Wholemeal Crank

I have little trouble with any of my beengs--the layering there seems to break up more naturally with something slipping between the layers. But the bricks and one small tuo are super dense and very difficult. Coarser tools won't penetrate and fine tools are too delicate. Since I like to drink a little of this one and a little of that one, breaking up the whole thing at once doesn't appeal. But I may have to make an exception for these few--break up a large portion of them at home to bring to work, so I don't end up with tea scattered all over the keyboard and carpet again. The Lao Cha Tou from norbu is equally dense, but there the preformed nuggets break up quite easily and neatly. And after a pleasant sencha start (almost done with the Sayamakaori), and some chilled Yunnan Mao Feng, puerh sounds very fine. It's even cooling off enough to make the very hot-brewed tea sound appealing. But I'll be working on some loose tea or samples of beengs, no pick or hammer required!

A letter opener--thin, sharp but not too sharp, and really a lot like the tea knives I've seen online. Also have worked on this particular pu with a knife, screwdriver, but haven't yet broken out the vise grips.

More puerh yesterday, some Menghai 2007 Golden needles white lotus, and if there is a next time, I will get the beeng and not the brick. I got so frustrated trying to chip enough off of the brick, and in the end I had too much tea for the brewed volume--lost track of how much all those fines really added up to, because most of it was fines. Fortunately, it's a forgiving tea!

Last night drank a cup of the Mao Feng that I'd prepped several days ago, and not had the right moment to drink yet. It just steeped three days in the fridge. It was still quite nice. Not as fabulous as the same tea hot in my thermos a few days ago, when I made a particularly perfect batch, but still, delicious. Amazing.

Today is puerh day: just two puerhs, but a long time enjoying each. First, some of the Norbu Lao Mansa 2009 sheng, bulk brewed in the thermos, and now some 2007 Rui Cao Xiang wild arbor Wu Liang sheng from yunnan sourcing, a long gongfu session as I mostly fail to concentrate on paperwork.

No tea ice-pops, but several cups of cold-brewed green teas, last few days--even took the leftover leaves from brewing a thermos of oolong (to be enjoyed hot) and left them with cold water to sit in the fridge all day, and drank the result in the evening--not great, but cool, and gently tea-like. At work, in the A/C office, plenty of hot tea--Huang Jin Gui yesterday, and a positively brilliant brewing of Yunnan Mao Feng this afternoon that really stood out from the many good prior brewings of this tea. Wow. And some Tai Ping Hou Kui to end the evening.

Another successful cold brew experiment: Silver Dragon white tea (from Wing Hop Fung) and Yunnan Mao Feng green tea (from Norbu) brewed up cold overnight. Put a relatively small amount in a teacup-with-infuser, and left in the refrigerator overnight. This morning, cold and tasty tea. I think the Mao Feng works better this way. Based on prior sad experience, the keys for me are •going light on the leaf •cold brewing the whole way •selection of the right tea And if the hot weather stays around, I'll be trying some more. Fortunately, I've got a lot of the Mao Feng.

Sayamakaori sencha from Yuuki-cha this morning, extra nice (more about that in the japanese green tea topic). Will be trying something puerh a little later, not sure if it will be a young loose sheng or one of the aged samples I got from Essence of Tea. Yesterday I started with the sencha, and moved on to some Lemon Myrtle Rooibos from the Cultured Cup (brewed hot but chilled a bit with ice, we're finally into some scorching fall heat here), and then some Dragon Well. Also yesterday set up a couple of cold brewed tea experiments with more of the Dragon Well and some Silver Dragon white tea steeping overnight in the fridge, because the heat made me do it. Will report elsewhere if the experiments are successful!

Enjoying a most lovely long sweet aftertaste from this morning's Sayamakaori sencha from Yuuki-cha, so nice that even though I'm still a bit thirsty and want to drink that next cup, I am waiting a bit. I used a bit more leaf that usual (5.7g in my 5 oz kyusu) because I was too lazy to scoop just the extra gram back into the bag. The downside was that the second infusion was not quite as wonderful as usual--a bit overly strong--but the others have all been very nice.

Just one tea today: 2010 Shi Tou Xin Zhai Mao Cha, Nan Nuo Shan, loose sheng puerh from Norbu. So nice, sweet, deeply satisfying.

A mostly oolong day--Huang Jin Gui from norbu, Rou Gui from houde, and Dragon Well from Wing Hop Fung.

Just now sipping the rich Shui Jin Gui 2009 Wu Yi Oolong from Norbu Tea. Brewed 2 g/ounce of water in a small (90 ml) Yixing.

I have not opened my winter 2009 Jin Xuan yet, but I enjoyed my spring 2010 Jin Xuan green tea from Norbu so much that I immediately wanted to stock up, and got some of the winter 2009 because the spring 2010 was already sold out. I am looking forward to sharing this TT&D with the tea I already have, and can highly recommend this tea to pretty much anyone who has ever liked a green tea, or who likes oolongs but has perhaps hesitated a bit at trying green teas (i.e., myself a year and a half ago), because it's quite special. I can't speak specifically to the Jade Dragon, because I didn't have the foresight to put that one in my last order, but have been quite delighted in a variety of Yunnan green teas I've tried over the past year from several sources.

It's been a while and a few new orders since this topic was active. But as another topic reminded me of it, here's an update. I've gotten more adventurous with my purchases from my local chinatown shop, Wing Hop Fung, but still am wary of some classes of offerings there--expensive puerhs without much description in English, Japanese green teas and some of the fancier green oolongs teas, sold from those large jars where they can hardly be as fresh as those vacuum packed at the source, and despite all of those jars, they don't actually carry every tea I want to try, so..... I decided I wanted to try Rou Gui oolong tea after reading about it in several places, and the online shops I'd previously dealt with and my local B&M stores didn't have any--several were sold out. I found HouDe seemed to have a good reputation in several different forums and I ordered some of their Rou Gui, and a couple of other teas while I was at it, and all were very nice, well packaged, easy ordering and quick shipping. I like their detailed descriptions as well. I've also ordered a couple of times from The Cultured Cup, teas that I discovered through tastings here, and while the online store is disappointingly low in variety of offerings, the teas all seem to be excellent examples of whichever type of tea they are. I bet the full retail experience is much better, because they seem to carry a huge number of teas that are not routinely listed online, and though they do offer pretty much everything if you call them and ask for a specific tea by name, it's not as accessible for late night internet browsing that way (and I make most of my online tea purchases at night!). Dens Tea happens to be very close to me, and I've had good experiences ordering from them--quick shipping, good prices, and as I'm figuring out better what I prefer in Japanese teas (lightly steamed senchas), my satisfaction with my purchases has improved. I made one order from Yunnan Sourcing, and while it did take a while for the surface-shipped tea to get to me, it did make its way eventually, and the tea was worth the wait. I now have a quite good stock of puerh, enough to last several years, and if I do not order from them very frequently, that will probably be why. I did get some other very interesting and inexpensive teas, yunnan versions of some otherwise very expensive teas like Oriental Beauty oolong and a couple of very nice green teas, including one (Bao Hong) that has a bit more camphor but otherwise quite satisfies that itch for Dragon Well. My most recent new source was Yuuki-cha, another I discovered through tea tastings here. The online store didn't provice the level of description I was looking for, to help me identify which teas might best fit the sweeter, lighter flavor profile I prefer, but direct e-mail to the shop at the "contact us" link led to a very helpful dialog with Dan at the shop and the confidence to proceed with several delicious orders since. Now must go get my morning Sayamakaori sencha ready!

Not sure if you're looking for brick and mortar sources only, or online/mail order as well? You might also be interested in this thread about online tea purchase experiences....

Today, started with Sayamakaori sencha, but somehow missed the magic window--not as sweetly perfect as it can be. Hope I haven't let this one be open too long. Then on a nice thermos of Haiwan purple bud Sheng puerh, but tonight will be heading to bed early, so no end of day cuppa. Sigh. The green tea tasting post has me craving some nice green tea to end the day, and since my Jin Xuan is at work, the Dragon Well is calling. Must resist!

I occasionally toast spices with a series of careful short zaps in the microwave, or in a small dry skillet, depending on the what is handiest at the time.

Today, while we were settling in for a nap, there was a knock at the door, and a postman delivered my express package....tried to get back to the nap, intending to open it later, but couldn't wait. Miss Emily supervised at every step as we unwrapped the two yunomi: The box passes muster, ok for the next step You may proceed to the next step pat, pat, pat.....feels ok, smells ok.... I approve this one too! More and better pics later. They're gorgeous, but a little larger than I'd hoped--too large for a gaiwan's worth of tea (it appears they can hold four or more of my little ones' worth), but very nice for one of the larger teapots, and for sharing tea when I have visitors. Now I don't have to feel like I'm stinting on them by offering a very generic mug or worse, styrofoam cup!

Having a nice set of teas today: started with Sayamakaori sencha from Yuuki-cha; then on to 'Oriental Beauty' from Yunnan sourcing; the white bud sheng puerh from Norbu; and now some Jing Tea Shop Tie Guan Yin. All the way from sencha to puerh, and 4 different tea tea shops.

Lots of disruption in my tea lately with work and travel etc. But today managed three teas, some nice puerh from Chado (intriguingly labelled 1992, but not enough info is given in the description to be sure that means it is actually an aged loose tea from 1992; the fine-pieced leaves are more consistent with a keemun than a typical puerh. Regardless, it's a nice tea. Then some Yin Zhen from the Cultured Cup, found a tiny bit left from the recent tasting, so nice; and Tie Guan Yin from Jing Tea Shop, a splendid tea that needs to be finished off before it goes off.

I bought a little of that and their oolong too, with my last order. My insatiable curiosity about tea is starting to settle down a little now, but only a little, and i was just so very curious.... Today I discovered that aged long jing is not necessarily a treat. That sadness was quickly relieved with a cup of fresh Dragon Well that was very nice. Now onto some diamond tie guan yin, and I just discovered that I have access to one remaining unopened packet of the 2009 so can compare the 2009 and 2010 spring and the fall 2009. I'd intended to do this previously but thought I'd miscalculated and used up all the 2009 instead of saving one for the comparison. [Moderator note: This topic continues here, What Tea Are You Drinking Today (Part 3)]

Today was a bunch of teas: shincha start (Kabusecha from the tasting), then on to Sea Dyke Ti Kuan Yin, Dragon Well, yellow Sichuan, and now two Da Wu Ye, one of them a Dan Cong. Lots of tea, not so much work as should have been energetically done with all that tea on board!

Back to the kyusu, so much nicer to use the right tool for the job. Started with 4 grams of kabusecha, in the 5oz kyusu, and water 140 degrees for 30 second first infusion, flash rinse 2nd infusion, then 155 for third infusion, 170 for fourth, and 190 for the fifth. Overall my impression is of a smooth progression of very similar-tasting infusions: the aftertaste of the 3rd infusion managed a hint of bitterness; a bit more sweetness was brought out by the heat at the 4th; the fifth showed the leaves were done, nothing left to give.

They also have some pretty nice teas.

Is that what you're looking for? You might also browse through the japanese green tea topic.