The Happy Earth Tea's Blog

We began with a review of the four principles of Chado, or Chanoyu for our second class on Japanese tea ceremony. I had been unable to recall all of those principles in the last blog post since taking notes and photos during the lessons are not encouraged. Total focus is demanded.

“Ichi-go Ichi-e, ONE time ONE chance,” said sensei* Atsuko Nishida-Mitchell. She was quoting the great 16th Century tea master, Sen No Rikyu who laid down the principles of what we know today as the Japanese tea ceremony. According to Rikyu, every tea ceremony had to be approached as a “once in a lifetime” opportunity. And so it seemed to me, this opportunity to learn about the tea ceremony in a series of classes, the first of which took place this past weekend at the Enkyoji Buddhist Temple of Rochester.

Every time I heard the mention of Shimmering Light Farm, a place located south of Rochester, NY by Canandaigua lake, it had conjured up images of wholesome, healing activities. I was, therefore, excited when I got invited to give a presentation on tea at the farm.  

2015 had some harsh notes in its finish. The shadow of terrorism and related conflicts, and climate change cast its long shadow across the world. Right here in Rochester, NY, a local was arrested hours before he could launch an alleged ISIS-inspired attack in a downtown pub on new year's eve. The city's fireworks were cancelled - like in many parts of the world - in the wake of the incident.

The historic Paris climate change conference will end this week. As experts argue and hussle, the big questions for us are: can we rise above our politics and economics to honor this gift of Mother Earth, and leave it better than we found it for those coming after us? Or are we doomed for self-extinction due to our greed and selfishness?

Making matcha may appear daunting to beginners, but actually it is not that difficult. Once you have made it a few times, you might wonder why you brought yourself so late to this tea party!

Starting from 9/14/15 we will be keeping new hours at our Tea Studio located at the Hungerford Building.

Tuesday-Friday 9:30 am - 2:00 pm 

Additionally on Friday 6:00 pm - 9 pm

Tea Classes & Special Events, Tuesdays 6:00 pm - 7:30pm

Around the middle of the 19th Century, the British colonialists launched a massive effort to grow tea in India. They wanted to break the monopoly of China in the tea trade once and for all; trafficking opium into China had been only an interim measure. (Britain had been pumping opium into China to get back the silver bullions that it had paid for the tea.)

One day in 1888, accompanied by his two little boys,  Andrew Wernicke went down to Pandam tea estate, located below Darjeeling town on the northern slope. He had just bought the “rifle range” part of the estate. Upon arrival at the factory some old workers asked Andrew Wernick for a sign by which they might recognize him as the new owner. Wernicke reached for a branch of a nearby tree and broke it. “This simple procedure was enough to satisfy them,” recalled one of the sons later.

On a cold winter day in January of 1842 two young German missionary families, the Wernickes and Stolkes arrived to Darjeeling, a densely forested and sparsely populated remote region of the Himalayas. Only seven years previous, the area had been taken on lease by the British colonialists from the Kingdom of Sikkim.

Together with the Rochester Brainery, we will be hosting a fundraiser for Nepal earthquake victims this Saturday. As many of you know, we have strong ties to Nepal, both in terms of our Nepali tea offerings and with our social partner Ama Foundation. The natural disaster there has left us heartbroken, but strongly determined to help.

Even as we await the arrival of Darjeeling First Flush 2015, with folded hands, praying for the weather gods to show kindness upon the harvest of spring, we want to pay tribute and say farewell to our First Flush tea from last year.  Today, we drank our last cup of Phoobsering 2014 with a little sadness and much anticipation of what this year's season will bring.