I recently stumbled upon a new tea magazine--The Leaf--which is the first on-line magazine on tea (and perhaps anything else). It is free, environmentally friendly, and reader interactive. Wow! It doesn't get any better than that!
The Honorable Aaron Fisher is the editor-in-chief of this beautiful magazine. He lives in Taiwan now, after travelling the globe for 10 years, and has made it his life's work to "live" tea. That is abundantly apparent in his writing, and it was unmistakably clear to me when I met him.
He and his father wandered into the shop one sunny day last summer when he was visiting his parents. He happens to have grown up in Sylvania where we are located. He was thrilled to find real tea as a focus served in a real tea shop in his home town, not just the afterthought it usually is in most restaurants and coffee shops. I was pleased to have him join me for tea that afternoon.
Actually, it was I who joined him and his father, at least in the beginning. As any true tea man, he travels with his paraphernalia, and readily went to his car to bring in his well used Gong Fu tea so that he could share some of the fine pu-ehr and oolong teas he had in his stash. The reverence with which he prepared his tea (the essence of the true Gong Fu tea method) was a joy to behold. We sipped and talked, talked and sipped. So many wonderful cups of tea! I have no idea how much time passed. It was like a meditation, where one is fully present in the moment, and oblivious to all else. It reminded me of the flow one reaches when doing Tai Chi, where you are somehow not bound by, nor concerned with time and all of the stress and "stuff" of daily life just falls away.
We'd had quite a lot of tea, but I proceeded to pull out some of my better teas to share with them. I was so grateful for this moment of perfection, and I wanted to give something back, although I could tell he was one of those souls who gives in the true spirit of passion for this amazing leaf, neither expecting nor needing anything in return. But, I needed to give back. So we drank and talked some more. It was a truly memorable afternoon. I was honored to meet and take tea with this truly honorable man.
If you would like to learn more about the reverence of tea, the history of tea, the wonder of this ancient elixir, please visit his new magazine, The Leaf. You can find it at the following link.
http://www.the-leaf.org/index.htm
The Honorable Aaron Fisher is the editor-in-chief of this beautiful magazine. He lives in Taiwan now, after travelling the globe for 10 years, and has made it his life's work to "live" tea. That is abundantly apparent in his writing, and it was unmistakably clear to me when I met him.
He and his father wandered into the shop one sunny day last summer when he was visiting his parents. He happens to have grown up in Sylvania where we are located. He was thrilled to find real tea as a focus served in a real tea shop in his home town, not just the afterthought it usually is in most restaurants and coffee shops. I was pleased to have him join me for tea that afternoon.
Actually, it was I who joined him and his father, at least in the beginning. As any true tea man, he travels with his paraphernalia, and readily went to his car to bring in his well used Gong Fu tea so that he could share some of the fine pu-ehr and oolong teas he had in his stash. The reverence with which he prepared his tea (the essence of the true Gong Fu tea method) was a joy to behold. We sipped and talked, talked and sipped. So many wonderful cups of tea! I have no idea how much time passed. It was like a meditation, where one is fully present in the moment, and oblivious to all else. It reminded me of the flow one reaches when doing Tai Chi, where you are somehow not bound by, nor concerned with time and all of the stress and "stuff" of daily life just falls away.
We'd had quite a lot of tea, but I proceeded to pull out some of my better teas to share with them. I was so grateful for this moment of perfection, and I wanted to give something back, although I could tell he was one of those souls who gives in the true spirit of passion for this amazing leaf, neither expecting nor needing anything in return. But, I needed to give back. So we drank and talked some more. It was a truly memorable afternoon. I was honored to meet and take tea with this truly honorable man.
If you would like to learn more about the reverence of tea, the history of tea, the wonder of this ancient elixir, please visit his new magazine, The Leaf. You can find it at the following link.
http://www.the-leaf.org/index.htm
