Wholemeal Crank

I keep multiples of selected items to make better use of limited kitchen prep time to do several things at once, rather than changing the things that I choose to make. I don't usually make such complex meals that I literally must have these three things similarly prepared but coming together at precisely the same moment (thus requiring three similar pots/whisks/scoops/whatevers) to give the proper finished dish at the table.

Today, more sencha, but the Okuyutaka from Yuuki-cha. A little more umami than the Sayamakaori or the Honyama (not honoyama, however much it looks like there should be an extra o in there......), but still delicious. And yesterday was maddenly impossible on timing, so again I resorted to some of Den's houjicha tossed into the thermos, with hottish water from the water cooler, and had a soothing afternoon of tea that helped make missing lunch bearable. In the evening yesterday, a short gongfu session with some Rou Gui from HouDe. It's a lovely spicy tea at first, but the 'cinnamon' quickly vanishes and the tea doesn't have enough depth to go for as many infusions as a nice Da Hong Pao or Ti Guan Yin. I think it may also be suffering from aging since I opened the sealed inner container.

I rarely cook one thing at a time, so need duplicates of several things to avoid having to stop & wash between prep for breads, soups, cookies, beans.... spatulas (for stirring, scraping, mixing, lifting) baking sheets and silpats measuring cups including large measuring pitchers measuring spoons gaiwans (for brewing/comparing several teas at once) pressure cookers (have often had 2 on the stove at once, occasionally 3, and all 4 at least once!) oven mitts/potholders cutting boards And the tupperware cupboard is filled with many duplicates of not too many things.

Yesterday started with white tea, moved on to Tie Guan Yin, and ended with a nice Phoenix oolong. And today is again a sencha start, with the Yuuki-cha Honoyama. Mmmm. Sencha just fits the start of the day so well.

Several days, no tea updates....sometimes egullet is unavailable when I have the cup at hand. Monday I drank a new Sheng puerh from Norbu, the 2006 Yong De Wild Arbor tea, which is twisted into a pattern that is as cool in the sample as it looks in the photos on his site. It was another fill-the-thermos-fast kind of brewing, not so carefully done or timed or measured, but the tea came through it beautifully, sweet, just a little smoky, gently woody. So yesterday, interrupted by an interlude for some Hankook Hwang Cha or yellow tea, I brewed up more of the Yong De gongfu cha, with a small gaiwan, and it was very nice, particularly the very looooongggg sweet finish. Have to do this one up nicely, with proper photos, because it's so pretty as well as delicious. And today I started with a white tea, a silver needle Yunnan tea again from Norbu, which was quite nice, but I suspect needs some work to get the best of it.

It's been harder and harder to find them for quite a few years now. 12 years ago, when I lived in San Francisco, I had lots of options--great ones at the farmer's market but they were easy to find in lots of grocery stores and the corner produce markets. But when I moved to St Louis, it became a bit of a chore. I think the vile flavored cranberries and the mainstreaming of dried tropical fruits pushed them out of the mainstream. Still, it wasn't until the last year, living in Los Angeles, that I finally had to resort to mail order when scouring the farmer's markets, ethnic groceries, and produce shops failed to turn them up. It's very frustrating to see them disappear, because they're unique in the mild but distinct flavor they bring together with that nice chewy texture, their affinity for walnuts and chocolate and ginger, and outside of baking, everyone I've shared them with plain has always liked them. I did resort to dried apricots one time for pfefferneuse but there was definitely something missing....

I found it bringing out the fruity notes of the chocolate, but that was with very tiny bits of chocolate per sip of tea. I routinely break up the big SB baking bars and this was some of the fines at the end of the batch.

2005 Ye Sheng Wild Tea Log aged, compressed, dried wild tea from norbutea.com, July 2010 Apparently made from the same wild varietal as the Ya Bao tea buds that I've enjoyed so much, but compressed and aged. Greg describes a 'lemony' flavor and there certainly is a lemony aroma to the dried compressed leaf material, which looks rather coarse and quite clearly includes the fuzzy pale buds along with darker leaves. Used 3.6 grams of tea in a 2.5 oz/75mL gaiwan (the proportions Greg recommends on the Norbu site) with water just off the boil. Flash rinsed, waited 2 minutes, another flash rinse (wanted to see the leaves open up for the rinsing, but it is still quite compressed, so I'm giving up), and then short steeps--first 15 seconds, up to a minute by the 4th or 5th. It's mellow, sweet, floral, and yes, lemony. Quite interesting. It reminds me a lot of the silver needle tea I was drinking earlier today, and like the silver needle, it is delicious with chocolate. It really does not in any way resemble puerh, despite being aged and compressed, except that it does shine here in these short steeps. The liquor is a rich amber, and the leaves at the end vary from green to tan. All in all quite interesting and tasty.

Yin Zhen from the tasting, and then some Ye Sheng Wild Tea from Norbu. More on that one in the white tea topic, because that's where it seems to belong.

Just wish to confirm that the Yin Zhen is very very very fine when sips are alternated with small bits of fine dark chocolate (Scharffenberger 70%). Highly recommended.

And finishing a fulfilling, but very 'green' day of tea: Diamond Tie Guan Yin, and Meng Ding Huang Ya Sichuan Yellow TEa from Norbu. This yellow tea has some potential for bitterness in the early infusions, but those fade and leave only sweetness. Nice to close out the day, as I am back in the office trying to catch up on a foot or so of accumulated paperwork. Blech to paperwork, yay to tea!

Honoyama Shincha this morning. Such a nice start to the day, and nice to be back home after back to back trips away from tea central. Ahhhh.

Still working with a travel-reduced set of tea options, and started the day again with Sayamakaori shincha and now am finishing off a thermos of the 2007 white bud sheng puerh from norbu. It's only lukewarm, but this tea does pretty well even so. Might even be good iced....should try that when I get back home. Boiling water brew a concentrated stock and dilute with iced water, maybe....

They were definitely nice teas, just rather pricey for the quality. Today I'm again enjoying some cold-brewed Alishan Oolong after Sayamakaori Shincha. Mmm.

Much joy: I just discovered that I can enjoy cold tea. Not quite iced, in this trial, but cold. It was 100 degrees today and I was not enjoying my hot tea as much.... I started with some nice Alishan Oolong. I put the dry leaf in my cup, added cold water from the tap, and put it in the fridge for about 6 hours. Then I drank it, and it was good! I think the key was the quantity: instead of using more tea per volume of water than I would normally for hot tea, as I've often seen suggested, I actually used the same, but it seemed like less. For a 16 oz cup, I used the amount of tea I would normally use for my 2 oz gaiwan, about 1 gram, keeping in mind that this particularly lovely tea will easily yield 8-10 infusions from that quantity in the gaiwan (making a total of 16-20 oz of hot tea). So I used the same amount of tea that I would use to make that volume of hot tea, but since it was not done gongfu style and was brewed in the cup, it looked like a lot less. Happy camper, me!

I would have to try the tea with chocolate again. Unfortunately I am again away from my kitchen so can't make the attempt just now.

Ended up feeling a little off after my flight home, so no puerh yesterday--just straight to bed. Today has started off more promisingly, with shincha (the last of the Tenryu Misakubo from Yuuki-cha), and an experiment brewing a new Phoenix oolong (not a Dan Cong) for the thermos for the afternoon today. Not sure yet whether this one is going to work for that or not: I bought a less fancy one specifically hoping to use it for this.

The peachy/floral is very nice with a little strong dark chocolate, a good contrast.

Today got off to a good shincha start with the sayamakaori from yuuki-cha, then I tried a sample of what turned out to be a quite nice taiwanese oolong from zen Tara, then got nicer with a dan cong from tea habitat--stone wall edge or something like that. It actually came out very nicely in the kamjove and thermos--I decided not to wait until I could do a formal gongfu session with it. A little green, greener oolong, then darker oolong. All I need now is a puerh to finish the progression through the day.

I have enjoyed them with light dessert plates: fruit & nuts, walnut cookies, or honey on toast, even a bit of chocolate. I think their delicate flavor is best appreciated with foods gentle on the palate.

I have just finished off my second thermos full of the 2007 White Bud Sheng Puerh from Norbu (a private production cake which is now sold out). This was a typical thermos brewing--working with the kamjove 'gongfu art' brewing thingie, flash rinse, starting brewing with water even before it quite hit boiling, having to stop and start several times over an hour and half as other work kept pulling me out of the office, and finally ending up with a brilliant thermos of tea, subtly smoky, sweet, with a warm background of caramel. Just soothing and calming and oh so good. And as is usual for this tea, a little went a long way--maybe 5 grams-8 grams for a 1 quart thermos full, then resteeped for a second full batch. Fortunately, I have several more beengs of this in reserve. Heh.

Starting the day with Shincha (the Sayamakaori from Yuuki-Cha) after a very pleasant session last evening with some Yunnan Mao Feng from Norbu. The horror of the tealess Tuesday is fading now, chased by abundant good tea.

Just became aware of this topic as Richard woke it up today, and while I have no answer for his question, I do have a suggestion for the original question about Japanese teaware in general: The Tokoname teaware catalog is where I got my kyusus and there are some other types of pots as well, with a wide range of prices. I ordered according to the directions on this page (follow the order link). It was quick and easy. The gallery link also shows extra nice (but more expensive) pots.

So far, a thermos full of Yunnan Sourcing's Oriental Beauty, so so nice. Yay for back to tea!

Don't think so.