Morning Crane Tea group buy of Yi Ho Yeong teas

When I first started this tea blog, I really had no clue how far it would go, or who I would become acquainted with in the process, but rest assured as with most things, if you are in the *circles* long enough you eventually meet quite a few people.  Arthur Park is actually a potter, with an impressive bio in ceramic arts, but he also views himself as an educator in things reaching beyond just pottery, and one such area is Korean crafts and culture.  Through his work educating others he has in the past arranged for items such as tea tours, and ceramics tours of South Korea, and operates a small little tea business which helps make artisan Korean teas available in North America.  To help further educate the tea lovers of North America into how amazing Korean teas can be, he is arranging a group buy of Yi Ho Yeong teas. For more information on Yi Ho Yeong feel free to visit this post on his blog.   To find out how you can be included in this group buy, he has details on Morning Crane Tea's Facebook page.




I have had many of the teas offered by Morning Crane tea, and they have all been of great quality and value, so much to the point that he has become pretty much the only person from which I buy Korean teas. I have made several videos involving the brewing of Korean teas, but I decided to make a new one to help spread word of this announcement.  I do apologize for the somewhat abrupt ending, turns out the time the inspectors checking that the apartment was up to code had to happen during the 10 minutes I wanted to film the video.  But such is life.

Chawan, the tea lovers Super Bowls

So I couldn't help but laugh yesterday, while I have never been that much of a professional football fan, this year I've followed it far less than I have in quite a few years.  Somewhere in the endless mentions of the Super Bowl, I couldn't help but think that as tea lovers and/or pottery loves we all have come to appreciate the Super Bowls known as Chawan.

So inspired by yesterdays game, today for #MatchaMonday I took out my most gargantuan and favorite Chawan.  I made a large albeit weak bowl tonight, not wanting to risk being wired well into the morning.  I have a love hate relationship with matcha, I love Chawan, but I hate that their uses in tea over all are rather limited.  I love matcha, but I dislike having it more than once a week, but it fades from its peak freshness so quickly.

I will say though the roughly 8 months I went without matcha, lead to my technique falling apart, and turning absolutely horrid.  Though knowing the right temperature, amount of both tea and water are all key components, the number one thing to keep in mind is the whisking motion, which I sadly have lost over time. Well going back to practice it is then...

Warming up with some Aged Sheng Puerh

First I needed to warm up from a bit over 6 mile, hour long run in the ever falling snow.  While it was an incredibly fun and miserable run at the same time, there is just something impressive about the glaciers that were forming on my eyebrows by the end of the run.  [See photo below for amusement.]

Now hoping to film a tea video again, and having a peaceful Saturday to get it done, after getting back, and nibbling on some food, I put the kettle on and set out to film a video.  While it may not be a great tea video, though tea is the subject, I did capture post run stupidity in full effect.   I swear I am normally better put together than this, while I have never been a great off the cuff speaker, this video is especially atrocious.  So watch the tea, and laugh all you would like at the jumbled up words and dialogue :).

Enjoy: