Belgium Chinese Tea Centre

An astonishing news from Taiwan newspaper upsets me a lot.  I love Taiwan and I support Taiwanese tea, but now I am worrying for its future.

Wonky Tsai’s government increase the pesticide tolerance standards for 20 times

http://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20170320002262-260405?from=fb_share_mobile

When China and the rest of world are trying to set more higher and tighter pesticide tolerance standards for tea and agricultural products to ensure food safety, Wonky Tsai’s government in Taiwan has just decided to increase the tolerance standards for 20 times for agricultural products by laws.  Is she crazy or stupid, or perhaps both?

EU only tolerates 0.1mmp in Fluopyram, but Wonky Tsai’s new rules allow it to 6mmp (it is much more than 20 time *_*) . What was the purpose of increasing tolerance??? Apparently Wonky tsai gives a big gift in red envelop to pesticide manufacturers with this decision.  I am curious to know who are behind this decision, who did the lobby jobs and who are benefit from these pesticide standards? Obviously she doesn’t care about the future for Taiwan. Now, how about the future of Taiwanese tea? How about consumer’s lights for food safety?

Does Wonky Tsai care about the future of Taiwanese tea and the health of Taiwanese people? Apparently not ! Today, Wonky Tsai again proves the damage to a country if people chose the wrong leader.

What’s so-called “Dry Style Tea Brewing”?

Recently someone told me the “Dry style tea brewing” is in hype in China.  Even though I thought I knew what did she mean, but still I chose to verify it with tea friends in China.  I laughed when my friends said “the so-called dry style tea brewing is nothing new but a new name in the attempt to create market diversity”.

So what is the so-called “Dry style tea brewing”? How is it differed from the traditional Chinese tea ceremony?

1. It omits the step of pouring hot water over tea pot; the outside of tea pot remains dry
2. Not using the smelling cup. The use of smelling cup was developed by a group of tea professions in Taiwan abt. 1976, so the smelling cups was not used in the traditional Chaozho tea ceremony)
3. Simplified the brewing process, maintain calm and smooth in each step and keep the table setting clean and neat
4. It can be used to brew all six types of tea

The earliest description of Chinese tea arts (tea ceremony) could trace back to Han Dynasty.  Tea in Tang Dynasty was mainly being compressed to cake and tea varieties  started to expand in Soong Dynasty, steamed green and loose leaf tea were introduced and the formation of tea ceremony became more colorful and simpler. Six different tea types were complete and the steeping brewing methods began since the 14^th century. Different brewing methods were introduced alone with the birth of new type of tea following the sequence of Green-> Yellow -> Dark -> Black -> White -> Oolong tea. Different brewing methods share common aims:

1. How to enjoy the authentic pure and fine flavor and taste
2. How to enhance the enlightenment in body & mind through the scent and the taste of tea.
3. How to facilitate the life-time learning attitude and life style from the moment of enjoying tea

It does not matter how do you normally manage the tea brewing, the learning of tea must go back to the basic point repeatedly:

1. Do you select the right quality?
2. Do you know when to drink what?
3. Do you know how to brew tea correctly?
4. Do you know how to drink tea correctly?
5. Do you know how to enjoy the moment of tea?

Whatever suit you the best on the particular moment, it is good tea.  Need not to be constrained by specific form or method.  Listen self carefully, listen to the sound of water and wind with an ease mind, connect the harmony in body, mind and energy in one.  Have fun and enjoy the moment with a cup of tea.

Day by day, we are moving towards to the tea picking time in China soon.  Many interesting marketing campaigns start to tell stories on different media on line.

I was invited into a marketing post who said they use the soy milk made from fresh soybeans as fertilizer that spread over tea plantation.  In deed I’ve heard of this method when I visited Anxi in 2015, but personally I haven’t have the chance to really witness its practice.  However, during my visit of many tea farms in different tea regions in Fujian, I have repeatedly checking the use of fertilizer, the grass removing method, and accelerating the grow of young leaf and, last but at least, the pesticide control method, etc. Because how tea farm is being managed is indeed very important, not only for tea but also for the environment.

Of course this issue is very interesting because for years I try to understand more about how to sustain an ecological balance environment.  So, I asked tea farmers I know are using organic methods in Taiwan and China, including those in Anxi, Fujian.  Here is the brief summary of their comments:

• Other Taiwanese tea farmers who grow and produce tea in Anxi have also heard about this, one even have a friend who claim using the soy milk as fertilizer
• I know some tea farmers in Taiwan and China are using the bean residue other natural agricultural products, grass or seeds and other natural organic ingredients in the fertilizer composting. Using bean cakes in the fertilizer composition process is an old tradition.

Concerning the use of soy milk, these organic tea farming friends share some thought in the following folds:

• Economical reason: the cost is very high
• Ecological issue : What is the long term impact to the ecological environment and soil condition because of excessive waste to the soil surface
• Where is the scientific basis of soy milk onto tea trees, till now I can not find any scientific research or analysis to support its benefits.
• Even if that tea farm uses the very high cost soy milk or residues as fertilizer with the hope to increase the growth of young leaves, don’t forget the growing speed of weeds is much faster than tea trees.

I continuous to check information on line and hopefully can find some useful pros & cons arguments, and these are what I found from the agriculture related websites:

1. When using the soybean milk residue composting must pay extra attention in the fertilizer compose process, because it may not be too dry. If the residue compose is too dry then it won’t be decomposed; but on the other, also may not too wet, because it may develop very bad odor.  Also during the composting process must turn it often.
   

   Tea farm uses composed bean residues on the soil surface instead of spreading

2. Soybean residue can produce high temperature upto 70 degrees during the fermentation process, this temperature can damage the roots of leafy vegetables, sometime can cause even death. If it’s used for fruit plants, it can be applied directly to the soil surface because the roots of fruit plants are away from the soil surface.
3. Soy milk and soy milk residues contain very rich amount of plant protein, it will produce ultra-high levels of organic acid in the bacterial decomposition process which can make the soil PH value to a sudden drop to abt. 3 degrees. This point matches with my intuitional questions about:
4. What is the natural PH value of the soil that Mother Nature provides locally

I am not agriculture fertilizer expert, but even with the limited learning from our tiny garden I do know excessive or unappropriated fertilization process can cause more harm instead of good to the living wisdom of Nature.

For green fingers friends this site might be interesting to you: http://gentleworld.org/easy-guide-to-vegan-organic-fertilizers/

Tea is more than a money making business but is about offering something fine, nice and healthy based on honesty, integrity and ethics by following a clear self consciousness.

I always love to talk with people who care about pure taste and quality, but the phone call from the Vice President, Mr. Jean-Pierre Goeseels from ITQI yesterday afternoon was surprising and upsetting when he asked if we sold the ITQI 2016 2 Stars awarded Honey Black to a tea company in Califonia, USA, Sun Bright Tea.

The reason he asked me that question was because they found that company is selling a Honey Black on line by using the ITQI 2 stars award on line as marketing tool (it is a blended tea packed in triangle tea bag).

After checking that web site, I became even more confused and upset and decide to write them an email for basic clarifications:

1. Which award they actually have won and with who, is it from Michelin Chef or from ITQI? if it’s from Michelin Chef as they wrote in the information then why using the 2 stars award logo from ITQI?
2. Which year they won the award?
3. If such award was won by the supplier, then they have to present a copy of letter of authorization.

Two of our teas have indeed won the ITQI 2016 2 stars award, besides Formosa Beauty and the other one is Honey  Black.  Our ITQI 2016 2 stars awarded Honey Black is fine and natural whole leaf tea but not blended with flowers in triangle tea bag.

Formosa Beauty has Zero pesticide analysis based on EU standards in Europe.

#ITQI is a very serious international organisations for taste and quality, each awarded product is registered in their database. Even though we are small but we are very serious with the principal of Pure, Authentic and Nature Quality in tea, and Business Ethics.

Even though a pesticide analysis report issued by European laboratory according to the EU standards in Europe is not compulsory by ITQI, but it is a standard of procedure (SOP) of Belgium Chinese Tea Arts Centre, because we take our commitment to good tea and consumers seriously for it is the right thing to do that we should do it right.

I am still in the process of working on the new website, now with this confusion experience, I will post more information about our ITQI 2016 2 stars award fine quality tea on our blog site.

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