[Music playing]
PASSAGE TO PEACE
Exploring Tea Culture Today
www.samovartea.com
David Lee Hoffman:
Tea Pioneer
[Music playing]
David Lee Hoffman
Part of the beauty of tea as you hits so many different tastes in the sensations with it, almost emotion. Each tea has a different emotion and personality and you could shake that personality, you could play with it depending on how you steep it in the water and the temperature, time and the quantity of leaf you put in and all has the contribution to the shake that you want to give that tea.
Jessie Jacobs: Hi, I am Jessie Jacobs and I am here today with David Lee Hoffman. And David was one of the pioneers in bringing organic artisan handcrafted tea to America. And he started his company in the 90’s.
David Lee Hoffman: In 1990.
Jessie Jacobs: 1990, and we have great tea in America. Largely do it to a lot of efforts that David put it to place years ago. So how did you get involve these teas, what brought you do it?
David Lee Hoffman: Curiosity, I do not know.
Jessie Jacobs: You are walking down the streets and someone says, “Hey steep sir”. What would you and remember that critical point brought you the tea?
David Lee Hoffman: I cannot say when they exact transition was where I have that revelation that “Oh, this is tea”. But when they are drinking these kinds of teas, teas of this sort, they have leaving memory on you. You take a sip you enjoy and then you find gee, a taste that I am not familiar with but I somewhat enjoy it.
So the first one is from Nanu San in switch from Banna and these was the old trees and of course these days they went always tells you, oh yeah, high mountain old trees, usually they are not. The marketing pillars who become pretty creative in the last few years. Very often, the wrapping you see on the tea does not represent what is inside the wrapping, and this is a good example. This is not what inside their, I know because personally collected that teas when they where picked off the trees. And stood there while they processed it so; I would know that I actually received that tea and very often you do not. It is going to be a nice tea for aging; I am looking for the drinking that is ten years from now.
Jessie Jacobs: How is this one made?
David Lee Hoffman: This is actually just the green picket and they fire it slightly and roll it then it is the rest is finished off in the sun, it is sun dried.
Jessie Jacobs: That is sigh ching?
David Lee Hoffman: That is sigh ching.
Jessie Jacobs: Sigh ching have to be good.
David Lee Hoffman: The problem with puerh is just they becomes so popular in the last few years but the quality is actually gone down on the puerhs, and every year it is more and more difficult to get a good taste in puerh.
Jessie Jacobs: Why is puerh gone up like of all of over the teas out there?
David Lee Hoffman: I guess, puerh is continuing to be good investment because it is going to keep it is value as long as you start with good puerhs cause a little improved and go up in value.
Jessie Jacobs: So David, what do you see happening with the tea in America say ten years of where headed?
David Lee Hoffman: I think we have tea will you know, increase in popularity every year. I think it will see it continue to grow, only because it is fun, it is easy and they are very inexpensive that is what people go and get it. They get frightened if they see $80 a pound or a $100a pound. The same teas actually cost less per cup then common tea bags, very often because with if you are you know, tea bags that you are getting any supermarket shelf, you get one steeping out of it, which was the quality leaf. Three, four, five, ten steepings, I had phoenix for do along. I little got over 30 steepings from.
[Music playing]
Stay Tuned for Part 2 with David Lee Hoffman
PASSAGE TO PEACE
Exploring Tea Culture Today
www.samovartea.com
special thanks to
David Lee Hoffman
Photography by
Jesse Jacobs
Music courtesy of
Samovar Tea Lounge Groove
Presented by
SAMOVER TEA LOUNGE
©2008
www.samovartea.com
in association with
Putrabumi Productions
www.putrabumi.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services