A Couple More Tea Photos To Share From Instagram

Here are a couple of more photos I want to share from 9 Thousand Things on Instagram. I have a lot of fun looking at Alexander's photos. His photos help me to stop for a second and daydream - which I love doing - about two of my favorite things: traveling and tea!

Here are a couple of examples:

The following photo is for our Spring HeHuanShan.

Title: Lost World

Among all the photos Alexander took of Floating Leaves Tea, this is probably the one I go back and look at the most. I think it's because of the location. It makes me feel like it's a setting from a book. Where is this mysterious place? I started to imagine a person with the tea and his stories. Sometimes I put myself into the story. When customers come into the shop, I "close the book" and attend to them.  After they leave, I get to "read" the book of my imagination and I love it! When you look at this photo, can you imagine it being a part of a story?

The next photo is simply delightful and a bit mischievous. It's for our 2016 Spring Alishan, and the photo "describes" the nature of this Alishan well.

Title: Beneath the Bounce the Springs

Enjoy!

*photography provided by Alexander of 9 Thousand Things on Instagram.

Tea Tasting In Portland

I was away from Floating Leaves Tea a couple of weeks ago because I was doing a tea tasting in Portland. I travel to Portland twice a year to do tea tastings. I can't recall when this tradition started, but I love it!

getting read for a fun tasting!

Every tea tasting there of course feels different, but there is one thing that hasn't changed: the sweet tea community in Portland. Through the years, we have formed a wonderful tea friendship...and even more than that. I am treated like a family now and some of them welcome me to stay with them when I travel there.

At this particular tasting, participants seemed to be in a particularly bright and lively mood. It was so great to see these wonderful tea lovers:  Jan; Masa; Marilyn; Jim; Karen; Kate; Craig; Dana; Ana; Stephanie; Holly; Jennifer; David, and Jaynie. Plus the added, sweet surprise of two customers who moved to Portland from Seattle a couple of years ago: Chris and Kate!

Thank you, Jan, for letting us use your beautiful tea cups!

talking about tea and look at how much tea we drank!

We spent a couple of hours tasting 10 different Taiwanese teas while enjoying many tea conversations and laughter. For me, this is what tea is all about, sharing the goodness with good people. I feel so lucky that I get to be part of this great tea community. I wish in the future I could travel more to different places in the US and connect with more tea lovers like the ones here.

A couple of participants write a tea blog. Check it out! I think it's fun to read about the tasting from a different perspective:

Delight of the Heart by Marilyn Miller.
Steph's Cup of Tea by Stephanie Wilson.



If you live in Portland, or travel to Portland, and want to taste some good teas, my friend David hosts tea tastings. Good tea and fun guranteed! You can check out his tea tasting schedule here at PDX Tea.

Also, there will be a tea festival at Portland! You can find out information at Tea Fest Portland.

*the last two photos by Ana Martinez.

Instagram: Connecting With Tea Drinkers and Great Photos!

I am pretty new to Instagram (created my account in February), and it took me a while to get used to using it.

But now, I grow more and more fond of it. I love looking at the gorgeous photos! My favorites are tea photos (of course) and travel/landscape photos.

About a month or so ago, my phone's indicator light blinked to alert me that someone had tagged me on Instagram. I clicked on the photo and this is what I saw:

I thought, "Well, that's an interesting photo and the tea in the photo is our 2016 Spring Lishan. I wonder who this is? Oh, wait a second, 'Blown Over'...is that the title for this photo? How interesting...."

Then a couple of customers came in and we had a great time drinking tea. After I had a quiet moment, I went back to look at the photo. I spent some time pondering that photo, "Was there some sort of storm? Was the photo trying to reflect the photographer's mood?" Suddenly I burst out laughing, "I know and I wish! This person was blown away with this Lishan!".

The following day, my phone signaled that someone had tagged me again, so I looked at the new photo entry. It was from the same person!

I thought, "That's a very nice photo! Oh, it's Lishan again. The title this time is 'Between The Storms'. Oh my goodness, this person is killing me! Why does Lishan suddenly become so stormy? Oh wait a second, maybe this Lishan calms him down because it's currently between the storms (weather)...."

I realized I was talking to myself a lot as I delightfully looked at these beautiful pictures with their poetic titles. Instagram is so much fun!

Meanwhile, you can enjoy Alexander's great photos on Instagram: 9 Thousand Things.

*photography by 9 Thousand Things.