Stone Basin

Stone Basin
at Ryo An Jin

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Politically corrected Day

Our intrepid group travelled to a secret area in Fujian to do something secret.
Well, actually, we are mostly there to check out the collection at the tea garden, what new varietals are being developed, and what some of the potentials are in terms of furthering the world of tea in a constructive manner. Our group was joined by Soren the Dane, who is a Japanese tea master, and his daughter. It was an interesting addition, as it must have been a culture shock for him. I was very curious to learn what Frank thought of Fujian as it is extremely similar to Taiwan in blood, land, and attitude. Frank is from Taiwan. He enjoyed the food so much that the title of Mr. In Pursuit might end up as his in the future, even though Sebastian is the seasoned traveller and you can plod him down anywhere in the world and he can adapt. Our day consisted of arriving, dusting ourselves off, and learning that Sebastian's name is in fact Si Bai Jin, which means 400 lbs. We thought it was hilarious but evidently he seemed ambivalent. Herein lies the difficulty of long English names. They were relieved that Frank is Mr. Kwei, or Osmanthus, in Chinese.
Indeed, it was a pleasure to travel with such a distinguished and knowledgeable group, all like minded and passionate about tea. The Tea Fanatics Anonymous. The guys at IN Pursuit of Tea are indeed, some of the best purveyors of all manners of teas to the public, worthy and respected colleagues who are there to survey and assess the possiblities of working with new varietals. Of course, in the back of my mind, and in my heart, I know that I have yet to steer people away from Vanilla Chai Roobois Medley. But no matter. At least for the next few days, we are among some of the most qualified tea academics in the world, and I would not feel so strange for a little while.

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