Fire, water, and whiskey: three days in Kyoto
Mel Had Tea
by Mel Hattie
1y ago
Whenever you go to Japan, you should always check and see if there will be a festival where you are. I don’t mean the major holidays—golden week, and so on. I mean the niche festivals—or matsuri, as they’re called. The more obscure, the better. Some little shrine holds a yearly dance-off? I’ll be there. It’s time for the firefly-watching festival? Sign me up. Occasionally, the festival dates run up against each other, where night after night you can enjoy colourful yukata, endless rows of stalls selling delicious treats, and maybe even a cold beer or two. If you’re headed to Kyoto, I recommen ..read more
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Coldbrew sencha at Byodoin temple in Uji, the heart of Japan’s historical tea territory
Mel Had Tea
by Mel Hattie
1y ago
The city of Uji in Japan is famous for its green tea. The phrase “Uji tea” carries a unique history and promise of quality amongst Japanese tea lovers. Located half an hour south of Kyoto by car or train, Uji lies in the heart of the country’s western tea corridor. When I came to this historical tea town, I hoped there would be some unique experiences waiting for me here. The famous Byodoin temple in the centre of town was build in the Heian period—the year 998. In the middle of the temple rises Phoenix Hall. And just south of Phoenix Hall, lies the Byodoin Temple Tea Salon,  Sabo TOKA ..read more
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Exploring Iceland’s Ring Road for 14 Days in a Honeymoon Camper Van
Mel Had Tea
by Mel Hattie
1y ago
It wasn’t long after we got engaged on Mt. Robson in BC that we threw around the idea of going to Iceland for our wedding. It was this epic and poetic ‘land of fire and ice.’ We’d seen it in documentaries, on Game of Thrones, on Instagram, in the news—we wanted in. After weighing many pros and cons, and even sending out wedding invitations to Iceland and then cancelling once our friends and family wrote back saying, “yeah, sounds great, but we can’t make it to Iceland.” We decided to have the wedding in a yurt back home and to do our honeymoon in Iceland, taking a camper van around the ring r ..read more
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How to become a certified tea sommelier
Mel Had Tea
by Mel Hattie
1y ago
I started taking courses towards my tea sommelier certification through the Tea and Herbal Association of Canada in January 2015. If you haven’t found your New Year’s Resolution yet, maybe this is it! Tea sommeliers are the new wine sommeliers. Tea sommelier classes and certification programs are popping up all over the globe as tea drinking enjoys a surge in popularity. Some love tea as a healthy alternative to juice or pop, some love the irresistible dessert blends from David’s Tea.  A tea sommelier is someone whose expertise is in, you guessed it, tea! Here's how I became a certified ..read more
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Catnip Tea: Herbal Tea to Drink With Your Cat
Mel Had Tea
by Mel Hattie
1y ago
There are few things better than sitting down with a hot cup of tea and a cat on your lap. Now imagine you and your cats sitting down to drink the same tea. It turns out—you can! Catnip tea is a herbal tea, or tisane, made from the leaves and flowers of the catnip plant. Catnip's scientific name is Nepeta cataria. It's also known as 'catmint,' but the tea doesn't have a very 'minty' flavour. Have you ever just thought, 'Man, this tea is good, but if only my cat could join me...' Well, you are IN LUCK. Organic catnip tea is an herbal remedy for cold and flu season. There's no mistaking a cat ..read more
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Top 12 quotes from “The Alchemist,” by Paulo Coelho
Mel Had Tea
by Mel Hattie
1y ago
The Alchemist is Paulo Coelho's famous allegorical novel, first published in 1988 in Brazil. It follows Santiago, a young Andalusian shepherd, as he makes his way to Egypt, following his dream of finding treasure there. The Alchemist has been translated into more than 70 languages and has inspired people for decades. Its message of following your heart and finding meaning in life has resonated with thousands (if not millions) of people. After re-reading the book last week, I wanted to share some of my favourite quotes that capture the book's essence. The first thing I highlighted was this exc ..read more
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With change and gratitude
Mel Had Tea
by Mel Hattie
1y ago
Dear reader, For the past 273 days—39 weeks—I’ve been engaged in writing this newsletter to you. To be honest, when I started out I wasn’t sure I’d get this far! There’s been something beautiful about writing a weekly missive. It requires daily practice and focus to keep on keeping on, with all of life’s other interruptions. I’ve been able to share a bunch of fiction and non-fiction writing with you. (There’s about two hundred of you by the way—hello!) When I started this, I had something to prove to myself. I wanted to feel like a fiction writer again after years going by of writing fiction ..read more
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On attention
Mel Had Tea
by Mel Hattie
1y ago
I’m a photographer. Every day it’s my job to go through hundreds of images and cull the wheat from the chaff. As a result, I spend a not-insignificant amount of time thinking about choice, aesthetics, and where we put our attention. Unlike the agricultural process, when selecting the perfect image to use for a cover or trying to figure out where to spend your time and attention in your personal life—it’s a lot more difficult to choose what to keep and what to toss. Art and life are subjective. Aesthetics are less hard, empirical facts, than us choosing what systems and people and things we wa ..read more
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Help! Everything is important and I can’t go on
Mel Had Tea
by Mel Hattie
1y ago
Who would’ve thought September would have all the audacity to make it here, to the end of the month. As the hopeful shine and fresh-eraser-smell of early September falls away, something else starts to settle in its place. Did you know there are only ninety-two days left in the year? Did that give you a bit of anxiety and make your cortisol spike? Sorry! If you’re a student, this is often the “oh shit” time of year, when you realize all your classes actually require a bit of attention. I might no longer be an undergrad anymore, but I’m back on campus this year taking an advanced Japanese cours ..read more
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Your chance for a restart
Mel Had Tea
by Mel Hattie
1y ago
It felt weird sitting down to write this! I feel like I just finished something, having wrapped up my summer postcard series and met my goal of publishing ten short stories for the year. After that, I shared one of my favourite writing books and got to reflect on the year’s progress, which felt celebratory. That being done, sitting down to write this felt like the moment when the party’s over and everyone leaves your house and you’re sitting there in the dark with lots of solo cups, the air still warm from everyone’s presence. In this liminal space, I started to wonder: What comes next? Will ..read more
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