The Ultracrepidarian’s Notebook
Structural Tasting And The Quest For Quality Tea
No Reviews Often, I am asked why I don’t do tea reviews on this blog (well, I did do one very early on but I don’t count that; hey, it’s my blog and I can overlook if I wish.) The answer is not complex. It flows from two principle points: I’m not particularly...
Seeing Red: Red Oolongs and Red Water
The Prologue Being in semi-quarantine for nearly two months affects the mind. Now that’s not news you say; clearly, it’s the case. Yes but, one is given to ponder the most fundamental and complex of human questions, the ontological and epistemological foundations of...
The Ultracrepidarian In A Jam
Conjecture What follows is a heaping dose of conjecture. It is the product of a deductive line of reasoning from certain know facts and, before any firm conclusions can be offered, the scientific research must be completed. Nonetheless, I believe this is how it...
Tea: A Nerd’s Eye View
A Good Start to the 2020s Every year sees a slew of new tea titles on bookstore shelves; most are ordinary. They add nothing new to our understanding of tea. However, a couple of times each decade a wonderful and informative new text appears. Virginia Utermohlen...
A Tea Myth: Challenging the Orthodox View
In the beginning Prior to 1848 the common perception in the West was that black tea and green tea were produced from different plants.[1] So, the Royal Horticultural Society, with the support of the East India Company sent Scottish botanist Robert Fortune to locate...
Authority: Or, What Did Simon Say?
Arguments From Authority In the early Middle Ages, Christian scholars based many of their arguments on the writings of Aristotle. Aristotle’s texts arbitrated any dispute. Aristotle was the authority and people have been making arguments from authority ever since...
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Easier done than said “They can’t even boil water.” Who hasn’t heard that said of someone they know who couldn’t comprehend the difference between a chef’s knife and a mixing bowl? Well, technology has made boiling water a rather easy process today. In fact,...
Camellia Formosensis: Taiwan’s Native Tea Species
The very early years Earlier this month Taiwan’s Tea Research and Extension Station (TRES) introduced the latest product of their century old plant breeding program; TTES #24.[1][2] This is significant for TTES #24 is only the second tea bred using a Taiwanese wild...
Grouses, Gripes and Other Miscellany
I’ve been travelling most of July and haven’t been able to conduct the research that is needed for an informative piece so, this month, it is grouses, gripes and other miscellany. In other words, it is a collection of opinions all of which are firmly held until I...
Gaoshan: Taiwan’s New Tea
Gaoshan: the baby As Taiwan’s Spring 2019 high mountain oolong tea comes on the market, a brief look at the history and development of this style of tea seems in order. This recounting cites only two or three independent sources and is based primarily on the...