Tea Time on a Winter Afternoon

"A wandering mind spoils the tea -- awareness and well-made tea are one and the same."

From The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2010.

Mindfulness. In that moment when you drink that "well-made" tea, if you can continue to avoid a "wandering mind", if you can be in the present, drinking your tea, not thinking about the future or remembering something from the past, then you can freely drink and enjoy your tea and experience moments of peace and happiness.

Tea time on a cold winter's afternoon. The tea cake with its lovely paper wrapping is a Pu-erh tea from Yunnan Province, China. It has lotus leaves mixed in which supposedly makes it even more effective for weight loss. Just the tea to remedy all that holiday indulgence! The porcelaine gaiwan has a cup, lid and saucer, making it a perfect vessel for steeping tea. Discovering new teas is like taking a journey and learning about different parts of the world.