Tea Leaves, Virgins, Monkeys, Tea Houses

One of the most exciting professors at UM (a man who is the chair of the Classics Department) loves tea. He is a tea connoisseur. He will not drink tea from a bag, he will not drink tea from America. He orders his tea from China and/or Taiwan. He has a tea blog. He called the Religious Studies Department from Hong Kong in order to tell me how delicious the tea was and how he doesn't want to leave his leaves and his friends. Upon his return, my friend Navied and I were engaging him in a teas-cussion and he told some Asian teas are marketed like so: "These leaves were handpicked by virgins." "Monkey-picked" tea. There is a legend that the most exquisite leaves in existence are located on this one cliff that humans can simply NOT get to. Therefore, a few keen men taught monkeys to acquire that which they wanted. How they taught the monkeys to pick the leaves and bring them back? Neither Kirby, Navied, nor I can answer you this question. I told the two about an incredible tea place I had been to with Andrew: "Dushanbe Tea House" in Boulder. Kirby lost it and asked for the pictures I had taken. Look above, reader. Boulder, CO is a sister-city with Dushabe in Tajikistan. In celebration of their union, Mayor Maksud Ikramov decided to build the jonint. It is incredible. Andrew and I spent lunchtime talking, kicking eachothers feet, sipping delicious tea (i had blueberry tea) and sharing samosas. Reader, if you have the opportunity to go to Dushanbe Tea House in Boulder... then you go to Dushanbe Tea House in Boulder.