Taiwan Wuyi

A wuyi oolong varietal from Taiwan. It came from Floating Leaves Tea and was a sample given to me by a kind person who continues to expand my oolong horizons.

The leaves are a dark, rich green with the occasional stem. It smells like berries. I stuffed my little pot and used short infusions.

It tastes like peaches and apricots with a friendly astringency, sweet after taste, and medium mouthfeel. Similar to this dan cong from Tea Spring.

White Tip Oolong

This tea from New Mexico Tea Co. was a gift. I am unfamiliar with the company, but this tea was good, and I totally want these cups.

It's a Formosan oolong from the Tung Ting province. The rinsed leaves smell like baked fruit, cherries or something.

The brew is malty, reminiscent of a dian hong, similar mouth feel as well. When gong fu-ed, there are sweeter notes of molasses. Delightfully smooth and moderately complex. Yields about five to six, maybe seven, infusions depending on taste. Well worth the price.

On a personal note...

Regular readers may have noticed that the blog is limping along. June is almost over and this only the third post this month, by far the slowest since the beginning. I assure you that the blog is not dying, or in (much) danger of an extended hiatus. We are merely experiencing a period of decreased activity.

The biggest reason for this is that I am getting divorced. And while I will say that it has been a remarkably amicable affair, it has left me often feeling distracted and unfocused. My tea consumption in general had decreased dramatically, probably only a cup or two every three days or so. In short, tea just hasn't been on my mind, so there hasn't been much to write about.

However, through this I have learned two things, that I will now share with you.

Tip #1 DO NOT leave spent sencha in a pot for more than a week. That is not an aroma you want lingering.

Tip #2 When rigorously cleaning said pot with boiling water that you then spill on you hand, gently set down the pot first, then feel pain.

Lastly, to my regular readers, thank you. If not for your continuous support and interest in this blog, I'd have given up a while ago.

Teance Roasted Twig Oolong

So far I have been unimpressed with the teas coming in from Teance; they have been average at best, though to be fair, my idea of "average" sets the bar kind of high. Nonetheless I found myself more than a little excited to try their Roasted Twig Oolong.

I love twig tea, karigane or kukicha, roasted or green, this kind of tea is a staple, always gotta have it in stock. Unfortunately this Taiwanese tea lacks the unique magic of its more prolific, Japanese counterparts. What kukicha brings to sencha, this tea fails to deliver.

The leaves/twigs smell wonderful, like warm, toasted honey, only it doesn't taste as good as it smells. It has the same problem I often find in lighter oolong. Like push up bras, enticing yes, but they only build you up for a let down.

Still...its not all bad, pleasant, light with bits of fruit, with honey in the finish, no astringency. I find its good for 2-3 infusions.

Rishi Tai Guan Yin, Medium Roasted

This is a TGY from Nantou, Taiwan.

Tossing the leaves into a heated pot smells fuckin' great. Thick, toasted honey. The liquor is a crystal clear green.

I've grown tired of brewing oolong gong fu style, hence the purchase of the Fujigata. I think in the end it is important to brew tea the way you like it, whatever feels comfortable and fits your needs, and not to simply mimic another culture's particular style.

I used 4 grams per 8 oz for 4 minutes.

This is really decent, pleasant. The toasted honey I got in the aroma tastes like amber honeysuckle. Bit of a dry mouth feel, but no noticeable astringency. There's an after taste of white grape.

If you brew it like I did, for multiple infusions I recommend increasing you steep time by a minute and a half, one minute if you prefer your tea lighter.

Spring 2007 Heirloom Li Shan

Tea: Heirloom Li Shan Oolong
Origin: Li Shan Taiwan
Year: Spring 2007
Vendor: Red Blossom Tea Co.
Price: $230/lb. (Spring 2006)

This is the other oolong that I received from Red Blossom to replace the tung ting. Which was nice, because only the 2006 harvest is available on their website. First let me say that this tea more than any other has taught me why gongfu means skill and practice, emphasis on practice. I used all the leaf I had practicing today, and in the end I only caught a whiff of the tea's true potential.

(Recently I have lamented the lack of educational opportunities for newcomers to tea, and I remember my confusion just six months ago reading other blogs, tung ting, dong ding, ali shan, li shan, wuyi, yiwu, dhp, wtf? So from here on out I will try to provide more information about the tea, tea ware, and customs that I discuss).

Li Shan (Pear Mountain), not to be confused, as I did, with Ali Shan, is part of the Yu Shan (Jade Mountain) range in Taiwan. Li Shan itself is located in Taichung County, and is the highest tea-growing region in Taiwan, between 1800 and 2650 meters. At the highest altitudes. there are only two harvests a year, spring and winter.

This particular tea is crafted by an octogenarian tea master using heirloom techniques. Which I presume is where it gets the name from, and does not necessarily refer to the same thing as heirloom plants. It is oxidized longer but roasted at a lower temperature to give the tea a stronger flavor but still maintain the floral notes.

First round: 5 g/150 ml/200 F/ 5 s rinse, 30 s, 30 s, 60 s.

The aroma is excellent, buttery with warm honey, it yielded a bright golden liquor, and the wet leaves are excellent, huge really. The first infusion was pleasant, floral, a mildly astringent finish, but the second and third the tea just sort of fell flat. Discouraged, I double checked my brewing method, and it was correct; I was using the recommended temperature and time. I decided to use more leaf, instead of measuring out in grams, just eyeball it.

Second round: 1/3 gaiwan of leaves/200 F/ 5 s rinse, 45 s, 25 s, 10 s, 20 s, 30 s.

WOW. It was quite clear that I had messed up and gone too far. I used too much tea, which I could have gotten away with if I started with a much short steeping time. like 5 s. The first two infusions were undrinkable. The third, fourth and fifth were much better, the shorter time being the key. I could taste the finer notes of the tea, but it still suffered from my previous mistakes.

This was a definitely a learning experience. I wish I had more of the li shan so I could try again, but I will apply what I just learned on some ali shan gao shan I have. We'll see how I do in a day or two.

Sources: Tea From Taiwan; Wikipedia

Tung Ting (Red Blossom) Update

I removed my original review of the Tung Ting from Red Blossom. They have been very helpful and have had a chance to examine the leaves that I sent back, and there is nothing wrong them. It seems that the problem was me. I don't know how many readers I have, and I definitely do not consider anything I write here particularly influential, but I don't want to give a good company a bad review if all evidence suggests that I was doing something wrong.

Update: Tung Ting (Red Blossom Tea Co.)

So I emailed the company about the problems I had with the Tung Ting, and I can not say enough about their customer service. It took about a day, but they emailed me back, offering to send me a replacement. I decided I'd rather have a refund, so I called them. As soon as I gave them my name, the gentleman knew who I was and what I was calling about. He was more than happy to refund my money and asked only that I send what I have back, so that they could take a look at it and identify the problem. With that kind of consideration and resolution, I am happy to continue shopping from them.