Hamburger Schietwetter

Upon arriving in Hamburg last week, it looked like it'd rain and rain for the entire trip. Luckily, the sun came out, but only for a little while.

One day the weather report said it'd be clear skies all day, so I didn't even bother taking any rain gear as I left the flat in the early morning sunlight. A decision for which I paid dearly when the skies opened up only half an hour later.

No-one's complaining, mind you. This is one of the most beautiful places in all of Germany and the best part of a day in Hamburg?

Unlike other parts of this coffee drinking land, people really drink tea here. It's a passion even.

One of my closest friends who I met through Tea Trade is coming to town tomorrow. Xavier and I spent time together at New Year's and now we're going to explore the world of norddeutschen Tee.

I assure you - blogging about out adventures is imminent.

Hamburger Schietwetter? Well, this is Plattdeutsch, which is an old form of German (heavily influenced by Dutch and English, even) that the northerners used to speak.

Many associate Platt with the sailors, as well. My mother-in-law used to teach me phrases in Platt. Wish I could remember some of it.

mixing green and black tea

I'm not a tea blender, so for me that entire art is a kind of alchemy. The people who do it well have my respect and I often wonder if it's something I'll eventually get into.

For the longest time, I've been particularly fascinated with the blending of green and black tea. Perhaps because I brew the two sorts of tea at different temperatures and perhaps just because they have such distinct tastes, but the vegetal sometimes grassy taste of a green seems to be in conflict with the malty character of a good Assam. Or the smoky taste of a Yunnan.

That being said, when I'm in a tea shop and I see a blend of green and black tea, I almost always get it. With varying results to be fair. Often the green tea might as well not even be in the blend. The black tea overpowers whatever character the green had. Watered down black tea isn't my idea of a good time, so I'm often less than pleased at my recent purchase.

Why is it so difficult to blend green and black tea?

If it is so daunting, why do people continue to do it?

My favourite green/black tea blends?

Buen Dia from La Tetería and Michel Strogoff from Le Palais des Thés. How about you?

Tea on the run

Any of you who've been reading this teablog for a while will remember my trusted orange flask. Displayed in many of my posts, it was a sad day when I had to retire that piece of tea gear.

The truth is that I've actually gone a bit off on carrying already-brewed tea around with me. If you know me, that'll surprise you. See, I've nearly always got a flask in my hand or buried deep within my rucksack.

Not anymore, though.

Many tea friends have asked me over the years, 'Why do you do that? You know the tea just tastes like the flask, right?'

Well, it's true. Not always, but often enough it's really easier to carry leaves with you and to arrange for hot water.

To be perfectly honest, that's much easier to lug around, anyway. Don't you think?

The people between the grass and the tea tree

Learned how to write 'tea' in Chinese today. It's actually rather easy. Maybe if I were better at technology, I'd show you my half-arsed attempts. Stay tuned. Maybe by the end of this post, I can make a screen shot of my scribbling.

Went back to Laifufu Teesalon today, when I was really quite fed up with everything. I knew I could go home and drink tea. I certainly have plenty in my cupboard. However, I wanted someone else to be tea mother, so I went to my favourite local.

You know about Laifufu, right? Here, I talked about them earlier this year when Ya Ya came to visit:

tea drunk at Laifufu

She had some interesting things to say, as she often does, and I met another tea drinker called Felix, who was quite nice and friendly. As tea drinkers often are, ya know?

Then she showed me how 'tea' in Chinese is a little story. That's the way to learn this language. As if every character is a narrative.

The story is, as she told it, 'First you have "grass" up above.

'Then the symbol for "men" and underneath that is the "tea plant" or "tea tree".'

So in Chinese, tea is 'The people between the grass and the tea tree'.

This made me smile. I'm smiling more and more often these days. Must be doing something right.

Bloom Tea

Any of you heard of this brand of tea?

Step 1 - ideal at breakfast

good for Metabolism

Step 2 - ideal for morning

good for De-Stressing

Step 3 - ideal at noon

good for Digestion

Step 4 - ideal for afternoon

good for Concentration

Step 5 - ideal for evening

good for Relaxation

I'm trying these teas now, and I'll soon let you know what I thought.

Meeting The Devotea

What an experience.

Twas an experience, I tell you.

Meeting Robert and his lovely wife. One of the high points of my visit, and I'm not even done yet.

Second Annual International Tea Trade Convention in London

London bound for the Convention

Last year we had the First Annual International Tea Trade Convention in Munich when the founders and administrators of the site visited me, while on a whirlwind tour through Germany. Xavier also met us, as well as his girlfriend who we met for the first time (and really liked).

So, although the founders can't be there, I'll be visiting Robert Godden in London next weekend, and we've decided to hold the 2nd Annual International Tea Trade Convention. Might sound like we're blowing a small gathering out of proportion and making it sound much more important than it really is.

Who? Us?

Like Robert and I'd ever do such a thing. I'm almost offended at the very thought.

Here's the thing, my little tea drinking friends: we need a venue. Like, desperately. Robert has some favourite tea salons in England's capital, and I know some quirky cafés that may or may not serve decent tea. Those aren't nearly good enough for such an event. Hardly.

We need a place with wifi, so we can have a bit of virtual tea drankin' with whomever shows the slightest interest in taking part in such an astoundingly important event. And it'd be nice if the place actually served tea.

However, now that I think about it I realise The Devotea and I probably carry around enough tea that we could have our convention anywhere that'd let us plug in our travel kettle and give us space enough to brew up. My taste buds are perking up at the very thought.

You're probably asking yourself, 'How might one take part in the virtual tea drankin' and more importantly will there be teablogging of the 2nd Annual International Tea Trade Convention?'

For the former, contact Robert or me on twitter or Feckbook. And the answer to the latter is, 'Most definitely yes! There will be teablogging.'

It has been decreed.