Reuniting with Marshaln...

The last time I saw Marshaln was in Shanghai in February or March of 2007. I was spending hours and hours with Thom, Action Jackson, and alone at the Tianshan and Jiuxing tea markets there, and gaining lots of weight eating a dozen red bean cakes everyday. The last time I'd seen Marshaln before then was in Beijing, at the very beginning of my journey through China, frittering our time away at Maliandao:

The first time I met Marshaln, Phyll Sheng was there. Wet met at Chado in Pasadena to share some tea and get to know each other:

Phyll Sheng disappeared, and Marshaln had been to Taiwan and back doing research.

This past weekend, Marshaln was back in LA for a quick trip, so some of us got together Sunday afternoon and rejoiced in his arrival and shared some tea. Phyll Sheng rose from the dead to join Danica, Nick, Davin and me at the home of Will and Louise, where we drank a slough of teas.

Danica's drunk on tea. Nick is comparatively serious.

Danica took the helm at first and brewed us some green teas from ITC, an anji baicha and a long jing. The baicha was mild and vegetal; the long jing steeped into something strange, almost rotten tasting.

Left: Anji Baicha Right: Bottoms up! (LZ's and Davin's hands)

Lawrence made some approx. 20-year aged oolong in a beautiful three-footed pot, both of which he purchased in Taiwan, then some 1980s baozhong from Houde. Will ended the day's brewing with some tasty "old tree tea" Wuyi oolong. We ended with a Da Hong Pao from Teacuppa, which brewed better in Danica's pots the first time I tried it.

Left: LZ, Nick & Cat Right: Danica relaxes

It was excellent to see him again, and rewarding to hang out with a small part of the LA Tea Affair gang.

These kinds of tea meets offer the valuable opportunity to learn about tea from several people in a single meeting, discussing their approaches to gongfu brewing, tea ware, water, and the like. When confronted with a diversity of opinion on subjective matters like tea brewing, I consider myself lucky to have the opportunity to soak it all in and supplement my education. Because this learning loosens the foundation of my tea brewing, I leave their company ambivalent about particularities of tea and brewing tea, eager to experiment, while waiting to meet up again.