learn more, want more

This is the photo I took in late October of the brand-spanking-new tea shop I am doing the PR for. (Yes, in addition to my full-time job at the winery.)

I'm really hoping it doesn't look like this anymore because the grand opening (complete with traditional Chinese cleansing ceremony) is tomorrow.

It's definitely challenging to launch a company. New businesses always involve a level of risk, and there's so much education involved -- not just for consumers and media, but also for the people launching the company. Up until I started working with Tillerman Tea, I pretty much knew zilch about the beverage except that you pour hot water over it and that for some reason, green tea seems to make me get well faster whenever I have a cold.

But now it's like a whole new world has opened for me. I've been reading a book called All the Tea in China, so I can get some background on the subject. (If you want to learn about tea, this is a great reference!) I am now dying to try Pu'erh, an aged and fermented tea, that apparently works wonders for the digestive system.

Funny how learning about something makes you want more than what you already have, though. I've experienced the same thing with wine -- before, I would've been perfectly happy with a non-vintage late-harvest Muscat from California for dessert. And then I met Sauternes, and worse, Yquem. How am I supposed to go back now? Same thing with coffee -- after Todd started roasting his own beans and brewing one cup at a time, the thin, woody coffee at work feels like an insult.

And now it's happening with tea. I'm realizing that most of the tea I have here at home should probably just be tossed in the compost heap. Tea has a shelf life -- in fact, I've heard green tea should be consumed within six months of harvest -- so most of the tea at the store and in restaurants is probably way past its prime: Old, dead, lacking in true flavor.

The more I know, the more I want.

Blame it all on that biblical first apple: I bet that was the best freaking apple in the history of the world. The right balance of sweet and tart and crisp. So good it was terrifying and inspiring and heartbreaking all at the same time.

Worth risking paradise for another bite.