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| Kabuse-cha (かぶせ茶) from Uji, Kyoto. The shincha of Spring 2013. |
Clearly cheating. Reading a magazine, and not a novel. But hey, it's worth every word and more. Kinfolk Volume Eight. I don't keep every copy. I pass it on to others who might want it. But this issue, is of particular interest to me, and it'll stay on the bookshelf.
On page 105, Josh Leskar writes 'Tree to Tea: The Life of Leaves', a short article on Japanese green tea farmers and the brew. Photography is done by Julia Grassi. The easy prose and choice of photos brought us into an industry much admired. They chose to focus away from the ceremonies, and giving due recognition to the skill of the tea farmers.
At long last, picking day finally arrives: one single, perfect day, during the earliest whispers of spring, when a clear blue sky peeks out from beneath winter's gray and when the nutrients rush from the roots to nourish weather-worn leaves, having spent the past season sleeping beneath a blanket of fog and mist, awakening in the nick of time to realize their tender, juicy, ripe potential.
The shincha - the first new tea.
2 comments:
Love the serenity your picture brings - the tea, the cup, the linen coaster, the plants, the words. My morning brew will be taken vicariously through yours!
i think i only conscientiously 'set the scene' when it comes to tea. otherwise if it's food, i'll merrily eat out of its tapau-ed containers. heh.
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