05/01/14

One, Two ... TEA {Tieguanyin}

New year, new column! As I am a real coffee-hater, I let my affection for green tea to inspire me starting a virtual journey across some varieties I filled my beloved tin boxes with!
I have written about Japanese green tea before and you already know I am more devoted to the ritual in itself than to the property of the infused green leaves. That's the reason why I always have my tea-break starting from the choice of the perfect cup (I know it sounds a little bit obsessive!).
As I said before: I am not a tea expert. What I need to do here is giving you a quick overview about my favourite and recent purchases/discoveries.


Let's start from the Tieguanyin (铁观音), a variety of Chinese oolong tea I got from a Chinese language classmate of mine who recently visited Beijing. Guanyin was the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, like Kannon is for the Japanese culture. The name of the tea can be properly translated into English like "Iron Guanying", a trubute to this female entity that, legendary, gave a poor farmer, Mr. Wei, a precious tea shoot as a reward for having taking daily cares of the iron statue of the Goddess by the Fujian province. That was the very beginning of the production and selling of this Chinese green tea variety with a very flowery, fresh aroma and golden yellow shade.


 *** I couple the Tieguanyin tea with a minimal white mug from Ikea.


2 commenti:

  1. I love the ritual involved with tea drinking, I too get a bit particular about my process but I think it's important to enjoy the whole experience :)

    RispondiElimina
  2. Tie Guanyin... probabilmente il tè più amato dai cinesi! E anche io lo amo particolarmente... ^^

    RispondiElimina

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