Japanese Garden

Tiny sips in a Japanese Garden, let the light in let it sing..."

Vanilla Shine

Soft vanilla shimmer over a musky black, deep and tinged with the astringency of History.

Special T

I love innovation and cool gadgets but somehow I think I'll love this Ad more than I'll like the product it's selling! Totally love the visuals... all natural, mythical and elegant, only to be ruined by someone plonking this almighty ugly instant tea maker in at the end! (cue the record scratch and serene music comes to an abrupt halt). Worth watching though.

Local Teacups!

I saw a flyer for  Teacups last year here in Auckland and forgot to look them up... and after watching the Kimbra video posted below they showed up as further watching... Yes, Found! I'm so happy, I love their music and would you believe it there's more hand clapping goodness! **claps hands like an excited 4 year old**  visit/ teawithfriends

Settle Down

I'm just loving the whole hand clapping thing in music right now! (re magic-touch from last month) This is just so brilliantly brilliant & quirky it made me smile humungous smiles.

Bombay Bicycle Club

Reminds me oh so sweetly of the meadows in Edinburgh during those divine summer months. It also reminds me of a canadian girl who introduced me to lapsang souchong in one of those lazy summers in the meadows. Oh nostalgia!

via/ @watchlistentell & their youtube channel

Pollock Pekoe

Cheese on Toast with a BIG brown mug of deep Red Orange Pekoe

The Tea Cup by Jackson Pollock - 1946

Don't cry

No point  crying  over spilt tea 

via/ daydreams-tea

via/ live laugh and love

Taste of Summer

Tasting notes:  White Tea  & Ginger

via/ trelisecooper

Tasting notes:  Lemongrass  light and fresh

via/ trelisecooper

Tasting notes: Ginger &  Rose  sweetened with  Honey 

via/ trelisecooper

Graffitea

I'd kill for a cup of tea... in one of these cups! Lady Butterfly Black Bud

Magic Touch

English Breakfast all the way down memory lane - this truly is magic... go you stylish English gents.

Urban Summer

Fresh cut grass, a gentle summer breeze carrying clean linens from the line. The feel of warm brick and the quench of cool tea.

via/ teaspoonsandpetals

Intoxication

Sweet apple tea mixed with fejoa vodka.

via/ fuckyeahheroinchic

Laduree

Take with matcha mid morning and green earl grey mid afternoon.

Dry The River

Perhaps it's just me but this music from Dry The River is so damn moving it gives me shivers and brings tears to my eyes!

Pretty or Punk?

Chamomile & Lavender & an afternoon nap.

via/ emeraldeyed

Blackberry & Hibiscus... bittersweet melody.

via/ batteredrose

Golden Silvers

Just discovered... brilliant lyrics below.

I was feeling so mortal
Legends were lined by my side
The world was standing on his head
My senses have forsaken me
And i saw through a million eyes
And i saw them waiting for me
Their lashes painted black
Their eyes were like a crucifix
Their lips were as pink as Cadillacs

I was feeling like an angel
My madman was waiting in the wings
Just to hear his cue
Then i felt just like the devil's son
Wasted wounded on the run
Then i felt just like me and you
And i saw them surrounding me
With mirrors and rose-tinted bones
Wearing only a lion's mane
One hand on the golden horn
And one hand on the telephone

And it's a strange way down
From the cradle to
Take me by the
'Coz you'll never be the last one
And you'll never be the first
Maybe we will meet again
In another universe

Oh and then i was a titan
A hero of the silverscreen
Just waiting for my bell
And then i was a troubadour
Wailing waved the ghosts a door
Then i was the hounds of hell
And i heard them blowing kisses
From within their satin sheets
With their bodies laying
Like arrows and bows
Boys falling at their feet

And it's a strange way down
From the cradle to
Take me by the
'Coz you'll never be the last one
And you'll never be the first
Maybe we will meet again
In another universe

I'm son of the richest man
The sister of an outcast
Oh today i'm in the future
Tomorrow i'll be in the past
I'm daughter of a daydream
The brother of a madman
I'll change my lips so often
I'm beginning not to care

Now i feel my powers fading
As the blueprints and diagrams
And history books hold me to their hip
And my limbs start trembling
As my vision starts fading
And my spirit starts to slip
And i see them wave goodbye
Their left hands were casting a curse
While singing songs of a paradise
From another universe

Tea & Health?

Who said tea has to be all about health anyway! It's an addiction for me... don't know about you?

via/ quietbeats

Stop!

Available as a tea-shirt via/ threadless!

Delicate & Dangerous

Green Tea with blue corn flowers and a hint of Almond. Tastes like intrigue romance & danger, spies who poison the enemies tea!

Teapography

Artem Moiseev Uses Tea Leaves as a Medium for a Message... via/ trendhunter
 

Smashing Display

A smashing window display I walked past the other day in Parnell (Auckland, NZ). It was branded as a Dior display at a Visionx optometrist. I can only assume this was intentional and not just a disaster after shelving collapsed!? Either way this successfully grabbed my attention.

iPlay Qi

No it's not some alien with little bubble eyes! This is a Tou Cha (tuocha) tea I had today. I'm very new to this area of tea to be honest. I was talking with a lady a little while back about Puerh teas and she explained that not only do they mellow with age but they also develop good Qi or at least the ability to better stimulate Qi in the body. Puerh teas have long been known for their medicinal properties and it seems it's not only because of measurable scientific properties in the leaf but also this 'life force' or energy known as Qi.

So it seems she came by work yesterday when I wasn't there and left me two of these Tou Cha bowls or nests to try, her son having brought some back from a recent trip back to China. For those who don't know they are basically compressed tea leaves in the shape of a miniature birds nest about 2-3cm wide but processed in the unique way of Puerh teas.

She didn't get to leave any detail about them but I can only assume it is a Green/Raw Tuocha which I've never tried, having only had the black variety. The paper it was wrapped in doesn't tell me much because I don't read Chinese. The dry aroma was distinctly different to the Black Tou Cha which was more like a typical loose leaf Puerh, more musty. This one reminded me of dry hay, or strangely of the mouse cage my sister used to have... not in a bad way, just quite unique?!

As soon as I started brewing it I could smell this pungent aroma releasing... gradually intensifying the original smell only damper then becoming distinctly smoky in a way that reminded me of the ashen smokiness of Yerba Mate (from South America). I brewed at around 80-85 degrees for 2-3 minutes for this first brew and the colour never got much darker than a strong green tea, glowing with a deep yellow/green though slightly clouding as I gently agitated the leaves to break them up a little.

The flavour was like nothing I've experienced before! Very rich and buttery with that distinct ashen smokiness. It also had something else that reminded me of chrysanthemum. After a few mouth fulls I breathed out to get the taste as it coats my mouth... all I could think of was buttery salty popcorn! Yum.

Ok so this is where it gets weird. I'm quite familiar with the elated 'tea drunk' feeling from high caffeine teas or from the Theanine in one of my regular strong cups of Matcha. What I didn't expect was to get an overpowering sense of this floaty almost 'stoned' feeling after only half a glass of this tea (less than a minute after taking my first sip). My colleague was laughing at me because I was buzzing out! I swear my mouth was feeling a little numb and slurry. What on earth had this mysterious lady left for me! I can't help but wonder if she left a tea which she knew would give me strong hit of 'Qi'. Being a green tea I don't think it was high enough in caffeine to hit me that quick so it could have been high in Theanine which definitely feels the same though I'm used to a much more crystal clear sensation from Matcha whereas this was warm and blurry in a nice way. Perhaps it was indeed this mystical energy coursing through my body :)

Anyway I left it aside a few hours before coming back for a second steep of the same leaves. The second cup was even more intensely rich in flavour... one colleague found it so overpowering she couldn't come near without feeling heady. I have to admit I couldn't finish the second cup because it was just so full on but I totally appreciated it's flavour. I look forward to the next one when I'm in need of some Qi to centre me!

Please if anyone can offer some more info or corrections based on the pictures below or my description post your comments below.

Sweet Treats

Ooh I just bought Sweet Treats by Frankie Magazine today... it's so YUM!

Paper Goodies

Fantastic cards, paper products, stationary and limited edition prints... from bellesandwhiselles

via/ frankie magazine originally bellesandwhiselles

Au Revoir Simone

Zoe (somuchtotellyou) "How do you create your songs? Do you sit around with a bottle of wine or cup of tea..." Heather (Au Revoir Simone): "Often tea, very rarely wine..."

Great music, great interview! Read it now

via/ somuchtotellyou

Modernity

Marianna Brandt designed tea service (ca. 1924)
via/ primaveragalleryny

Gravy Pot

This reminds me of my profile iPlaytea pic at the top of my blog which was taken in a park near the centre of Cambridge, England while filming a documentary with a bunch of New Zealand artists there. We took a roast dinner to the park one chilly evening and had a picnic at dusk... the teapot however was full of wonderfully warm gravy!

via/ simonfilip

via/ simonfilip

iPlay in the Gardens

Some pics that take me away...

Popeye Strength

It's a skite I know but I've managed to blow off my cold within a day! I'm sure it comes down to all the Matcha I'm drinking. It's not spinach but it's very green and I'm sure Popeye would be proud.

A can of Spinach or Matcha?

iPlay Cuppa Tree

Watch the quirky stop motion version

via/ lookleftandlookright

iPlay Castles

Take some indoor furniture outside and photograph it with subject and it almost always looks artsy, it's probably been a bit overdone but still effective. So I love the sculpture below with a similar setup but taking it to another level of obscure creativity.

Sotheby's Exhibition... Tea at the Castle via/ designfolio

Sotheby's Exhibition at Sudeley Castle via/ designfolio

Sotheby's Exhibition at Sudeley Castle via/ designfolio

“nest feeling”, Nina Bruun via/ idbazaar

iPlay Kitsch

Jewellery by New Zealand designer Georgina Baker. Her work can be found in a number of stores around the country. I've bought these as gifts on many occasions, always unique!

The Thinking Man

 Tea... the thinking mans drink.

George Orwell

The Classics

I saw they sell these great mugs in Whitcoulls (for New Zealand readers) recently, perfect with a book in bed on a wintry night.

Tea with Bowie

This post is for Amy who reminded me of the David Bowie phase I went through some years ago now... I've since watched Labyrinth again and it's as wonderful as ever.

David Bowies offers a cuppa tea

a man of many looks

"...if you turn it this way it'll show you your dreams".
(I had such a crush on the girl!)

their eyes in this scene are amazing! (i love pixels)