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Drinking a Cup of Tear-Inducing Tea: Su San Pian's Ecological Tea
I can't believe a cup of tea could bring tears to my eyes. What the heck. In any case, this afternoon of tea tasting with Teacher Su Sanpian was destined to be extraordinary.
Teacher Su is a fifth-generation tea farmer from Lugu. Despite his heritage of traditional Dong Ding Oolong craftsmanship, he created his own "Su San Pian" tea-making method. The first time I tasted his tea, I noticed that no matter if it was black tea, white tea, or genus camellia tea, the color was always clear and bright.
It also had a transparent feeling in the mouth. How could black tea taste so gentle? The white tea made during the Dragon Boat Festival warms the stomach without the coldness that others attribute to white tea. Sunlight during the Dragon Boat Festival makes all the difference. He said his tea is for those who seek a meditative experience, for quietly sipping while reading, not for drinking during singing and dancing. It is pleasing, joyful, relaxing, and stress-free. Only by drinking it calmly can one appreciate its tranquil elegance; when cooled, it tastes like rock sugar's sweetness.
Those who prefer strong flavors, beware that this is not your cup of tea.
Taiwan's arbor tea from Liugui in Kaohsiung makes you want to drink it again and again. Its noble texture, grassy floral fragrance, slight woody scent, and wild aroma are transparent, expansive, and sweet. We seemed ready to leave, needing to rush back north before dark. He mentioned a private collection tea from the same tree. I thought, isn't this the concept of "Single tea tree"? Time seemed tight. While pondering, heavy rain started pouring. Ah, I really must taste this "Single tea tree".
Smelling it in the bag, the complexity was overwhelming. It wasn't just fruity and floral but carried a primal natural breath, deeply so. The light yellow tea left an image of a circle in my mind, peaceful and calm. As I drank the second cup, the teacher said one shouldn't talk while drinking this tea. Quietly savoring it, my eyes suddenly welled up with tears. "This is a cup of tea that makes you cry!" I ultimately said. Honestly, at that moment, analyzing the tea's flavor with my mind became unimportant. It was an inexplicable feeling of being moved. A sense of unity with the tea. In harmony with nature.
Let the nature speaks.
Teacher Su's method doesn't damage the tea leaves; he gently kneads them with his palms, allowing them to ferment slowly. This "single tree" tea, with its transparency yet full and deep flavor, what concept is this? It must come from the essence of the tea leaves, right?
"How big is that tree?" I asked. He gestured, indicating the thickness of a hundred-year-old tea tree, saying this tree is thicker, perhaps two to three hundred years old.
Am I hearing things wrong, is my Mandarin bad? Did I hear right? Three hundred years? What exactly did I drink?
Later, Teacher Su mentioned that I wasn't the first person moved to tears by his tea. He had encountered someone who suddenly rushed to the bathroom while drinking tea. Those present thought their friend had received an urgent call, only to find out later they had cried over the tea.
Thankfully. I am not the only one.
His tea is like an abstract landscape painting, with the beauty of blank spaces. I forgot to mention, Teacher Su's tea is wild tea, which is what I have particularly favored over the past one or two years. His "subtraction" tea-making technique, without additives, conveys the purity of nature.
Why is he called "Su San Pian"? A friend once told him that just three pieces of his tea leaves were enough to brew a good cup. But this afternoon, he used many more leaves.
"I make tea with my soul and life." He said if one day he leaves, we would remember him every time we drink tea. I asked, "Will I think of you when I drink your tea?" He replied, "You will think of me whenever you drink tea."
Such confidence!
Still, I hope you stay healthy and continue making tea to "bewitch" everyone!
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