Recently, I completed the final practical exam for the Dilmah Certified Tea Master Certificate program via Dilmah’s School of Tea. It was a self-paced, diverse and interesting program which provides great value for money. The final practical exam involved presenting a tea inspired food or drink.
To watch my presentation please visit my VillaTempest Youtube Channel. If you’d like more details about the recipe and my thoughts behind it, you can read it on my VillaTempest Blog. All in all, I am happy to have done the program and to have successfully completed it. Recommended.
Well, it’s more than I can “bear.” 🤪 Meet, “Charlie,” the Harrod’s Bear. At first look I thought he was made from watermelon, but no: strawberry compote and sponge.
Cute little bugger all the same. You can see him at the newly opened Harrod’s Tea Rooms, in Shanghai’s prestigious and historic, “Cha House.”
Today I met Manqing Lee, one of the two ladies who founded Gurung Natural Himalayan Teas Initiative, which supports poverty alleviation and empowerment in Nepalese Villages.
It was a fascinating talk ranging from Nepal to Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mailand China. I also tried three of their herbal, “Ayurvedic” teas and my favorite turned out to be the Turmeric, Ginger, & Camomile tea: I found it to be lightly spiced and well balanced flavour-wise. Most enjoyable.
If you get the chance try their teas and support their initiative to empower people to improve the quality of their lives. #TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá, #Tea, #茶, #Chá.
Today I launched my Tea Blog under the name, “茶笔 Chá Bǐ – The Tea Pen.” For quite some time it has been operating under the functional name of #TodaysTea but my aim for the blog is for it to be more than just a collection of Hashtag postings.
So, What is The Tea Pen? Writing and Tea have gone hand in hand through out the ages. Great Sages have waxed lyrically about the qualities of tea, with both Brush and Pen.
I ain’t no great sage, but I do have thoughts on and around tea, and as a mindfullness action, it is a mode of focus to use the same”Pen” to write down my thoughts on tea. However, this is the digital age and the “Pen” is all but extinct.
When I look at the way I first draft my thoughts, I scribe those thoughts with my index finger on the touchscreen of my phone. My finger is my pen, and it is a little short and thick… chubby, you might say…
Sound, like the flow of water from the kettle, and the fall of tea leaves into a tea pot, (ASMR) leads us towards an engaged mental state. Say it slowly, “chu..bbi…” …Chá …Bǐ… The sound Chá (茶) in Chinese speaks of “Tea” and Bǐ (笔) invokes the concept of a “Pen.”
I write of tea using my finger, it is my pen, my 茶笔 (Chá Bǐ)… my “chubby” Tea Pen! 😜
Today I successfully enrolled in Dilmah’s Online School of Tea “Tea Master” program. I am grateful for the opportunity and am looking forward to successfully completing the course. It is self-paced and how it will take, I guess, is entirely up to me.
If this is something you think you might be interested in, for the moment they have reduced the cost of enrolment by 2/3rds, as a respond, I believe, to COVID-19 restrictions around the world. It’s a great opportunity to consider, if you are still stuck at home somewhere.
For more details check out: Dilmah’s Online, “School Of Tea.“
C. sinensis var. unknown; Rizhao, ShandongProvince, Rizhao Original Green Tea Base, elev. unknown; Spring, 2021, Bud and 1 leaf, hand rolled, baked green tea process; #TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá, #Tea, #茶, #Chá.
Today I’m feeling braindead, just want something to drink…
A little bit of comedy in action, with Mr. Jimmy Doherty. However, the underlying point is about flavouring teas and how it is done in some cases. If you have a video to share about how other flavourings are added to tea, I’d love to see them. #TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá, #Tea, #茶, #Chá.
Utterly fascinating. I love old newsreals like this one that provide an interesting and reportive view on aspects of tea culture. #TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá #Tea, #茶, #Chá.
Wow, I’ve been going back through my postings on tea to the the first post. There have been many, since late May last year. It’s been more than a scant year now of postings, and there is a clear evolution in vision and clarity in my posts.
They have also become longer, but I believe this is for the better. Information is critical for understanding the tea we drink, and still to this day, it is “hard” to get clear, accurate, verifiable, and trustworthy information about the teas we drink. There is a serious disconnect, between farmers, developers, sellers, wholesalers, and end-user customers. This should not be.
In many industries, customers are demanding transparency throughout the supply chain, why is it so difficult to get the same transparency in the supply of whole leaf, forrest or farm grown teas? It makes me cry at night in my sleep… sometimes.
