Teadonism

Okay, I’ve been seriously slacking lately, and I apologize. My only excuse is that, for the last four days, I’ve been so dramatically ill with a sinus infection that I haven’t been able to taste so much as the spicy, sodium-y goodness of Picante Chicken Ramen noodles, let alone the delicate nuances of so many of the teas I own. Definitely not a good time to be conducting review of new tea. (On a side note, I’ve been relying heavily on the teas I *was* somewhat able to taste as comfort these last few days–lots of long-brewed shu puerh and the American Breakfast Assam I mentioned earlier. Yum!)

Today, though, I think the clouds are breaking (and by “clouds” I actually mean “the globules that do not bear thinking about which are inhabiting my sinus cavities”) and I think I can taste properly, so I’m going to give the last of my “bold” teas from The Simple Leaf a try.  Don’t quite trust myself yet for more delicate Darjeelings, but let’s see how this goes…

Dry, this tea smelled less malty than the American Breakfast I reviewed before.  This made me second guess my tasting abilities for the day, so I opened American Breakfast and smelled that, thus verifying that “Mountain Malt” does indeed smell slightly *less* malty than “American Breakfast.”  The leaves are large, curled pieces and are very attractive.

Brewed, the liquor is a lovely dark brown with hints of a coppery red undertone.  It smells like…well, like autumn, really.  A little bit of hay, a little bit of cool outside air, and a little bit of dry fallen leaves. 

The taste of this tea is *very* bold–a very strong tea, in a good way.  It’s very smooth, mellow, and full-bodied, with a definite black tea taste that is refreshingly lacking in “bad” bite and bitterness.  This tea stands well on its own but could definitely hold up to some milk and sugar.  In fact, the mellow smoothness of this tea would make me pick it to pair with milk and sugar over the more malty American Breakfast.

For me, this is a very good basic black tea.  I enjoy the “round” taste of it, and the lack of heavy malting makes it more “basic” for me, better able to take milk and sugar or just to drink several cups of on its own.  I still enjoy the bold maltyness of the American Breakfast, but this one may very well become a staple as well for the pure strength and black-tea-purity of the flavour.

I’m really enjoying learning about what I like and prefer in black teas.  I seem to very much enjoy strength and maltyness.  This isn’t really a surprise, given that my first cup in the morning is usually filled with wretched-tasting coffee that I use to jolt myself into unpleasant awakeness…I’m too much of a zombie in the early morning to even trust myself to brew a decent cup of tea.

Tea: “American Breakfast” and “More Amor”

Type: Assams

Vendor: The Simple Leaf

AMERICAN BREAKFAST:

Until this very moment, I did not really understand what people were talking about when they referred to Assams as “malty” at times.

Holy yum.  I’m sitting here, just smelling the dry leaf of this ”American Breakfast” Assam tea by The Simple Leaf.  I want very much to brew and drink this tea, as well, but right now I’m content to just be floored by the scent.

It’s “malty” in the sense of ever-so-slightly fermented sweet grain of the sort you can find being fed to horses, in my opinion.  Not so much true “malt” as “sweet fermenting grain” of some variety.  As usual, my strange “horse” and “barn” analogies are *compliments* to this tea, not marks against it.  Smelling this reminds me very strongly of being little and visiting my aunt’s nice, clean horse barn early on a summer morning while she was doing the feeding.

Only, with a “tea” undercurrent.

Maybe a bit prosy–do forgive me, I have an atrophied brain due to being an English lit/Classics major.  Still, I’m loving the scent of this tea.

It’s also very attractive–a dark, dark brown and very uniform, with little bits that I can only assume are portions of tightly rolled leaves and that remind me of Grape-Nuts, of all things.  Super cute, and interesting, if a bit unusual.

The parameters were about a teaspoon of tea into about seven ounces of water just off the boil, for about two minutes in a single-serving Bodum coffee-press.  These two minutes were a little confusing, since they were filled with…dancing Grape-Nuts.  The little bits floated around and got bigger and puffier and Grape-Nuttier, but they didn’t “unfurl.” 

Curious, I poured off the tea (nope, didn’t press it, no worries), which is a gorgeous coppery red-brown colour, clear and lovely.  I then examined the little tea-bits and discovered that they were actually very small leaf pieces that were apparently pressed and formed into these cute, irregular little tea-bits.  The bits disintegrated when prodded, but not in the water…intriuging.

The proof, of course, is in the tea, which was *super!*  Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I got this excited about a black tea.  I knew immediately upon drinking it that I wanted no milk or sugar–this tea needed none!  It was very smooth, and very sweet, of all things.  In fact, I did a double-take at first sip to see if I *had* added milk and sugar.  This is a big deal for me, as black teas have always been a strong, slightly bitter milk-and-sugar delivery system, not a standalone.  This is definitely a standalone.

There is only the tiniest bit of back-of-the throat tannic dryness to this tea–the rest is all smooth, sweet flavour.  Tons of flavour, too, and a very full mouthfeel, not thin at all.

This tea is *holding my attention,* which heretofore has only been something that good greens, whites, an puerhs could do.  Black tea was always like coffee or water–just another thing in a cup at my desk to drink unthinkingly.  Turns out this wasn’t “black” tea’s fault…it was just a question of getting better black tea.

Seriously, though, miles away from teabags, miles!  The wet tea leaves smell even more like the grainy-malty-loveliness I mentioned earlier. 

(Confession: I made another cup.  It takes milk and sugar quite well.  I couldn’t resist!  Still, I’m pleased and surprised to note that I like it *better* on its own.)

MORE AMOR:

Same malty scent in the bag, but more delicate, somehow.   This tea is billed as a “Mild” where the American Breakfast was billed as a “Bold,” and it turns out that’s really the case.

The taste is similar in ethos (essential character, pardon my Greek) to the American Breakfast, so I have now begun to learn what makes an Assam an Assam.  (This specific black tea stuff is completely new to me.  I’m glad I’m starting with type-specific blends as opposed to, say, single plantation & flush pickings, as I think they would be utterly lost on me at this point.)

It is milder, though, and slightly thinner-feeling in the mouth.  The sweetness is there, but not so pronounced, if only because the taste of the Assam maltiness is not so strong here.  The tea is made up of smallish leaf-pieces which aren’t rolled or pressed this time–larger “chunks” of leaf than the American Breakfast, but they’re individual as opposed to collected into, umm, Grape-Nuts. 

There’s a slight “golden” overtone as well, which is very pleasant.  I’m sorry that I don’t know how to describe it other than “golden,” but I’m trying to address a certain warm-vegetative-cream-muted brightness, if that makes sense.

Another standalone and another very pleasant tea–this one strikes me as a possibility for a truly superior iced black tea.  I think I preferred the strength and “punch” of the bolder American Breakfast, but this was nice, as well.

(Forgive the lack of pictures–Jing Tea Shop has nice ones of this tea up already if you’re interested and follow the link to their site.) 

Year: 2004, Spring

Producer: Xia Gua Tea Factory
Region: Shuang Mian tea area

Vendor: Jing Teashop

Leaf: Dry–dark mossy green, tightly compressed, small and broken leaves  Wet–shiny, brighter green, largely broken leaves

Scent: Dry scent–very ”bright” and slightly vegetal. Wet scent–”bright” scent remains, also something of a “cooked greens” smell, sort of spinach-esque

Liquour–Colour is orangey-brown but moved to a more appealing golden brown as it lightened.  Very smoky scent, slight floral/sweet overtones which increased as the infusions continued.  Slight pumpkin-y smell in the background early on.

Infusion Parameters: 5 grams in a 4oz (120mL) gaiwan, boiling water, one 20s rinse followed by brief rest, 20s, 10s, 10s, 10s, 10s, 10s, 10s, 25s, 45s, 35s, 35s, 45s

Tasting Notes:

Infusion 1:  20s. SMOKE!  Very dry–flash of bitterness, then this is gone quickly from the mouth.  No truly unpleasant aftertaste, just lots of dry, smoky “bite.”  I’ll admit, the hyper-green, hyper-dry, hyper-smoky scent/taste of this first infusion made my stomache flop a little…I was reminded heavily of a green tea steeped for about ten minutes in boiling water.

Infusion 2: 10s/flash infusion. Less smoke in the aroma, less “hyper-green”…same as above, slightly less bite.

Infusion 3: 10s/flash infusion.  Notably sweeter (although this is relative with stuff this raw and young!), more ethereal scent, less smoke.  More of a pleasant “green” taste, less bitter.  Still VERY dry and quick to “vanish” in the mouth.

Infusion 4: 10s/flash infusion.  For the first time in this infusion, I can taste a lingering flavour underneath that I think is the elusive “puerh” flavour I’ve tasted in shu puerh.  It’s different in the sheng, of course, but I can just on the edge of my mind feel the “connection” between shu and sheng, the familial taste that they share on some level, the taste of the tea.  Or, I’m crazy. :)  Taste/colour/scent more agreeable now, more “bright” smokyness in the aftertaste, somewhat less dry.

Infusion 5: 10s/flash infusion.  Scent is very bright and sweet–now there is definitely some sweetness in the tea, too, and much less fleeting dryness.  Still some smoke.

Infusion 6: 10s/flash infusion.  Thicker “feel” in mouth.  Am possibly granted a glimpse of where this puerh could “go” in 10-15 years–I can’t back up this feeling, it’s solely intuitive, but the sheng was very thick and sweet and deep and smooth for just a moment before it “bit” again.

Infusion 7: 10s/flash infusion.  “Floral” sweet scent, much sweeter taste.  The smoke is pretty well gone but some bite remains.

Infusion 8: 10s/flash infusion. As above, but thinner and with less bite.  The thin-ness tells me I can safely increase the infusion time now…

Infusion 9: 25s.  This stuff I could happily drink, yum!  Interesting dryness, rather like a satisfying white wine–a desirable dryness–is left, taste is sweet and “bright.”

Infusion 10: 45s.  The long infusion is due to the fact that I picked up the ferret and started dancing around with him (so sue me, Covenant’s “Call the Ships to Port” came on, and I love that song) and lost track of a few seconds…whoops.  See, I’m not professional taster material. :)  Flavour is still bright, less sweet, more bite and smoke…probably the infusion time.

Infusion 11: 35s.  Lighter liquor–really delicious taste.  Wish it came out like this from the get-go.  Hopefully when it is older…

Infusion 12: 35s.  Velvety soft, sweet, now *all* unpleasantness (too much smoke/dryness/bite) is gone.  This is lovely.

Infusion 13: 45s.  As above, but thinner and more delicate.

 I kept on after this for about five more infusions of 35-45 seconds, and it was really marvelous!  Not much “changed” in the taste, just got thinner.

Overall notes:

Wow.  If the tail infusions of this are the smooth, sweet, depth-of-flavour that I can look forward to in older sheng (either these samples I need to try or my own, someday), then I’m absolutely hooked.  It’s fascinating how the taste changes as you go!

I felt just wretched before taking this tea, due to allergies, but much better afterwards…probably just a psychological effect, but I’m not complaining!

Okay, here’s what I’m looking for–mini tuo-chas, both shu and sheng, that I can easily take to work and that will be both tasty and forgiving under *very* minimalistic brewing conditions. 

 How minimalistic?  Basically, I boil 5 oz of water in an open Pyrex measuring cup, drop in the tuo-cha, wait for the tea to be relatively settled (shorter for sheng, but many infusions), and pour it straight into the cup of my gaiwan.  Then I just add more hot water to the Pyrex and repeat until there’s nothing left to the tea. No washes/rinses, no preheating of implements, and I occasionally prod moodily at it with a straightened paper clip…very basic, very careless. 

First up: The Shu Showdown: Beyond Thunderdome!  Two mini tuo chas enter–One mini tuo cha leaves.  (Tina Turner not included)

I had on hand a sack o’ mini tuo chas in shu puerh that I picked up at Ten Ren in Chicago for the moderate price of $15 for about fifty-some of the little buggers, and a small sample of shu puerh mini tuo chas that I ordered from The Tao of Tea, which is where I got my new tasting/aroma cup sets.  I decided to put these in a head-to-head battle for my at-work affections.  I might order more from a different company in the future, but for now, these two would do.

The Ten Ren shu mini tuos were of a somewhat lower-quality than the Tao of Tea shu mini tuos…at least, I believe they were.  I’m basing this on 1) taste and 2) the incredible number of annoying floating twig bits that I found in the Ten Ren tuos as opposed to the mostly-leaf blend of the Tao of Tea tuos.  The high twig ratio made the Ten Ren puerh break up faster as the twigs struggled to escape and float, but this also made it difficult to pour reasonably “clean” and clear tea into my drinking cup.

Both brands were very straightforward–shu taste, plain and simple, with good depth and minimal complexity.  (Perfect for sucking down after greasy lunch at McDonalds, yum.)  Suitably coffee-like for office comfort needs, and suitably low-maintenance for the minimal brewing care.

I did prefer the Tao of Tea tuo chas, though.  They were a bit smoother and less pondy/murky tasting, but only a bit.  The biggest factor was those gosh-darn twigs so prevalent in the Ten Ren tuos. 

So, I’d order the mini shu tuo chas from The Tao of Tea again.  They were perfect low-care brewing treats for my desk at work, and yielded plenty of cups of decent puerh.  I’ll drink up the Ten Ren stuff, though, too–wasn’t bad, just bothersome.

The other mini tuo chas for at work were the green/raw/sheng ones from The Tao of Tea.  I got a small sample of these as well and was hoping they would work for my at-work sheng.

The dry sheng mini-tuo had a very bright, citrus-y scent to it, whereas the liquor had a toasty, almost grain-like scent with a citrus overlay.  The inital steeping was about 45 seconds with boiling water (one mini-tuo for about 5oz of water), which wasn’t even enough time to allow it to break down completely.  The first infusion was “green” tasting, delicate (probably not enough infusion, frankly) and a bit astringent, but not too dry.  It had a smooth, almost buttery depth to it that I *really* liked, though.  Is as good as the sencha and genmaicha I have on my desk, and likely better.  Nothing at all bitter or unpleasant about this brew.

After the first infusion, the mini tuo puffed up into a darling, fluffy, tiny “nest” in the pyrex cup.  It was *so* pretty and bright green that I just had to touch it, so I picked it up and prodded at it and broke it apart.  It was really fun to play with–I love touching “used” tea leaves, don’t know why.  This made my fingers smell like a bright, sweet, citrus candy–yum!

Second infusion was for about a minute.  I used my patented “partially straightened paper clip” technique to prod down the still-floating leaves and poured it off into my cup.  It’s now easier to note that the leaves are *very* fragmented–makes for a bit of a messy cup the way I’m doing it, sans-straining, but still perfectly tolerable for drinking.  The leaves are *such* a pretty green and smell just like orange sherbet–citrus, cream, sweetness…

The liquor itself is bright, cheerful, sweet, citrusy (there is *so* much citrus taste in this sheng, it’s bizarre)…but rather astringent this time.  Could probably do with an even shorter steep, but that’s tough, using this brewing method.  More than just “drinkable,” though, it’s bracing and uplifting.  Super for work.

Unfortunately, as the liquor sits in my cup with the small amount of loose leaves in the bottom that “poured over,” it’s still steeping enough to render it rather bitter if not drunk quickly.  Rather *quite* bitter, to the point where I might have stomache trouble with it if I drink too much. In fact…ugh.  I can’t finish this.  Will have to dump it, yiiiick. Will have to devise a slightly more sophisticated straining method…like…a strainer, perhaps!

Third infusion…I’m almost afraid to drink this now.  My tongue is *still* curling from the assault it just endured.  Now I *know* what happens when one brews sheng for a bit too long.  Ugh.

 So, I transferred the leaves into my gaiwan so I could strain it better, and will be drinking from…ummm…the pyrex measuring cup.  Oh, well.  Only brewed it for the briefest of moments–thirty seconds.

It’s fine, now.  Much easier to drink.  The pleasant green citrusy-ness is back, the horrible, nauseating bitterness is gone, etc.  It’s a bit dry, still, but nicely so.

Umm.  I would’ve been able to get lots more out of this puerh, but I sort of spazzed and burned my fingers on the office gaiwan (I hate this thing.  I need another nice one like the black one I have at home) and dropped the tea, and…yes.

So.  In short, the sheng mini tuo chas from Tao of Tea are just fine–if you’re brewing them carefully and are not a klutz like me.  Will likely not be drinking lots of sheng at work–I’ll stick to the shu–as it’s just a bit more attention than I’m able to devote to the stuff during the work day.

I’m categorizing these teas as “easy to find” since I found them, and teas that *aren’t* easy to find are pretty scarce in this part of Wisconsin.

The first one I picked up from my local Asian grocery store. You’ve maybe seen it–it’s the one that looks like this:

(Picture shamelessly stolen from a defunct site via Google image search)

Now, I could’ve *sworn* that I’ve heard good things about this low-grade tea on a mailing list. I have a tin of green tea of the “Joy Luck” brand sitting on my desk at work, and it’s low-grade (tightly-rolled, gunpowder style) but is tolerable if brewed correctly. I was hoping this black, jasmine scented tea could join it there–when I want tea but haven’t the time or concentration to appreciate good tea properly.

And I brewed it carefully–water just off the boil, a normal ratio of tea-to-servings (I made this in a big pot with the standard “1 tsp/6oz” ratio), a reasonable steeping time (only about a minute, maybe a bit more–I don’t even like to let blacks go for long unless I trust their character), etc.

Still, the result was absolutely toxic. Bitter, scrapey-tasting, and almost shrill, with a bottom-dropping-out insipidness underneath and the cloying, sickly-strong scent of jasmine on top.

Ick. I gave some to Pete, who says he took about a sip and threw the rest out. I unknowingly took the rest in my thermos to work and was awfully saddened when I tried it. Still, I didn’t feel like coffee, so I choked down about two cups of it before I felt a little dizzy, flushed, and nauseous.

I’m certain it was psychosomatic, but, still…ick.

Did I do something wrong? I’ll give this stuff one more shot just to see if even more careful brewing can save it. For now, though…not on my “good” list. Do check out the stuff you’ll likely find right next to this on the shelves, though, in the green tin. It’s bitter and a little shrill, too, but still somewhat tolerable for a thoughtless, careless, drinking-in-lieu-of-water-at-work tea.

The second tea I wanted to write briefly about was a sort of “Random Encounter” tea. As I had a meeting this morning that I knew I wouldn’t be able to brew tea before, I stopped at an “Aspen” tea & coffee shop on my way in. (Try the spiced biscotti with the cream-cheese-ish frosting–they’re amazing.)

There, I had to choose between a slew of “Numi” teas and a slew of “Republic of Tea” teas, all in bags. I wanted green, so I picked this and went with it. It’s Numi’s Jasmine Green, and despite being brewed in too-hot water in a too-heat-retaining styrofoam cup and being brewed too long since I had about three minutes before I could dispose of the tea bag, the stuff wasn’t half bad.

The green tea base was nothing to write home about, being a little flat and character-less, but it was mild and not at all bitter. The jasmine was faint and not overpowering, and the tea was very forgiving of the terrible brewing conditions.

Check out Numi’s website for a lesson in incredibly slick marketing/packaging–the stuff is lovely, especially the completely impractical and most likely blah-tasting “Flowering Teas.” I wouldn’t buy any of their stuff for myself, but if I were out to eat and wanted hot tea, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at Numi’s bags.

That’s all for now! Later this week–my first shipment from Jing Teashop, some sheng puerhs, and silly pictures of me making my first attempt to break into a tuo cha.

Year: 2001, Spring

Producer: Meng Hai Tea Factory

Region: Meng Hai Tea Mountain

Vendor: Jing Teashop

Leaf: Dry–dark, tightly compressed, small and broken, a few twigs  Wet–shiny, lighter, many small pieces, some twigs.

Scent: Dry scent–not as “fishy” or “pondy” as the other (lower-quality) shu puerhs I’ve had access to, which is nice.  Wet scent–wet leaves smell very pondy with undertones of horse…clean horse.  That probably sounds very strange, but it’s what it reminds me of.

Liquour–Smells loamy, some sweetness.  Colour is dark reddish brown but translucent, and moves from very dark and almost “oily” looking to a rosier, orangier sepia tone as infusions progress, staying a very handsome chestnut for most of the infusions.

Infusion Parameters: 5 grams in a 4oz (120mL) gaiwan, boiling water, one 20s rinse followed by brief rest, 20s, 20s, 10s, 20s, 35s, 45s, 1min, 1min

Tasting Notes:

Infusion 1:  20s Smooth!  With a lot of depth…lots of loam/soil/pond on the top, but not unpleasantly so.  A tiny bit of dry afterbite, some new, raw wood taste.

Infusion 2: 20s Smoother yet.  Brighter, too, with less of the afterbite, and leather replacing the wood taste.

Infusion 3: 10s Flash infusion for curiosity’s sake–less depth but not in a bad way, otherwise same as above.  Would keep it at 20s in the future.

Infusion 4: 20s Much as above–the flavour is thinner but again, not in a bad way.  Very smooth, the leather is gone, but I’m having a hard time describing what the leather gave way to.  As close as I can figure, I’m now tasting the “ethos” of shu puerh.  I’ve never tasted anything else quite like it, so this leads me to believe that it is simply the puerh, the leaf, itself.  Yum.

Infusion 5: 35s As above but getting still “thinner” in flavour.

Infusion 6: 45s Lighter, with a delicate presence over the leaf that I can only call “musk”–light, slightly animal musk, but very attractive.

Infusion 7: 1min A sort of dark sweetness is coming through, and it’s really fabulous.  It even smells sweeter, and all the musk is gone.

Infusion 8: 1min I was intrigued by that sweetness despite the “thin” nature of the last infusion, so I tried one more minute and was rewarded by yet more sweetness.  This stuff is starting to taste almost delicate!  There’s no depth left at all, though, so it’s off to the thermos overnight for these leaves.

Overall notes”

In retrospect, if I would’ve given this tea 2 rinses as I’ve heard recommended sometimes for shu, it would’ve been perfect from the get-go.  As it was, I was feeling a little uncertain about how much I liked the first infusion, but the flavours I considered undesirable were gone by the second infusion, and I enjoyed it very much overall.  Somewhere halfway through I realized that this stuff just felt *good* going down, and I felt warm and alert, but relaxed and a trifle dizzy.  This is unexpectedly heady stuff, and I found myself fondly wishing that it could be got anywhere, brewed well, so that I could have it in place of coffee during breakfast at, say, IHOP.  In short, I just really enjoyed it.

I was also a little surprised by the time it took to do the tasting–about an hour and fifteen minutes from setup to knockdown.  It was very fun, though, and I know I’ll be thankful for these more detailed notes as I learn more about puerh.