Why should you interact with tea farmers before drinking tea?
Having written about coffee, of course I had to write about tea! Actually, long before I ever knew coffee, I was already going steady with tea. Wait, this isn't a novel. My dad was a part-time small tea merchant. I remember that as a kid I had to help Dad bring back tea leaf branches from the tea farmers. According to Dad, the tea leaf stems he separated out were sold to betel nut stands; in the old days they used tea leaf branches to add sweetness. My older brother and sister did even more of this piecework, so I'm sure they have vivid memories of tea leaf branches. Oh, and Dad would also use tea leaf branches as stuffing for pillows. I always joked that even in my sleep I was brewing tea, except the liquid was drool.
So, when Dad was home, we could drink freshly brewed tea almost every day. Thinking back on it now, that was truly a blessing! And quite often it was even competition-winning tea. But probably because I was around it every day, I didn't find it special and never learned to appreciate tea. Instead I went off chasing coffee, or even bottled tea and milk tea from beverage shops. Looking back now, that was a bit of a shame, but because of that, every time I drink tea brewed by Dad, it always seems to have the fullest tea flavor and aroma! I've forgotten how many times I went up the mountain with Dad to buy tea from the tea farmers. Only one time sticks with me: that day when we arrived at the tea farmer's home up in the mountains, they were just about to eat lunch. The tea farmer's kid, probably an elementary schooler, was helping everyone fill their rice bowls, but the size of it was something I could never forget. They ate from big public bowls, and the curve of the rice on top rose as high as Mount Fuji! That scene shocked me and made me look up to them like idols. How could they eat that much?! Only after I did farm work myself did I understand that this meant their workload was heavy, and that eating more rice was what gave them inexhaustible energy. In high school, probably because my allowance was limited and we had ready-made tea at home, plus a teacher said I was overstimulated from drinking Chinese medicine (see "Coffee New Frontier"), I also tried brewing tea for myself. But if I had pulled out a full tea set and brewed tea in the middle of class, that would probably have been too much, right? So I tossed a handful of tea leaves into a beer glass, then kept topping it up with hot water, cup after cup, until the leaves in that beer glass looked like waterweed. Ugh, and when it tasted like waterweed too, only then would I change the leaves. Thinking about it now, I really was strange. Heh, back then I would even eat rice and dishes together out of a stainless steel cup. Probably because I felt high school boarding life was like prison! Although Dad selling tea did supplement the family income a little, at the same time his health suffered because he had to taste-test and drank too much tea, causing side effects like insomnia, stomach pain, and heart palpitations. Of course, drinking too much tea really isn't good, but I believe Dad was harmed by the additives in tea leaves: "agricultural chemicals." In this modern era of diversified tea leaves, we have all kinds of flavors to choose from, but following the lessons of history, I think the production process is what we should be paying attention to! Fortunately, in Taiwan, China, people can now drink tea grown with the Showming natural farming method, with no pesticides and no fertilizer of any kind added. I believe the right to food safety is something you have to safeguard yourself. The Showming natural farming farmers I know all very much welcome visitors, and consumers even take part in the work themselves, which shows the transparency of this farming method. However, to avoid the busy farming season, you should make an appointment with the farmer before visiting! First brew a cup of natural tea, then go online and see which farmer you'd like to get to know first.
Taitung Arong Farm
Chiayi Da Shou Ji Zou