Stamp Collecting in Tea
Tea drinkers sometimes fall into a pattern I call “stamp collecting”, where they constantly sample different teas from different regions with the feeling that they are checking the teas off the list: “tried that, what’s next!”.
Frequently new drinkers engage in this behavior to some extent. There is almost no way to avoid it entirely, since we must all start somewhere. The world of tea is huge and unfathomably complex. It also can appear quite simple: leaf and hot water equals tea. Tea is best approached with an open mind and a small ego. There are no levels of tea mastery.
Stamp collecting of tea is problematic since it trivializes the context that the tea comes from and fails to build depth and continuity of experience. It lacks respect for the tea’s origin and the tea’s destination.
First, we must respect the origin of the tea we drink. While drinking tea may be an enjoyable hobby for many, it is a serious and often quite laborious profession for those who make it. There is sufficient depth in any one type of tea to spend a lifetime understanding. We should have some respect for that depth while we explore.
Second, there must be respect for the complexity of the tea that is destined for your cup. There are many variables to tea some of which you can control and some of which are baked into the product you buy. For example, people talk about the effects of altitude, location, oxidation, and roast as well as brewing parameters such as temperature, time, or brewing vessel. I remember when I first started drinking yancha my family would ask me to guess what tea I was drinking. Many times I thought I had learned what a Rou Gui tasted like, only to find that I had latched onto another aspect of the tea, one that had nothing to do with what is essential to a Rou Gui.
Continuity of experience builds understanding. In order to have some understanding of your tea, the experience has to connect to your previous experiences. Those connections build up the knowledge available. Stop stamp collecting and start to purposefully extend the range of your understanding.