The dry leaf resting patiently in my Gaiwan is now doused with water. I will await with anticipation for what I am about to indulge in. I am cloaked in a Big Red Robe this evening. The wonderful tea of Wuyi. The first cup is soft and fruity with the distinctive Wuyi flavor. The second cup is alive. It’s bursting with flavors. Judging by the leaves it will get even better. Does anyone else like to smell the empty cup? I have noticed some incredible nuances from doing this. The vapors linger in the cup leave an indelible mark. Cup #3 has that copper electric sensation that is beyond unique. The tea is still fruity and luscious. I can see how this tea cured whatever ailment the emperors wife had. Cup #4 seems to have the mineral flavor. The mountains. The metal has faded to rock. It also seems to be the most eye opening of the four. I am enjoying this while watching the premier on Chinese TV about " The Flowers of War ". I love how tea enhances everything….
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PS. Geoffrey your comment in the Imperial Breakfast made me thirsty for this….
I think I’ll have to drink some of it tomorrow myself.
Drinking this exquisite beauty right now, as my end of day treat. I am enfolded in velvet, sitting by the fire, and this tea has senormous Cha Qi for me tonight. I have nether velvet robe nor hearth in my apartment, but the tea has invoked them fully in my mind. Is it the strange December rain outside? Is my teapot very happy with me? Is it some kind of grace that moved my hand in measured preparation of the tea this time? Tonight this tea is special, and revealing it’s most beautiful face for me. What can explain this moment? …
an unseen peak,
always shrouded in clouds,
for one night, among 300 others,
can be clearly seen in the moonlight.
why?
Tonight this tea is perfect and matchless for me, and tomorrow what will become of this sweet memory. I’m not a Buddhist, but I think of a poem whose sentiment I can appreciate most clearly night now:
The roaring waterfall
is the Buddha’s golden mouth.
The mountains in the distance
are his pure luminous body.
How many thousands of poems
have flowed through me tonight!
And tomorrow I won’t be able
to repeat even one word.
(Su Tung-P’o via Stephen Mitchell)
This is what tea has done to me tonight. Consumed me!
Bravo. Only the truly great ones will consume us. When they do we should truly seize the moment….
PS. Geoffrey your comment in the Imperial Breakfast made me thirsty for this….
I think I’ll have to drink some of it tomorrow myself.
Drinking this exquisite beauty right now, as my end of day treat. I am enfolded in velvet, sitting by the fire, and this tea has senormous Cha Qi for me tonight. I have nether velvet robe nor hearth in my apartment, but the tea has invoked them fully in my mind. Is it the strange December rain outside? Is my teapot very happy with me? Is it some kind of grace that moved my hand in measured preparation of the tea this time? Tonight this tea is special, and revealing it’s most beautiful face for me. What can explain this moment? …
an unseen peak,
always shrouded in clouds,
for one night, among 300 others,
can be clearly seen in the moonlight.
why?
Tonight this tea is perfect and matchless for me, and tomorrow what will become of this sweet memory. I’m not a Buddhist, but I think of a poem whose sentiment I can appreciate most clearly night now:
The roaring waterfall
is the Buddha’s golden mouth.
The mountains in the distance
are his pure luminous body.
How many thousands of poems
have flowed through me tonight!
And tomorrow I won’t be able
to repeat even one word.
(Su Tung-P’o via Stephen Mitchell)
This is what tea has done to me tonight. Consumed me!
Bravo. Only the truly great ones will consume us. When they do we should truly seize the moment….