Richard Kilgore

Today a pot of the Ceylon Vitahanakanda Estate, Extra Special, a great Ceylon from TeaSource. and a pot of a Chinese Oolong, the Phoenix Mountain DanCong from The Cultured Cup. This time I brewed the DanCong in a large (400+ml), older Yixing (how old? don't know, but the clay has not been mined for some time), with a Western style leaf:water ratio for 5 minutes. Great this way, too, although gong fu cha is still my preference.

Thanks Carolyn and theabroma. I have eaten at a couple of trailers on my last trip and plan to hit more next time. I'll look forward to the new restaurant that Chef Ileana de la Vega is starting.

In addition to my daily tea bowl of matcha, I brewed a chinese green - the Jade Dragon Yunnan Green Tea from Norbu Tea. I'm on my fourth infusion and sloppily learning how to brew it, so one and two were good, three brewed too hot and four good again. More on this later. So what teas are you all brewing in your part of the world this week?

Today, more of the Organic Shizuoka Matcha Sakuraka and brewed a tea-trade sample of the 2010 Organic Uji Gokujo Shincha, both from yuuki-cha. More shinchas to go. And drank a lot of iced tea.

Followed that up with the Okuyutaka 2010 Spring Shizuoka Shincha (light-steamed)from yuuki-cha.com from a small sample that I got in a tea trade. A very pleasant three infusions and I'll see what 4 and 5 produce. Smooth, hay, a mild sharpness, best integrated in the third infusion.

That's a great and interesting piece of news. Robb should be declared a Texas Culinary Treasure. He covers both the "authentic" side of things and new interpretations, so I'll look forward to what comes of this partnership.

Today second tea bowl of the Organic Shizuoka Matcha Sakuraka from yuuki-cha. This time I got it just right. Easy enough.

My first prep of an interesting matcha from yuuki-cha.com that came in a new order - Organic Shizuoka Matcha Sakuraka, and I scooped a little too much into the tea bowl. More on this in the Matcha topic after I have tamed it down. Then an Assam Konghea Estate, Golden Bud, from teasource.com, brewed for a friend, who also found this Indian black tea appealing. So, what teas are you all drinking this week?

Here is today's article in the NYTimes on a problem with USDA organic certification in China that has been going on for some time. While I have for some time trusted organic teas from Japan and Taiwan much more than those from mainland China, I have continued to buy a wide variety of Chinese tea, both organic and non-organic, from tea merchants I trust. What reaction are the rest of you tea lovers having to this news?

I have had a goodly amount of organic and non-organic fukamushi sencha and have enjoyed it, WC; it is fun to pair it with foods other than sushi and fish, such as grape tomatoes and parmigiano reggiano. I have come, however, to enjoy a great deal the organic versions with less umami and the subtler light-steamed organic senchas with even less. As far as last years brewing vs this years, I am sure my skill has improved, but my understanding is that the batch of last years Uji Gokujo Sencha that I got was particularly challenging to brew, and it was brewed more in the style of gyokuro.

2010 Organic Uji Gokujo Shincha yuuki-cha.com I received a small sample of this 2010 Shincha in a trade with a tea friend. So this brief report is based on only one brewing. That said, this impresses me as an easy to brew shicha; I blew some of the infusion parameters I was aiming for and still got a pleasant result. With 1 g per ounce for infusion 1 and 2, and a little more dilute for the third (4g/5 ou, and times of 45 sec, 20 sec and 45 sec, this leaf produces a tea liquor that has a hay-like aroma (not newly cut hay; hay that has been drying a bit), a medium mouthfeel, and baby asparagus and sharp taste components. My second infusion was the best integrated. The first infusion had the sharp component out front and cutting back the timing to 60 seconds may make for a better balance. I think that this shincha would give a good fourth and maybe fifth infusion, with a better eye on water quantity in the third infusion and a better eye on timing. The easy brewing of this tea is in contrast to the sencha of the same name from last year that gave me such a difficult time uptopic. (Just a reminder to readers that our tasting notes are subjective. YMMV, as always.)

This evening I am enjoying the 2009 Norbu Lao Mansa Sheng Pu-erh, an outstanding young pu from Norbu Tea. Later perhaps an herbal tisane.

Made my last bowl of the yuuki-cha Organic Iroka, an unusually fine matcha at its price point. Tomorrow the new one should arrive. So, what teas are you all drinking in your part of the world?

Yesterday I brewed more of the Organic Magokoro Shincha from yuuki-cha and left a more detailed note in the Japanese Green Tea Topic on my brewing experiences with it. Today so far it's a Bai Yun Oolong Yunnan Fall Harvest 2009 from norbutea.com. This is a delicious, multi-layered Oolong with a beautiful amber tea liquor.

Organic Kagoshima Shincha Magokoro This is a yuuki-cha.com deep-steamed shincha from Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan made from yutakamidori tea bushes. The first shincha of the season for me. I have experimented with it quite a bit and have found that it is a tea that merits playing with the parameters in fine tuned ways, as long as you start out with a temp of 154f for the first infusion, with .75 g leaf/ounce of water. On the first infusion I have varied the time from 30 - 60 seconds. One the second infusion i have had success with 154f - 158f, and times from 10 seconds to instant pour. On the third, 163f and 30 - 60 seconds. I have had great success with a glorious third infusion at 60 seconds, by holding back on the temp and time on the second one. That infusion was beautifully well-balanced and integrated. This can be well-balanced - fresh, medium-bodied with a nice dose of umami, sweetly vegetal, and with a sharpness that can be adjusted to taste. On all infusions I used a very slow pour, as slow as humanly possible. For four ounces of water that means about 30 seconds. Brewed in a banko kyusu that I got last year from Dan at yuuki-cha.com - made by Japanese ceramic artist Tachi Masaki, and undoubtedly the very best brewing kyusu I have. I like this one a lot, and recommend it if you are willing to experiment to get the flavor profiles you enjoy for the three or more infusions.

Whisked some Organic Shizuoka Matcha Iroka from yuuki-cha this afternoon late. It was a bit thin, but okay. I think I held back on the quantity of matcha powder because I am down to the bottom of the bag. One more bowl possible before my new one comes in. Time for a good night cup of something herbal.

Thanks for the report, WC. I have the Tenryu Misakuo Organic Shincha coming in my order this week, and I'll keep your experience with it in mind.

Started the day with an interesting tea that I first tried at The Cultured Cup's T-Bar Club a few months ago. This is a Nepal Chiyabari Estate black tea that I picked up at last Friday's T-Bar Club meeting. Delicioso! Probably green teas next today. What's in your tea cup/mug/glass/thermos today? Hot tea? Iced Tea?

Last night I had a great Ceylon at the Cultured Cup's T-Bar Club, along with a buffet featuring various interesting dishes prepared with teas by members. Many new beautiful tea bowls by Ginny Marsh. This morning I brewed a cup of a Yunnan Golden Tips that I got last night at TCC. If you like the French Breakfast Tea by MF that TCC also carries, you are likely to like this one - chocolate notes with a hint of spiciness. Now my bowl of matcha from yuuki-cha.com. There's only enough left for one cup, or maybe two, left while my new order wings it's way here from Japan. Shinchas and matcha coming. So, what teas are you all drinking in your part of the world?

In addition to my daily Matcha, I have also brewed the Organic Magokuro Shincha again a couple of times. It's getting even better and better. I think I can coax a little more deliciousness out of it with another tweaking or two of the brewing parameters. More on this soon.

Now gongfu cha brewing the Phoenix Mountain DanCong Oolong from The Cultured Cup - a wonderful DanCong with a distinct honeysuckle aroma in both the dry leaves and the tea liquor. What teas - hot or iced - are you all drinking today?

I have not thought of it as pussy-footing with the tamping. My understanding was to tamp just until it starts pulling the ingredients through the vortex. It never takes much tamping. But we have different machines, so the Vita-Prep may well be not only more powerful, but also more durable than the Vita-Mix 5200. I would be interested to know if others here have had problems with either machine.

Yes, I have to avoid pushing my container off the base, too, but have not had any problem with it. You may have been over-tamping or may not have enough liquid in the smoothie ingredients. I tamp a little in one corner and see if its starts pulling; if not I tamp in corners alternately. It is also possible you pushed the tamper in too deeply and hit the blade with it. Frozen bananas should not be a problem. The container for my Vita-Prep3 is of a sturdier plastic; the one for the Vita-Mix is made of a material that will not leach potentially harmful chemicals and it's possible it is more brittle, but I can't speak to that. The two containers are not interchangeable.

I am trying to get a better picture of the damages and how they occurred. How did you crack the container base, scuff the blade, damage the nut and wear down the gear teeth on the pitcher?

Brewing the Organic Magokoro Shincha from yuuki-cha.com. Very nice. I like this one a lot and will post more in the Japanese Green Tea topic after playing with the brewing parameters a few times.