Welcome to Tea Sessions Vol. 2
My son is down for a nap and I have some business development work here on my schedule. What better time to than have some tea! Ha!
Seriously though, drinking tea, gong fu style is a mindfulness practice for me. It helps me become focused and aware of what's going on around me and in my own mind. That said, the tea I am drinking today is a tea from one of my favorite sources. Verdant Tea. I appreciate how Verdant gives a lot of information about the tea they sell. Each tea has a page to itself describing where its from, tasting notes, how its grown and who grew it. I love to get to know the farmers and they're personal philosophies about tea. I am drinking a White tea today called Shou Mei .
Before Starting, here are a few lines of poetry I wrote based off of the Zen Buddhist Meal Gatha. Reciting this before drinking tea allows me to have more appreciation, awareness and purpose during my tea session.
The Shou Mei I am drinking is from 2016. It is grown in Hulin, Fuding, Fujian province by the Wang family. This type of white tea is picked later in the season and is leaf only (no buds). It is quite unique from other white teas. I brew shou mei every now and then when I want something different.
The moment I open the tea jar, I get a very strong tobacco & earthy like smell. I get Sensations of qi moving downwards through the center of the body into the belly. There is a particularly strong qi sensation for me around the throat. Its very different from the Bai Mu Dan in Tea Sessions Vol. 1, which had a lot of rising qi.
Brew #1 200 degrees, 6 seconds
The liquid is Dark Yellow. It is sweet and Tobacco-like. There is almost no rising sensation. There is strong qi sensation at the Tanzhong energy point (center of the chest) , Zhongwan (in between navel and sternum) and the Belly at Duqi (navel area). The taste reminds me of the smell of Autumn. It is intense but doesn't linger like the Bai Mu Dan.
Brew #2 200 Degrees, 8 seconds
The taste continues to be sweet and tobacco like. The qi sensations still descend down into the belly.
Brew #3 200 Degrees 10 seconds
The third brew is lighter. Still Tobacco-like and descends.
This is a really unique and different tea. Interestingly for a white tea, the qi of Shou Mei has a descending action. In my opinion it resonates with the heart, stomach and spleen energy systems. It is unique in the white tea category as most white teas I drink have rising actions that open up the qi of the chest and head. This is a tea to drink in the late summer and Autumn. It is a tea that will calm the mind and give you a sense of being rooted. The sweet tobacco-like taste is very earthy. Brewing Shou Mei would be good with: Friends, when you feel scattered and need some 'grounding', outside in Autumn, after a light meal, contemplation and putting into words your ideas or realizations.
