Tea Ruts

I had first heard the term on a thread on TeaChat, can't remember exactly who said it. For me, it means being in a state of funk with my tea drinking. It had been about half a year before I made my first purchase of Japanese greens from O-Cha, so my stock consisted mostly of nice quality Taiwanese High Mountain Oolong, Dong-Ding, and some everyday Shui Xian from TeaCuppa. Besides my Japanese greens and my daily dose of Matcha, I didn't have much else.

Don't get me wrong, these were all great teas, well except for the Shui Xian. It was okay, but it's an everyday tea so there isnt't any panache. I was getting pretty tired of the same routine, the same kind of flavor profile, etc. I couldn't make my next purchase until last weekday, which ushered in a new monthly budget (my monthly cycle follows my credit card statements).

I ordered from Tea Habitat and The Tea Gallery, two top-notch vendors who I was very excited to order from for the first time. I purchased one of Imen's Chao Zhou teapots and some '09 Zhi Lan Old Bush DC. I'm a total sucker for new tea-ware, especially stuff that's "authentic" to the tea experience. I really hope you can use a Chao Zhou stove in an apartment though, because I think that would complete the entire experience of brewing DC Chao Zhou style. I also bought some samples from The Tea Gallery. I got their Classic Roast, Phoenix, 100 Year Tree, and Shi Lan. Winnie and Dae had some excellent suggestions, and I think next time I will try the Cove Mist and Water Golden Turtle. Well, I ordered these on Saturday, so they probably won't be here until Wednseday or so, though I expect my Tea Habitat order to be here tomorrow (they're only a hour away from me!). But until then, I'm still stuck in this tea rut.

I knew that I had a ton of Lapsang Souchang from my study abroad in China last year, but I was avoiding it. I hadn't tried Lapsang Souchang for a while, so I was afriad that the tea profile would put me off. I decided why the hell not, and brewed up some LS in my gaiwan. It had the usual smokiness you would expect, but there was also some lingering sourness, balanced by a slight sweetness. Maybe because of the aging, but who knows, it's only been a year.

Hopefully by the end of this week I'll be out of this rut, and my new teas will keep me occupied for a while...at least until my next monthly cycle.

Note: I was glad I decided to purchase a Chao Zhou from Imen now rather than later, it seems that out of the 10 pots that were listed about two weeks ago, only 2 are left...Imen is definitely making brisk business on DC and DC-associated tea-ware.

Sencha Review, Finally

I was planning on doing some GRE exercises, but decided to do this instead. Even though I'm applying for graduate school after Peace Corps, I'm researching programs now...is it bad that I'm strongly considering Columbia and NYU because The Tea Gallery is nearby (They also have excellent Anthropology programs, but the tea thing is a real bonus I think)?

I waited until I've sampled a few other Sencha before writing a review, because I wanted something to contrast with what I'm tasting. In my opinion, a review wouldn't make much sense unless I was relating it to something else, or using something as a standard.

Many thanks to Chip from TeaChat for some excellent samples, and for allowing me to enjoy a wide range of Japanese greens. I ordered O-Cha's organic offerings of Uji Sencha, Ooigawa Sencha, and Kabusecha. From Chip I have properly sampled the Rishi Honyama (I'm still working out the kinks of the others he gave me).

I think out of the three steamed levels (asa, chu, and fuka) I think I like the fukamushi the most. I really enjoyed the Ooigawa's richer taste, as well as a lingering sweetness which I enjoy very much. I also liked the fact there wasn't any astringency at all. I had originally disliked the Rishi Honyama, but it turned out it was because of my sloppy technique. Both the instructions and Chip told me that the 2nd steeping should only be 15 seconds. Thinking myself wiser, I thought a 2nd steeping could go for a bit longer, and brewed it for about 30 seconds.

WORST MISTAKE EVER!!!!*

I learned from this to always follow the directions at first, and if they're unsatisfactory, do whatever the hell you want. By oversteeping by only 15 seconds, I ended up with a very astringent brew, and it put me off from this tea for a while. I came back to it a few days later, when I had gotten over the experience. This time, I followed instructions and the brew was much more pleasant. There was still a little astringency/bitterness that came out during the 2nd steeping, but it was much more subdued. The astringency/grassiness was a nice balance to the sweetness, and there was also a mellow umami flavor in the mix. I think I prefer a fuka to an asa though, to be honest. I don't really like astringency/grassiness, but I highly recommend this tea though for those who like asa-style teas.

I also like Kabusecha, and I can't wait to get my hands on some gyokuro. Of course, I need to buy one of those gyokuro pots to really brew it right, so maybe not for a while. But wow, the umami flavor is really intense. When I was tasting this, I couldn't taste it for the first second or two, and than BAM!!! it really hit me. It tastes very "meaty" by the second brew, not like a steak but like a savory kind of mouthfeel. The umami gets a little tamer by the second steeping, and is better incorporated into the flavor profile of the tea.

I think after I finish off my current stash of tea, I'm probably going to order the Yutaka Midori and the Sae Midori from O-Cha. I've heard nothing but great things about these two, and I'm hoping they can be a benchmark I can count one.

Oh yes, since these teas are organic, they require more leaf than usual. O-Cha's instructions didn't point this out, but I use about 8 grams for my 300 ml kyusu, which seems just about right for me. I don't really think there's that much difference between the flavor profile of conventional and organic teas, but I haven't tasted enough organic teas to make a call here.

Anyway, this was a nice distriction...time to get back to those problem sets
*Overbrewing, not the tea

Matcha Matcha Man!

*Title borrowed from TeaChat thread topic*

These past few weeks have been a whirlwind of different events. Firstly, I am official employed. Even though I'm happy I'll no longer be a burden to society or to my parents, it will keep me away from my tea exploits. I'm only working part-time though, so it's not that terrible.

Even though I told myself to wait a month or so before plunging into a new world of tea, I could not resist the allure of new tea-ware; especially when you've studied Japanese art before. So I bought a Chawan off of Rikyu, and the rest of the stuff from Yuuki-Cha. My matcha of choice: The Yuuki Midori, which they promote as their "best-selling matcha." Even though I've heard good things about the Yame, I wanted to give their best-selling matcha a try (plus, the 10% off didn't hurt either).

The rest of my equipment came before my Chawan, which is somewhat ironic since my Rikyu was EMS, and Yuuki-Cha was plain old airmail. My first experience was in a rice bowl (Japanese also), which seemed fitting since the first Chawan were also rice bowls. I picked one with similar dimensions to my Chawan, and it hit me for the first time: Wow, Chawan are pretty small!

I used two scoops, and sifted through a handled-infuser basket. I poured some water in, about 160 F but I eyeballed the measurements and whisked away. I was a little too rough, and I broke the ends of about two tines. I'm glad I got the 100 tine version. By the month's end, it'll probably be a 40 tine Chasen.

It was very creamy and the flavor hit me right away. There was a little bitterness, but in a bittersweet dark chocholate kind of way. It seemed very vegetal, which I expected since I was drinking the entire leaf, not just an infusion. Since there were only two sips or so, I felt a little unsatisfied, and unsure if I was really tasting the right thing. I tried again three more times, until I was a little more satisfied. I was pretty wired by the end of the whole ordeal.

The next day, when my Chawan finally arrived.

Notice the Ensō, more on that later

The kodai, with a glaze beauty mark

I think using a proper Chawan makes a difference in the matcha preperation, but maybe it's all mental. Ensō is a Japanese word meaning "circl," and and is a symbol closely associated with Zen Buddhism. Connotations it carries include the universe and the void, which seem like c
pretty contradictory concepts. Some artists, usually Zen influenced ones, will use it as their signature. I chose this particular piece because I think it represents the philosophical qualities of the Zen, which I studied a bit of when I took a Religions of Asia course at my college.

I'm also reminded of the Japanese character mu "む" or written with kanji, "無" which means "nothingness." I love this Chawan, because it feels so rough in my hand, yet so smooth. It "glistens" when I pour hot water to pre-heat it, although this has lessened recently. I look forward to owning many more Chawan (I'm eyeing a Hagi next), but I promise myself not to purchase one for a few months, until I get a little better at preparing and tasting Matcha.

Japanese Tea Galore

I've been drinking nothing but Sencha (and one Kabusecha) for the past week and a half, ever since my order of organic tea came in from O-Cha. I remember when I first started drinking tea, I wasn't a big fan of green teas; the flavor was too subtle and grassy for me. I'm surprised how nuanced my taste preferences have changed. I think I'm really starting to enjoy Japanese tea, because of its simplicity and complexity.

???

It's simplistic, because they're all green tea. I know that there is bancha, genmaicha, some Japanese black tea, etc. but in terms of the type of tea, there aren't as many varieties as Chinese teas. However, at the same time, it's complex because there are nuanced differences between regions, processing, season, etc. I think Japanese teas have complexities in their flavor profile that I can't really find in Chinese greens.

I'm also liking the fact I have so much new information to learn, and it's really helping my brewing technique. Most of the teas I drink are Oolong, so I don't really care about temperature. But for Japanese greens though, temperature matters, and I'm beginning to be more methodical about my brewing. I'm even heating up the kyusu now, which is something I didn't do with Gaiwan or Yixing too often.

It's still frustrating though. I still haven't gotten the leaf amount right, and it's a little harder because I'm sampling organic teas. I started off with 5-6 grams for my 300 ml kyusu, but when I upped it to 10 grams, it seemed a little too bitter. I'm trying 8 grams now, and hopefully it'll turn out better. I had hoped to do a proper review of my teas by now, but it'll have to wait until I'm satisfied with my brewing technique.


Two other things I thought I'd throw out there. When I first bought my kyusu I kept on the plastic protector cover, but after reading a thread on TeaChat about it, I decided to take it off. I like the aesthetic quality of my Tokoname without. Hopefully I won't regret it. I also gave into the Matcha devil. I bought a nice Chawan off Rikyu, and all the accessories and Matcha off of Yuuki-Cha. I can't wait, and I'm praying that somehow everything gets here by Monday.

Experminting with B&W. I like how austere it looks.

Note: Ah, I forgot to mention a small "Tea Experiment" I had today. Inspired by a thread on TeaChat I decided to make Genmaicha out of the crappy Sencha I got from a local tea store (it's actually a decent everyday Sencha but it's nothing compared to what I'm drinking now). I wish I had taken pictures, but it was a spur of a moment thing...next time, next time.

I poured out some brown rice into my wok and cranked up the heat. Almost immediately, a nutty burnt smell emananted through the house. My sister, whose room is all the way in the back, even asked what the smell was. I was surprised by how fast the brown rice toasted. I think it took three to five minutes. I had thought I had too much toasted rice for my Sencha, but I realized that the dry leaf would expand, so I'll remember to toast even more brown rice. Apparantly you can pan-fry Japanese tea to make hojicha (right?) so I might try that next. Another thing I like about Japanese greens: how you can use them even if they've gone stale. I mean, what can you do about a Chinese green that's gone stale? Sure, you can re-roast your Oolong, but you can't completely change it into something else, can you?

Taiwan Oolong Madness

I love being home in southern California for two reasons: I get to use my large-sized tea tray, and I can take advantage of the sunny weather for my photos. My grandmother is staying with my family for a while, and she brought a ton of Taiwan Oolong. I've been busy with my job-search, but I finally sat her down so I can properly document what type of teas she brought. She had forgotten what the vendor told her, so we decided to have a tea tasting between myself, my mother, and my grandmother.

Taiwan Oolong "A"

This tea was harvested in Spring 2009, and it comes from the Li Mountain, which is located in central Taiwan. My mother liked this tea particularly, because of the low astringency and the better flavor. When we felt the wet tea leaves it seemed a little bit "thinner" compared to the others. This tea is about $18 for 50 grams, but since the standard of living is a little lower there, I'd say the tea is worth about $30 for 50 grams. The tea has minimal roasting, if any, and I love the soft floral flavor.

Taiwan Oolong "B"

This tea was also harvested in Spring 2009, and it also comes from the Li Mountain region; however, there are some big differences between the two teas. We noted that this tea has a very distinct floral aroma. When i smelled the wet tea leaf and the tea itself, I was reminded of TGY. The wet leaf was also thicker than the others, which I'm assuming means there's more concentrated flavor in the leaves, and that the leaves are probably older. This was slightly more astringency, which was a hui gan, so we enjoyed it quite much. The flavor itself was so-so, I think Oolong "A" had better flavor, but Oolong "B" had better aroma. This tea was slightly cheaper, about $14 for 50 grams.

Taiwan Oolong "C"

It was much easier to tell this tea apart from the others, because there is some light roasting. My grandmother forgot where exactly this tea came from, but she distinctly remembered being told it was of lower quality. From what I've learned from different tea vendors in Taiwan, light green Oolong are preferred to roasted Oolong.Even there isn't too much color variation, I could smell the roasted aroma was the dry tea leaf. The tea had a nice roasted aroma that contrasted nicely with the other teas. Wasn't too much to write home about though. Not suprisingly, the price reflects the tea's quality: $7.00 for 50 grams.

So I have a lot of Taiwanese oolong, so if anyone is interested in trading samples, please let me know. I'm looking for some Shincha/Sencha, Gyokuro, Dancong, and Wuyi.

Back from Hiatus, and with a New Tokoname

Hopefully there are some people who are keeping up with this blog, and if not ... well, there isn't much I can do, is there? I've been away from from my blog because of my last semester at college kept me plenty busy, and I've been desperately looking for a job that I've neglected this blog until yesterday. Even though I've been on hiatus, I've still been drinking tea, mostly some Oolong my grandmother brought for me from Taiwan (if anybody wants to trade samples please let me know!), but I've been dabbling in some Indian and Japanese tea.

I've found a small teashop in my town, and although the selection is kind of small, I'm glad there's a brick-and-mortar tea store I can rely on now. Even though I love buying tea online, because of the variety, I love buying the tea in person, because you get to smell and actually see the tea leaves in person. I'll post some photos and write a short review the next time I visit.

So back to my introduction to Indian and Japanese tea. I've been trying the usual suspects of India: Darjeeling, Assam, and Nilgiri. There isn't much variety at the tea store so I decided on some on the more inexpensive ones.

I visited yesterday to pick up a sample of Darjeeling when a small Tokoname caught my eye. It wasn't too expensive either, and the quality seems decent. Even though I could've bought a tokoname with more pedigree online, I really wanted to be a patron of the store. Besides, I figure I can buy the authentic stuff when I'm more knowledgeable.


And here's a shot of what the inside looks like. I'm hoping that the mesh filter won't affect my tea brewing too much. I think it holds around 300 ml, and I love the creamy whiteness along with the rustic brown ring around the lid.



I bought some Shizuouka Sencha, and from what I've researched on Teachat, it's a pretty commercialized region for Japanese tea. I was considering buying the Gyokuro, but being afraid of brewing it improperly I'll try that next time. I use about 5 grams of tea leaf, and brewed for about a minute and a half, adding 30 seconds for each additional infusion. I really enjoy the flavor, and I'm reminded of Huangshan Mao Feng for some reason. I'm trying to learn more about Japanese teas, because I enjoy them more than Chinese green teas. I'm really excited about it, because it's like I'm learning about tea for the first time, and there's so many new things.

PS:
I'm still looking for employment, so there will probably be fewer tea reviews, but hopefully I'll still have alot to write about. Also, if anyone knows of teashops in Los Angeles that's hiring ...
once again, comments are welcomed

TeaCuppa Ming Cong

The new semester, although having just started this week, has been really tough. Not in terms of my class load, but rather in terms of the things I have to do: classes, my thesis, taking the GREs, and finding a job ... all while enjoying my last semester of college. I probably won't be updating as often, but I will try my best.

This time I decided to sample some Ming Cong from TeaCuppa. I was intrigued because it's not one of the Si Da Ming Cha, or the four "best-known" varieties of Wuyi (Da Hong Pao, Tie Luo Han, Shui Jin Gui, and Bai Ji Guan). According to the description it's not seen as often on the tea market, so I'm a bit interested in seeing why that is.
The dry leaves has a slight aroma of dark chocolate, punctuated by spiciness. In the liquor, the fruitiness lingers in this tea, and it's not upfront about it like other Wuyi I've sampled, like Shui Xian. Because the fruitiness lingers, the tea has a very smooth finish to it. An interesting fact, after drining some tea and than some water the water tastes sweet. I wonder why that is (suggestions, people?). There are a lot of complex tones in the tea's flavor, and there is a subtle tartness that follows along with the fruitiness. By the third steeping, however, the fruitiness mellows out almost completely. Overall, I find this tea to a bit tamer or milder when compared to Shui Xian.

Concluding Thoughts
As I review more teas, I'm beginning to notice a trend here. I never really disparge any one tea here, and I seem to like all the teas I taste. To me, I feel that this is a both a good thing and a bad thing. It's bad because I'm too forgiving to certain aspects of a tea that might take away from its merit. But I also think it's a good thing because I certainly do not want to be a super critic, where no tea is good enough for me. I think that tea is a personal experience, and it's up to the individual taster to decide which tea is better. For instance, the list of the top 10 Chinese teas is completely absurd. Trying to compare TGY to DHP is like comparing apples to oranges. Okay, sure, TGY might win in terms of better aroma, or DHP can beat TGY in terms of fruitiness, but you can't really quantitatively compare the two. It just doesn't work. Thoughts, readers?