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Reflections : A Year with Tea : February : Awakening


Welcome to our year with tea

Throughout 2024 we will be sharing our year with tea; embracing tea through the seasons both at home & in the tea fields.   As this is the only full year our pop up Shatwell Tea House will be open we are taking the opportunity to document the space throughout the year & share it with you all.  In this blog we offer our reflections on February - starting with stories from the Shatwell Tea House and then looking at activity with some of our friends and partners around the tea world.
For February our theme was awakening - the light starts to return and we feel the promise of brighter days ahead and the opportunities they bring.  
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Reflections on February....Awakening at our Tea Houses

As the light returns we captured this image at our Shatwell Farm Tea House.  This beautiful glow perfectly reflecting many of our visitors feelings this month - the desire for the light but the desire to also stay wrapped up warm & cosy against the cold February air.  This time of year continues to test our patience - it is so easy to wish the darker days away but perhaps more rewarding to 'sit' in the moment if we can - take the time to breathe - appreciate our February landscape and of course drink tea.  Quiet tea moments offer us the chance to gently awaken and feel gratitude for the season. 

    
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Our Shatwell Tea House was open only for the first two weeks of February as we take a short winter break in the latter weeks.  With the fire still glowing we welcomed many tea friends and captured these February moments which perfectly reflect our theme of awakening :-
 
  • Grey February skies with the light breaking through the cracks over the silo in this beautiful part of the world - a feeling of change in the air 
  • An hour or so making a small plant arrangement in the Shatwell Tea House - soon Spring will be upon us and there will be an explosion of green and new life - taking time to savour this moment & reflect the outside inside can offer some beautiful gentle reflection.   
  • Speaking of simple acts and gentle reflection the last photo here shows Jenny behind the counter brewing up some restorative leaves for our visitors.
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Our Bath Tea House had its own mini rejuvenation in February with Rob taking a little time out, wonderful Marta taking the lead for a few days & the team finding time to restock our shelves with all the beautiful teas we are fortunate to represent at Comins.  As we pack we think of the activities taking place across the tea world -and the promise of beautiful teas to come.  For many visitors February seemed to feel a difficult month - the colder and this year wetter days taking their toll on even those with the most positive outlook.  Bringing some signs of Spring into the Tea House in the form of this bright Mimosa reminds us all that Spring is just around the corner ; as usual the Tea House has provided welcome sanctuary with visitors leaving restored.
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Out & About

Brighter days meant time for one of our favourite activities in February - tea outside.  We took a small trip to Devon & enjoyed tea in the fresh air.  As the seasons change this is an activity we strongly recommend offering us the chance to feel the energy of the season and start to envision and contemplate new intentions for the year ahead. Pack a thermos, a favourite pot, some simple cups and use a tea bag to carry it all in!   Just a few moments in the sunshine can make all the difference.  
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Lunar New Year at the Museum of East Asian Art - MEAA

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We were very fortunate to be invited to share tea at the delightful Museum of East Asian Art Lunar new year celebrations in Bath.  We met so many wonderful people.  Many of you will be well aware of the details of Lunar new year.  The Museum hosted a number of events including the Lion Dance - 'Lions are symbolic of wisdom and power in Chinese culture, and the purpose of the lion dance is to bring good fortune. The lion dance is typically performed at cultural celebrations, business openings, and religious festivals, especially at Chinese New Year celebrations to usher in the coming year & a beautiful' - & a Gu Zheng Concert with  Lydia Sun 'who presented a carefully curated selection of classic Lunar New Year tunes like Spring Festival Overture, Chinese folk melodies such as Spring on Snowy Mountains, and timeless pop hits from China and the West' 
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Lunar New Year background from the MEAA

The lunar calendar (traditionally used in China and other countries in East Asia) is based on the cycles of the moon and is different from the Western Gregorian calendar which is based on the cycles of the sun. It takes 29.5 days to complete the lunar cycle. There are six 'small' months of 29 days and six large' months of 30 days, making 354 days in total. Every two to three years an extra lunar month, called rünyuè, is added to bring the calendar into line with the solar calendar. Lunar New Year varies from year to year and falls between 21 January and 19 February according to the Western calendar. Lunar New Year Celebrations Lunar New Year is one of the greatest holidays in East and Southeast Asia, especially in China. The New Year celebration usually lasts for 15 days and, like Christmas, is a family event. Customs differ considerably from place to place, but everywhere people celebrate peace, good luck and happiness
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Lunar New Year around the world from the MEAA

China : also called Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, this is the most important traditional Chinese festival. It is an occasion of family gathering with gourmet meals. The celebration usually last for 15 days and ends with the Lantern Festival.
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Great Britain: Chinese New Year celebrations take place in Chinatowns, museums, schools and community centres all around the UK. These are open to everyone.
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Indonesia: celebrations in Indonesia, known locally as 'Imlek incorporate customs, beliefs and practices brought to Indonesia by the Chinese since the 16th century
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Hong Kong: The New Year Night Parade takes place on New Year's Eve. It includes a big cavalcade with floats, bands and dancers.
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Malaysia and Singapore: in Singapore you can find special snacks at the Lunar New Year market: Love Letters (crispy crackers emblazoned with auspicious symbols, rolled into a hollow tube), Pineapple Tarts and Kuih Bang Kit (milky cookie made from tapioca flour and coconut milk).
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Korea: the Lunar New Year in Korea is known as Seollal. Like in China, family members gather together to celebrate. Many Koreans dress up in hanbok (traditional Korean dress). and Tteokguk (soup with rice cakes) is commonly served
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Taiwan: Lunar New Year in Taiwan is very similar to mainland China and is a family celebration with papercuts and money packets etc. Families also hold a big Lunar New Year's Eve dinner.
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Vietnam: Day is called Têt Nguyên Dán, or Têt for short, which means Festival of the First Morning of the First Day. In Vietnam, houses are cleaned and decorated with fresh flowers, such as peach and apricot blossoms, to welcome the new year. Five-fruit platters are eaten to honour their ancestors and guests are often offered snacks made from dried fruit or seeds and sugar called mút têt.
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Lunar New Year crafts & traditions [from the MEAA]

Door Gods: the door gods are two fierce warriors pasted on both sides of a doorway to frighten away evil spirits on New Year's Eve New Year Prints: printed pictures and words meant to bring good wishes are pasted throughout the home. These are often wishes for having many children, wealth and plenty.
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Firecrackers : the loud noises made by firecrackers drive evil spirits away. Empty firecrackers are made to be hung up as decorations during Lunar New Year.
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Spring Couplets  : spring couplets are pairs of sayings or poems that offer good wishes at the beginning of the new year. They are usually hung on either side of a doorway and written in black or gold on red paper,
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Papercuts : coloured paper is cut into different shapes such as animals, children or flowers. They are often stuck on windows so that the light shines through. Most of them represent auspicious or springtime symbols.
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Paper Lanterns: made to celebrate the end of the Lunar New Year (15th day of the first lunar month) in what is called the Lantern Festival.

The Chinese Zodiac [image from the MEAA]

The Chinese zodiac has 12 different animals for each of the 12 years in the cycle: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.  Which Chinese Zodiac sign are you?
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Reflections on February....in the tea fields 

As part of our year with tea project we are asking many of our partners around the world to share what activities they undertaken each month - an insight into the work that goes on in tea all year round - and of course a window into what tea everyone is drinking!  Here is our spotlight on February from India to China & beyond.  

February with tea friends in the Nilgiri Hills Southern India

From our partner Murali : In February we have spent time working on the tea plant pruning and farm cleaning. Here are a couple of photos of pruned tea plants.

We manually apply lime coating to the pruned plants to clear off moss covered branches, ward off any pests and improve growth. We prune only portion of the farm in order to not affect tea production.

By next year, these plants will be back to full growth.

February with tea friends in the Darjeeling Hills Northern India

 

From our partner Husna :  As the harvest season ends in November, and the factory falls silent after 9 months of hard work we spend the winter months including February cleaning, painting and polishing each machine so we can start the next season all sparkly new.  We are just a few days away from our first harvest of 2024.....enjoy these photographs of the calm before the storm ....in a tea cup!   Very soon - this is the space that will embrace the delicate Spring leaves our tea pickers will gather from the fields, to bring you India's finest teas.

Seeking the blessings of the tea gods : At the start of each season, right at the end of Feb/1st of March we perform a little ritual in the tea fields and in the tea factory - seeking the blessings of the tea and the weather gods. The elephant-headed Ganesha is known as the Lord of Good Beginnings, and is also the remover of obstacles, so he is always worshipped at the start of any new beginning.  So we select a field that receives the very first rays of the sun, and invoke his blessings. 
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This year, we gathered in Section 1E of our Glenburn division, and prayed for good weather, an abundant crop as well as good health and prosperity for our community of tea workers.  Our priest requested Parithakur from Bara Gaon village to pluck the very first tea leaves. After her symbolic picking, the rest of our plucking gang commenced our first harvest of the new season.  This year we had hotel guests join into the puja, and it was a beautiful morning with perfect weather too signifying an auspicious new beginning.  Next we moved to the factory where we invoked the blessings of Lord Vishwakarma - the divine architect and craftsmen, the designer of the Universe, also associated with technology and innovation, and commonly known as the God of Tools and Work.  We invoked him to bless all our machines, and then the factory sprang into life again with the first harvest of 2024 

Want to try the tea?  You can explore here

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February with tea friends : China Myanmar Border

 

From our partner Matt : In February we returned to the office after the CNY festivities.  Spring Festival is one of the most important days in China, and people from different provinces do have their own ways to celebrate it. WA people, especially the ladies, love to sing and dance during the festival. The weather is quite nice this year, around 7’c-25’c. There is even fruit in this season. This cherry-size fruit called You Gan or Yu Gan Zi, different names in Yunnan, Guangxi , Guangdong, etc. The taste is kind of bitter sweet and it is good for one’s throat. If you’ve got a sore throat or cough, take some and you’ll feel much better. This is called homology of medicine and food culture in China.  
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Want to try the tea?  You can explore here
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February for our tea friends in Ujitawara Japan 

  
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From our partner Yuta :  Actually, there is almost nothing to do in this winter month.  Tea plants absorb the nutrition during cold winter days so it is best to look at these beautiful pictures.  At this time of year we also really enjoy the fact that the  Organic Gyokuro and Matcha Genmaicha has been maturing really well. The taste got more round and rich compared to May. The taste of shincha is amazing but the taste of 熟成  (Maturing) is also great Enjoy!!! 
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Want to try the tea?  You can explore here
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February for our tea friends in Kyoto Japan 

   

From our partner Tokuya :   We are now at the end of winter.   It rains a lot this year at home.   I have been shipping products and filming for YouTube.  We undertake the activities of planting / maintenance / tea making & pulling grass.

I am drinking Black tea at this time of year.  The number of warm days is gradually increasing.   Spring is approaching and the plum blossoms are out.  
 

February for our tea friends in South Korea  

From our partner Seong Il :  February is a time where we can travel so I went to Germany and Austria for a family & tea trip. I attended the biofach exhibition in Nurnberg with a South Korean tea company and Unlike Korea I could feel the warm European winter of February, I went to see art galleries in Munich, went to the teaware gallery-unearthing gallery downtown.  Here we talked about different water between Germany & Korea and drank Dahongpao (I think I will have an exhibition there), and saw beautiful scenery of Halstadt in Austria salzbrug.  It was also a great environment to drink tea outside something which we enjoy.  
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Fancy a beautiful new teapot? you can explore here
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February with tea friends ; Shire Highlands Malawi 

From our partners Wouter & Alexander : It is that time of the year when the tea mosquito bugs feed on tea - we call this Mosquito Bite. We do everything we can to keep the immune system of our tea bushes healthy and strong! We developed our own home made, in Malawi, natural nutritional compost sprays. Interestingly the tea plants response to this kind of stress also increases some phytochemistry in the tea leaves resulting in some cool aroma developments and also we can experience some sweetness and floral notes in the processed tea. Probably a bit similar to what happens in Taiwan with the famous Oriental Beauty where the tea leaves are attacked by leaf hoppers...
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Want to try the tea?  You can explore here
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February with tea friends in Adams peak Sri Lanka  

From our partners Buddhika : February has seen us experience quite a strange and unpredictable drought.  It is usually quite dry but this year the level of rainfall is exceptionally low.  This does mean that the harvest was less than usual but the quality has gone up.  The reason for this is that the leaf contains water - when there is a drought the water content is less because evaporation is high.  The chemical compounds in the leaf are therefore at a higher concentration so when you manufacture the fresh leaf you get superb quality because the flavour compounds are more concentrated. 

   

Throughout February we have been mainly harvesting leaves from farmers and the forest.  We have given priority to harvesting raw buds for the silver tip and harvesting wild tea and making wild tea and vanilla rods.   No matter the order book we have to continue to provide work for our valued farmer network so while the farmers harvest the tea I must continue to find overseas tea drinkers to enjoy it!  
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This month it has been heartening to see farmers starting to plant small individual gardens of  spices like wild cardamon, cinnamon and ginger inspired by the philosophy of Forest Tea. Farmers are feeding back to us that they like the simplicity, premium prices and diversification that comes from working with us.  We have also welcomed some foreign guests this month and have offered tea tours to forests and to meet the farmers - this approach offers transparency around the tea, the farmers and crafting methods we have developed.  This year we will continue to think about more tea and tourism - we plan to develop a cafe and four rooms as a farm stay.  People can visit, have hands on experience.  Its educational plus a nice tour of a beautiful place. 
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Want to try the tea?  You can explore here
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What were your February highlights? 
Share them with us - we would love to hear from you.  


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