Mid Autumn

Full moon festivities

Every year, tea club members (armed with their full gear: silky traditional tops, tea tables, kettles, gong fu teaware) will be headed to various community centres across the island to perform a traditional Chinese tea ceremony in the company of quality lotus paste pastry known as mooncakes.

A quick survey reveals a popular preference for roasted Tie Guan Yin tea because the strong roast balances the richness of the sweet lotus paste and the decadent duck egg yolks occasionally found in luxurious versions of moon cakes.

If you are enjoying a standard sized mooncake, it is recommended that you portion this into sixteen bite-sized pieces for the best mouth feel and maximum enjoyment with a (medium-) roasted tea while basking in full moonlight.

This year, midautumn festival falls on 19 September.

中秋节快乐！

Insights

Being a tea blogger from Singapore, sharing information about tea culture, relevant history and modern day interpretations of tea appreciation on the Internet gives me an important understanding of emerging tea communities at the same time. Of course, I take into account that my blog is in English and has its limits in reaching out to as many people as I would have hoped for.

Changi coastal walk

So where is my audience predominantly based? The US comes in first, followed by Czech Republic and in third position we have Germany. How did my fellow Singaporeans place? At a respectable fourth and rather encouraging to note because Singaporeans are a very hectic bunch with little time left for slow food and tea.  Finding time to reference online tea blogs and exploring means to design your own cha xi with delicious teas to match in an outdoor setting can feel as luxurious as, if not more so than, a weekend spa treatment.

Places with a great view of nature and tranquility are far and few between on this island that is constantly subjected to changing landscapes. Now, I will enjoy this little piece of paradise while it lasts.