Is there any book you would recommend, either on pu-erh or tea in general?
I've just tried the 2009 YS You Le Zhi Chun I bought recently, and it has made my sunday morning study very enjoyable - hope the rest of you are finding time to enjoy some great tea.
Books on tea, and on pu'er, are almost (in my opinion) ubiquitously dreadful. I mean truly dire. Books on tea are approximately as hideous to me as "New Age" books. You'd be well advised to spend money on absolutely none of them.
Perhaps the least intolerable is "The Book of Tea" by Okakura, which is now out of copyright and is available, for example, here. Personally, I find his writing overbearing and unfathomably pompous, but there are occasional pages that don't make me wish to stop reading. :)
The Youle zhi Chun is very nice, I like it too. Today, I was drinking a private Guafengzhai production, and the infamous 2001 Mengku "Yuanyexiang" thin paper. Now, it's time to pack up and head to France. Au revoir!
Heh, I agree about the pompousness of Okakura's Book of Tea. Parts of it are interesting though (although the chapter on flowers always makes me feel terribly guilty for buying a bunch of flowers to grace the kitchen table... takes me weeks to summon up the courage after reading that section).
Actually, I do agree with his sentiment on flowers. So true. I think I've mentioned here before that we only use windfalls or casualties in our flower arrangements at home (and photography). Lei loves flowers, but she asked me long ago to stop buying her bouquets for that very reason.
Best wishes,
Hobbes
P.s. Yes, the haiku's mine - you can tell because it's (i) less accomplished than the others I've been using, many of which are actual long-recognised masterpieces of haiku in the English language, and (ii) because I haven't attributed it to anyone. :)
Ah yes, I do appreciate the point about the flowers (which is why it affects me so strongly I suppose). Fortunately (?) I'm not in the position of receiving bunches of flowers so often that I need to request the giver to cease and desist. ;)
To Hobbes
ReplyDeleteIs there any book you would recommend, either on pu-erh or tea in general?
I've just tried the 2009 YS You Le Zhi Chun I bought recently, and it has made my sunday morning study very enjoyable - hope the rest of you are finding time to enjoy some great tea.
Terje
Hi Terje,
ReplyDeleteBooks on tea, and on pu'er, are almost (in my opinion) ubiquitously dreadful. I mean truly dire. Books on tea are approximately as hideous to me as "New Age" books. You'd be well advised to spend money on absolutely none of them.
Perhaps the least intolerable is "The Book of Tea" by Okakura, which is now out of copyright and is available, for example, here. Personally, I find his writing overbearing and unfathomably pompous, but there are occasional pages that don't make me wish to stop reading. :)
The Youle zhi Chun is very nice, I like it too. Today, I was drinking a private Guafengzhai production, and the infamous 2001 Mengku "Yuanyexiang" thin paper. Now, it's time to pack up and head to France. Au revoir!
Toodlepip,
Hobbes
Heh, I agree about the pompousness of Okakura's Book of Tea. Parts of it are interesting though (although the chapter on flowers always makes me feel terribly guilty for buying a bunch of flowers to grace the kitchen table... takes me weeks to summon up the courage after reading that section).
ReplyDeleteThat is a lovely haiku, Hobbes - one of your own?
Dear Veri-tea,
ReplyDeleteActually, I do agree with his sentiment on flowers. So true. I think I've mentioned here before that we only use windfalls or casualties in our flower arrangements at home (and photography). Lei loves flowers, but she asked me long ago to stop buying her bouquets for that very reason.
Best wishes,
Hobbes
P.s. Yes, the haiku's mine - you can tell because it's (i) less accomplished than the others I've been using, many of which are actual long-recognised masterpieces of haiku in the English language, and (ii) because I haven't attributed it to anyone. :)
Glad you liked it!
Ah yes, I do appreciate the point about the flowers (which is why it affects me so strongly I suppose). Fortunately (?) I'm not in the position of receiving bunches of flowers so often that I need to request the giver to cease and desist. ;)
ReplyDelete