Stepping Away From the Teashop But Not From Tea

  Last month marked the last time I worked at San Francisco's beloved Red Blossom Tea Company.  For three years now I've brewed and sold tea at this wonderful shop and during this time have met hundreds, if not thousands, of amazing tea people.  The experience was one in a lifetime, a chance to see the river of life pass by the shop window, I, sitting, wonder who would be the next to come in and sample my tea and the moment.  At times I likened my life to that of the 18th century Japanese tea poet, Baisao, who made camp at the edge of rivers, temple grounds, or in forests, making tea and enjoying the seasons.  Tea came first for him, passersby merely something to typify the moment.  

  Working at Red Blossom was somewhat the same.  Yet, as a tea person, some things about the tea business never seemed to connect with me.  For me, tea is the closest thing I have to a religion, world view, or ideal to which I live by.  Try selling that to a customer.  It doesn't always happen, nor do you always want it to.  I consider tea people rare and the moment, not money, is what should be the goal.  So, at times, having to recognize the monetary factor did trouble me.  Regardless, I was a great salesperson, motivated by the quality of the product and the people around me.  Red Blossom was and is still at the forefront of San Francisco's (if not California's) tea purveying community, so having a chance to be in the fray of that was wonderful.

  

As for things to come, my list seems to be endless.  April seems to be, for time being, a quiet before the proverbial storm of tea-related events.  May will bring with it the cornucopia of new Spring teas.  I am working with several local tea people to organize tastings, many of which will be offered alongside with live traditional Asian music.  More on all that to come!

  For now, I find myself enjoying the quietude of relaxing evenings.  The mixture of the rain and the beginning of Spring is a wonderful time for those in tea.  Away from the retail side of tea, I am, at long last, able to return to a more pure meditative approach to the art.  The silence of the night and the refreshing pause that comes with the changing of the season gives me hope for things to come as I step further in this life of tea.