ORGANIC POINT

                                                                      

For some years we know, learn about and discuss a lot about label “Organic” or “BIO” I’m particularly interested in organic food and tea. Not the label but in the food that is grown with love and care which our planet deserves..

When it comes to Tea there is many new question mark mostly for western consumers of tea who cares about non harmful lifestyle..

Mengku offers nice organic labeled teas for reasonable prices

Somewhere around 2004 when I started to drink tea more seriously, there was more and more teahouses popping up in our town, we mostly believed that all tea is pure and healthy, so called Organic.  I guess our image was based on pictures hanging on the walls of those teahouses. Beautiful sceneries, misty clouds gently covering tops of the hills, beautiful virgin girl from local tribe picking fresh leaves early morning…

I don’t want to take this image from anybody! And I do wish all of you who love tea can enjoy that kind of tea from such a places.. but I also feel the need to share what reality looks like.

Here in Taiwan many farmers believe that organic tea farming it’s not possible! Some say its wasting of time or very inefficient. I also met farmer from Alishan who started to grow 10 years ago with strong determination of organic grower.. Today he say he can only grow with chemicals..  there is more reasons for that, he sad. First reason is that he grow in the high altitude.. High mountain tea so famous in last decades! In place where tea tree naturally doesn’t grow and in big overproduction high altitude tea often depend on chemical uses.

When I visited Alishan for first time in 2012 I was literally shocked! I knew people use something to spray to protect from insects, but reality was far beyond this image! I was shocked when I've seen how heavily are crops sprayed and how death and sad is all the sounding. The soil looks wasted, so do the farmers.. Big buses one after another full of tourist coming and going and everyone wants to grab few packs of this "golden" tea! Tea from seller who scream in microphone something like: "Alishan tea! Best tea in Taiwan! High Quality! Buy Now!.." and so on. Some people bought full bags.. Kilos of it! and then despaired in bus and another crowd came..  How long we think land can support such a theater ? 15 more years? 20? 30? Do we really believe that the same soil can support this for another 30 years? 
Of corse I doesn't mean there is no good pure tea in Alishan! There is!  

What I'm just trying to tell you dear tea consumer is to encourage you to be responsible in your choice! Organic tea can be good, really good! For your tongue and body, for farmers and non harmful for environment, not even a bit. That is really possible! Tea is secret plant, medicine plant. Lets stop this madness that's around for last decades. Of corse this apply in food same way! 

One way how to do this is to found an organic brand with certification, that itself its for me very valuable. The brand that spend extra money and energy to produce organically has probably wholesome motivation and it already brings many positive energy. But even if we buy organic labeled product it doesn’t always mean it really is what we think.. Maybe you know that even an organic brands have a limits to accept certain amount of chemicals and still call it organic. 

Large Leaf old tree Assam from friend Mr. Aarong, Luye

Second option is to find good trustable farmer! By recommendation from friend or if you are into travels and adventuress, as many of us tea drinkers are, you can just follow heart and the purest tea leaf will jump into you cup effortlessly. Mostly the really best teas come to me as a gift, not when I am 'hunting' for it!

Organic Hong Oolong, Luye

Love at our Garden

The third and to me most interesting is to grow your own tea. Here in Taiwan its often the final step of real tea lover. There are small organic tea growers all around the island. Often in places where most of people would not even try.. and results are often amazing. Tea plant is so adaptable! I recently heard story from teahouse owner in Taipei that some people growing tea at north of Wales! Also Azores Islands, Mississippi, and many many other unusual places.. I believe that growing and processing your own tea is the most valuable experience! Even if the harvest is just 25grams, its wort to do it!

Fact that Taiwan is an island brings a lot of awareness about organic farming since land is limited and population so dense in many cases sustainability gets more important than fast profit..  I am big optimist in question of future! Some years ago I had difficulty to find good organic tea. Sometimes when I asked in shop or farmers they start to laugh and argue about negatives of Organic..  But today up to 90 percent of tea we have at home and tea I share with my friends from all around the Europe are pure and natural! Of course sometimes there is an question like why the tea is not so pleasing or sweet like non organic high mountain tea or why my last order was so different from this one?

making Tea

Well.. imagine two apples, One is from ‘’Super Market’’ If was grown in big plantation where nothing else grows only one kind of apples. There is no grass, no insects, no birds to destroy or make them less perfect.. But apple is big with beautiful shinning skin, it has no scratch or insect mark. Its a super juicy and its sweet like from other world. But you know that this apple is full of chemicals. Poisons harmful to everything and everybody in contact with them.

Another apple grows in some small village surrounded by forest, trees are small grass is high, cicadas are super loud. Birds and animals poop is the only fertilizer.  Apple is small, it takes longer to grow, some look kind of ugly and tastes sweet-bitter. But it has the Power! It can really refers You. It can heal You. That is an apple the way nature made it! Strong! Real! Long lasting!

Which apple would you choose? And which one would you share with you family and friends ?

Wish all the best to all of You!   

2000 MENGHAI TUO CHA (100g) "Red Ribbon" Sheng~Puerh

Sometimes I think live is to short to drink cheap tea. It doesn't apply to tea you just see. I found this beautiful "Tuo" in amazing shop here in Taiwan where it was stored for many years in relatively dry and very clean conditions. I took one as a sample. If it would suits to me I would get more for enjoying and possible long term aging.

My only bad impression was about partly eaten wrapper by bug. Always when I see this it reminds me my grandfather. If here was bug in some of his apples, he use to point on it and sad "the worms know what is the best, they would not chose bad or chemically treated apple". He was so right! This tea from Mengahi Tea Factory is also ~Certified Organic~ which puts another star on it's credit! Tea is untouched from bug. Usually they are only interested in paper since is made of rice.

So lets brake it:
Tuo smells as it should: Living Tea! Nice dry basement, mixed with nuts and even some red vine~like far distant feeling. Obviously for 16 years tea was aging with no hurry. 

 

Its very easy to brake it. It almost falling apart but I don't mind this because leaves stay in their nice natural shape.. unbroken they will bring more sweetness and they will look more beautiful.

"Dayi"

I want to give this tea full attention. Its strong. Its deep, sweet and long lasting with bitter tale. Each brew brings new tones, mostly impression of bitter woods and fresh green grapes, including seeds. After 3th brew bitterness vanishing a bit and new scale of tastes is opening.. fruitiness, flowers. Yes, this tea is old enough to be drunk now! there is bitterness but very pleasant one..  I enjoy every very sip!

Morning Sun penetrates deep orange red tea

It will be amazing to see it in 5, 10, another 16 years.. when I think of that time, 16 years ago was, at least for me, very different world.. No I phones, no money, no worries.. Ahh.. School! I didn't like that part.. (at 2000 I was 12 ) and absolutely no one had ever heard about Puerh. (in my surroundings) also for Puerh and tea in general it changed a lot..  a lot more production which as you probably know brings also a lot of devastation on many scales.. Nice is that so many people has access to nice tea and can be touch by this powerful plant..

Reflection of mango tree on our garden

I wish tea consumers are responsible, that they care about purity of their cup more than about its look or price.
But how do we know in such a business world? how do I know this is Organic tea? 
My way is to use the tool which is always available. My own body. I personally trust and value more the feeling that tea bring, than the taste.. (of course bad taste and good feeling tea would be hard to find)
Body always says the truth.. If the tea suits to my body, its worth the price..

 

To this tea I dedicated my time fully. It was no boring for a moment and I know this tea is good deal that can bring enjoyment and good health for many many years.

That is the reason why there is few more on the way to my door ;)

Thanks for reading,  Viktor

      

Inspirations

Tea is important part of my everyday life since around year 2007,but I have been drinking tea since 2003. I don't count the the cheap paper bag black tea with a lot of sugar and lemon that was ''hit'' of my childhood times.

 

   In Prague, city of my study I was working as a waitress in several Teahouses.. that time I didn't know that its so rare to find so many of them in such a small city.. actually I never visited any city (including many Asian ones) with so many great teahouses of so many styles.. Some fusion, offering everything you imagine, some very traditional, sometimes run by Asian owners. Or even school of Japanese tea ceremony!

 I don't have idea why tea became so famous there. I don't think it has anything to do with  the Russian "period" in Czechoslovakia because the traditional way of ''samovar'' drinking tea its one of the rarest to see..  And the  real tea culture started to flourish after revolution in 89'.

 

 

  Anyway I'm very happy for this fact. It changed my life. Without discovering tea I would be certainly different person and I don't mean this in spiritual way but also metaphysically. I would not made travels that I did. I would not met the people who became my best friends, I would not get all new ideas about different way of living and I would probably not move to Taiwan, where I live now with dog's Dodo and Yoyo on picture bellow.

My beloved Island, beautiful land where people love to smile and lough and enjoy live with their pure and child spirit. Tea is deeply rooted in their tradition sometimes in their hearts. I feel graceful to all people I met on my way from Prague to Taipei, that inspired and keep inspiring me everyday on my way!

  

thanks for reading :) 

Introduction

This is Blog about "Light of Tea". Something so immeasurable and yet so familiar for tea drinkers all around the world. It can be described as cha~chi, ''tea boost'' or ''kick ass''... it all describes the fact that tea is more than dry leaves. It can be seen as medicine, valuable gift from Mother Earth for us, telling us story of awareness, purity and importance of quiet moments in live. 

 The purpose of this blog is to share this message in the honest and peaceful way.

 

It will also be a journey to the ''tea world'' as well as window to my personal approach and understanding the way of tea.

             I wish it can be inspiring for those who appreciate tea in their live as an extraordinary gift.

And for all others ;)