my Nana could feel us down here thinking of her

Shanghai tea house in Hamburg

While planning my trip to the US, I considered bringing enough tea from home. I have enough, and really don't need any new tea. But such is the quandary of a tea obsessive. I don't need any, but...I desperately want to try new tea. Although I write about tea shops in Germany and around Europe, I have several American tea sources I like. I use these trips while visiting family to take advantage of the places I like the most.

Here I was going through Upton Tea's website ordering one from Java and another tea from India...(a black one I'd never even heard of) and I'm sure I'll get around to talking about here. At some point, I intend to incorporate all the tea I'm drinking on my trip, but as you know I like to write about non tea-related things here, as well.

While I was wrapping up my order, Upton Tea suggested a sample of a tea that they were nearly out of. As I read about it, I thought, 'Oh, my. This is eerily appropriate for the purpose of my visit.' My maternal grandmother passed away recently, and the family is scattered all over. We arranged to meet this weekend. Despite what sounds like it could be a sad and depressing situation, we really had a good time celebrating her life rather then mourning anything.

'What does any of this have to do with tea?' you're wondering. I'm glad you asked. So the tea I read about was called China Pre-Chingming Golden Pekoe. But that'd mean nothing without what I'm going to tell you next. Here's the direct link to the description of the tea that was provided.

As it says:

The festival of Chingming (Qingming) is a 2500 year-old tradition in which people visit the burial sites of their ancestors to pay respect. It is significant in Chinese tea culture because it serves as a demarcation between a distinct pre-Chingming plucking period and the subsequent plucking period occurring after the festival date (usually around April 5). Pre-Chingming teas are prized for their delicacy and subtle, fresh nuances.

So, it's a tea for the ancestors. Honouring one's ancestors specifically. How ideal is this? Like I was almost led to it just in time for my trip. Then I read more about the holiday Ching Ming, which actually takes place every year on 5 April (Here's more about that in Ching Ming). We're weren't willing to wait till next year for 5 April to come rolling round again. We had ancestor-honouring to take care of.

I mentioned my Aunt Elise when I wrote getting into tea in Tucson, and I knew she and her daughter (my cousin Alyssa) enjoyed drinking tea and would appreciate the symbolism of doing so in my grandmother's honour. My mother really likes tea, so it was a foregone conclusion that she'd be game for just such an endeavour.

If there was ever a perfect scenario for throwing out the first infusion, this was it. I'd read years ago that many Taiwanese, as well as Mainland Chinese I assume, discard the first infusion as some sort of symbol to the ancestors. Something like you're giving tea to the spirit of those that came before you. Yet, I had no intention of doing it. I don't like throwing tea away.

But the funny/spooky thing that happened? I unwittingly spilled the first infusion. All of it. If that's how the ancestors want to get their first infusion from us, that's the least we could do for them. Then the actual next infusion was poured and enjoyed by me and these ladies (my mom and aunt) who've meant so much in my life.

The tea was a tad bitter the fist few sips, but that settled down quite nicely. A nice caramel taste in the cup, I definitely drank this in my grandmother's honour. She might not have understood what on earth we were doing with a Gaiwan and those little cups, but I'm hopeful my Nana could feel us down here thinking of her.

fannings aren't always teadust

I'm not a Pu-erh drinker. Not that I have anything against Pu-erh. I'd like to be one. I've certainly drunk it, and I'm always looking for more, but it's one of those few sorts of tea that I've read a lot about and I just don't have enough direct experience with it.

When I first discovered this stuff, I'd read about decades-old cakes that were worth thousands of dollars/euros. So for a while I thought this tea was just out of my price range. There's reasonably priced Pu-erh out there. You needn't start with the most expensive stuff. Actually, I've read that not knowing more about this tea can actually make an amateur more easily duped to believe a highly-priced cake is more rare or more valuable than it really is.

I researched buying this tea with trepidation. Seemed like the whole ordeal was going to be a bit of a minefield. Where to start?

Well, when I was going through the Upton Tea website I came upon this.

It's almost as this blurb was written for me and those of my ilk. And I quote directly: A flavorful Pu-Erh offering suited for those who want a quality, flavorful infusion at a modest price. That's me-that's me.

So the only thing that's worse than ordering tea that you really don't like is getting a tea like this that you like so much. What? Are you really complaining about liking a tea too much? Well yes, actually I am.

The idea of fannings made me nervous. When people complain about teabags, they often say that the teabags were filled with teadust or fannings. I thought these were synonyms.

In the case of this tea, this is definitely not teadust. There's a fermented taste to the cup, and the colour is as dark brown as a cup of coffee. And strong, too. There's no doubt that this tea packs a punch.

Like I say, as good as this experience is, it makes me a bit nervous that I'm getting to the end of my supply. I guess this is a problem I'm grateful to have.

Tea drinking in America

Thought I'd be able to blog more easily while waiting for my flight, but the wifi is spotty. Am at some sort of odd public terminal, and I thought I'd quickly get down a few of my thoughts.

Because I wasn't all over America, my blogpost title is a bit of a reach. The first thing I noticed was that tea drinking isn't an inexpensive pastime here in the land of Stars and Stripes. I was pleased to see that tea drinking was at least an option, but the specialty shops I went to seemed to be overpriced or incredibly overpriced.

I hear people on twitter complain about selection of tea in supermarkets, but it really seems to depend on which one you go to. Texas is the birthplace of Whole Foods market, and they had both loose-leaf, as well as decent bagged tea options.

There were so many I couldn't try, but the Mighty Leaf tea bags I tried were quite good, and the Yorkshire Gold that I've heard so much about was a fantastic black tea blend. Really.

I only had a chance to try one online tea shop while I was stateside, but I'm going to be writing much more about the excellent experience I had with Upton Tea. Very quick and personal service.

The next time you hear from me, I'll be home in Germany. Can't wait to brew all this new tea I picked up.