Hello, everyone!

I'm a member of the Puget Sound Tea Association, and we're putting
together a tea festival for this fall in Seattle. One of the things
we're looking into is having a series of films and a series of book
signings that are related to tea.

I would love it if you could recommend any books or films in which tea
plays a prominent role. They don't need to be *about* tea per se. An
example might be how food/cooking plays a large role in "Eat Drink Man
Woman" but that's not really what the move is *about*. We're looking
for things like that.

If you want to send your book and film recommendations to me at
teageek(at-symbol)teageek.net, I'd be happy to compile them and post a
list for the group. Or you are free to post them here.

Thanks!

--Michael J. Coffey--

P.S. -- We're already making arrangements to show "All In This Tea" so
that one's been thought of.

On Apr 2, 1:18 pm, Tea Geek > wrote:
> Hello, everyone!
>
> I'm a member of the Puget Sound Tea Association, and we're putting
> together a tea festival for this fall in Seattle. One of the things
> we're looking into is having a series of films and a series of book
> signings that are related to tea.
>
> I would love it if you could recommend any books or films in which tea
> plays a prominent role. They don't need to be *about* tea per se. An
> example might be how food/cooking plays a large role in "Eat Drink Man
> Woman" but that's not really what the move is *about*. We're looking
> for things like that.
>
> If you want to send your book and film recommendations to me at
> teageek(at-symbol)teageek.net, I'd be happy to compile them and post a
> list for the group. Or you are free to post them here.
>
> Thanks!
>
> --Michael J. Coffey--
>
> P.S. -- We're already making arrangements to show "All In This Tea" so
> that one's been thought of.

I'd have to give a vote for The Karate Kid, Part II. (
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzeGcl3BNJ4 )

I'm sure it is not what you are looking for but when I think of tea in
film, it is always #1 for me.

- Dominic
http://teasphere.wordpress.com

> I'm a member of the Puget Sound Tea Association, and we're putting
> together a tea festival for this fall in Seattle. One of the things
> we're looking into is having a series of films and a series of book
> signings that are related to tea.
>
> I would love it if you could recommend any books or films in which tea
> plays a prominent role. They don't need to be *about* tea per se. An
> example might be how food/cooking plays a large role in "Eat Drink Man
> Woman" but that's not really what the move is *about*. We're looking
> for things like that.
>
> If you want to send your book and film recommendations to me at
> teageek(at-symbol)teageek.net, I'd be happy to compile them and post a
> list for the group. Or you are free to post them here.


Cool! I had no idea there was a Puget Sound Tea Association. As a
tea-lover and occasional tea-seller in northern Puget Sound I'd love
to be involved, but Google doesn't show a result under that name -- is
there a site for your group yet?.

There is a series of hour-long travel documentaries made for Chinese
TV that cover tea-producing regions that I'd recommend. I found a
number of them subtitled in DVD stores in Richmond B.C. for just over
$10 each. There's one called "Wuyi Mountain" (home of Da Hong Pao -
one of my favorites!), one called "Wuxi Is A Beautiful City" (briefly
covers Yixing), and a number of others focusing on specific
mountains. They also had an absolutely beautiful full-length
documentary called "Cha Ma Gu Dao" listed as a 2006 film by Tian
Zhuangzhuang, on the subject of the Tea Horse Road, but my copy has no
subtitles.

With regard to tea books, I think a number of folk would recommend
"Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea From East To West" by Beatrice
Hohenegger (ISBN: 0-312-33328-5) as an excellent thorough introduction
to tea culture and history for beginners. Another good one for tea
newbies is "Origins of Tea and Wine" a short but detail-rich comic-
bookish volume by Asiapac Comic (ISBN: 981-229-369-8).

I've also loved reading the mid-19th century travel journals of Robert
Fortune (aka the "Tea Thief") as he journeyed undercover through
China's tea-producing regions gathering tea plant samples for the East
India Company at a time when the country was barred to foreigners.
They're hard to find but Amazon is currently carrying them.

-Charles

Tea Geek wrote:
> I would love it if you could recommend any books or films in which tea
> plays a prominent role. They don't need to be *about* tea per se.

This probably doesn't qualify, but I want to share it here anyway.
Kurosawa's 1951 interpretation of "The Idiot" is as exquisite and
powerful as any of his work, and as bleak and honest as his darkest. One
of the few relatively upbeat scenes is when the title character's
dubious friend's senile mother serves them tea just about halfway
through the film. It's the most unaffectedly delicate depiction of the
act as service, sharing, family ritual, retreat to center and
transcendence that I've seen on celluloid. Interesting technique, too.

-DM

On Apr 2, 7:18*pm, Tea Geek > wrote:
> Hello, everyone!
>
> I'm a member of the Puget Sound Tea Association, and we're putting
> together a tea festival for this fall in Seattle. *One of the things
> we're looking into is having a series of films and a series of book
> signings that are related to tea.


How about Taste of Tea http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413893/ ?

Tomas
http://tuochatea.blogspot.com

On Apr 2, 6:30 pm, Iggy > wrote:
> There is a series of hour-long travel documentaries made for Chinese
> TV that cover tea-producing regions that I'd recommend. I found a
> number of them subtitled in DVD stores in Richmond B.C. for just over
> $10 each. There's one called "Wuyi Mountain" (home of Da Hong Pao -
> one of my favorites!), one called "Wuxi Is A Beautiful City" (briefly
> covers Yixing), and a number of others focusing on specific
> mountains.

Charles, is there any chance you could offer some more info on these
DVDs? A manufacturer, exact title, UPC, anything? I'd be very
interested in trying to locate them.

Thanks,
- Dominic

P.S. Also, one of my favorite TV chefs, Yan Can Cook, would feature
tea in a number of his newer shows on PBS both in his cooking as well
as wonderful interludes where he would travel to a number of places
and people and it was very informative and real. There was one in
particular where a Taoist master prepares tea in an old style where he
uses a wheel to crush the tea into a powder and then brews it cold. I
have them all on my DVR, I'll have to convert them at some point since
the show is no longer on.

On Apr 3, 6:28 am, "Dominic T." > wrote:
> On Apr 2, 6:30 pm, Iggy > wrote:
>
> > There is a series of hour-long travel documentaries made for Chinese
> > TV that cover tea-producing regions that I'd recommend. I found a
> > number of them subtitled in DVD stores in Richmond B.C. for just over
> > $10 each. There's one called "Wuyi Mountain" (home of Da Hong Pao -
> > one of my favorites!), one called "Wuxi Is A Beautiful City" (briefly
> > covers Yixing), and a number of others focusing on specific
> > mountains.
>
> Charles, is there any chance you could offer some more info on these
> DVDs? A manufacturer, exact title, UPC, anything? I'd be very
> interested in trying to locate them.

The DVD packaging is scarce on English, but the DVD's seem to be
produced by Shanghai Listen Audio & Video Co., Ltd. (www.shlsmusic.com
but no English on the site). Both DVDs I have list the series name as
"Journey in China" with a note that it is a "TV documentary series
featuring one hundred cities in China". "Wu Yi Mountain" has a title
code of CDVD-179, an ISBN of 7-7999-1719-9, and UPC of
9-787799-917191. "Wuxi Is A Beautiful City" has a title code of
LD-0005, an ISBN of 7-88420-003-1 and UPC of 9-787884-200030.

Ah, a quick Google on the ISBN shows one site carrying these online:
http://www.shanghai-today.com/shoppi...ail.asp?cid=61

I also see on this site a title on Hangzhou West Lake, home of Lung
Ching teas, the national Chinese tea museum, and over 700 tea houses.
http://www.shanghai-today.com/shoppi...ail.asp?cid=53

Keep us updated on how the planning for the fall tea festival is
going!
-Charles

Another suggestion, albeit a somewhat odd one and one that I can't
vouch for personally: a large mainstream wholesaler, The Metropolitan
Tea Company, just offered in their new catalog a set of training CDs
containing photo-rich tea-travel Powerpoints. They claim to cover tea
growing, manufacturing, and marketing. They can be bought
individually or as a set and seem to be reasonably priced.

The topics:
Kenya - Nandi and Kericho
Sri Lanka - Lovers Leap Estate, Nuwara Eliya
Taiwan - Spring Pouchong
Taiwan - Dung Ti Oolong
China - Pai Mu Tan White Tea
China - Yunnan Pu-erh
China - Fujian Wuyi Rock Oolong & Tong Mu Pheonix Tree Lapsang
Souchong
China - Yunnan Artisan Tea
India - Darjeeling, Margret's Hope
India - Organic Assam

Anyone here had a chance to see these CDs yet? Would they be suitable
for a tea festival, or even for personal tea-knowledge expansion?

On Apr 2, 1:18 pm, "Tea Geek" > wrote:

> Hello, everyone!
>
> I'm a member of the Puget Sound Tea Association, and we're putting
> together a tea festival for this fall in Seattle. One of the things
> we're looking into is having a series of films and a series of book
> signings that are related to tea.
>
> I would love it if you could recommend any books or films in which tea
> plays a prominent role. They don't need to be *about* tea per se. An
> example might be how food/cooking plays a large role in "Eat Drink Man
> Woman" but that's not really what the move is *about*. We're looking
> for things like that.
>
> If you want to send your book and film recommendations to me at
> teageek(at-symbol)teageek.net, I'd be happy to compile them and post a
> list for the group. Or you are free to post them here.
>
> Thanks!
>
> --Michael J. Coffey--
>
> P.S. -- We're already making arrangements to show "All In This Tea" so
> that one's been thought of.

I am a huge fan of Tan Dun, a Chinese composer living in/between China and
Manhattan, whose compositions are influenced by both Chinese and Western
classical music. One of his compositions is very much related to tea. It is
an opera called Tea: A Mirror of Soul. The opera which is a love story
between a Japanese prince and a Chinese princess was - according to Deutsche
Grammophon's website - partly inspired by Lu Yu's Book of Tea.

The performance of the opera is available on DVD:

http://www2.deutschegrammophon.com/w...UCT_NR=0730999

I have not yet seen this film, but I did see another very interesting DVD
about the making of the opera. The film is called Tan Dun: Tea.

http://tinyurl.com/ysyaad

In the film the composer shares among other things his views about tea in
Chinese and Japanese society. The film also contains some touching scenes of
a Japanese tea ceremony and of a rural Chinese family enjoying some fresh
green tea.

Gyorgy

On Apr 2, 12:18*pm, Tea Geek > wrote:
> Hello, everyone!

> I would love it if you could recommend any books or films in which tea
> plays a prominent role. *They don't need to be *about* tea per se. *An
> example might be how food/cooking plays a large role in "Eat Drink Man
> Woman" but that's not really what the move is *about*. *We're looking
> for things like that.

>
> * * * * --Michael J. Coffey--
>
Hi Michael,
Any episode of Star Trek TNG inolves tea, mostly Earl Grey... You know
the rest. I even saw a "Klingon Tea Ceremony" that rocked.
Jenn

On Apr 3, 1:31 pm, Jenn > wrote:
> On Apr 2, 12:18 pm, Tea Geek > wrote:
>
> > Hello, everyone!
> > I would love it if you could recommend any books or films in which tea
> > plays a prominent role. They don't need to be *about* tea per se. An
> > example might be how food/cooking plays a large role in "Eat Drink Man
> > Woman" but that's not really what the move is *about*. We're looking
> > for things like that.
>
> > --Michael J. Coffey--
>
> Hi Michael,
> Any episode of Star Trek TNG inolves tea, mostly Earl Grey... You know
> the rest. I even saw a "Klingon Tea Ceremony" that rocked.
> Jenn

It think my first exposure to tea ceremonies and the notion that tea
was something special was from watching the Shogun mini-series. I
haven't seen it since I was a teenager though, so it may not be as
applicable as my memory suggests. :-)

On Apr 4, 4:43*am, Iggy > wrote:
> On Apr 3, 1:31 pm, Jenn > wrote:
>
> > On Apr 2, 12:18 pm, Tea Geek > wrote:
>
> > > Hello, everyone!
> > > I would love it if you could recommend any books or films in which tea
> > > plays a prominent role. *They don't need to be *about* tea per se. *An
> > > example might be how food/cooking plays a large role in "Eat Drink Man
> > > Woman" but that's not really what the move is *about*. *We're looking
> > > for things like that.
>
> > > * * * * --Michael J. Coffey--
>
> > Hi Michael,
> > Any episode of Star Trek TNG inolves tea, mostly Earl Grey... You know
> > the rest. I even saw a "Klingon Tea Ceremony" that rocked.
> > Jenn
>
> It think my first exposure to tea ceremonies and the notion that tea
> was something special was from watching the Shogun mini-series. *I
> haven't seen it since I was a teenager though, so it may not be as
> applicable as my memory suggests. *:-)

In the new BBC series based on the books of Alexander McCall Smith -
The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, Bush Tea (what is that? Rooibos?)
plays an important role in the show as mediating bridge, 2 connect, 2
pour out problems, etc.

In Fearless, a chinese movie, the hero discusses some cool deep stuff
with a Japanese opponent over a cup of tea, near the end of the film.

There is also an episode on Brothers & Sisters in which a girl made
mocha in a bowl & explained 2 Sally Field the essence of tea ceremony,
any1 know which epi is that?

kevo

there's a couple tv "documentaries" that were on tea, don't remember
how good they were,
one was on Modern Marvels, one was on Good Eats

There was a popular television show in Korea, and also aired here in
China, also very popular in China; called $B=w?ME72<(B. I think the English
title is "Girls on the Top".
It was a very long episodic drama series, and also very cool. Just
about every episode shows mainly concubines of the emperor, drinking
tea from a celadon tea set, while plotting how to do away with the
crown-prince so that their own son could get the throne.

On Apr 8, 4:51 pm, niisonge > wrote:
> There was a popular television show in Korea, and also aired here in
> China, also very popular in China; called $B=w?ME72<(B. I think the English
> title is "Girls on the Top".
> It was a very long episodic drama series, and also very cool. Just
> about every episode shows mainly concubines of the emperor, drinking
> tea from a celadon tea set, while plotting how to do away with the
> crown-prince so that their own son could get the throne.

The title sounds naughty...

Kevo

Kevo wrote:
> On Apr 4, 4:43 am, Iggy > wrote:
>> On Apr 3, 1:31 pm, Jenn > wrote:
>>
>>> On Apr 2, 12:18 pm, Tea Geek > wrote:
>>>> Hello, everyone!
>>>> I would love it if you could recommend any books or films in which tea
>>>> plays a prominent role. They don't need to be *about* tea per se. An
>>>> example might be how food/cooking plays a large role in "Eat Drink Man
>>>> Woman" but that's not really what the move is *about*. We're looking
>>>> for things like that.
>>>> --Michael J. Coffey--
>>> Hi Michael,
>>> Any episode of Star Trek TNG inolves tea, mostly Earl Grey... You know
>>> the rest. I even saw a "Klingon Tea Ceremony" that rocked.
>>> Jenn
>> It think my first exposure to tea ceremonies and the notion that tea
>> was something special was from watching the Shogun mini-series. I
>> haven't seen it since I was a teenager though, so it may not be as
>> applicable as my memory suggests. :-)
>
> In the new BBC series based on the books of Alexander McCall Smith -
> The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, Bush Tea (what is that? Rooibos?)
> plays an important role in the show as mediating bridge, 2 connect, 2
> pour out problems, etc.
>
> In Fearless, a chinese movie, the hero discusses some cool deep stuff
> with a Japanese opponent over a cup of tea, near the end of the film.
>
>


I second a look at that Fearless reference, if nothing else the gaiwans
were really cool. I kept wondering where they got them, they were
much bigger than I was used to (The gaiwans).

Melinda