A flow westward out of one of the most precision oriented cultures of the leaf to a tiny corner (and an old home of mine) in southwestern China, where the leaf is still at times an imprecise thing of random beauty. Japan gives way to Yunnan. Teas with a time and a moment give way to teas with an unpredictable possibility of brilliance. A last blast of Gyokuro and its Umami before the flight west Those taints of Umami still rolling around like a veritable memory within and upo

Every single year on the tea foraging and sourcing missions I go on, there is a tea that – for any number of reasons – I miss out on acquiring. Here, I’m speaking about good teas that ‘hit’ me. The qi is there, the liquor carries some bite, and the mineral depth of the flavours over infusions seems to evolve. These teas more often than not, come into my sphere (and onto my palate) by simply being in the tea zones – a bit of good grace by being able to immerse myself in source

The Tibetan term ‘gtum mo’, pronounced “Tummo” refers to the tantric tradition of meditation that summons or produces heat and a kind of blissful warmth within the body. It is a kind of yogic heat, which is attained through a practice that involves hyperventilation and visualization and it is one of the many practices of these mountains. One of the many gifts that they eyes can feast on in Mustang. Perception and perspective are everything. Living with elements that aren’t si

Puerh – The Forest Journeying back into Yunnan’s Xishuangbanna for a later than usual annual immersion into Puerh sourcing, learning and into the clay-heavy heartland of Puerh cultivation. Joined on this journey by Sofie Vercauteren who has been on a months’ long set of immersions into teas’ people, their methods, and into the zones where the glorious green stimulant grows. There is much around Puerh in particular that is linked to the land and this trip reveals some of those

The little cedar hand-crafted box had been brought by a friend Tomoyo from Japan and had been waiting to be opened for months. Tidy and scented, the box had remained in a room close to cakes of Puerh, leaves of Darjeeling and Oolong; a room devoted to leaves. Tomoyo had mentioned that I must indulge in one of the green gems of her homeland, Japan. Gyokuro green tea grown near Uji is for many of the island nation the tea that one waits for every Spring. Made from a different c

Looking forward to this little tea infused event hosted by Museum of Tea and Floating Mountain in New York City. Director Andrew E.M. Gregg (aka “Legs) and myself will be calling in to chat and sip about our film, The Tea Explorer. Event information is here as well as contact info and address. Reservations are recommended. A particularly good Matcha will be served up in a stunning space filled with the memories of the Tea Horse Road, the eternal leaf, and the wonderful charac

Snow has that wonderful natural ability to paint big swaths white, and slow everything down to a trickle. “Cooperate or perish” say many Himalayan inhabitants of the natural elements and their forces. Snow and Puerh seem an ideal way to begin! The little tea that did from one of our favourite mountains, Bulang Mountain Sheng Puerh. And so, things slowed in Toronto for this most edition of the Toronto Tea Festival, amidst snow that came in delicious diagonal chunks from above.

Sometimes there are simple choices rendered simple. Long travel hours and days with bags, different rooms, and tents where the senses are happily blasted this way and that…different wake up views and different water supplies all contribute to making tea selections for journeys, relatively ‘simple’ affairs. Simple only because for whatever reasons, the teas I pack are inevitably honed down the same 3….out of a choice of dozens. There are enough variables without making the cru

Thought I’d be remiss if I didn’t bow the head to a quiet mentor of mine in the tea world during this International Tea Day. Master pan-fryer, mentor and creator of teas that are sold a year in advance of their production, Mr. Gao from Lao Banzhang uses his gentle genius to fry…and he alone can fry his coveted harvests. One of the coveted harvests with the master. A vital stage that should be coaxed and handled by magic hands, the panning of leaves remains one of the key stag

A local with a freshly unveiled ‘tong’ coming out of its bamboo home. The round cylinder of compressed Puerh, known in southern Yunnan to many as “Zhu tong” pays tribute to an ancient and often forgotten form of Puerh tea. While cakes, balls, discs, bricks and ornately shaped tribute teas – including the melon shaped tribute teas – all circulate and are still largely available but there is another, ancient compressed mold that has largely disappeared from view. In this cylind

Tea covers and stretches across entire hillsides of the province of Hubei and yet I’ve never been. While I’d heard of the teas, none I had sipped had led me to come to this east central province. One of the origins of the Han people, and lodged in the mid-levels of the Yangtze River, Hubei is a place that has long been a collection point for practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Botanicals abounded in these spaces in nooks and pockets and the far west of the province

We’re delighted to announce that our documentary film The Tea Explorer film is getting an additional airing on Sunday Sept, 10th at 9 pm ET/10 PT on CBC’s Doc Channel in Canada. Best taken with a cup of leaves and water in close proximity to the hand. I’ve been hearing from people in the US about the film being shown on AWE tv as well. Below a couple of the inspiring characters when telling the story of the Tea Horse Road. Mother of Ajo of Litang and known to many as simply a

“Forget about worrying about age. Forget it! If a tea isn’t made well, it isn’t going to become better. It is just going to age”. Teacher, Provocateur and wonderful palate for all things tea…at work in one of his many playgrounds: the Bulang Mountains One of the many voices that have counselled and often chided me comes from Mr. Li from Guangdong. Buyer of exceptional teas throughout China for collectors for decades, he runs a teashop that specializes in teas that are simply

Love when the word ‘conversation’ is used instead of Interview. Had a wonderful ‘conversation’ with the eloquent Ruhani Sandhu of Rangsaa and Love for Teas about our upcoming Tea Explorer documentary film. No conversation in recent times could be had without referring to one of my very favourite people, Konga. Here a moment during one of our own conversations about the days of tea trade in Lo Manthang, Mustang, Nepal. The conversations ( Part 1 here) touched on some of the mo

Tea ends up in nuggets and in twisted desiccated things of tangy beauty. Cakes and compressed forms line shelves and delicate curled buds are unveiled out of boutique bags and wrapping. It ends up with names and tales scarcely believable at times. Lifting the leaves so that they untangle and separate, post-frying. There is a stage almost never mentioned in the processing of teas, and particularly in Puerh production. It is a simple stage that needs hands, a bit of time, and i

Worlds of tea exist in twisted semi-fermented forms, flat green shapes and black beetle bits. Formats, ferments, withering, fries and dries and even the all-too-often mentioned colour designation at times drag some of the thought around tea into a place of too-much. A Hani harvester balances within the arms of an ancient tea tree in southern Yunnan. The spelling, phonetics, and even the often disagreed upon geographic designations bring into focus how tea has lost some of the

“Discussions about a specific tea should be left until during and after the sipping and too many words simply lead one to question the speaker”. – Ms. Lu, Tea Master – Kunming Pu erh in its ripe or ‘Shou’ version. Artificially aged with bacteria and humidity. Shaped teas were and still are common in the Pu erh world, though not all Pu erh is formed or moulded. There is always time for a little ‘destruction’ when too much mystification takes hold. This applies to everything fr

More of the precious from 2015. A final Ascent…An End and the New Beginnings A morning snow, A Lao Banzhang Leaf, A Mountain Steward, A timeless Trader, and A Tea Mantra for all-time. Camp Bharal. Our 4,635-metre base camp rests in an small valley surrounded by snow peaks and powerful serenity. Within those peaks the rare Bharal (Blue Sheep) wander and graze, and when they are present, their ancient hunters, the snow leopard, can be found. Our horseman, who knew these valleys

Flights can anesthetize one from a full-on experience at times (however brutal that experience might be) and so it is that the journey that Frank and I take from China’s east coast to Yunnan’s capital of Kunming in the deep southwest of the country. We arrive, somehow having crossed a great span of much of China with little of the chaos, personality, or feel of the space that we cross. No trains, errant taxi’s, or delays somehow either and though slightly welcome the authenti

Financial Times reviews (after significant sipping) our JalamTeas’ Tea of the Month Club offerings…and loves them. Sampling our rare Purple Leaf and the vibrant Bada Mountain Unfermented Puerh, the writer mentions that , “…the tea’s backstory was every bit as enchanting as its taste”. Read the full story here #Puerh #JalamTeasTeaoftheMonthClub #ChinaTea #Yunnantea #BadaMountain #JeffFuchs #puer #PurpleLeaf #BadaMountainUnfermentedPuerh #Jalamteas