Wholemeal Crank

Another oolong afternoon--Summer High Mountain Beauty Ali Shan from norbu--and Dragon Well evening with the Imperial Long Jing from jingtea. Tonight's brewing is particularly good, and I begin to see how it justifies the startling price.

Started with the Fukamushi Sencha from Dens today, and after several brewings, I think there is more umami in it than in the Sencha Select from the Cultured Cup. I think I prefer the less steamed version with the sweeter lighter flavor, but it will take more brewings of both to really be sure, especially when I'm not really comparing them head to head.

Fukamushi sencha from Dens to start the day.

Started with sencha select, then on to yunnan gold with osmanthus. Finishing with a hibiscus-chamomile herbal blend.

After another brewing of an oolong from the Wuyi tasting (actually, a bit of a sample of the same tea from a sample swap with LuckyGirl), I am finishing the day with some of the 2009 Lao Mansa sheng puerh from norbu. Used a boiling water steep, then cooler water for short infusions to fill up my thermos. A nice evening tea.

After this discussion of the winey character of the SJG, I am doing a comparison of the SJG with the 90s aged Lao Tie Guan Yin (also from norbu). The aged TGY is one that I also thought of as winey. Interestingly, this pairing brings out all the toastiness of the SJG that is a bit drowned out when comparing the SJG to the other two Wuyi Rock teas. Fascinating.

Started with sencha select from cultured cup, then on to norbu's spring diamond tie guan yin. Need something roasty next....

finishing the day with the Ginger flower fragrance dan cong from tea habitat, after the Da Hong Pao from the current Wuyi tasting in the midafternoon. There's nothing better than a toasty oolong on a drizzly day. Now that the rain has stopped, the more floral Dan Cong feels just right.

Today brewed the Da Hong Pao same as the other two, in the small gaiwan. I think I like this one best of the three, less fruity, not at all winey, but spicy, toasty, sweet, gorgeous.

Starting again with sencha, today the Fukamushi Sencha from Dens. Followed their time/temp recommendations, 160°/45",then 180°/15". Now enjoying the jade-green cup.

After the sencha start, an afternoon of Big Red Robe Wuyi from WHF, then a finish with Ban Tian Yao from the Wuyi Rock tasting now.

Drinking the Shan Jui Gui now, brewed 2g in the 60mL oolong yixing. THis one starts brassier, tarter, more like wine, then mellows on later infusions, but still isn't as earthy and toasty as the Ban Tian Yao. It reminds me of the one aged oolong--IIRC a Tie Guan Yin--that I've tried--in the fruity/winey character.

That beautiful cup must enhance your tea pleasure quite a bit.

Starting with Sencha Select today. Last morning batch a few days ago was disapointing--I did something wrong and ended up with more bitterness than sweet and vegetable. I think I started with water that was a bit too hot. This batch was back to mellow and lovely.

While waiting to hear more about the Ceylon, I've been enjoying a brewing from a freshly opened package of the spring Diamond Tie Guan Yin from Norbu, a radiantly gorgeous tea as always.

This afternoon, Spring Ali Shan Oolong from norbu; this evening, Imperial Long Jing from Jing Tea.

A thought on the Imperial Shi Feng Long Jing, which is a very high grade Dragon Well type of tea (about $20/oz), and the two Dragons Well teas I got from Wing Hop Fung (one about $15/oz and another $10/oz): I think I liked the 'Royal' Dragon Well better than either of the two higher grade teas, because I was getting a sweeter and less astringent brew from it. When just considering the two from WHF I was unsure whether the difference was increasing skill in the brewing, but I've been working with the Imperial Long Jing as closely as possible to the same conditions I used with the Royal DW, and still see less sweetness and more astringency in the Imperial than I recall finding in the Royal. Tonight's insight: perhaps the stronger astringent vegetal flavors of the other two are the prized 'nuttiness', precisely what makes them worth more to the traditional drinker of chinese green teas.

Green, and greener, today: Yunnan Mao Feng for the long afternoon meeting, and now, a gaiwan of Imperial Shi Feng Long Jing.

I saw a pointer to this topic in the 'what tea are you drinking today?' topic. I have been posting here pretty much exclusively about tea from camellia sinensis, but sometimes I want something without caffeine, or crave the a different flavor profile, and make some herb teas. I used to drink a lot of celestial seasonings chamomile and various zingers, but then read the back of a couple of packages one day, visited the local co-op bulk herb section, and started to collect things to make my own mixes. Lately I have most often made a mix of chamomile (the base flavor), hibiscus (for tartness), a touch of dried orange peel (citrus flavor) and licorice root (a little adds a lot of sweetness). Sometimes I just want peppermint and chamomile. My most recent discovery is tulsi--Holy Basil. I was given a set of tulsi tea bags last year as a gift from a friend who went to India, and find it adds a nice spicy touch to whichever mix I put it in. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find more of it in the nearest Indian groceries, so I'll be running out soon. I've never tried saffron in the mix--that sounds interesting.

The yixing may have contributed; I was thinking the leaf to water ratio was higher, but actually it was about the same; and probably tasting it on its own, not comparing it to the other teas, allowed the flavors stand out more than when I was trying to find differences between them.

Today, drinking the Ban Tian Yao again, this time with 2 grams of leaf to the 60mL yixing teapot I'm using for oolongs. The first infusion was fruity, sweet, earthy and toasty all at once; the fruitiness increased nicely in the 2nd & 3rd infusions; but now, as I'm getting to the 9th or 10th (have lost count), the toasted/earthy flavors are more dominant.

Starting with Sencha select again today, and a few extra infusions of the Honey Orchid oolong leaves from last night.

After the Wuyis today, went for the Phoenix Honey Orchid Oolong from Tea Habitat. More spicy and floral than the Wuyis. All in all a nice varied tea day, from a perfect sencha to the toasty wuyis to the spicy phoenix oolong.

This is a very difficult assignment. Using the matched gaiwans described above, I worked with these three teas and, for comparison, a Taiwanese oolong from TenRen. Why difficult? They're all lovely teas, and quite similar in their flavor profiles--toasty, spicy, a little fruity, a little sweet. Little separates them. I think I did the first infusions a little too dilute--1 gram apiece in 75 mL gaiwans but using only 30mL water just off the boil. I will try again with fewer at a time and a more concentrated brew to try to distinguish them better. But I think I did find a little more depth to the Wuyi's that might represent the 'rock' taste. Here are the teas before brewing Infusion parameters: 10" rinse; 30", 30", 30", 60", 90", 150" infusions 1--Da Hong Pao Wuyi Spring Harvest 2009 from Norbu Leaf aroma after rinse--spicy, tart, strong 1st--spicy, toasty 2nd--warm, spicy, want more 3rd--a little more fruity and toasty 4th--toasty, with a depth not quite there in the Ting Tung 5th--smoother than 2 and 3 6th--little change, not particularly sweet, still fruity/spicy/toasty 2--Ban Tian Yao Wuyi Spring Harvest 2009 from Norbu Leaf aroma after rinse--spicy, milder 1st--spicy, toasty 2nd--having trouble differentiating 3rd--dark, toasty, sweet 4th--toasty, more like the 3rd than the Da Hong Pao 5th--still delicious 6th--a bit more camphor than the ad hong pao, otherwise very similar 3--Shui Jin Gui Wuyi Spring Harvest 2009 from Norbu Leaf aroma after rinse--spicy, tart 1st--spicy, toasty, slightly bitter 2nd--similar 3rd--dark toasty but a little sweet 4th--again, like the 2nd more than like Da Hong Pao 5th--still delicious 6th--a nice sweetness coming out 4--Ting Tung Oolong from TenRen Leaf aroma after rinse--fruity, tart 1st --toastier 2nd--dark, toasty 3rd--toasty, less spicy 4th--warm, but something lighter about this one--I think this (the element that is not in this one) is the minerality discussed previously 5th--relatively darker, toastier than the 3 whys 6th--smooth, toasty, still less of the 'mineral' or 'rock' taste First infusion: Leaves after brewing:

Starting with the sencha select today. Looking forward some Wuyi oolongs next. Hard to remember how afraid of green teas I was just a few months ago. Now I'm drinking as much of them as oolongs.