dreamed about American pottery last night. I will be looking for the great American tea pottery artists when I get home.

Andy

Wednesday, March 25, 2008
We drove into the mountains with the tea scholar Da Cha. A slender and quiet man, he has dedicated his life to the study of tea saint Lu Yu and the worship of the teas Lu Yu popularized. Da Cha wore peasant clothing he made himself that replicated the clothing of Lu Yu.

We were traveling to the tomb of Lu Yu. Da Cha had contributed to the historical research
Verifying the location of Lu Yu's tomb.

We walked up slate steps for a quarter of a mile next to a
tumbling spring surrounded by bamboo forest. Tea fields draped the nearby hills

At the tomb of Lu Yu Da Cha placed a small embroidered cloth in front of the tomb. Upon the cloth he placed a copy of Lu Yu's book as it was written and bound over 1300 years ago. A celedon cup shaped from the time of Lu Yu was also placed on the cloth.

Da Cha placed a single tea bud in five tiny Yixing cups and the celedon cup He then poured water from the stream we walked past over the tea buds.

He handed the Yixing cups to each of us, the celedon cup was left for Lu Yu. We each bowed three times and then poured the tea in our cups at the base of the tomb.

Da Cha then reverently kneeled and gently poured Lu Yu's cup over the ground.

We left flowers at the base of the tomb. I left an apple given to me the day before by the Anji Bai Cha guardian family.

We drank tea nearby with Da Cha and he took notes of our conversations. It was a light-hearted but reverential tea conversation.

Thursday, March 26, 2009
We visited 73 year old tea master Tu Zhen Lin at his ancestral home on top of a mountain surrounded by four generations of his family and his tea fields
.
Tu Zhen Lin is one of the few remaining makers of yellow tea.
It is a disappearing art even in China.

The tea is called Mogan Huang Ya which means Mountain Yellow Buds.

Only one other westerner has ever visited his farm.

When we arrived after climbing a dirt road for thirty minutes we were surprised to see a Chinese television crew.
A portion of our visit was filmed for broadcast and several interviews were translated.

The early, limited harvest began the day before we arrived with six pickers. Next week there will be thirty pickers as the buds fatten and grow rich with flavor.

We watched as weathered women with hip baskets carrying the freshly picked tea buds lined up at a window outside of the tea "factory". The baskets were passed through the window and weighed by a hand- held counter balance. Another person recorded the names and weights. I took beautiful pictures of faces of the tea pickers waiting for the results of the weighing of their work.

The tea was then fired in large woks and then wrapped in a rough cotton cloth and placed on large wicker baskets that are above coal fires. It is this step that distinguishes this tea making from all other tea making processes. The roasting in the cloth wrapped bundles oxidizes the enzymes from the inside out. It reduces the bitterness and teases out the aroma

This process is repeated several times over a twelve hour period. Compared to a green tea this a much more timely and labor intensive process.

Under the masters hand this process will remove all of the astringency, bitterness, and grassy newness associated with even the smoothest of green teas. The master will produce a smooth and subtly sweet tea. It is good for at least seven infusions and is often best tasted at 130 degrees to 160 degrees. The tea takes on a yellow tint to the green colored buds .

This tea will be produced from late March through April 25. It is produced only for special orders.

After April 25 the tea buds are not as rich in flavor and will be used to make green teas. The government buys all of the green tea production from this farm. It is used for diplomatic gifts. .

There is fake yellow tea marketed around the world. It is green tea made in two hours to look yellowish green. A simple tasting will tell you. If there is a slight astringency or bitterness on any part of your tongue or palate it is not yellow tea. It will not feel as smooth when swallowed.

I tasted this tea against the very fresh and fine purple bamboo tea. It was a remarkable difference. It is a tea to be enjoyed in quiet reflection when your full concentration and appreciation can be given to the tea.

We dined in the farm house with the family. When we left we were given 50 grams of yellow tea; made that day. An exceptionally rare gift. The family hopes the world will learn about yellow tea and appreciate their art and craft. I do.

Friday, March 27, 2009
"Tea reminds us we are from the same family. Always find your local tea family wherever you are. Learn their customs, drink their teas and get to know your family better. "

Luo Shaojun
Director
Senior Tea Taster

National Center of Quality Supervision and Inspection of Tea

We spent several hours with Mrs. Luo and I sat as her guest of honor at dinner. She is the most senior tea person in China and arguably the world.

In addition to spending almost 50 years studying tea professionally around the world including extremely hostile locations she developed and oversees the quality controls for all of the tea production in China. She also trains and certifies tea judges from around the world.

Mrs. Luo is the Chinese representative to the International Standards Organization (ISO). She has visited the food regulatory agencies in all western countries except Canada. She spent 45 days at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She plays on the worlds stage.

A charming and extremely personable woman she deserves more discussion than I will enter at this time. As informed tea person and lecturer I learned some important safety issues about Chinese tea that I need to focus on for this post.

Mrs. Luo has local and regional government tea inspectors throughout the country. They perform ongoing reviews and unannounced on-site audits. They have significant regulatory authority to close operations. Stiff fines are the most used regulatory incentive.

Once a year her agency
Submits their findings to the central government. The government the publishes the report and the local media pick up the details of violators in their area.

Mrs. Luo's agency tests for chemicals; they monitor compliance on expiration dates, weight and marketing claims and quality of the tea.

Mrs. Luo told me every year they cite 10 per cent of the tea companies for violations. Rarely is in the area of foreign substances in tea. She stated tea is by far the safest Chinese food product.

We pressed her with concerns we had about the human contact we see see with the tea leaves during tea manufacturing. She understood our concerns and recounted stories of test her agency had run with many viral and biological contaminants purposely and in high volume added to the tea. She reported the tea polyphenols killed all of the contaminants. She added the heating process in tea preparation and even the hot water also purifies the tea liquor prior to consumption.

Saturday, March, 28, 2009
I will now provide a little background on this most interesting figure on the world tea stage; more of the story of Luo Shaojun needs to be told.

Mrs. Luo's father was a doctor and chancellor of an important medical school in the Zhejiang province. Her uncle was a famous herbalist.

As a physician, her father learned some of the medicinal value of tea from farmers when he was hiding from the Japanese after the invasion.

These farmers saved his life by teaching him to survive by eating only tea leaves and water. Many others perished of starvation during these times.

The farmers also taught him to treat skin abrasions, cuts, rashes and infections with tea leaves and a concentrated tea solution. A mild solution of tea water for washing the eyes was also taught to Mrs. Luo's father.

He learned to purify water with just tea leaves when it was too dangerous to light a fire to boil water.

Mrs. Luo thinks the world does not yet recognize the medicinal benefits of tea. She sincerely asked that we pay more attention to all of the medical findings being published
and consider the 4,000 year history of tea in China. She reminded us of all of the herbal remedies developed and successfully used in China that tea," Camellia Sinensis", is the widest used remedy, the safest and the most effective for a wide variety of ailments. With a giggle she said it tastes better than all the other stuff, too

She then handed me a copy of a published research article. It was published in English and her agency had translated it to Chinese for internal review. It was a research article from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

The title was "White Tea-A New Cancer Inhibitor" by Roderick H. Dashwood.

She concluded her medicinal discussion by informing us that China has the lowest amount of per capita depression in the world and in her opinion, wide spread tea consumption is the reason.

One of Mrs. Luo's recent tea judge graduates then joined us. A solid and serene man, he was from Tibet and the only person in his class of international students to pass the tea judging test. It had taken him three years of study

Mrs. Luo asked him to describe the uses of tea he had grown up with in Tibet.

The Tibetan (we never caught his name) told us about feeding used tea leaves to the yaks in winter. It prevented an oral disease that many yaks would contract over the winter and was an additional source of food for the animals.

In the summer they feed the used tea leaves to the horses. He says it makes the sweat of the horses much less pungent smelling. With a twinkle in his eye he recommended we introduce this to the American cowboys. We all got a good laugh from him.

The Tibetan wrapped us his comments with a widespread saying from Tibet and China, " If I miss tea for one day I am stupid. If I miss tea for three days, I am sick."

Monday, March 30, 2009
Teacher of the Tea People

We have spent two days in the historic Yellow Mountain district as guests of seventy year old tea master Wang Fangsheng.

He has won 56 awards and many titles. The humble tea farmers christened him with the title, "Teacher of the Tea People".

We interviewed and drank his teas in his antique-filled tea shop in the historic shopping district of Huangshan City. It is a square mile of walking access only shops with the buildings ranging in age from 100 to 300 years old.

Later we trekked through a village that straddles a mountain stream and up a two mile mountain trail of slate stones to visit the closest tea garden in Mr. Wang's family and the tea factory.

Along the trail we passed a memorial to all of the Chinese soldiers and farmers lost in the Japanese occupation. Mr Wang pointed to an area of very old and large tea bushes that were often used by the farmers to hide from the invaders

His "ancestors" searched for the very best ridges to grow high mountain tea. The ridges need excellent soil and good sun exposure and a wide variety of plants and crops nearby. I think they had an eye for scenery, too.

The farmers lunch was a variety of fresh vegetables, eggs and tea all of it grown within 100 yards of the rustic table we dined on. The rice was grown in the valley below and carried up by tea pickers.

Mr. Wang has invented many styles of tea. One of his teas is the youngest tribute tea given to foreign governments. The other tribute teas are hundreds of years old
.
Mr. Wang prominently displays a picture of Vladimir Putin receiving the four tribute teas from the previous Chinese chairman. That gorgeous set is now on display in a Russian museum. The sister set was brought out of Mr. Wang's vault and shown to us.

Mr. Wang is best known outside of tea circles for his invention of display teas in 1986.

He has fashioned close to three hundred beautiful, creative and very drinkable display teas. Hundreds of industry people have studied his techniques. The Chinese, Japanese and Koreans pre-order and buy almost all of his creations. The Japanese call him "The Father of Display Tea".

He asks that we all call him, "friend".

He also asks that all of the readers of this blog come and visit with him

He is sincere in his invitation.

Mr. Wang is a fifth generation tea maker and perhaps the most highly decorated tea maker we have met.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The Queen's Tea

We visited two Keemun tea factories today. Both organic; one large and one small.

We tasted hand-crafted and machine processed teas. The hand-crafted leaves were dark and slightly curly; the machine processed leaves were more flat and uniform in shape. The machine processed tea is more in demand throughout the world due to the shape of the leaf. The hand made tea was mellower, richer and more desirable to an American palate that does not use milk or sugar.

The aroma is reminiscent of orchids and roasting chestnuts. The flavor has a full mouth flavor, rich and malty.

The color is a deep red when it is finished brewing. The deep red means there are many tea buds imparting a high amount of amino acids to give the red color.

Keemun (Qi Meng) is a milder black tea than Yunnan or the Indian Assam teas used to make the popular English and Irish breakfast blends.

Queen Elizabeth visited this area in 1986 and drank these teas. Every April and May large quantities are shipped to the Royal family.

We could not visit the nearby tea gardens; the Chinese National army was on maneuvers in the area. No foreigner is allowed to be close.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009
China's Most popular Tea

Outside of the tallest pagoda in China in the surrounding mountains lies the village and hillside tea gardens of Dragonwell, where China's most popular tea has been produced for hundreds of years.

The emperor's original eighteen tea bushes are on display there, remenants of the Qing dynasty.

We spent the rainy afternoon with 79 year old Dragonwell tea master Meng Shang Ye as he panfired some freshly picked dragonwell leaves and buds from the tea fields we had walked through just a few minutes before.

Mr. Meng explained Dragonwell tea is a richer tasting green tea than the most Chinese green teas. It consists of pickings of two leaves and a bud. This extra tiny leaf adds a deeper dimension to the flavor. The logo for my company, Farmers Market Tea is a classic representation of a Dragonwell tea leafn (two leaves and a bud)before it has been pan fired. Many of the lighter flavored teas use just the bud and the single leaf.

Dragonwell tea has its' own fragrance. Some people smell a roasting chestnut aroma while others think of a pleasant aroma from a country kitchen roasting beans with a charcoal kiln.

Whatever the fragrance you perceive it will take four infusions to experience the broad flavor profile of a well crafted Dragonwell. In the first infusion there will be a slight sweetness. The second, third and fourth infusion will deliver a full moith feel that you can taste down to your throat. That is the true taste of Dragonwell. A good Dragonwell will leave its flavor with you for 30 minutes.

They say it takes a few months to get to know Dragonwell; after that you have made a friend for life. The Chinese compare it to a mysterious, intelligent woman. Her finer points are not apparent to the casual observer, but her beauty develops over time to those that take the time to know her.

The most highly desired and expensive Dragonwell is picked from early April through April 20th. The second most desired Dragonwell is harvested through the first week of May.
Dragonwell picked after that time has all of the depth and mystery of flavor but it may not be as rich because of the effect of the declining rain after that time.
It keeps well for a year

Incidentally, we were interviewed for Beijing television while chatting with the wizened tea master.

Sunday, April 5, 2009
Happy Tomb Sweeping Day!

Today, April 5th is a significant day in the tea world and a national holiday in China. It is the first day of the month "Qing Meng".
It is the day that families reunite and visit their ancestor's burial sites and clean them up, pray, offer fruits (always oranges, they represent good luck) and flowers and have a great time eating, getting caught up and drinking tea.

It is a significant day for China and the rest of the world because it is when the tea pickers are hired from all of the surrounding villages and tea picking is started in earnest. Often the rains have subsided and the freshest, richest and largest tea buds of the season are harvested during the fifteen day month of Qing Meng. The prices also reflect the desirability of the tea harvested in this time frame; it is much more expensive.

The farmers work with a twenty four season calendar, each season lasting about 15 days. The season that preceded Qing Meng is called Jin Zhe, which means "spring thunder" and is an apt description of the rainy days we have been traveling through prior to Qing Meng. The next 15 day month after Qing Meng is called Gu Yu and the quality and the price of the tea remains high through this month also. After Gu Yu, the tea is considered less desirable, still wonderfully drinkable, but certainly less expensive. Freshness counts as does the month your tea was picked in.

Incidentally, the reason we were interviewed three times by television stations in China was because Qing Meng was coming up and they were pre-recording footage for broadcast today. So, in visiting what are considered extremely small, remote, hand- crafted tea producers still run by family trained tea masters they were quite amazed to find us, the westerners. They were also quite pleased: it gave their stories a different angle and proved a not-so subtle point the broadcasters were trying to make. That point was that modern Chinese are losing their appreciation and interest in the art of hand -crafted teas.With Westerners like us enjoying, studying and being very appreciative of their native gift to the world, it helped to prove their point.

I have a confession to make at this point. While it is April 5 in the Western Hemisphere, it is not in the the country of China. China is at least 15 hours ahead of the Western Hemisphere.

Drink your old tea and prepare to pick up some fresh tea plucked during Qing Meng and Gu Yu. It is worth the price.

Andy