Absolute Tea

Scouring for Savory Articles

I've been searching the web for articles about tea ceremonies involving teapots recently and found this site. It has very little about ceremony practices, but it is a great introduction and history on how teapots came about. What prompted me to go searching in the first place was from looking at a gift I had received a few weeks back. It was a ceremonial teapot set that is used in China. It has the tiniest cups I've ever seen. They look like shot glasses, except for tea.

My friend Hui Yi, or Alicia as she is known here comes from Malaysia and I believe she got the gift for me directly from China. So if you're reading this Alicia, thanks again. It's one of the cooler gifts I have gotten.

In the pictures below you can see just how tiny everything is. I wouldn't steep the tea in this pot, but instead pour the tea into it when you are ready to serve. The traditional way would be to use a Yi-Xing teapot to steep the loose leaves, then drink directly from the spout.








Ceremony Article

After many dead ends I found the perfect Chinese Tea Ceremony article that I was looking for. It says everything that I would want to know about what is sacred to China tea culture. The article is well written and details how the Chinese appreciate tea. "A Chinese tea ceremony is more about the tea than the ceremony", as quoted from the article says so much. They believe in fully enjoy tea for all its aesthetic properties, such as smell, taste, sight, and even the meditative feelings you can achieve by focusing your mind on the tea - living the tea. It's quite a beautiful thought to know that you can enjoy something so deeply.

I would love to partake in a ceremony led by a true tea master, but I don't think I'm going to find too many up here in the Northwoods of Minnesota.

posted by Michael at 6:18 AM