KyaraZen

“古人说: 要积了三辈子的阴德，才能闻得奇楠香, 要八辈子修来的福气，才可品或饮用奇楠香。”

The KZ TEA Wheel

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  The Tea Wheel. The KZ Tea Wheel was developed from scratch rather than having had ripped it off other wine and beverage type of wheels. It too about a year’s conceptualization and testing, and by no means is an “absolute” wheel as everyone’s from different ethnicities, different olfactory and taste sensitivity/taste preferences etc. You can actually use this tea wheel as a base and adjust it if need be. Why the need for a Tea Wheel? That is because tea is always constantly evolving, the processing methods, cultivars, weather, farming methods, storage, brewing, has always been changing, and these matters are often battered by the issue of margins and money. To this end, the identities and original flavours of tea is now increasingly lost, and there must be a new way to start describing tea flavours and fragrances in words, rather than using terms like “Tieguanyin taste, Long Jing taste etc”. Even Wuyi famous tea master, whom had passed on a few years ago, Zhang Tian Fu ... [Read More...]

The Way of Collecting (1) – A World View

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Its been a long hiatus, although most people would know that KZ is still around, still very active if you are following me on my Instagram at Instagram.com/aloeswoods in the past year or so, I had picked up quite several other hobbies, new arts.. made some significant career and business progressions (in other unrelated spheres).. and in actual fact.. have reverted to a deep philosophical self that I hadn’t seen a reflection of in the past decade. Almost like hegel’s dialectal pendulum swing.. the oscillations between different polarities will probably be what you will see in my writings this year. One of the most thought provoking subjects that I’ll begin this year’s writings on.. is on the subject on the Way of Collecting. This precedes other writings to come, including a long awaited tea fragrance wheel (for open source sharing so that everyone can advance together and to which I might even try to apply it to help a really hardworking/honest tea friend in her tea business), and ... [Read More...]

Wuyi Cliff Tea Part 1

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This is Part 1 of a series on Wuyi Cliff Tea. Read about Wuyi Cliff Tea Part 2 - Complexities and Wuyi Cliff Tea Part 3 - A Tea Maker that cannot be helped.   There are 36 peaks at the Wuyi Mountains, and 99 valleys are formed by these ... [Read More...]

KZ ventures into oils

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We at the KZ team had been deliberating this for a very very long time. Every time we meet a trader, a merchant, a supplier, a distiller, a farmer, we see a diverse range of wares to which we are incredibly selective and meticulous. Part to why ... [Read More...]

  • Welcome home, the esoteric Ai-zen. Possibly early to mid Edo era, superb detailing, life-like presence and appearance, housed in an exquisite cabinet with gold lacquer, it leaves us to imagine whether this was a secret image in a temple, or whether it was once revered by nobility. #japan #japanesebuddha #shingon #仏壇 #仏 #仏像 #真言
  • Sometimes little traditional businesses are the best in class in what they do. Chuanheng Signcraft was recommended by a friend, and did my new plates at lightning speed! If it were the normal aluminum plates, 15mins is all they need to have new plates created and installed. Chrome plates like this was supposed to take 3 hours, but they delivered mine earlier than expected. 👍🏻👍🏻 extremely satisfied customer. @chuanhengsigncrafts #car #singapore #cars if u spot this plate on the road.. pm me a photo and u get free incense samples 😝😝😝
  • Observing the beauty of humility in the close proximity between the handle and spout. 人坐春风中，花开明月上。#tea #茶
  • Being an artisanal incense maker does not mean the world only revolves around what you create, but instead you have to learn to see the beauty on the creation of others and the heritage their incense carry within them. #incense #線香 #香道 #香文化
  • Tea in the office #tea #茶
  • A final snapshot of the mileage before Bidding a fond goodbye. A true workhorse, despite being really huge it was a joy to drive, soft responsive steering, good power though not so fuel efficient. I still remember the “teahouse” days when i clocked almost 50K mileage in that single year, running from place to place giving classes, and those multiple parking fines due to exceeding parking time limits whenever students had more questions or classes went overtime. Comfort and stability on the long drives over a thousand kilometres from singapore to penang and back. The kids dozing off in the back all the time. The heavy heart thumping bass on the sound system. Challenging the limits by moving 2.3metre ikea ivar pineshelves. Hoisting that huge kitchen table slab up 10 stories at mandai to a carpenter to have it trimmed. The comfortable lifts given to family and friends. I will not miss the $600 petrol bill per month for sure, but will be missing everything else and the memories associated.