Keeping a Tea Journal

I have been a writer all of my life, and I have kept journals over a number of years -- work notes, travel journals, personal diaries, etc. Personally, I find journals useful to track history, to learn things, or to rediscover things I had forgotten.

About 2-3 years ago (2017? 2018?) I decided that I should probably keep a tea journal to track exactly how I brew my tea. If I wanted to get a know a tea, I should probably keep notes like any good scientist & writer.

Great tea sages have been writing and drinking tea for eons. So, I feel like I'm following a little bit in their footsteps (note that I do NOT consider myself a tea sage....)

Lù Yǔ,  a scholar and Chinese tea master 

8th century (733–804), Tang Dynasty

I started off with a simple notebook with tips I gleaned online. I looked at commercial tea journals and how other people worked their journals. I combined a few elements to make my own.

I discovered that by keeping copious notes, I was doing several things:

• Understanding more how different teas tasted and what flavor profiles different teas had.
• Learning how different elements & parameters came together to make a good cup of tea. 
• How hot does the water need to be? 
• How will a porcelain gaiwan affect a tea versus a Yixing teapot?
• Will 20 seconds be too long of a steep?
• Learning from my mistakes! Sometimes I brewed it too hot, so I reduced the water temperature for the next steep. Sometimes, I brewed it too long and it was a tad bitter, so I shortened the steep time.
• Understanding what flavor profiles I liked and what teas were more prone to give me those flavors!

In short, I was learning the aspects of tea AND how to make a good cup tea AND deepening my general understanding of tea, just by being mindful and paying attention as I brewed each tea and writing this information down.

I also tried to capture each individual tea session for a given tea over time.

Why multiple tea sessions? Because each tea session is unique. Sometimes, I might be off when making a tea. Sometimes, the tea has changed over time (think aged tea). Sometimes, I might brew a tea in a different tea ware (i.e. silver, Yixing, glass). So each tea session is its own different experience and offers its own small lessons.

Over time, this collection of journals has gotten bigger, and I've learned A LOT.

I have an inventory of about 226 teas that I've tasted since I started keeping "count".

I have specific journals for:

• Taiwanese teas
• Wuyi Oolongs
• Anxi & Phoenix Oolongs
• Red / Black Teas
• Puerhs
• Chinese Green / Whites / Yellow Teas
• Japanese teas

Nowadays, I don't tend to keep a journal session for each tea session. Sometimes, I drink an old familiar tea that I know well, so I don't feel like I need to keep an entry for that particular session.

However, whenever I drink a new tea that I just purchased or when I want to try a tea under different circumstances...or if I just want to be more present, I keep a journal. 

I highly recommend keeping your own journal. You'll find out how much you learn, just by writing information down.

If you're on the Path of Cha, I find writing an extremely meditative exercise along with making of tea. 

Have a great tea session and happy writing!