Feb

29

Anticipation

February 29, 2008 | 3 Comments

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Morning tea is often my final thought of the night before. I look forward to tea at all different times of the day. Much of my extended conversations take place over tea—a ritual I cannot live without. It is very satisfying to know that we are doing our part to foster these periods of reconnection. Cell phones, emails, television, etc. can’t hold a candle to sitting across from someone you care about and chatting over a pot of tea.

Enjoy your weekend.

- James

Feb

26

“Run” Tea

February 26, 2008 | 4 Comments

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Just a little diagram for those who may want to smuggle tea ashore.

A shadow steals through the night. A rapping, the usual signal. A woman opens the window, careful not to make a sound. She hands down money, takes in a satchel of tea. No words are exchanged, just a smile in the dark. The shadow disappears, the window is closed; for the time being, tea provisions for the family are secured. Back in the warmth of her bed, the woman looks forward to the morning cup she has been missing since her stash ran out. The sweet anticipation outweighs the fear of punishment for once again having committed the crime of purchasing “run” (smuggled) tea.

Such a scene took place thousands of times every night in 18th century England. Back then, tea was an item of contraband due to extremely high taxes and monopolistic price gouging.

— From Liquid Jade, The Story of Tea From East to West by B. Hohenegger.

There are many books on the history of tea, but Hohenegger’s book is my favorite take on it so far. It fills in some important gaps with just the right amount of detail and it is extremely readable. Check it out. Or better yet, wait to get it at Halcyon Tea! Hope all is well.

- James

Feb

19

Indian Teas

February 19, 2008 | 2 Comments

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We are currently in the middle of cupping a selection of Indian teas. After two days and nearly 20 teas (with about 20 more to go), we are definite on maybe 5 so far. Picky? Yes! I will say that the ones we like are excellent teas. In fact, several of them are indeed quite good even if they do not make the final cut. As mentioned in one of the first posts, keeping our list trim at 40+ teas is a challenge. But in the end we will have a crafted tea list which has been curated with the utmost care and consideration—a list we can proudly offer to our customers.

The highlight of today’s tasting was a really interesting premium Darjeeling tea. Complex flavors, a nice aroma, and an incredibly lively feel in the mouth without being too astringent. This tea actually made me laugh in a giddy sort of way; it was an instantly euphoric feeling.

Yesterday’s highlights included a few select Assam teas. Two are excellent self-drinking teas that do not rely on the addition of milk or sugar to make them drinkable. We also had a couple of nice milk/breakfast teas that are perfect for the cold, cloudy weather we’re having. Though not flavored teas, each of these Assams had wonderful fruit and floral characteristics that are subtle yet present enough to provide more than a simple briskness. The breakfast style teas asserted their own characteristics even when taken with milk. This is often not the case with many breakfast teas you find out there.

We look forward to curating our final list and opening up shop to offer these great teas to our customers. I’m getting giddy again, so I’ll stop here.

Take care.

- James

Feb

13

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In Japan, the size of a tea room is typically measured by the number of tatami mats. The traditional dimensions of the mats were fixed at 90 cm by 180 cm. Half mats, 90 cm by 90 cm are also made. Shops were traditionally designed to be 5½ mats and tea rooms are frequently 4½ mats. Because the size is fixed, rooms in traditional Japanese construction measure in multiples of 90 cm. Mats from Kyoto (Kyo-tatami) and other parts of western Japan are slightly larger than those from Tokyo and eastern Japan at 95.5 cm by 191 cm or 1.82m².

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Possible layout for 4½ mat tea room.

I’m fascinated by the Japanese use of the tatami as a standard measurement that entire spaces are designed around. It definitely appeals to my love for the square.

- James

Feb

11

A Fresh Palate for ‘08

February 11, 2008 | 4 Comments

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Japanese sencha dusted with matcha. Fresh, really green, really good!

The list below is from an NPR story a while back. I think it’s a fun take on the foods considered “in” for 2008. While the concept of “in for 2008″ kinda bugs me, I will suspend that judgement (with notes, of course) for now. So, here it is:

Food Trends for 2008

2008 will be the year of ethical eating.

Vegetarian and locally produced food will grace more tables.

Wines will be more than organic, they’ll be biodynamic.

There will be servings of microgreens you grow yourself, exotic grains such as amaranth and quinoa. And what are called pro-biotic dishes, food that helps digestion, or inflammation.

Expect a backlash against bottled water. Flavored tap water will fill our glasses instead. (I’m up for fewer bottles, but flavored tap?)

Bold Korean, African, and Brazilian flavors will be big, but big entrees will be replaced by small plates.

Artificial is out.

Junk food will lose its junk ingredients.

Authentic is in.

Phytonutrients are in.

Antioxidants are out. (Antioxidants are always in!)

Gogi berries and pomegranates are in.

The blood orange is the new superfruit.

Salt is the new balsamic vinegar.

Tea is the new coffee. And caffeine will still be king.

Let me repeat that: Tea is the new coffee (in case you missed it).

Cupcakes apparently, are last year. This year, go for the pudding, or, better yet, savor a nice piece of dark chocolate candy.

So, there it is. What do you think?

- James

Feb

7

Simple Joys

February 7, 2008 | 3 Comments

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It’s been unusually long since the last post, but there have been all kinds of behind-the-scenes developments for Halcyon. It’s often the simple, tangible stuff that gets you excited about the progress. The concrete floors were machined, interior has been painted, and now we’re picking out flooring treatments. Above you’re looking at the “inconspicuous area” of our shop with two takes on charcoal gray. Yeah, pretty different. There are aspects to both that we like, but the contrast of the one on the right (the one that’s actually gray) seems to work the best. Both options are zero-VOC low-impact products. We’ve decided to keep the concrete pretty raw so the natural variations will be part of the aesthetic. If you consider the building’s age—the owners say it was built in 1910—you can imagine the layers. Many thanks go out to my dad for helping us out in a big way! Paul managed the whole process so big thanks to him too.

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Sorry, bad photo. Hard to get a real sense of the color. Of course it was a little different than expected, but we’re into it. We ended up going with a new eco paint from Dunn Edwards. The paint odor was so minimal since it is zero-VOC and non-toxic.

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Ooh, this is an interesting shot—bare walls and floors. See what I mean about simple joys? Once the floors are done we will begin the buildout. Architect Glenn Miller has been working with us to design the interiors and we are really happy with the direction it’s taking.

Aside from all of this brick & mortar stuff, the website is also coming along nicely. Always tweaking and refining, but working with our good friends at FreshForm Interactive has been a lot of fun. It’s definitely interesting to sit in the client seat, but being a designer collaborating with other creatives has lead to a very stimulating design process. Plus, these guys are wizards at all of the important back-end aspects of a fully-functioning e-commerce website. Scott Robinson is the man behind FreshForm and we are having a blast working with him and his team.

So, as you can see it does indeed take a village. We are so happy to be working with some great people. Thanks to them, and thanks to you for checking in.

- James