Eighty Degrees | Issue #11

Did you know that more Darjeeling is sold every year than is produced? We chat with Nalin Modha about what makes this ‘Champagne of teas’ so unique. Let’s take a walk through a forest and heighten our senses. What do you see? What do you smell? What are the colours around you? Watarai Toru tells us how he sees nature and what drives him to recreate it at his home through the art of ikebana. We contemplate the perfection of our daily tea moments and how life very often gets in the way. We savour chai in Tokyo, sit by a lake in China’ countryside to reminisce about the ancient ways of tea, and investigate a national treasure of many South American countries and its evolution across centuries. Tea experts answer your most pressing questions about tea and its culture and we go on a journey across centuries to explore the changes Japanese tea bowls have experiences over time. Last, but not least, we speak with Friday Elliott, a poly-synesthete, who can taste sounds and memories to create unique teas.