etz chayim- my winter teas

3 tevet 5781 

my go to teas in the winter are puers and aged white teas. im here for the fresh sheng as well as the aged. this doesn’t sound like a big revelation because these are already teas i really like independent of the season. these are my go to teas in addition to dan congs so there is nothing too astounding about this revelation. so why do i like them during this time of year in particular? im about to get kinda woo, look out.

 

in the winter i spend more time indoors than i wish i did. i still go out into the woods and go for walks, but i have a hard time with the cold. its not bad out here in the PNW, but im still indoors more than i wish i was. i need the woods and being outside to not get too depressed. it makes me happy and helps me connect to the world and the things i love in it. the less im outside, the less i get to connect in that way and i have to find other ways to connect. tea is one of those ways for me.

 

puer and white tea both hold a certain qi that i really connect to. these teas are very straightgayforward in their essence. puer is (ideally) from wild old growth trees. it is (ideally) sun dried and pressed with stones. this carries some of the energy that i connect to in the woods. it is from trees living around other trees, plants, water, and fungus. it is form trees that have seen who knows what. it is from these gnarly leaves from these gangly trees up in the high mountains of the forest. add to this the energy of time, change, and evolution from aged puers and you have this incredible leaf to connect to.

 

the leaf of white has also been (ideally) sun dried. that is it. period. no fancy frills. it is just the leaf from the tea tree. it is simple, it is humble, it is floral, it is sweet, and it is fragrant like spring wildflowers, wet earth, and summer grass. where young sheng can give me some astral travel feelings when its really strong, aged white teas are very grounding and hold me in a supportive way. 

 

to me, they can each correspond to a genre of jewish study. i really like drinking young sheng on shabbos mornings, getting really amped, and davening. aged sheng i would say is for learning talmud. it is rich, it is complex, and its something you need to sit with for a long time and discuss with someone. aged white tea i will drink when i want to be more still and reflective. maybe i will study kabbalah, meditate, or walk in the woods and sing niggunim.

 

as ive said in a previous post quoting pirkei avot. ‘the world stand on T3a things: torah (aged sheng), worship (young sheng) and acts of loving kindness (baicha).’

 

xoxo,

atzei besamim