Mid 1970 Bao Zhong

11/11/2011, posted by Cha in journal,tea

It  has been a long time since I posted on my English blog. I think this has been the longest pause I took  here. Yet I haven’t stopped blogging. On the Romanian version  I post almost weekly. I also have a twitter account where I often post almost any tea I drink. If you are not a twitter fan, you may want to check my facebook profile or my google plus one. So please stay in contact there if you want.

It has been a very busy period.  In this period, I was gone for almost one month in Barcelona, where I met the wonderful people at Tetereria,  a teashop that will have it’s own post here soon,  I  got married  and celebrated my birthday not so long ago.

To sum all this I opened a old tea purchased from Stephane.  A baozhong from Wenshan, Taiwan. This tea is older even than all the puerhs I had so far.  Mid 1970. A great teacher but a very easy to brew tea.

You can really feel the age of the tea, but in a very different way than for a puerh tea. The taste and aroma are also very complex and the liquor, almost like a cream. The aftertaste stays really a long time.  The tea left a deep impression on me.

1999 CNNP Zong Cha

17/06/2011, posted by Cha in journal

This is one of the teas that has been part of my puerh learning process. I don’t remember it clearly,  because such a long time has passed since then, but I had the photos in a draft for a while now.

The tea itself it is not as important as the process. For every tea that I wrote there are probably 10 for which I didn’t.  All the teas have shaped me into what I am today . All the teas that I have tried formed  some kind of knowledge which is only a basis for further learning. That knowledge is not a scholastic knowledge. It is a practical one.  I know what to expect and how to handle a tea when I see it, or at least, I have a general idea. Learning never stops.

Thinking over shou, I do believe that shou puerh is the most easy category to learn from.  Much more forgiving than any other tea ,  with the biggest key factor being high temperature.

Now I am more focused on oolongs, and I have  pouring , proportion as  key factors.  What I find it most important for all the teas is to drink them at the right moment. Drink it at a wrong time a day, and it doesn’t show all it’s potential. For example, great teas at home become poor teas at the office , and leftovers from home , become great tea at the office.

Gao Cong Shui Xian

10/06/2011, posted by Cha in tea

Changing the area, the country and the style,  but keeping the provider, Canton Tea, I am moving to a Shui Xian oolong. This oolong, also known as  High Bush Water Sprite, is a  heavy  oxidized and baked oolong.

Being heavy oxidized, it makes it clear why Chinese black teas  could originate from a tea like this.  I find this tea wonderful. Also because of the oxidation and  because of the baking process, the tea is very warm in nature.   Drink it  at the right moment and  it will certainly make your day. Taste, after taste and effect.

Some day, I would like to see the difference between the people who manufacture  oxidized oolongs and the ones who manufacture light oxidized oolongs. I have a feeling the difference between them is quite big.

In terms of brewing, this is a forgiving tea.  On first infusion,  I brew it longer than I usually do and it was still fine.  I think I had at least 8 infusions and I stopped because I ran out of water.

Li Shan

29/05/2011, posted by Cha in tea

Jumping on another mountain,  I tried the Li Shan (Pear Mountain).

It is said  that Li Shan is similar in style with Ali Shan. That may be true, in terms of shape and rolling, but I find them very different in terms of taste, after taste  ( and maybe effect). I have noticed from start, even before brewing, that leaves are smaller.  I got my pouring right again, but I have decided to step the first infusion (no wash)  a little bit longer. I was wrong. You can notice that in the pics the first one has a somehow more accentuated color.  The ‘green’ part of the tea made itself clear in this first  infusion, which was still very nice.

Next infusions were really surprising.  Taste didn’t dropped until infusion eight or so. The aftertaste was really incredible, and overall, I felt it as a nice tea.  There are certainly some resemblances with the Ali Shan I have tried, but again, it’s different.  This one is much more ‘green’, and I guess the fact that Li Shan tea plantations grow between 1700 and 2600 meters plays its role.

I received this sample from Canton Tea, as well as some other oolong samples (Like the previous Ali Shan). I started the oolong learning process now. I hope to be able to cover at least 1 oolong tea per week.  It is going to take a while until I will finish with them all, but I hope I will gain  a new  kind of understanding  after I will finish.

Ali Shan

27/05/2011, posted by Cha in tea

Many of you know about Ali Shan already. It is a oolong from the Ali Shan mountain in Taiwan, grown on high altitude. This one is from Canton Tea. I find it excellent. Oolong tea of this caliber has a very distinct shiny appearance that is difficult to catch on photos. I find it difficult to catch the infusion color (especially with my camera).

On another note, I’m starting to have most of my  oolong pourings right.   After some practice, I am finally confident that I gained the necessary skills to go further with my oolong (very long) sampling. As I told you, this year I want to learn more about oolong. More in term of brewing , taste and nature. I recently added a curiosity to my list of oolong samples: A japanese oolong.

I believe I have around 40 oolong types from different areas and years waiting inline.  The only problem is to find as many beautiful days so I can fully enjoy them.

I am also experimenting a lot with tea setups, but that is also difficult to catch on camera.

Jicuzan

22/05/2011, posted by Cha in teaware

Recently I have traveled to Barcelona, and there,  following a hint i got on twitter (thank you Brandon)  I went to check Caj Chai teahouse.

I noticed they have a great selection of good teas and that they really know how to brew them.  If you find yourself in Barcelona, do go there.  If you don’t enjoy Japanese or Chinese tea, you can try a  Chai there, which I bet it is very nice for those who love it.

After I was served with a very nice gyokuro, I have purchased this teapot, called Jicuzan. I really enjoy the shape, color and feel of this teapot. I plan to use it to brew gyokuro and perhaps some other Japanese greens.  I find Japanese greens  to have an unique cooling effect, which I especially enjoy during hot summers.

2003 CNNP Yi Wu High Mountain Wild Arbor

14/05/2011, posted by Cha in tea

It has been a while since my last blog post. Life kept me busy, but I never stopped drinking tea. In fact,  almost every morning starts with a tea session.

This is a tea sample I got from one of my readers, which probably has it from Yunnan Sourcing. As soon as I saw the tea i knew I will like it.  I really enjoy Yi Wu sheng  teas . In my case, they  produce a particular sensation when brewed with care.

I have found that I  almost never remember the taste of the teas I enjoy, but I do remember the sensations.  I brew and choose teas according to what  sensation or effect I require.   I never brew special teas to guests because I want to maximize that effect, and I never brew a tea that I haven’t tried to guests. This is because I don’t want to make a tea look bad because of my inability.  This is the same reason for keeping some samples until my brewing ability reaches a certain point.

Now back to this puerh. I have found that I prefer to help the cake loosen, especially if it is loose pressed.  That is why the leaves in the pic look like they are not pressed.  After that, I don’t pour directly on the leaves and i rinse it once. The tea releases much faster than I do it this way.

1999 Vietnamese shu puerh

10/04/2011, posted by Cha in tea

This shu puerh has a feeling of clarity, but not as intense as for  some others I wrote about. Perhaps the feeling was amplified by the tea setup I have chosen.

This was one of the tea sessions when everything fitted together just nice. The light was nice, the flowers were appropriate. You would never say it was during a harsh winter.

As I drink more and more tea, I find it easier to create setups that create a targeted sensation.    Heat, cold, distant places, everything can be recreated with a tea setup and an appropriate tea.

How do I brew shu puerh using a gaiwan

31/03/2011, posted by Cha in journal,video

This is part of the Blog Carnival of Association of Tea Bloggers hosted this month by  Cinnabar .

The following video says it all.  Some prefer not to touch the tea,  but I find that the liquor releases much sooner if I ‘loosen’ the tea  prior brewing. Do give me your feedback .

Ba Xian Dan Cong

24/03/2011, posted by Cha in tea

What surprised me most about this  tea was not the (excellent) taste, but the fact that I got very different results in my brewing sessions.  First time I used a gaiwan, but second time a (gongfu ) teapot.  I didn’t imagined the difference will be so great, because usually the difference is not that big.  Or perhaps I had a lucky leaf/water ratio for the teapot brewing session.

This tea has a great taste and aftertaste.   I decided it’s best to use quick infusions for this one.  For the first three or four infusions  I poured immediately after I filled the teapot with water.  The tea felt very nice.

The name, Ba Xian , literally means Eight Immortals (based on my online findings).  According to Canton Tea, this tea comes from the Guang Dong Province, Wu Dong mountain.

The reason why  I try to translate  tea names and find about the origin is to be able  to learn more about Chinese naming and classification system.  It helps a bit to know  one or two terms in Chinese when you shop for your teas (especially online). Of course, that does not guarantee anything, but I consider it a plus.  For example, when I will  see a Yunnan Hong Cha Green Tea for sale , I will definitely run away from that shop.