David Hughes meets Erica Moore

iv: Our Man in the Field

David Hughes meets Erica Moore

On a pleasant spring morning, I’m heading to a rendezvous with Erica Moore; eminent tea enthusiast, founder and proprietor of eteaket—the foremost destination for all things tea in Scotland. I really couldn’t wish for a better tea-break buddy. Since 2008, she’s been sharing her passion for the power of proper leaf Tea, and through it she hopes to empower others to make connections, create moments of joy, and make every day better. And so, positioned in a prime spot on the promenade at Portobello, with the sun shining and pedestrians milling, clear views and the barest suggestion of a breeze, we get into it. Me (English Breakfast Tea with milk), and Erica (a necessary midmorning childcare coffee) diving headlong into the brave, somewhat stressful and mildly perilous tale of her personal Tea origin-story.

It begins with a trip to Japan, made some years previously, with the intention of immersing herself in a completely different culture: I remember landing in Tokyo at Noriko airport. I'd booked this little ryoken (where you go and stay in someone's house) though it turned out to be nowhere near Tokyo. I had no idea, and had packed the biggest rucksack— it was bigger than me! Rush hour in Tokyo— an absolute nightmare! I actually fell over because my bag was so big! People were stepping over me. Eventually, I made it to my train— heading for the right place —and off I went. But it just kept going and going— out of the city and into the country, past rice fields and farms. The station names which had previously had English translations now only had Kanji. ‘Oh my god’, I thought, ‘what am I going to do?’ I had thirty seconds to try and look for some sort of clue before the doors open and closed. Thankfully, a kind lady noticed I was struggling and made sure I got off at the right stop. What stuck with me from that journey was the kindness shown to me by complete strangers, who took me under their wing till I eventually found this place. Obviously, I enquire if she was immediately given Tea on arrival: Oh, yes. Shoes off, the full tatami room with an entire ceremony. It was incredible. That was it, I was hooked from then.

Prior to meeting Erica— in an attempt to avoid coming across as some sort of Tea philistine — I’d spent my week cramming all about Tea. The more I learned about Tea, its origins and the various types, the more of it I drank. The more of it I drank, the more it occurred to me that every major event in my life has probably been preceded or closely followed by a cup of Tea. In my family at least, making Tea is an almost automatic response to the delivery of any news. Beyond this, though, this subject is incredibly broad, its history fascinating and detailed. There’s truly a wall of information on this, for those who seek such things. As Erica says: There are just so many details to geek out on. Pluck leaves from a plant over separate weeks and they’ll be totally different, and what you can get from the same leaves depending on how it's processed is fascinating. It's so similar to wine in that respect— and, funnily, we find a lot of our male customers gravitate toward the Gaba Oolongs, White Needles, or Chilli Rooibos for that extra kudos, or knowledge bragging rights.

Tea plants can very much reflect the environment in which they are grown, and comparisons can be drawn to wine in the way they can capture and demonstrate a terroir or an elevation. And it’s true that the history of the cultural and traditional uses of Camellia sinsensis— an evergreen shrub from the THEACEAE family —is as vast as the regions from whence the plant originates. As with many of the earliest cultivated plants, pinning down this exact location is difficult— but its native range stretches across Eastern and Southern Asia, from Nepal in the West to Japan in the Asia, from Nepal in the West to Japan in the East. In these areas, many varieties of Camellia are grown and used— not just for making tea. Camellia, as a Heliotrope, responds to high light intensities by producing copious levels of flavonoids and active medicinal compounds. Camellia varieties have also been selectively bred over millennia to amplify certain chemical characteristics, not just those present in the leaves of the plant. Tea oil is a useful culinary resource that can be pressed from the leaves of the cultivars C. ‘Oleifera’ and C. ‘Japonica’. It serves as the primary cooking oil for hundreds of millions of people, particularly in Southern China and Vietnam.

And so, Tea— with all its rich medicinal qualities — has become deeply entwined in the cultures and religions within its native range. China, Korea and Japan, in particular, have their own ceremonial Tea heritage, steeped with symbolic meaning. In the first Chinese treatise on Tea, author Lu Yu’s method spans some 500 pages and requires 30 tools. These methods are worth taking time to appreciate. The mindful taking of Tea is an opportunity, in itself, to explore elements of traditional Tea culture that have perhaps been overlooked in the West— until recently: I can see a sea-change coming with mind-body connection, as the West begins to adopt some of the approaches of Eastern and Chinese Traditional Medicine, where herbs and teas have been used in the prevention of ailments for centuries. Science is catching up, and these ideas are beginning to propagate. A mindful and positive ethos is clearly at the heart of Erica’s work at eteaket, and if you read her blog you’ll be invited to join meditation workshops and encouraged to frame yourself in healthier, more positive ways: A couple of years ago, I got interested in Transcendental Meditation— enough to go along and do the course. Since then, I've done it morning and night. It has such an effect, and if I don't do it then I notice it straight away. It's so simple, though— anyone can do it —it's just understanding that you don't need to try, or get frustrated that you're doing it wrong. You just need to sit and let your thoughts come and go. The biggest thing is stopping and pausing and letting your body reset itself. It knows what to do. We've just become so good at ignoring it. This is what the eteaket ‘Tea and Mind System’ is all about— it’s linked to the ancient Chinese Five Elements and focuses on connection, balance and harmony. I'm still discovering new stuff about this all the time, but different emotions tie in— different tastes, different seasons and different Teas. What we're just working on at the moment is the ‘Thrive and Three’— the idea being in the three minutes you're waiting for your Tea to brew, you can do an exercise of pausing, to calm your mind and rebalance. A reset through Tea. Whether it's a breathing exercise or journaling— a moment to create space. Because Tea drinking is something people do habitually, throughout the day, you can use it as an anchor to attach other positive habits— whether that's meditation, or gratitude practice, three minutes of squats…whatever appeals to you. The past year has seen much upheaval, people have been at home more so. The opportunities to take these ritualistic moments have increased. This is leading to people becoming more adventurous with their Tea choices and they're also finding new brewing styles. (Any removal from just dunking the tea bag is great.) It becomes a different experience, with these slight elevations. Get a little gaiwan— you can take it to the beach. Take a wee flask of water with you. The experiential elements are so easy to add, and you get so much more out of it. Watching the Tea change colour, you find yourself relaxing— it's the same as watching a fire. Even if they just serve as a trigger to remind you to breathe, it’s something you can bring your awareness to— and that's the mission.

The views onto the East Nook of Fife steer our conversation to more local affairs. It turns out Tea plants are pretty hardy, and the most popular commercial cuttings can flourish here in Scotland. I was somewhat taken aback by this news. Yes, I’ve a friend in Auchterader who has her own Tea farm. Totally off-grid: windyholloworganics.co.uk. She’s coming down in a couple of weeks and we’re going to play about with Teas and explore some herbs, particularly native ones— because it’s not only leaf Tea that can make an impact. The ingredients of our Sea Buckthorn blend with Cranberries, Apples and Hibiscus, all of those can be found locally. Our Isle of Harris blend— a collaboration with Isle of Harris Distillery —is a gin tea made with Sugar Kelp handharvested on Harris and Lewis, and uses the same botanicals that go into their gin. It’s a simple botanical blend rather than a Tea. The Kelp gives it a really distinctive taste, and obviously brings with it a lot of medicinal components. I’ve been playing around with Sea Buckthorn as well— making infusions of the leaves. They actually make a really interesting beverage. I think it would combine really well with Black Cohosh. There are so many things I want to do, though— the possibilities are endless. We are almost shackled by convention when there exists this whole other world of single estate speciality Tea and new herbal blends to explore.

Asked what her favourite tea was, Erica— in her wisdom —would not be drawn: It’s different depending on the time of day, what my mood is, what I’m feeling like. I have so many every day. I always start with a Rooibos before meditation, though— very calming, so as not to send the mind racing. That’s followed up with a Breakfast Tea, to kick off the morning. Thereafter, it’s a free for all!

You can discover more of Erica’s work at eteaket.co.uk.

Images: courtesy of eteaket