WINGS

What makes the difference between the several teas?

The way in which the teaplant grows, the way of picking the leaves, the subsequent editing process of the tea

However, the perception of the tea depends on the intention with which we brew him

We need to make an appointment with ourselves, respect the rules, set priorities, take time, choose a suitable tea set

Then it can make a difference

Making tea can be a small daily ritual, a moment of pleasure and harmony

Enjoying a Taiwanese High Mountain Oolong tea, I observe the bees around me, their dedication during their activity

And quietly I hope that  the fresh and  floral taste of the tea gives me wings

 

Photo’s and text: Iris Weichler

Teapot, teacup, presentation plate (stoneware): Iris Weichler

LIGHTNESS

On a windy morning in may, I step into my herb garden and pick a few leaves of lemon verbena Aloysia triphylla

It is a fresh, aromatic herb, with a strong taste of lemon and in that way, great for making tea

Originally, this herb comes from South-America, specifically from Chile and Argentina
It is also known as Lemon Luisa or Yerba Louisa, because the plant was named after Marie Louisa, Princess of Parma (1748-1819), who became Queen of Spain. In the eighteenth century, the Spaniards brought the plant to Europe, where it meanwhile can grow perfectly, provided protection in winter

The tea set that I wanted to make for such kind of teas, had to be simple in shape and colour, equally fresh and light as the herbal infusion

The inspiration came with the wind

a downy feather landed next to me on my garden bench
for a brief moment
lost by a bird, just in dialogue with the wind

Actually, It is the lightness of this moment that I want to capture with my ceramics

Clay, at some point released by my hands, just in dialogue with the tea

  
and when I'm drinking, I can taste the stories that they tell each other

Photo’s and text: Iris Weichler

Teapot, honey pot, teacup with small plate, small dish (handmade stoneware): Iris Weichler

SLOWNESS

Today I leave seduce me by a Pu Erh tea, a Chinese fermented, pressed tea of 2002.

Especially by preparing and drinking Pu Erh, you can create a total experience, even more intense than other tea. 

I catch the scent of the tea while I unfold the paper, behold the beautiful shape of the cake and break the tea very carefully with soft power. While I’m waiting till the tea is ready, he tells me his life story on the basis of his rich colour and  intense fragrance

After a first encounter, I decided to make a teapot for Pu Erh. When I kneaded the clay, I remembered a deep aroma of plum that I’ve tasted. When the potter’s wheel was running, it was like I ‘m walking through an orchard of plum trees. With the very rich tradition of Chinese teapots in my mind, I wanted to make one for here and now, even elegant and smooth as the tea itself.

The knotted string which links the lid with the handle is a traditional use; It prevents that the lid of the teapot falls. Moreover you can hold the teapot without burning your fingers.

I would like to thank my oldest son, who helped me with the string. He is very skilled in that sort of thing.

There she was at my feet.  Slow but firm she continues her way

Equally slow like a snail, this tea needs time to mature

The slowness of things makes me realize that I too need time to create

Slow but firm I continue my way

Photo's and text: Iris Weichler
Teapot, teacups and plate (stoneware): Iris Weichler
The sisal string is made by Casper Teirlinck

DOWNY 

It ‘s pleasant. Since some people know that I’m fascinating by drinking tea, sometimes they give me a specimen of a tea that they have at home and don’t know what to do with it. 
Yesterday I was surprised by a friend who came with a vacuum packed tea that her husband got straight from China. All text on the packaging was in Chinese. So it doesn’t help us further. Today I thought, don’t think too much, just open and try it. 

Surprisingly, it was an Oolong. The smell and the careful rolled tealeaves were hopeful. So I took a gaiwan and brewed the tea. After preheating the gaiwan and fill it with the leaves, the flavour awoke under the lid. 
What a taste! I started gently, so I took water of 85°C. But hindsight, it may even a little warmer. The taste of this oolong is very fresh, fruity and downy. I was pouring the tea up to five times and when I had more time, it would have been more. 

While my garden is playing with sun and ice, I cherish the warmth of a good cup of tea

 

 

Photo’s, gaiwan, plate and teacup (stoneware with slib decoration): Iris Weichler

JADE

In Japanese teaceremony  Chanoyu, the ceramic tea caddy or cha-ire is a very important utensil

It ‘s a small ceramic jar with a lid and contains the fine powder green tea, matcha, which is used for making koicha, thick tea.
During the ceremony matcha will be whisked directly in the tea bowl (chawan) by using a bamboo whisk (chasen), after added water with a temperature between 70°C and 80°C. :  

a cup of foaming liquid jade

Unlike the perfection of all the actions and the movements during the ceremony, the used ceramic items breathe the philosophy of the Japanese aesthetic view wabi

It’s the aesthetic principle that beauty can be find in simple and unfinished objects
It’s an indefinable beauty that waits patiently to be discovered

Give me a cup of tea and I will colour the emptiness of these grey days

Photo’s and Cha- ire (stoneware, black glazed with red accents): Iris Weichler

AUTUMN GONG FU CHA

In the morning I go outside where the autumn sun receive me. I step through the high grass, whose downy stalks friendly stroke my legs.

With attention I choose the location where my thoughts can rest and place my tea boat amidst the lost summer flowers.

It’s time for a Chinese  tea ceremony, Gong Fu Cha 

Literally Gong Fu Cha means the art of making tea with effort.

I am not a teamaster, but I would like to focus here and now, trying to prepare the tea as well as possible.

Each Act is so valuable in its simplicity, that all other worries disappear into thin air.

Carefully I put each tasting cup on the tea boat, next to each cup a sniffer or aroma cup. Then the Yixing tea pot, a glass jug and the tea utensils.

The tealeaves of the Oolong in the bowl waiting patiently for what is coming.

The sound of the boiling water let the noise of cars and planes silencing.

My sense of time is fading out by pouring the hot water.

After the sniffer cups are filled with tea, the tasting cups will be placed upside down on the sniffer cup. Then they are flipped together.

The sniffer cup will be carefully extracted from the tasting cup which fills with the golden tea.
Fragrance and taste mingle with the light and the colours of the autumn.

The way of tea is long but worth it

Photo's, tasting and sniffer cups (stoneware): Iris Weichler

BLACK & WHITE

Come in and take a seat … I have made tea for you

As the darkness fills the night and drapes itself around the light of the moon

I will fill your cup with delicious black tea

While we are drinking an aromatic Darjeeling Phuguri together, we listen to the tale that the walls of this room tell us

And then we realize that we are satisfied, to be here

Painting: Vilhelm Hammershoi, Young Girl pouring Tea (1884)

Black teapot and white teacups (stoneware): Iris Weichler
Photo’s: Iris Weichler