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Thread: Tea

  1. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zenshiite View Post
    Yeah, the Chinese Garden's Tao of Tea teahouse is a way better experience than the Tao of Tea teahouse down on Belmont.

    I love it there, thinking about having my 10th weddingt anniversary party there. Of course, I need work to pick up so I can save for the next 2 years...

    Tao of Tea has some really good teas. Their Jasmine Pearl is one of the most fragrant Jasmine teas I've ever had. Of course, I'm just getting into brewing loose leaf teas... so that's not saying much. They also have a really great black tea from Yunnan called Tippy South Cloud that I really like. Looking forward to getting into Puerh.

    As far as bagged teas, one of the best out there is Numi. Honestly, I have yet to have a pre-bagged tea be so good. My wife got this huge gift set from them with tons of samples, including some flowering teas which I'm sure I'm doing something wrong with because they don't seem to turn out quite right, one of which was their new magnolia Puerh... and it is fantastic! If a bagged Puerh is that good, I can't wait to buy the real deal!

    sweet deal, thanks for the post. I was a bit under the weather this last weekend (lucky me it was beautiful outside too ) so I never made it down. I should be able to make it in this coming weekend, hopefully they dont sell all the good stuff for new year before i get there.
    For whoso comes amongst many shall one day find that no one man is by so far the mightiest of all.

  2. #47
    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    ...They've spoiled me. It's a Buddhist monk thing tho - tea is intimately connected with zen/chan practice.
    hence the Damo myth.

  3. #48
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    without tea and regular exercise, extended periods of seated meditation can be difficult.

    Many just fall asleep.

    hence the cane across the back!

    awaken! lol
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  4. #49
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    It's not Tea exactly but I tried Yerba Mate for the first time a few days ago and that stuff is awesome.
    Simon McNeil
    ___________________________________________

    Be on the lookout for the Black Trillium, a post-apocalyptic wuxia novel released by Brain Lag Publishing available in all major online booksellers now.
    Visit me at Simon McNeil - the Blog for thoughts on books and stuff.

  5. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lucas View Post
    sweet deal, thanks for the post. I was a bit under the weather this last weekend (lucky me it was beautiful outside too ) so I never made it down. I should be able to make it in this coming weekend, hopefully they dont sell all the good stuff for new year before i get there.
    Yeah, also... FYI. The Chinese Garden costs bout 10 bucks to get into. If you're smart you might check out your local public library and see if you can get your hands on a "cultural pass" that will get you another adult and a child into the garden for free.

    You'll be spending at least 5 bucks on tea at the teahouse if you're alone(that's multiple steapings of course).

  6. #51
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    hey thanks for the idea about the pass, i may look into that.

    the first and last time i was at the gardens was for the jake shimabukuro show, (the greatest ukulele player in the world btw! ) which was last summer. totally awesome, i highly suggest going to see him next time hes there, if you havnt already. i was lucky to go with a friend who has family who are friends with jake, so it was an interesting experience.

    his bruce lee song rocks.

    i wish it were warm so when i go i could go barefoot to walk on the turned river stones for the acupressure massage.

    the tea house was so packed when he wasnt playing so i didnt try to brave the crowed to check it out.
    For whoso comes amongst many shall one day find that no one man is by so far the mightiest of all.

  7. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by SimonM View Post
    It's not Tea exactly but I tried Yerba Mate for the first time a few days ago and that stuff is awesome.
    It really is.

    Did you get to have it in the traditional mate gourd? I haven't tried it that way yet, but have been told it improves the flavor over drinking it from a mug or paper cup.

  8. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lucas View Post
    hey thanks for the idea about the pass, i may look into that.

    the first and last time i was at the gardens was for the jake shimabukuro show, (the greatest ukulele player in the world btw! ) which was last summer. totally awesome, i highly suggest going to see him next time hes there, if you havnt already. i was lucky to go with a friend who has family who are friends with jake, so it was an interesting experience.

    his bruce lee song rocks.

    i wish it were warm so when i go i could go barefoot to walk on the turned river stones for the acupressure massage.

    the tea house was so packed when he wasnt playing so i didnt try to brave the crowed to check it out.
    I plan on going for the New Year's festivities. There are a couple free nights.

    NW Internal Arts is going to be doing Tai Chi sword and fan demos on a couple days.

    Really I just want to sip tea, but I can't really bring a 2 year old along for that. Need to get grandma to watch him...

  9. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by Reverend Tap View Post
    It really is.

    Did you get to have it in the traditional mate gourd? I haven't tried it that way yet, but have been told it improves the flavor over drinking it from a mug or paper cup.
    Actually I used a french press.

    It kept the leaves from getting in my mouth, which is the whole point.

    The other tea drink I tried recently was Matcha. This is a Japanese green tea that is reduced to a powder and dissolved in hot water.

    It has 10 times more anti-oxidants than conventional tea. It also has so much caffeine that people are advised not to drink more than 2 cups in a day. I had a noticeable buzz off of one cup.

    Considering that I throw back extra large coffees from Tim Hortons and feel just slightly more alert that's impressive.

    Speaking of New Years festivities my wife and I had our spring festival party. It went excellently.
    Simon McNeil
    ___________________________________________

    Be on the lookout for the Black Trillium, a post-apocalyptic wuxia novel released by Brain Lag Publishing available in all major online booksellers now.
    Visit me at Simon McNeil - the Blog for thoughts on books and stuff.

  10. #55

    Indian teas

    In addittion to Chinese and Japnese teas- I love real pure green teas-there is a rich variety of Indian teas. The best when well prepared can be very good- I don"t mean the tea shop or roadside teas.

    There are Assamese teas, South Indian teas, Sri Lankan teas and of course darjeeling teas.
    The Drajeeling teas are usually packed and shipped from Kolkata. There are many varieties of Darjeeling teas...Golden Orange Pekoe packed by Brooke Bond is available in many Indian stores in the US.
    Top quality Golden Orange Pekoe from Darjeeling is fairly light-golden orange in color when properly prepared- does not need the doctoring of masala teas with cardamom. cloves etc.

    As an aside- South India produces some good strong coffees as well-some of it is shipped to the Middle east. Generally Americans do not know good Indian teas. Russians had a taste for it - but trade varies with exchange rates.

    I used to do the tea shopping for my family and could browse in wholesale places and sample teas
    in various ways to geta sense of the flavor and the strength and blend different qualities.

    The English, the Arabs and the persians just repackage Indian teas. I dont think England has grown a leaf yet-in England.
    Tea growing needs a combination of high ground, cool weather, good rain, sloping ground- so that there is no stagnant water- and the leaves have to be picked at the right time. Timing is important in all phases of tea- growing, preparing, drinking etc.

    Of course it's still cha, chai etc.

    joy chaudhuri

  11. #56
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    I love tea...

    Hey Simon!!

    Matcha is ground up from Gyokuro. It's a high quality green tea that is grown on one side of a mountain and shaded by bamboo. That is why it has a very distinct, clorophyl-ly taste. Yes, it's not a real word, but it works and gets the point across. Better than grassy, which is how I would describe yerba mate. which is an argentinian bush by the way. Hubei province has a tea indigenous to the region that has been dubbed "Chinese Gyokuro". I can't wait to try it. Next time I go to Wudang, which is soon, I'm hunting it down.

  12. #57
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    Cup of mint tea is an effective painkiller

    Mint tea the morning after sparring, perhaps?

    Quote Originally Posted by BBC News

    A cup of Brazilian mint tea has pain relieving qualities to match those of commercially available analgesics, a study suggests.

    Hyptis crenata has been prescribed by Brazilian healers for millennia to treat ailments from headaches and stomach pain to fever and flu.

    Working on mice, a Newcastle University team has proved scientifically that the ancient medicine men were right.

    The study is published in the journal Acta Horticulturae.

    In order to mimic the traditional treatment as closely as possible, the Newcastle team carried out a survey in Brazil to find out how the medicine is typically prepared and how much should be consumed.

    The most common method was to produce a decoction. This involves boiling the dried leaves in water for 30 minutes and allowing the liquid to cool before drinking it as a tea.

    The team found that when the mint was given at a dose similar to that prescribed by traditional healers, the medicine was as effective at relieving pain as a synthetic aspirin-style drug called Indometacin.

    They plan to launch clinical trials to find out how effective the mint is as a pain relief for people.

    Lead researcher Graciela Rocha said: "Since humans first walked the Earth we have looked to plants to provide a cure for our ailments - in fact it is estimated more than 50,000 plants are used worldwide for medicinal purposes.

    "Besides traditional use, more than half of all prescription drugs are based on a molecule that occurs naturally in a plant.

    "What we have done is to take a plant that is widely used to safely treat pain and scientifically proven that it works as well as some synthetic drugs.

    "Now the next step is to find out how and why the plant works."

    Graciela is Brazilian and remembers being given the tea as a cure for every childhood illness.

    'Interesting research'

    She said: "The taste isn't what most people here in the UK would recognize as a mint.

    "In fact it tastes more like sage which is another member of the mint family.

    "Not that nice, really, but then medicine isn't supposed to be nice, is it?"

    Dr Beverly Collett, chair of the Chronic Pain Policy Coalition, said: "Obviously further work needs to be done to identify the molecule involved, but this is interesting research into what may be a new analgesic for the future.

    "The effects of aspirin-like substances have been known since the ancient Greeks recorded the use of the willow bark as a fever fighter.

    "The leaves and bark of the willow tree contain a substance called salicin, a naturally occurring compound similar to acetylsalicylic acid, the chemical name for aspirin."

    The research is being presented at the International Symposium on Medicinal and Nutraceutical Plants in New Delhi, India.
    "It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others and to forget his own." -Cicero

  13. #58
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    Just to be clear, this is specific to the hyptis crenata species of "bushmint", not our common mentha genus that comprises what we know as "mint", i.e. spearmint, pennyroyal, etc.

    So, make sure you verify your species before you start brewing anything...

    cheers,

    herb ox

  14. #59
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    Another good tea source

    Shang Tea

    I met a rep at Legends of Kung Fu last weekend. They had some very nice stuff. He gave me a little sample of some under-the-table black tea with chrysanthemum buds, not my usual tea of choice, but it's very interesting and I've been drinking it all day. Later, one of my dear friends gifted me some high mountain green that she bought from him, knowing my soft spot for tea. I haven't opened that yet.

    As some of you might know, there's a shortage of white tea right now. Poor weather conditions meant major crop losses, so white tea is really pricey this year. I'm bummed about that as I love white tea and was looking forward to restocking my stash with something fresh.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  15. #60
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    Here in town, there is a little southern coffee shop that sells essentialy a hot toddee minus the whiskey, but its ridiculously hot this year so Im not up for hot drinks.

    This summer Ive been in the habit of following a southern tradition (despite really not liking the south) by brewing up some decent quality tea (either green or Oolong) at double strength and then diluting it to normal strength with a heap of ice. Then, with the hot toddee idea in mind, I add a bit of honey and pretty good amount of lemon juice--and when my wife doesnt want any, a shot of Rum.

    It certainly isnt the way you would drink tea in China, but the kick from the lemon really hits the spot very nicely. I train my guys outside without any A/C, fans, etc and its all I can do to run in the house and brew some up and gulp it down after a 2 hour training session on Saturday morning...

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