Favorite Tea Related Taste
During a presentation on tea, in a chilly wood paneled room, stress and indifference rising around me, I was sitting absentmindedly in an uncomfortable chair. Suddenly my head turned, familiar to the sound of warm water splashing against cool glass. A small bowl of diluted liquid gold had been placed before me. My hand instinctively reached out for the elixir and held it under my nose. Patiently I waited as the smell of spring unraveled, my mind filled with a million memories a second, and the stress melted into the background. Lillis, liliacs, orchids, flowers of all kinds danced behind my eyes while flashes of fresh tilled dirt painted the image of a young girl picking her first spring flowers. The Su Ji Chun Oolong tea flooded me with warm and fuzzy memories, immediately changing my mood. –Alexis Allen
The most memorable tea was the Su Ji Chun (four season spring, jade oolong.) When i first smelled the tea I thought it was going to have a much more woody, earthy taste, but to my greatest surprise it was very floral and reminded me of the first time I tried honeysuckle at the Homeless Garden Project Natural Bridges Farm in West Santa Cruz. I closed my eyes while I took my first sip and all of my visual cortex was taken over by the memory of our group walking back to the van after our visit to the garden, when I saw Conner eating small flowers. When he told me what it was I realized I had never tried honey suckle. My first taste was sweet and juicy like a small sip of honey water. As i finished experiencing the first sip of Su Ji Chun I was genuinely surprised at the subtle yet familiar flavor and was instantly ready for more silky smooth tea. –Alex Sierrant
My favorite tea-related memory or experience was when I tasted a tea from before this class, when I lived in Colorado. When I lived there I took a tour of Celestial Seasonings, a tea factory based in Boulder, and at a point in the tour we were brought to the “mint room.” This room, which consisted of the storage of all the different kinds of mint they had, was so overwhelmingly potent it stung my eyes with the ferocity of its aromas. Later, when the tour group was invited to try the different mint teas all I could focus on was the fresh smell of mint still lingering in my body and how greatly it affected my experience of tasting the diverse teas they offered. To this day I still can vividly imagine the pungency of the room and the sharp, calming flavor of mint in my mouth. –Savannah Snody
