Hermit Tea Ceremony

Thư pháp trong quán trà đạo — Calligraphy in the tea house

We arrived at Di Linh plateau, when coffee flowers bloomed white on the red hills. At an altitude of 1000 m above sea level, in the tea ceremony space of a hermit, the true word "tranquility" was engraved.

It was a tea house with no sign or name. It was not opened for business, simply as a stop for tea lovers.

That day it was pouring rain. In the room, we sat cross-legged on cushions, surrounded by the warm steam radiating from the cups of Shan Tuyet ancient tea, skillfully brewed by the tea ladies.

The first sip has a slightly bitter taste, but when it reaches the throat, it gives off a sweet aroma. The tea ceremony space has incense smoke, calligraphy, and a purple sandstone teapot, etc. However, it is just missing the sound of a bronze bell and wooden fish. The lack of a bowl bell next to a cup of hot tea makes people understand the lack of sufficiency in life.

Trầm hương vấn vít quanh không gian trà đạo — Agarwood incense lingers around the tea ceremony space

While enjoying tea, we also heard about the origin of each type of tea, which purple clay teapot is used for each type of tea, how to enjoy the aroma or taste, etc.

Cách bài trí của quán rất tinh tế — The decoration of the restaurant is very sophisticated.

In a sudden flash of consciousness, one naturally realizes that a wide-mouthed cup is more suitable for drinking black tea; white crane tea in summer seems more astringent, and in winter and spring it has a dark green color; or when poured into Pu'er, the bottom of the cup of celestial eye will become shiny like a pair of sharp eyes,...

Mỗi loại trà lại sử dụng một loại ẩm tử sa thạch biều khác nhau — Each type of tea uses a different type of purple sand stone teapot.

Tea ceremony has long been a kind of "intermediary" culture to understand life and practice. The core of tea ceremony is the "heart". And the way to enlighten the tea heart is to train oneself in "skill". The skill of making tea originates from the small tasks of boiling water and pouring tea. Like that, day by day, those tasks gradually become an inherent reflex, calm and normal. It is from the seemingly small things that the "ordinariness" of tea ceremony teaches people to accumulate small things to make a big thing, not to despise small things.

( Entry to the contest "Impressions of Vietnamese coffee and tea" under the program "Honoring Vietnamese coffee and tea" for the 3rd time, 2025 organized by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper).