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。”

2088Tea is now the Official Kyarazen retail page

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Hello all, another sincere apology for the slowness in writing... it's hard to balance doing so many things at one go now. But good news! KyaraZen is now expanding a little, and soon we will have one or two other writers whom will be sharing knowledge on Chinese cultural arts, which may include brush painting, incense, calligraphy, guqin music, etc! But I thought I would write this post because there had been several concerned enquiries about a certain 2088Tea page that had its soft launch a couple of months ago. Friends were wondering if that was really an official page of mine and yes indeed it is! I've now stopped using ETSY but instead will be using my own e-commerce site at 2088Tea.com where we will be sharing with you a myriad of treasures and experiences! For this month, the KZ team had been very hardworking in making incenses and here are some of the examples of the handmade incenses available for the month, all made from selected and excellent raw materials, and if ... [Read More...]

Wuyi Cliff Tea Part 3 – A Tea Maker that cannot be helped

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This is Part 3 of the Wuyi Cliff Tea Series. Read Wuyi Cliff Tea Part 1 and Wuyi Cliff Tea Part 2 - Complexities here. It all started with a canister of tea (containing 75 grams) in a hand-beatened/hammered tin container. Tea leaves enclosed in calligraphy rice paper, sealed with a sticker with an image of a handsome, scholarly chinese man. It was a tea brought back by my student, the price tag was hefty, and always, such prices always hit my "skepticism" nerve, and also made me worry that my student might have been ripped off. Carefully weighing out six grams, into a thin walled Jingdezhen egg shell porcelain gaiwan, fresh water off the boil, intense and hurried steeps, and as the first gust of the tea's aromatics hit everyone........ It was the first Cliff Tea I had ever had, that had an intense siberian musk note, leading on complex florals and heavy mineral notes. For the "qigong" practitioners and others whom had greater sensitivity present at the tasting, the tea was a ... [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...]

  • When I was at Chaozhou i met Master Lai briefly, whom runs a pottery workshop where he coaches and mentors many budding artisans in the art of throwing chaozhou teapots. I remembered him showing me a couple of pieces of his work and asking me for comments, to which I told him I could only offer insight on functionality, but not art nor aesthetics as every artist have their own ideologies and expressions, and me, being an “outsider” it will not be fair or appropriate for me to judge. And then i met Chen, one of Master Lai’s students, despite his youth, is calm, tranquil, seemingly a deep thinker and incredibly adept at wheel throwing, his wares exude a quietness a sense of wabi sabi, and i thought that such work should be seen by many more people. This are tiny chaozhou natural unblended clay pots between 78 to 100ml, wheel thrown nanban style, that means the pot is pulled and shaped only from the inside, leaving the exterior surface without modification nor touch-up. Respect. #tea #teapot #潮州 #茶壶 #teaware #茶
  • Spotted these lovely 16mms aloeswood beads on a friend’s wrist. Requested to handle and appreciate it on close up. Top quality heartwood material, heavy resination, mildly tacky to touch and incredibly good aroma. It is stuff of such calibre that exude such desirability. #agarwood #沉香 #奇楠 #aloeswood
  • When I was 14, i wanted to be a classical guitar luthier. Decades have passed and i’ve never been anywhere near to being one. A new acquisition for myself, a flamenco guitar after all these years, breaking away from the spanish classical repertoire. So happy to have a golpeador (pickguard) without the worry of busting a hole in the wood. Filed the saddle down to 1mm clearance for ultra low action at 12th fret and i think i’m one step closer to being able to perfect Barrio’s La cathedral (allegro solemne) 😝 #guitar
  • a pile of stones. #sealcarving #篆刻 #calligraphy #书法
  • 《三昧无诤》。有人说，篆刻一年了，进步了不少，我倒觉得真的没有，不进不退，无不进，无不退。只是玩了一年后下刀比较敢尝试，比较自如。不能说自己的作品有美到哪里去，线条还是歪歪斜斜的，布局还是乱乱的。在篆刻的时候觉得顺手爽直，刻完后，糟了，不符合社会认可的美观与规整。虽不完美，不符合标准，但是这是很真实的表现了本人当下的感觉，概念，刀工/艺术能力。《就是这样》，真实不装，三昧不诤。#篆刻 #书法 #sealcarving #calligraphy
  • 《上善若水》- 老子。 “上善若水，水善利万物而不争，处众人之所恶” - be like flowing water. #sealcarving #calligraphy #篆刻 #书法