In 2011, I collected a bag of Puerh tea from Yibang Mountain Da Shu Lin.
I remember the joy that would rise in my heart every time I received a cup of tea.
This time was no exception, not because of the rarity of this tea, nor because of its future appreciation! Rather, it was because of the heavy feeling, as if someone had delivered his carefully crafted sincerity into my hands.
This bag of Pu-erh tea has accompanied me for fourteen years. After the passage of time, the cloth bag has become whiter, with a few red characters printed on it. As time passes, the color of the words gradually fades, and the fabric is no longer straight. But because of this, it appears more real and more alive.
The Joy of Receiving Tea
Thinking back to 14 years ago, when I first got the tea, I treated it like a treasure and put it away carefully for fear of moisture and flavor, and for fear that if I wasn't careful, this token of appreciation would be spoiled.
A friend came over for tea and asked me, "Why don't you just drink it?"
I just smiled.
Because for me, collecting tea is not just about waiting for the "best vintage", it is about slowly unveiling its appearance at different moments of each year. I think tea leaves will transform over the years, and so will people.
I want to see it change, and I want to see how I would respond to its flavor at different ages.
The greenness of tea at first sight
I still remember the first time I opened the bag and poured out the tea leaves.
The dark-colored leaves are interspersed with golden-colored buds, like the mottling of time, with wildness and thickness. Twisting the striped leaves gently in my fingers, I feel as if I can touch the wind in the mountain forest and the breath of the tree over the past thousand years.
The tea is bitter at first. I can't help but frown, "I can't help but exclaim in my heart."
The thought, "Is this really my favorite tea? The thought of "Is this really my favorite tea?" was soon followed by joy. The bitterness disappears as quickly as it came, and the mouth begins to feel a strong sense of sweetness.
In retrospect, that bitterness is not a rejection, but an honest way of saying, "I'm young, I'm growing up."
Just like the twenty year olds, we are straightforward in our speech, simple-minded and don't know how to be accommodating. But it's this truth that makes us most unforgettable.
Annual Appointment with Tea
Over the years, I've made it a habit for myself to take a dip once a year at the end of the year.
Not to check it out, not to grade it, but simply to see how it has changed over the year.
One year, its aroma was very exuberant, and the flavor of the tea had the sweetness of freshly ripened fruits.
One year, it began to astringent, and the flavor became thicker and more rounded.
Later, it gradually took on a slightly medicinal scent, as if telling me that the substance of life was settling.
Every time I drink it, I think about how my year has gone.
Ask yourself if you are busy? Did it go well? Have you grown this year?
Then we look at the tea and smile - we are all silently transforming and trying to be better versions of ourselves.
Tea and the Life of the Years
The transformation of tea is much like the life of a human being.
When it's first made, it's green and bold;
After a few years, it learns to be more restrained, and begins to know how to mellow out;
The more time passes, the more stable it becomes, with a calm strength.
Isn't that what happens to people?
We are twenty years old, full of energy, dare to love and hate;
After thirty, I know how to make choices and learn to reconcile with myself;
After 40 years old, I know how to cherish and accompany quietly.
The flavor of tea gives me a glimpse of life in miniature.
Leaving no hurry for the good
Someone once told me that life is too short to keep tea.
I feel that because life is limited, it is more important to keep something "not to finish in a hurry".
Collecting tea has taught me to "slow down".
Take your time to see how it changes, take your time to feel the difference.
This slowness is not only to cherish the tea, but also to be gentle to yourself.
Because while I'm waiting for the tea to transform, I'm also reminding myself:
Don't be in a hurry to finish, don't be in a hurry to define, life can unfold slowly and steadily.
The transformation of tea is also my transformation
Now, more than a decade has passed since 2011.
This tea bag is still lying quietly in the corner of the collection.
The bag is getting older, the handwriting is getting fainter, but the tea leaves are getting more and more stable.
When I drink it again, I don't rush to compare which year is better, and I'm no longer obsessed with changes in aroma.
I just saw my past in the tea soup, and I also saw myself at this moment.
Tea told me:
Life is not about drinking it all in one gulp, but knowing how to take it all in, little by little, slowly.
A pot of tea to Three Drinks Hall
At that time, I like to drink tea, to each packet of tea, always carefully collected, care.
In 2011, I never imagined that one day I would set up Three Drinks Church.
Tea is not just a companion, it has become a new path in my life.
Looking back now, that bag of Puerh from Yibang Mountain is not only a testimony of the years, but also one of the inspirations of Three Drinks.
It has taught me to wait, to cherish, and to be more aware that I want to share "the sense of companionship of tea".
Therefore, Three Drinks was not created to sell tea, but to continue this "joyful feeling of receiving tea".
After years of precipitation, tea and I have changed from the initial bitterness to sweetness, and Three Drinks is an extension of that sweetness.
I think, "Every sip of tea is a microcosm of a period of time; and Three Drinks Hall is a place to share this microcosm with more people". I hope that everyone who walks into Three Drinks Hall will find their own sweetness.
