Jelly, the brilliant idea from Amit Gupta and Luke Crawford, is a bi-weekly work sessions hosted at Amit’s NYC apartment. I think it started because they were tired of working at home, by themselves, without the energy of collaboration. So, they started inviting people over. It’s really cool and I recommend signing up. I went yesterday and talked teapot designs with Joey Roth and got programming wisdom from Peter Kirn and Alex Linsker.

Jelly made Wired yesterday. Here’s a cool video.

“The Gypsies divide the human race into two kinds. Into the People of Roofs and People of the Skies. They say that the People of the Roofs prepare for the night by bolting their doors, closing their windows and curtaining them against the night, whereas People of the Skies bed themselves on the ground beneath the sky and enjoy the moon and the stars. If they live in vans and tents, then they always keep door and window open or tent flaps lifted.” –from A Gypsy in New York by J. de Bairacli Levy

This week I’ve been having new and familiar revelations through either people or prose. I live with all my windows open for most of the year, I’m lucky my place in Queens has a lush garden. Long Island City is changing fast. There’s talk of my place selling (I rent) to make way for a small, luxury condo building. The change is inevitable, I feel it coming. And when it does, who will explain it to the birds, squirrels and fireflies? I’ve looked at google maps, the green is disappearing fast.

The garden where I have been known to drink tea for hours. Come by when you like. I’ve got a tasty Tieguanyin to share.

I’m going to claim my Southern heritage and sing an ode to iced tea, sweet or unsweet. Check out the 5 iced tea makers at Hill Country, the new BBQ place in the Flat Iron District. I sighed in awe, you just don’t see this kind of thing in NYC.

A little about the place, if you like BBQ and Southern style sides, I highly recommend it. My favorites were the beef ribs, brisket, baked beans and cornbread (pieces are baked individually in pie shaped skillets). Hill Country’s pittmaster Robbie Richter tempted Ellen to have the next BBQ NYC there. There are two floors, the top floor has the BBQ, the downstairs has the bar and music stage. Don’t worry, iced tea is served on both floors, it’s $4 (that’s cheaper than the Lone Star).

I
I believe the tea expo has been going on since 2003, I hadn’t been until this year. I flew into Atlanta, lovingly called the “ATL” by those that live there. Arriving late, at 3am, after waiting out the delayed departures leaving LGA. Checked into the Westin, formerly the Peachtree Plaza, and headed straight to bed.
4 hours of sleep later, I met up with my business partner and headed to the expo, located at the World Congress Center. There’s no actual food in downtown Atlanta in the early morning, the closest thing I found was a breakfast wrap at the CNN Center food court. I paired it with a delicious iced tea, the heat of the morning making the cup condensate instantly.

The tea expo itself had seminars you could take in the mornings on topics from “how to write a press release” to “ethical sourcing.” For more details, go onto their site. The afternoon was aimed at walking the floor and seeing everyone’s different wares. From this I found there are really two main camps, either eastern or western, which really translates into the gaiwan versus the brown betty. It was good to see old friends and meet new ones. I’m very interested in promoting the “all boats rise” philosophy and was happy to find that attitude in abundance.

Highlights: the sencha at The Tao of Tea (and catching up on Portland), the new matcha latte at Ito En (its got sugar, but goodness it’s good, like liquid green tea ice cream), Hydrangea tea (finally something to do with the giant one that grows in my parent’s yard), Korean matcha at Hankook Tea Company, learning about Eastern European herbals from Mark of Mem Herbals, attending Aiya’s matcha presentation, the exuberance of the folks at Tea Garden and finally meeting my hero Norwood Pratt.

Most of the attendees seemed like restaurant or café owners looking to connect with vendors. Also, I met a few folks in the beginning stages of their own tea ventures.

I think the Expo has some work to do, the quality was all over the place, I think they could tighten things up a bit. Also there was such a real disconnect between tea and the expo surroundings of the convention building itself. This is bound to happen, but there really was no real food to eat. It was all fast-food style. I’d like to see healthy food vendors at next year’s event. Bring in some locals.

Ok, that’s a very quick review of the event, and I am of course forgetting things and leaving out wonderful things. Go next year, help encourage this even to become better and better.

“This could make a fellow become a dragonfly and skim the tops of lakes.”
–Lamont

This week I received an email from Neil Summers about a really cool tea project he and some friends are doing called Tracing Tea. He writes…
“In 2007, the 350th anniversary of tea’s introduction to Britain, the
Tracing Tea team will journey from the famous Indian tea port of
Calcutta to London through the world’s great tea-drinking nations. The
expedition will drive auto-rickshaws, 3-wheeled vehicles popular in
South Asia, over 3 mountain ranges and 15,000 km of the worlds toughest
roads.

The Tracing Tea expedition will be researching tea and it’s associated
history and culture with particular reference to the people who live
along the old trading routes today. The team is working with both the
Tea Council and the Muslim Council of Britain to ensure the
effectiveness of the trip. The project will culminate in a book, as well
as an eight-part documentary produced for US and European television.”

Now, that’s how I like to roll. Safe travels and best of luck with the project!

it’s the texture of clay with the taste rush of jumping off the high dive.

suzanne takes you down
to her place near the river
you can hear the boats go by
you can spend the night beside her
and you know that she’s half crazy
but that’s why you want to be there
and she feeds you tea and oranges
that come all the way from china
and just when you mean to tell her
that you have no love to give her
then she gets you on her wavelength
and she lets the river answer
that you’ve always been her lover
and that you want to travel with her
and you want to travel blind
and you know that she will trust you
for you’ve touched her perfect body with your mind
———
ah, great lyrics, i once mailed them to a man i was in love with when i was 25. i wanted him to travel with me, i wanted him to travel blind. he got married instead, to a canadian. watched I’m Your Man last night. the incredible Leonard Cohen. see it. it will remind of you of all that you want to be and all the love you want to give. even if nothing happens as you think it will.

the film interweaves artists performing covers and interviews with him. he tells the story of writing “Suzanne,” and confesses the line “tea and oranges that come all the way from China” refers to Constant Comment tea.

I am excited to announce the launch of Matcha Source, a tea company I co-founded with Alissa White.

Steve Smith, Tazo’s “tea shaman” and Starbucks’ vice president of tea, said Thursday he would resign at year’s end and return to his entrepreneurial roots.