Ridin' the tidal tea wave~

The past couple of days at Harney & sons have been great. As you all know, I am a human being behind the counter in the tea tasting room. First and foremost, I would like to say that I am passionate about my life. I love my world, I love my people, I love each breath that I take. The privilege that I have is beyond words and cannot be expressed over this computer... It is an honor to be able to delve deeper and deeper into who I am just to share that with people.

In meeting Wendy I will be able to truly express to you a small fragment of the passion I have for tea and people. She was a woman in her fifties, wide-open green eyes, a couple of necklaces that exuded spirit, love, and trust. She was wearing loosely fitting clothing and she had a glow on her that was undeniable.

"Hey there! How are you doing today?"
"I am doing very well, and yourself?"
"I am well, very well." after saying this, I looked deeply into her eyes but not penetratingly. I looked at her more with a sense of knowing because I knew that we were playing on common grounds. She knew my spirit, and to an extent I knew hers.

From there we tried different teas. We tried a second flush Darjeeling named Selimbong. Before the June monsoons there's a brief set of showers that kicks off the second flush season in May. These teas naturally have lighter bodies than most typical black teas.

Typical black teas in my opinion are what most people would consider black tea blends with more oomph, Irish or English blends, Assams, or Chinese black teas. In comparison to these other black teas there's shorter oxidation period... they also go through a hard withering process... also going through a short firing period, I believe.

Second flush darjeelings are known for their Muscatel qualities, conveying the muscat grape taste. There's a gentle floral pucker, an astringent factor that leaves you happy in your mouth. This pucker ought to not be confused with bitterness. Either people really consider that to be bitter or do not know how to differentiate a bitter tea from a tea with a gentle pucker which is what a second flush Darjeeling will do to you.

Or maybe peoples' lack of vocabulary plays an issue in this because they don't know what other words would describe this taste.

In Michael Harney's book which is about to come out, he mentions that Berdnt Wulf says to buy a tea that makes you happy, that makes you smile.

When I went to Hamburg to meet up with Marcus Wulf, his son, he told me the same thing.
"Hillel, does this tea make you happy?" "Are you left with a smile?"
If this is so, this is the tea for you. If you are unhappy, or not ecstatic, why buy the tea?

I was talking to Wendy about these gentle qualities... every time she looked at me she conveyed such tenderness. She just went through some Shamanic healing seminars at Omega. The shamans deeply explore themselves, one must understand why they judge... or why some people make them unhappy. Maybe it's not the person, maybe it's in you? Of course it's in you...

We are all beautiful people and we just be privileged to deal with our issues... our problems... our fears... and we should treat all of these things with such tenderness and acceptance.

If we could realize that we're all mirrors for one another. We reflect all of our deficiencies and proficiencies off of one another. If you look at me, you are looking in me, and you should see yourself in me. The universal common thread of mankind.

This is so basic, and she and I shared this so powerfully.

Later on in the day, I tasted tea with a couple, Bob and Janine. They were Quakers from Pennsylvania. I was happy to know that they were for Obama. They owned a coffeehouse in Pennsylvania in a very blue collar conservative town. A lot of the people in the area frowned upon their political affiliations, but that doesn't stop them.

Bob seemed really at peach with himself. He went through heart surgery a year ago. No fear in this guy, no fear.

We tasted some Wuyi Shan Lapsang... a lightly smoked Chinese black tea with an elegant sweetness that makes you so happy. This smokiness is welcoming and softly coats your mouth with a very sweet and gamy feel.

Pretty soon pictures will be going up. Cheers.