Mar

29

Travel Tea

March 29, 2008 | 1 Comment

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We just got back into town after a nice desert getaway; it’s always good to get out and clear the head a bit. Travel, no matter how near or far you go, always brings up the question, “What are we going to do about tea?” This question comes up because you know if you aren’t going to a larger city it will be difficult to find decent tea. So, you must take matters into your own hands. On our trip we brought a teapot and a good all-around Yunnan black tea. But part of the fun is trying other things, and when we were at the market our first day we came across the well-known Murroughs Welsh Brew Tea. It was nestled cozily on the shelf next to the tea biscuits in the Brit tea section. The market clearly caters to international tourists and when these traditional English goods are in close proximity it’s hard to resist. Think Wallace and Gromit sitting at home with a nice pot of tea—cozy, right? The thing is, you know you aren’t going to get an amazing tea. But it’s kind of like going camping; there’s a certain romance to drinking what I call “travel tea.” Now, you’ll remember in an earlier post that I said I wasn’t snobby and anti-teabag—I’m not. Do I use them in the everyday? No. But when on vacation it can be fun coaxing a decent cup from a decent bag. This Welsh Brew tea is definitely better with milk in the traditional English style, and if you do it right with some nice tea biscuits while lounging outdoors in perfect weather—what’s not to like?

The point is, sometimes I’m in the mood for Japanese green teas; sometimes it’s oolongs all day long; other times it’s darjeelings. But when I’m on vacation I get into this other mode of travel tea and it’s hard not to enjoy it. It’s yet another dimension in this whole spectrum of experience that tea offers. Travel tea definitely works better with some teas than others. I think a heavier black tea works best since you can doctor it up to your taste. When you can get a decent amount of body and allow the tea to be present without being overpowered (and if you keep an open mind) travel tea is a great part of tea life.

Some people will never agree with this. Some people are very adamant in their beliefs of what tea is and is not. That’s okay, I suppose I can get that way about things too. But when it comes to tea, if you enjoy it then go with it. So, when we were gone did I miss all of my teas that were back at home? Of course!

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Cheers.

- James

Mar

20

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To design, decorate and distribute apparel products that are sustainably manufactured in conjunction with suppliers whose factories abide by international fair labor principals and organic processing standards; running our entire business as eco-friendly as possible – from the way the products are made, what they are made with, and the way everything is handled and delivered to our customers. (image and content from the new Earth Friendly Apparel website)

Check out this new company based locally in Carlsbad. A friend of ours recently launched the company and we are really excited about what they’re doing. It’s so nice to see quality business-to-business companies working from an environmental basis. So, you know where we’ll be going for our t-shirt and screenprinting needs. And this is just the beginning of the products and services they’ll be offering. There is some great information on their site that you should definitely check out.

http://earthfriendlyapparel.net

We’re enjoying the beautiful days we’ve had here in San Diego over the last week. These first days of spring are in full bloom with incredible greenery and flowers covering hillsides throughout the city. I love this image below taken by JP St. Pierre from the local surf blog SurfySurfy.

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Hope it’s as nice wherever you are. Thanks for checking in.

- James

Mar

19

Consideration

March 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment

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Make a delicious bowl of tea.
Set down some charcoal to heat the water.
Arrange some flowers as they are found in the fields.
In summer, evoke coolness; in winter, heat.
Anticipate the weather in each thing.
Prepare yourself for rain.
Show every possible consideration for your guests.

— From Tea Life, Tea Mind by Soshitsu Sen

Mar

12

The Jade Leaf

March 12, 2008 | 4 Comments

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I love this illustration of the tea plant. Wikipedia does a bang-up job with its overview of camellia sinensis. Definitely worth a look if you’re interested.

All is well here. We are beginning to order our teaware and other retail items. The website design is coming along and our builder is beginning production on all of our custom cabinetry. We have opted to design and build most of the shop elements from scratch. We can’t wait to see it all in place.

Thanks for checking in!

-James

Mar

6

The Utah Teapot

March 6, 2008 | 3 Comments

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In 1975, pioneer University of Utah computer graphics researcher Martin Newell was trying to figure out how to get a computer to render 3D objects. He was looking for a familiar object that could appear reasonably realistic, and could be rotated and viewed from different angles. Sandra Newell (his wife) suggested modeling their tea service since they were sitting down to tea at the time. Dr. Newell took out his graph paper and a pencil, and sketched the entire tea service by eye. The “Utah Teapot” has since become the standard symbol for complex, three-dimensional computer graphics. Computer scientists throughout the world are familiar with the teapot and have worked it into their own projects as a nod to Newell’s pioneering work. The teapot has made an appearance in Pixar movies like Toy Story as well as an episode of The Simpsons. The actual teapot Newell used as his model is now in the Computer History Museum, located in Mountain View, California. Haven’t made it by there yet.

This was an interesting discovery (for me) that I’m sure many of you already knew about. Guess I’m kinda lo-tech.

Lots of good stuff happening with the shop and website. More to come soon! Hope you’re all well.

- James