tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16115542.post512907428428479591..comments2024-03-16T11:51:28.412-04:00Comments on CHA DAO: The 'Constant Tea Meeting': MarshalN on Blogging about Teacoraxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03645573592247798140noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16115542.post-56555006061413124472007-08-08T12:56:00.000-04:002007-08-08T12:56:00.000-04:00Anodyne - when I started blogging I only thought I...Anodyne - when I started blogging I only thought I would benefit from taking notes. Since I know I will quickly stop doing it should I be trying to write it down on pencil and paper, I decided to do it in a blog form. I remember when I was a kid and the teachers told us writing journals is good for you. I always thought that is hogwash. I still sort of do.<BR/><BR/>It worked though. I'm still taking notes, and I have learned much from doing it. It makes you think about the tea you drink.MarshalNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16776398824139018801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16115542.post-45145550453201358172007-08-04T19:24:00.000-04:002007-08-04T19:24:00.000-04:00Pertaining to what jo wrote, I know that my own no...Pertaining to what jo wrote, I know that my own notes about teas have always been precisely for my own sake and rooted in my desire to find, as best I can, what range of aroma and flavor any given tea might achieve. I've enjoyed attempting to articulate that for (and to) myself. In my case, my communications are always more to myself than anyone else even though I have enjoyed the online community interaction. But in the end, if there was no community out there, I would still be putting the theoretical pen to paper to attempt to "repeat" the tea drinking experience purely for my own pleasure and enjoyment.<BR/><BR/>Actually this blog doesn't reflect my daily drinking pattern. I am more like jo's friend who drinks far more Darjeeling than Puerh. :-)anodynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04398748910266821744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16115542.post-6254870491949876312007-08-04T01:40:00.000-04:002007-08-04T01:40:00.000-04:00[=Jo=] My gratitude goes to Cha Dao and all its co...[=Jo=] My gratitude goes to <BR/>Cha Dao and all its <BR/>contributors for being a <BR/>unique source of information and food for thought.<BR/><BR/>[~phyll] I blame all tea blogs out there, and most notably Cha Dao, for making the standard of tea blogging so darn high.<BR/><BR/>[dan poynter] Anyway, keep up with cha dao -- you're doing more than "mere blogging." The East/West bridge is rich and in need of builders.<BR/><BR/>[corax] thanks to all of you for your encouragement. it's really encouraging to know that our readers appreciate what goes on here. and yes, these are really exciting times to be alive and online ... and drinking tea.coraxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03645573592247798140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16115542.post-82105962345750783312007-08-02T18:15:00.000-04:002007-08-02T18:15:00.000-04:00Indeed -- part of it is vicarious tasting. In som...Indeed -- part of it is vicarious tasting. In some ways, tea drinkers like us are by nature unfaithful -- we like new things and are always eager to try new teas. It's like a restaurant critic wanting more "mouths" to go to a restaurant together to try different foods, we're having each other report on the teas they've been drinking.<BR/><BR/>Phyll -- don't blame me for your bank account! If you want, I can hold your money for you so you don't spend it :)MarshalNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16776398824139018801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16115542.post-36460443950695176882007-08-02T00:10:00.000-04:002007-08-02T00:10:00.000-04:00Very well said - a great defense of (tea) reflecti...Very well said - a great defense of (tea) reflection in general.<BR/><BR/>"Just keeping up the reading would mean visiting a dozen or so blogs every week, at least."<BR/><BR/>Imagine a growing wave. Not only is it growing, but doing so exponentially. And imagine the "web surfer" falling off the board into the data deluge.<BR/><BR/>The danger could be great: an exasperation in the face of the immensity of data available at our finger tips. Maybe this is the cause of growing apathy among youth?<BR/><BR/>Bloggers like yourself help sift through this deluge. Maybe the future of the thinker resembles a magazine editor?<BR/><BR/>Anyway, keep up with cha dao -- you're doing more than "mere blogging." The East/West bridge is rich and in need of builders.Daniel Scott Poynterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03414409949783743220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16115542.post-73138891518186735282007-08-01T20:25:00.000-04:002007-08-01T20:25:00.000-04:00I blame only one person for making me start a tea ...I blame only one person for making me start a tea blog: Marshaln.<BR/><BR/>I blame all tea blogs out there, and most notably Cha Dao, for making the standard of tea blogging so darn high.<BR/><BR/>You guys make my life miserable and my bank account emptier.<BR/><BR/>:)<BR/><BR/>With lots of love,<BR/><BR/>Phyll~ Phyllhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06089209028096768776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16115542.post-40422715471692262872007-08-01T09:12:00.000-04:002007-08-01T09:12:00.000-04:00Thanks both for the fine original article, and for...Thanks both for the fine original article, and for the comments.<BR/><BR/>I found myself in agreement both with the notion of community, which is very appealing, but perhaps just as importantly with the desire for information, as Jo writes. <BR/><BR/>The best blogs that I read convey a great deal of impartial, independent, meaningful advice that informs both my own treatment of tea, and of my potential purchases.<BR/><BR/>Who can forget <A HREF="http://www.xanga.com/marshaln" REL="nofollow">MarshalN</A>'s tour of maocha from the Six Famous Mountains; <A HREF="http://tealogic.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">TeaLogic</A>'s wistful blend of autumnal Guhua pu'er with a great eye for photographing nature; <A HREF="http://phyllsheng.blogspot.com/" REL="nofollow">Phyll</A>'s photographs of his tea dungeon, to briefly name just three articles that come immediately to mind from a rich corpus of many hundred examples scattered throughout the various tea blogs?<BR/><BR/>Through the various (independent) tea blogs, I vicariously taste many more teas than I could otherwise hope to experience - a hundred tongues, a hundred voices, all learning what makes Great Tea.<BR/><BR/>I look forward to learning much more from them. As Jo says, they have come of age.Hobbeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10719619695211038389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16115542.post-54370725640289093392007-07-31T21:35:00.000-04:002007-07-31T21:35:00.000-04:00MarshalN: I think many tea-bloggers started their ...MarshalN: I think many <I>tea-bloggers</I> started their blog like you as notes for themselves, often to help them remember the impressions and feelings they had about a certain tea (or even to remember the parameters that proved to work best).<BR/>I also think that blogs like yours (and many listed on your blogroll) have developed into a certain art form with appealing visuals to complement the <I>"knitting patterns"</I>. You can see an evolution in the presentation that is inspired by yourself and fellow tea-bloggers. <BR/><BR/>Corax: I agree with your remarks about connection and community. After all, if we are enthusiastic about tea, chances are that most people think we are lunatics to get excited about something that seemingly simple. When we read other people's posts, we realize that we aren't alone and certainly not crazy.<BR/><BR/>One point that was only mentioned implicitly in MarshalN's post and which I regard as being one of the main drivers for readers of tea blogs is the aspect of information and education. We're developing respect or trust into the bloggers' comments (well, certainly not everyone's, but we all have people we <I>believe</I>) and their posts might help us on our own quest. Tea is such a comprehensive subject and most literature is not readily available in English. Blogs and the contained personal description of teas can help guide the way to new discoveries. The reader finds out what flavors to expect from a sencha or yunnan hong cha and can decide for himself which profile suits his preferences best. Blogs are probably the only guide in English for people who are interested in pu-er. Many kinds are produced each year and blog posts are an enormous help in getting your bearings. <BR/><BR/>Speaking of pu-er. A friend of mine brought up an interesting observation just yesterday about the tea-blogging community (after I've sent him a quick list of blogs I'm reading on a regular basis). He remarked that it was surprising that most tea blogs are more or less devoted to pu-er. It is an interesting fact that most tea bloggers are indeed pu-er lovers. (This might support your thoughts, Corax, of blogging as a search for community since finding fellow pu-er lovers is unequally harder than <I>just</I> finding tea friends.) My friend's comment on this was that if he had a lot of money to invest in tea, he would certainly by Darjeelings, not pu-er (in fact, there is very little written about Darjeeling teas in comparison to pu-er).<BR/><BR/>I'd like to end with a thought I had reading this post and wonder what others think about it.<BR/>I think the publication of this post is very timely. I feel that tea-blogging has reached a certain maturity lately. Reflecting about <I>the nature of tea-blogging</I> itself seems to be an indication of that. I think its role is well enough established and we all benefit greatly from the vast amount of tea-related information it supplies us with.<BR/><BR/>My gratitude goes to Cha Dao and all its contributors for being a unique source of information and food for thought.<BR/><BR/>=Jo=Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16115542.post-24752613039631067242007-07-31T10:09:00.000-04:002007-07-31T10:09:00.000-04:00[MarshalN] Thanks corax forcoming up with the term...[MarshalN] Thanks corax for<BR/>coming up with the term <BR/>"constant tea meeting". Being <BR/>the good academic that you are -- you quickly identified the point of the rambling piece of writing and came up with a catchy title, all this at midnight on a Monday. Ah, I have much to aspire to.<BR/><BR/>[corax] marshaln, you are welcome -- and too kind. when i read your felicitous metaphor, in the piece itself, it fairly jumped off the page at me.<BR/><BR/>[Julian] The tea landscape in 5 years time will be very different.<BR/><BR/>[corax] i do think this is true. as marshaln has chronicled, it has changed dramatically even over the past two. and these changes are not only being <I>charted</I> but, i think, to a significant extent <I>brought about</I> by all this blogging about tea, and the interactions being caused between:<BR/>--- blogs and commercial websites<BR/>--- blogs and online shoppers<BR/>--- tea websites generally and f2f meetings between tea aficionados<BR/>--- tea websites generally and casual readers who get the idea to try good tea<BR/>--- tea-drinkers, new or longstanding, and all the entrepreneurs who start brick-and-mortar tea houses in the western hemisphere<BR/>[and so forth].<BR/><BR/>add to all this the burgeoning economy of the people's republic of china, and the parlous economy of the USA, and the equation could be almost unrecognizable within our lifetimes.<BR/><BR/>-- coraxcoraxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03645573592247798140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16115542.post-28756037569378914842007-07-31T05:21:00.000-04:002007-07-31T05:21:00.000-04:00I think to some extent this explains why there are...I think to some extent this explains why there are so many tea blogs than tea sites.<BR/><BR/>Tea blogs spark personality. There is interactivity. You feel like talking to a friend sharing a similar interest.<BR/><BR/>Reading it not fun. But interaction is addictive.<BR/><BR/>Whereas a tea site - a lot of time you feel like visiting someone who is trying to sell you something.<BR/><BR/>It can feel rather cold.<BR/><BR/>I have got so many tea RSS feeds in my Google reader now.<BR/><BR/>I think this is just the beginning - tip of the icebergs.<BR/><BR/>There are so many teas.<BR/><BR/>There is so much knowledge hidden away.<BR/><BR/>There is a convergence of culture -evolution of tea processing techniques.<BR/><BR/>The tea landscape in 5 years time -will be - very different.<BR/><BR/>The community is booming and it is great for every tea lover!Julianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14714993960953788000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16115542.post-67837269468099408002007-07-31T02:59:00.000-04:002007-07-31T02:59:00.000-04:00Thanks corax for coming up with the term "constant...Thanks corax for coming up with the term "constant tea meeting". Being the good academic that you are -- you quickly identified the point of the rambling piece of writing and came up with a catchy title, all this at midnight on a Monday. Ah, I have much to aspire to.<BR/><BR/>I think the question of "Is there anybody else who've tasted this before" can extend across boundaries of tea classification -- sometimes an oolong can remind us of something entirely different, a sencha, perhaps. The more we read, and the more actively we think about the tea we're drinking, the more we learn and the more enjoyable it becomes :)MarshalNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16776398824139018801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16115542.post-60438558280883155092007-07-31T00:50:00.000-04:002007-07-31T00:50:00.000-04:00i very much like your concept of the 'constant tea...i very much like your concept of the 'constant tea meeting' -- i think that is very much what one is trying to do in these blogs. yes, tea reviews are an important part of what we do here, but they are by no means the be-all and end-all of the tea blog [at least, not of CHA DAO -- nor, i think, of your xanga.com blog]. <BR/><BR/>that said, the very urge that motivates the writing of the tea review seems to be rooted in a desire for commonality, for community. in an attempt [if i may wax philosophical here for a moment] to reach across the vast gulf that separates all individuals. <BR/><BR/>in my earlier piece on <A HREF="http://chadao.blogspot.com/2007/07/flavor-hedonics-pleasure-and-physiology.html" REL="nofollow">flavor hedonics</A>, i was trying to touch a bit on this very issue you are confronting here: part of what we are trying to do when we write up a tea review is to ask, 'is there anyone else out there to whom this brew tastes the same? who loves it or hates it the way i do? does my description mean anything significant to anyone else?' and, of course, those questions hint at a much larger one: 'is there anyone else on this planet who experiences life and the world as i do?' [i am reminded of the bitter lines in t.s. eliot's <A HREF="http://www.bartleby.com/198/1.html" REL="nofollow">'love song of j. alfred prufrock</A>: 'That is not what I meant at all. | That is not it, at all.' -- an articulation of the nightmare fear that genuine communication is, in fact, impossible.]<BR/><BR/>such fears aside, i'm very glad to have this piece of yours here at CHA DAO. i imagine it will be deeply thought-provoking for our readers.<BR/><BR/>-- coraxcoraxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03645573592247798140noreply@blogger.com