The original intent was to create a friendly open space to relax, a place where people could:
* visit with friends,
* sit and read a book,
* hear the gentle sound of fountains
Yet something was missing. Beverages?...a beverage that incorporates water, is simple to make/serve and divine to enjoy!
With these simple yet profound mental ruminations the idea for serving tea was born. “Tea Garden!” exclaimed our fearless leader and the rest is pretty much history.
Tea of the Month Club
This months tea is Silver Tip Puerh. This particular puerh tea along with 5 others available at East West comes from Bana Tea Company. Bana tea company was started by Linda Louie in late 2008 and is an online company dedicated to finding and sharing the best puerh tea available. Linda works with a tea master in Yunnan, China whom she hand picks puerh teas with for sale here in America.
Silver tip puerh is a bit of an anomaly in a very good way. Whereas the finest tippy tea buds are usually plucked and used solely for silver needle white tea, in this scenario those same silvery buds are hand picked and undergo a series of withering and drying cycles and eventually compressing, just as the larger leaf teas from ancient trees do, to become puerh tea. The end result is a unique tea that expands our vistas and ordinary concepts of what tea really is.
When I tasted this tea for the first time it made me reconsider everything that I thought I knew about tea previously. Silver tip puerh has a sweet taste of dried fruit particularly apricot an unmistakable aroma of wet straw and an unusual smell of cocoa once cooled in the wén xiāng bēi or tall snifter cup.
Taste is one thing when drinking tea but we mustn't forget about the spiritual component. We can relate to this in a number of ways including how the tea makes us feel and what state of consciousness we leave the tea table in.
People often comment about the qi of a particular tea. Even if we are not 100% aware of it, tea itself carries with it potential energy; and when carefully brewed, shared and prayed over, tea imparts its qi or potential energy unto us manifesting as joy, love or really whatever is needed at the moment. Either way, whether alone or amongst company we always get the sense that a good friend has just come over to pay us a visit.
It’s been my distinct pleasure to help bring the Tea Garden into manifestation; this of course couldn’t have been accomplished without the help of many hands and hearty souls. The best part of my service here is to educate others about tea, and to share tea with our customers.
The Tea Garden is also been home to a monthly tea club that meets every first Sunday of the month to experience brewing and enjoying tea in the Chinese style - gonfu cha - which inspired my love for tea in the first place. I encourage customers to bring in teas from their own tea circles so that they can try them with the gonfu cha method and possibly learn a whole new way to brew.
I also get to work with a lot of local companies and suppliers for the products - which are much more than just tea, i.e. cookies, tea ware and literature. My hope is that all who come to the bookshop, whether they care for tea or not, will find the Tea Garden a welcome sanctuary for rest, relaxation and comfort. Joy 2 U
