Ti Guan Yin

Across from the Scala Cinema in Siam Square is the Discovery Centre, one of the collection of huge shopping malls in that area. We wouldn't normally have any cause to visit, but had an hour or so to spare before our film started, and went off in search of air-conditioning and a sit-down.

There's a small tea shop inside, just by the bookstore, containing some lovely statues of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. They were very expensive, but clearly worth the price and Ikumi and I gushed over them. I wanted to take photos but felt I ought to buy something before asking, and so we looked at the tea.

I went to traditional tea shops a couple of times when living in Korea, but always relied on Chong Go Sunim or my friend Joseph to order for me. Joseph spends a good deal of time and money sampling, drinking, and collecting teas, and is a real expert. But afterwards, I'd always go and get myself a decent cup of coffee.

However, the seeds of an interest must have been planted and I found myself fascinated by the varieties of tea on offer in the shop in Siam. Then Ikumi pointed out the clincher, a tea named after the Bodhisattva herself. Expensive enough to make your eyes water, I bought a full canister.

Plus a tiny clay teapot to brew it in. We got back home, Ikumi showed me how to make the tea, and we drank cup after tiny cup. Not that it felt tiny. Although completely new to this, I could appreciate the complexity and delight of the flavours it contains. And we've been drinking it every day since.

I love the smell, and love the way that, taking the lid off the little pot, I see real leaves there, not the dust I'm used to in teabags. Amazing to think it was recently growing, that it was picked and dried and wrapped, that a little hot water brings out such incredible freshness and pleasure.

The story is that a poor Chinese farmer in a poor farming area walked out to his fields everyday, and on his way out to work, and again on his way back home, he'd stop at a sadly neglected shrine dedicated to Guan Yin. He'd sweep away the fallen leaves or clear some dust, light a stick of incense, and chant her name.

One night, after many years of this selfless devotion, the Bodhisattva herself appeared in a dream and told the poor farmer to go behind the shrine to where he'd find something that would bring prosperity to him, and happiness to all. It was a small shoot of a wonderful new tea which, of course, he named Ti Guan Yin.

Link:

Somewhere in Dhamma: The Dao of Tea, by Joseph