Teadonism

(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!

Now, as promised, some new and exciting teawares I picked up since last I posted on my small collection…

Here are my new bamboo tea tools, which I got from Imperial Tea Court.  They’re pretty standard issue, but the price was all right.  Coulda kicked myself when I saw them in Ten Ren days later–more expensive, but saving the shipping would’ve made them *just* cheaper.  Oh, well.  Sometime I’d like to get fancier rosewood ones, maybe, but for now I like the comfortable feel of these and the way they match with everything else I have.  The tongs and the clean-y out-y thing-y (official term, right?) are my favourite–they make life easier!

This is my new reserve pitcher/faircup, which I got at Dream About Tea.  It’s just plain ol’ servicable porcelain with a tolerably pretty and simple design, and it keeps the tea relatively warm–but we drink it up so quickly, anyway!  The size is just perfect for holding the output of my *new* Yixing pot–I’ll probably keep using the iron teapot I own as a reserve pitcher for my larger, older, shu puerh Yixing.  I make more tea at a go and don’t need to control the parameters so quickly…

This is a pride-and-joy already–my new gongfu tray!  Much prettier than Ye Olde Broiler Pan, but I am still adjusting to the smallness of it.  Also got this at Dream About Tea.

Here’s a “group shot” that includes the new gaiwan I got at Dream About Tea and the tasting/aroma cup sets and bamboo coasters that arrived recently from The Tao of Tea:

Now, *here* is what I know you were waiting for–the beautiful little Yixing pot I got at Dream About Tea.  The pour and fit of the lid are excellent, the clay is lovely (adore those bumps!) and I think I’m going to use the tiny little dear for sheng puerh:

Here’s a shot of it with my older (lower quality ) Yixing pot, for a sense of scale:

That’s all for now.  I hope to have a sheng puerh review up tomorrow or Monday.  Thanks for reading!

My “tea story” is, I’m sure, fairly typical but for a few slight abonormalities. (This could also be said for the story of my life-in-general, I daresay.)  Still, I feel somewhat compelled to tell it due to my reaction to what I’m drinking right now.

I’m feeling terribly under-the-weather just now; I generally feel rather icky at this time of year, as it’s when my allergies are at their worst.  I lose my appetite, have to take antihistamines that make me feel like a walking zombie, my eyes and throat itch all the time–one’s run-of-the-mill allergy irritations.

The losing my regular appetite (I love to eat!) is one of the most troublesome things; I try to eat appealing snacks whenever I can so that I don’t feel weak and growly on top of allergic.  Last night I had a pot of hojicha, good crackers, and two kinds of cheddar cheese, and it was just perfect.  This morning, I was just craving a good, solid black “breakfast” type tea with milk and sugar, along with toast and homemade strawberry jam.

That, as with many people, I’m sure, is the type of tea I started on when I was younger.  I was allowed (and loved!) coffee when I was about ten, in controlled amounts, but was encouraged to drink tea instead–my parents weren’t really tea drinkers to any degree, but felt that some black Lipton was likely better for me than coffee.  As long as I could have more of the warm, brown stuff in my cup that took milk and sugar so well, I was happy, and tea was one of the drinks I was allowed to order for myself when we went out to eat (along with juice, milk, chocolate milk, and water), whereas coffee had to be shared with me.

A simple enough reason to start drinking tea.  As I got older and could drink coffee on my own, I still liked the taste of tea, and my tastes got slightly more sophisticated…I preferred certain tea bags over others.  I’d get teas and teawares (both of strictly the local-coffee-and-gift-shop sort) for presents, and all was well.  I *loved* the teas served at Chinese restaurants and *adored* the green tea served at Japanese hibachi places, etc., but I hadn’t the foggiest idea what I was drinking or how to duplicate it at home.  In fact, I wouldn’t *touch* green teas outside of Japanese eateries for years…every time I brewed it as it suggested on the package, I was left with a bitter, awful brew that was hard on my stomache and often made me feel queasy.

In college, I gave informal afternoon teas every Friday for my friends and for whatever guests/professors/wanderers-by might happen to come.  I generally had about fifteen people at these little affairs, which took place in a dormitory common room (Trever Hall’s basement, for the initiated) off a dormitory kitchen.  The fare was simple–store-bought shortbread cookies, iced tea or lemonade and hot chocolate packets as alternatives for the non tea-drinkers, about twenty varities of tea bags for the picky, and pots upon pots upon pots of Lipton black with milk and sugar cubes for the offering.  My teawares were five different patterns of cups-and-saucers (but all in blue, silver, and white just the same) that I’d picked up from Goodwill, along with random soup spoons and my kettle and pots. 

The thing to understand about me and my friends is that we were, frankly (and some of us still are), rather hard-drinking, flippant, “odd,” and trouble-making creatures.  These people were very seldom sober (and/or clearheaded–the college soft-drug trade flourishes!), and here they all were at a Friday afternoon tea.  It was my little offering to the community, I suppose–a time when everyone was expected to engage in reasonably polite conversation with a reasonable degree of substance-free-ness…aside from the tea, of course.  Most people took from the pot of Lipton, which was well-brewed, at least, and learned how they liked it and how much milk and sugar to add, and I even made some tea converts.

That, to me, was tea. 

Then, a shift–my third year of college, when I was visiting my parents and in their local coffee-shop, I found a tin of something by The Republic of Tea that was labeled “White Tea.”  White tea?  I knew green and black…what was this stuff?  I was sold by the tin, the tiny unbleached round teabags, the advertising type…and I bought the damn thing for $15–far, *far* more than I had *ever* spent on an equivalent amount of tea before then.

I was determined to make this white tea work.  At first it was too bitter.  Then it was too insipid.  Time to hit the internet (why hadn’t I done this before?)!

An entire world opened up for me, just like that.  (Keep in mind now that this is only about three years ago–I *told* you I was new at this.)  White tea, new brewing instructions for green tea, more kinds of black tea than I ever knew existed!!!

Thus, a minor obsession was born.  This obsession grew slowly to major.  I started learning to tell the difference between good and bad teas (haven’t quite figured out “good” and “better” yet, not all the way), collected more teaware, started using loose tea, etc.  The obsession became even more major some few months ago when I discovered that a heretofore-unknown-to-me type of tea, “puerh,” existed…along with an understanding of what an “oolong” was, roughly…and with it these brought Yixing pots and gongfu and I came to love these (and greens!)  more than I had ever loved my “traditonal” western afternoon blacks, and so it grew and grew and…

…here I am today, blogging about my learning experiences with tea and craving the milk-and-sugared black of yore.

A quick cabinet search revealed the expected 15-ish samples/tuochas/beengs of shu and sheng, six types of green, Lapsang Souchong, lychee and jasmine scented teas, rosebuds, a camomile, and a few cheap oolongs.

Nothing quite right…a trip to my regular ol’ pantry turned up boxes of Lipton and some other tea bags (I still use these for big pitchers of no-fuss iced tea sometimes)…and a little red tin of Twinnings “English Breakfast” tea.  Perfect!  I tried to remember where the tin came from…remembered a friend had picked it up for me when I specified a loose black…and packed it off to work with me.

Opened the tin…found…well, fannings, I guess, although they looked pretty much like dust to me.  Teabag crud.  Pulverized black coffee-ground looking stuff.  Hrm.  Brewed it (carefully!).  Now the stuff *did* puff up into coffee grounds.  Ick.

Added the normal amount of milk and sugar.  Tried it. 

VILE. 

 Beyond vile.  Horrific.  Aberrant.  Tragic.

I had to add enough sugar to choke a horse to even make it palatable–the bitterness was unbelievable!–and even now the aftertaste is incredibly unpleasant.

Threw out the rest of the tin.  Lipton tea bags are leaps and bounds better than this loose, low-quality nonsense, if I’m desperate–which I am, for some good, plain black to sugar-and-milk up.

The good news is that my fall Upton Quarterly arrived recently.  I already have a zillion greens and oolongs circled to sample…time to turn to the front of the catalogue and re-familiarize myself with good ol’ black tea–of a high quality, this time.  I haven’t the time to really learn well about Ceylons and Darjeelings and Assams right now, as I’m still focusing on learning about oolongs and puerhs, but I am very much looking forward to having some good blacks on hand for when moods like today’s strike me.

Back to the vile Twinnings…actually, those foodservice Darjeeling bags in the office kitchen are starting to look preeeeetty good right now.  Ugh.

EDIT: Strike that.  I’m going to order the black tea sampler set from The Simple Leaf.  Looks like it would be a good way to get some good black tea samplers posthaste.  I’m not in any position to (nor do I desire to) worry about what single-estate-plantation-flush-tippy-district-civet-zamboni-rumyunyunson my black tea comes from/has been in contact with.  Going to concentrate on learning my greens, oolongs, and puerhs first, and just keep some good quality black on hand for these occasional cravings.

Vendor: Dream About Tea  

Right now I am drinking a gorgeous Dragonwell tea at room temperature.  Starting last night, I used about three grams of tea to make a bit more than a liter of delicious, delicate green tea.  When the infusions started getting thin, I left it overnight in another liter of room-temperature water and am still enjoying it today.  Completely devoid of bitterness, full of character, and with a lovely green, vegetative, creamy/buttery taste with a hint of wood…I’m going to treasure the ounce I bought until I can return for more.

I am delighted to say that I got to choose this tea myself from the most amazing teashop I’ve ever had the priviledge to visit.  This tea, along with about a zillion other fresh, gorgeous, well-labeled teas of clear provenance…along with an incredible assortment of teaware…can be found at “Dream About Tea” on Davis Street in Evanston, Illinois.  While not exactly “right next door” for me, it’s awfully darn close when it comes to tea and teawares of this quality, and I will definitely be a repeat visitor.

When we looked into the window of the store, I was already floored.  There were cakes upon cakes of puerh, many still wrapped in their bamboo sets, along with *countless* beautiful, tiny Yixing teapots, delicate gaiwans, cup sets, tea trays…on and on and on.

We entered and were greeted right away by the proprietors.  When the woman behind the counter saw how thrilled I was about everything, she immediately asked if I was the person from Wisconsin she had e-mail corresponded with the day before–and I was!  It was super to be remembered and greeted so intuitively, and I had her full attention and help during my entire visit.

There were *at least* a hundred and fifty different, unique, handmade Yixing teapots to look at and choose from.  I was *beyond* excited.  My every question was answered–they showed me beautiful shu and sheng puerh, gave suggestions for which pot would go best with which kind of tea, showed me their new stock, etc.

I’ll level with you–I wanted *everything*.  I fell madly in love with no less than five different teapots and with almost *all* of the puerh, but budget forces choices, and I absolutely couldn’t say no to one of the lovely bamboo tea trays.  (They had a great selection of these as well–at least *seven* different models of varying sizes, types of decoration, and prices…more than I’ve ever seen in one place before, just like the teapots.)

I wound up getting a tiny Yixing teapot that I’m planning to use for young sheng, a white porcelain gaiwan to replace the evil, clumsy one I’m using at work, a pretty reserve pitcher and one of those cunning fine-mesh funnel-filters, the ounce of Dragonwell tea, and the bamboo tea tray.  I’ll certainly be posting pictures of all of this soon–you won’t *believe* how gorgeous it all is.

Other things I wanted–more tea!  They have *so* many jars of tea on their counter, and when it matters, they can tell you the region, year, etc. of the teas.  Their knowledge and ability to recommend teas is super.  I also wanted more teapots!  These were all just amazing.  The quality of the one I chose is great, and it was a low-end teapot, $40, cheaper than my more disappointing Ten Ren teapot–it has a perfect pour, the cover fits superbly, etc.  The majority of the teapots they had were handmade and unique–the exception to this is their *very own line* of Yixing pots in various types of the appropriate clay.  These they contract with a shop in China to mold for them, and are just darling, in a very practical shape with a detailed dragon relief in the bottom of the pot.  The result is inexpensive, well-made Yixing pots of various types of clay with predictable results and a handsome design.  I will *definitely* be picking up at least one of these proprietary pots for some type of oolong in the future.  Aside from those, though, the range of Yixing pots was jaw-dropping.  All sizes, all clay types, all price ranges, all styles (from simple and graceful brewing pots to incredibly detailed and sculpted “whimsy” pots)…

I clearly just can’t say enough about this teashop, my visit, the owners…wow!  I absolutely cannot wait to visit again, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this place to anyone.

We were there for about an hour, but I could’ve been there all day.  Pete and his stepmother kept themselves busy at the counter with two green teas.  One, their house tea and about $70 a pound, was a more-than-serviceable everyday green that they (or so they say) contract with an entire plantation to corner the supply of.  The other was a Dragontop and one of their highest-end teas, at $200/lb, and was absolutely amazing.  It was green, deep, buttery, infinitely smooth, and just phenomenal to drink.  We compared the two under both favourable and less-than-favourable conditions and went through lots and lots of hot water with the samples we’d purchased.  I ended up hoarding the Dragontop, but we were able to squeeze even a bit more out of the teas when we got back to the house, using my new gaiwan. 

Why hadn’t I heard about this place before?  Why aren’t its praises sung to the rafters when someone asks for tea recommendations in the Chicago area?  I can only thank my luck that a random Google search turned this place up before our Chicago visit, and I can only assume that word of this place just hasn’t gotten out yet.  I can’t imagine that it has been deliberately overlooked for complaints of quality of lack of knowledge–again, I just couldn’t have been more pleased. They had *everything* one could possibly desire when beginning one’s journey with Eastern teas, and plenty of stuff for even experts, I would hazard.

In short: if you live anywhere *near* the Chicago area, drop whatever you’re doing right now and head to Dream About Tea.  It is an amazing place run by incredibly helpful, kind people, and you will be *floored* by the selection of teaware and tea. 

Go now! Their website is also amazing, with mail-order functionality, lots of great details, contact info, etc.  Also not that they are offering *Tea Classes* coming up soon, where they’ll cover various types of teas and brewing methods.  I would give my eyeteeth to attend these classes; I’m sure they’ll be great–definitely worth a look! http://www.dreamabouttea.com/comersus6f/store/index.asp

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.

Lest anyone needed another reminder of how new I am at this serious tea business, or how generally clueless I am in a spacial sense…a series of (hopefully amusing) tableaux:

My order (see below) arrived from Jing Tea Shop and I tore into it enthusiastically.  I decided I wanted to try the shu puer I ordered first (see the “Reviews” category for tasting notes) and opened it accordingly, arraying the necessary brewing accessories on my…umm…broiler pan.

Then, I paused, studying the unwrapped, whole tuo cha carefully.

After the pause grew, Pete, who was watching me, said, “What?”

“Umm,” I replied cautiously. “I don’t really know what to do next.  Supposedly I can sort of break chunks off of this, but it’s…ummm…compressed way tighter than I though it would be.”

I tried attacking it sort of sideways-like with a butter knife, but only succeeded in scraping a powdery, crushed-leaf mess off the very surface.  That definitely wasn’t right.  Then I remembered someone suggesting using a hammer to make an initial dent in it, then break it up more easily. I definitely was going to skip the “steaming” method, yikes.

The tuo cha goes into a plastic bag and my cruddy picture-nail hammer comes out:

I tap it gingerly on the sides…nothing.  Harder on the sides…still nothing.  Feeling slightly foolish (Pete is clearly snapping pictures of my ineptitude at this point), I decide to give it a good whack right on the top of the bowl:

At this point, although it’s hard to tell in the picture above, I put a gaping, perfectly round hole *right* through the bag *and* the tuo cha, reducing all of the puerh in the path of the hammer to fragmented tea-dust with my Cosmic Hammer Wielding Power of Mightyness:

CURSES!

Anyway…I took it back to the table and took the knife to it again.  This time, I had the gaping crater to work from, and it chunked rather easily:

I brewed the tea.  It was wonderful.  I felt genuinely guilty for smashing it so idiotically.

However, the hole did help me to understand the make-up of the tuo cha *much* better.  I smacked myself on the forehead, seeing how easy it would be to get chunks off after making one forceful, small push below the surface of the compressed tea.  Once you’re “in,” it is very easy…the trick is just to get in *gently*, rather than doing one’s best Thor impression.

Whoops.

 All further tuo cha endeavours have been far more successful and have only needed the butter knife.

Oh, well.  I’m learning.

*Tongue-firmly-in-cheek reference to the excellent pu-erh.net, only self-derision intended. Go visit now!

Vendor: Jing Tea Shop 

This was hugely exciting for me!  My first shipment from China, my first puerh that I chose on my own to have for myself, my first good gaiwan, yay!

Here’s the box that was so immensely satisfying to get:

And here’s everything all arrayed prettily:

This is what I ordered:

– 1 X Hei You Gaiwan
– 1 X 2003 Raw Puerh Beeng Tasting Series
– 1 X 1999 CNNP Red Label - sample
– 1 X Lao Tong Zhi 04
– 2 X Xia Guan Te Ji Tuo Cha
– 1 X 2001 Meng Hai Tea Factory Raw Wild  Yi Wu Sample

– 1 X Feng Huang Jia Ji Tuo Cha 04
– 1 X Fu Hai Puerh 7536 sample

There were also four wonderful samples included!  What a great treat–I don’t have written down with me here (at work) what they were, but rest assured that these and all of the above will be reviewed shortly.  I was especially pleased to get the bonus samples since some of the samples I *ordered* come from cakes that, since my initial order, are no longer available.  I hope I can fall in love with one or two that I can still get my hands on!

 Even if I can’t, though, I have no worries–I know that the people at Jing Teashop will be able to steer me in the right direction.  This was my first time ordering with them, but I’d heard nothing but good things, and I had a great experience!  They checked to make sure my shipment had arrived and that I was happy, answered all my emails, and urged me to ask any questions I might have about tea, tea culture, etc.  I would highly recommend them–excellent service, fast shipping, great packing, and super goods!

And, finally, a rather pretty shot of me *not* burning my hands as I use this gorgeous gaiwan:

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.

Again, my first Yixing teapot, purchased at the Ten Ren in Chicago’s Chinatown–scroll down just a few posts to see a picture of it…

Anyway, upon further research and lots of agonized staring at the darling little creature, I’ve come to the conclusion that I cannot reliably say that this even *is* a Yixing teapot.

 Damn and blast!

Why do I say this?  Well–it makes the lovely, clear, trademark metallic “ring” that I’ve heard so often about when the lid is tapped on the body, which is good.  And it has small particles in it that catch the light with a bit of “sparkle,” which is good.

However, other tests I’ve heard about, it fails miserably.  The pour is very slow (35 seconds!), the venting hole in the lid does *nothing* to affect the pour of water, the lid is slightly cattywompus and doesn’t fit perfectly, etc.

Now, I understand that this could very well mean that this is a *lower quality* Yixing teapot, but still the genuine clay I was after.  I could accept that.  It’s my first, and is a learning experience.

But I just don’t know enough about Yixing to say this for certain.  Plus, I’ve seen it stated several times online that Ten Ren does not sell *any* actual Yixing pots, but rather *all* Taiwanese designs of different clay.  I can’t determine whether there is any truth to this or not, but it’s enough to make me wonder. 

Of course, I’ve seen Ten Ren pots like mine referred to as “Yixing” just as many times on blogs and whatnot, so I’m at my wit’s end trying to decide what the case is.

Therefore, I have decided to simply come to grips with the fact that I don’t know, and that I won’t really know until I have a chance to become more familiar with high-quaility yixing from other vendors.

In light of this decision, I’m going to dedicate this pot to shu puerh.  Why?  Well, shu seems to me to be not as delicate or difficult or nuanced as sheng puerhs or oolongs, and it can certainly tolerate that long pour-time when sheng would up and go toxic on me, most likely.  It’s also cheaper, and relatively simple for me to find (Chicago trips, online, etc.) and not as “important” to me as my sheng.  Plus, I have a decent amount of it sitting about now, perfect to use for this pot and for casually drinking/gongfuing with a meal or as a little treat.

And I, who am very often slightly anal-retentive about things I care about and concerned with perfection, knowledge, etc., am surprisingly “okay” with all of this.

 So, shu into the pot!  I’m still very excited about using it.

The next crisis was: How to season this teapot? 

There are a zillion suggestions on the web and newsgroups, from very complicated to very simple.  Most involve boiling water, some involve tea, and some involve freezers and tinfoil and ovens and….jeez.

Sounded like a hassle, and I wasn’t pleased with the wide variation of suggestions.  What to do? 

Default to a single, trusted source!  Stephane’s blog is always full of fascinating brilliance, and this advice comes from Teaparker, so…how can I go wrong?  I’ll rinse the sucker well, use it as a fairpot for awhile, take care to pour lots o’ tea on the outside, and go from there. 

If good, good!  If not-so-good…plenty of time to pull out the tinfoil and parka and powdered rhino horn and flux capacitator later…

I’ll report back to tell how the pot turns out in a few months.

More tea stuff!

My cast iron teapot, which I am almost certain is not actually Japanese and which I will therefore not refer to by its Japanese name…this is enamel coated inside and I’m currently using it as a faircup/serving pitcher which I decant into.  It’s much too big, but it keeps the tea warm and doesn’t take in the flavour of any specific tea, so it will do until I order an actual serving pitcher:

And this is my gaiwan, which I got from Jing Teashop and which I am madly in love with:

And this (prepare yourselves) is a mock-up of my current gongfu setup.  Yes, that is a new broiling pan.  I’m definitely asking for a proper tray for Christmas…for now, though, the boiling pan works nicely and doesn’t look *too* bad:

Also, my new cups/coasters and my pretty bamboo tea tool set just arrived from The Tao of Tea and Imperial Tea Garden, respectively, so I’m very excited about those.  You can expect more reviews of teas in the near future!