Richard Kilgore

What Russian Caravan are you drinking, Chris? Pleasant day of tea starting with a Wu Niu Zao Chinese green tea from jingteashop.com, brewed in a gaiwan. Last seasons tea, but still good. Not as good as it was the first month, of course, but still good. Then on to an older (1999) Shu Puerh, also from Jing. Very smooth brewed in an older (1980s) clay Yixing dedicated to Shu, and one of the very best Shu I have had. So what's brewing in your part of the world, tea sippers?

Sure, that will work. The glass inserts are not as good for brewing as they are attractive to the eye. You can use the ss filter in the pre-heated pot, or better yet, brew the leaves without the filter so they have full freedom to infuse, and then pour the tea liquor through the ss filter into your pre-heated cup (or another pre-heated tea pot).

This week I have been using up some bottom-of-the-bag of two of last season's shinchas in order to treat an abused kyusu. Surprisingly good after the bag having been opened so mony months ago. More of the American Breakfast Tea from TCC in the mornings. Also the Fujian Baili Gongfu red tea from jingteashop.com brewed in a Yixing. Yesterday a very nice session with a Pai Mu Tan from TCC brewed in a Yixing dedicated to white teas. The clay makes a significant difference compared to a porcelain gaiwan. Ended the day with the aged San Nen Bancha from Norbu Tea that is one of three Japanese teas featured in the current Tea Tasting & Discussion (TT&D). This hour began a session with one of the Organic Honyama Gyokuro from yuuki-cha. Brewed in a small Tokoname kyusu, it has a whiff of the ocean and a delicious sharpness.

Where did you find these Oolongs, baroness?

Thanks for all the good ideas. The tea-pot-in-distress is doing well, after brewing the ends of two packages of last season's shincha daily for a few days. I do keep some denture cleaner around for such an emergency, but did not have to use it. The mold apparently on top of the leaves and did not penetrate the clay.

The tasting cup should be okay, Allan, though I have not used one this way. This is a simple, forgiving tea and a cup with infuser or ceramic teapot will work, too. In Japan a glazed kyusu is likely the standard brewing tool; an unglazed kyusu would be unusable for green teas if you brewed a heavily roasted tea in it. A glazed one is a good first kyusu, because even if you get an unglazed one later, you still have a use for the glazed one.

I agree. All the teas I have gotten from them has been very good.

Thanks for the detailed notes, Allan. I don't often brew this type of tea using "Western" (lower tea:water ratio), so I'll be interested in how that works out for you. Using the 1g/1ou ratio, how much tea did you use, and what type of brewing device did you use?

A True Tea Pot Confession I swear I have never done this before. I always dump leaves and rinse a pot before returning any teapot to it's perch on a teapot shelf, lid off for a day. Always. Except a week or so ago. I had too many pots going at once and moved my smoothest brewing Japanese Banko back to it's perch with the leaves still inside with lid on, planning to do the dump-and-rinse before going to bed. You guessed it, two days ago I picked it up again to use it and...greenish mold covered the leaves. After dumping and rinsing it definietly smelled musty-moldy. Afraid I would have to do something drastic like use a denture cleaner to strip it and then go through re-seasoning it. But I treated it with boiling water a few times and then added baking soda with boiling water and let it stand for a couple of hours. The next day the moldy aroma was gone, but the first two sessions with the Banko left a faint baking soda slick in my mouth. Today, eureka! Back to normal for the most part. May have lost a very little seasoning in the process, but that's okay. Anyone else have any tales of teapot neglect and redemption?

As I have mentioned before, I have known Greg Glancy at Norbu Tea for several years -- a presentation he gave several years ago about a trip through the tea markets and farms of China and Tibet fed my growing interest in learning more about fine teas. Since then he has become a tea friend and we drink tea together and trade teas and tea stories from time to time, as well as indulging in Chinese, Korean or Vietnamese food occasionally. Greg has been a long time supporter of these Tea Tasting & Discussions. He and I spent a couple of tea drinking sessions selecting the Japanese teas for this TT&D. The tea tasting and tea drinking for this TT&D gets underway this week. Stay tuned.

Welcome to the Coffee and Tea forum, Douglas. You have gotten some helpful ideas from Will and Wholemeal Crank. My brief version: as far as learning to brew Chinese teas gongfu style, it's really a matter of playing around with teas and learning basic brewing techniques. Give yourself lots of room to experiment; it may easily take the better part of 50 grams of a tea to learn how to brew it and how to brew it to your individual taste. If Wholemeal Crank took a sip of a tea I brewed, we would be calling 911; if I drank hers, I would wonder why she likes to drink water out of tea cups. It's personal. Just have fun. I have been drinking a number of teas since I last posted. Here are a few. One day the start was the Dian Hong Imperial from Norbu Tea brewed in a Yixing dedicated to Chinese Red (black) teas. This may have been the best I have ever brewed this tea. Startlingly good, so I brewed it again the same way the next day and it was good...very good, but not dazzlingly wonderful like the day before. Another example of some unknown factor influencing the perception of taste. A couple of sessions with the Lao Tai Di Qing Xin Oolong (Old Plantation Oolong), also from Norbu. I really like the current version of this tea. Brewed in a small (110ml) dragon egg shape Yixing that has very good clay (and shape) for rolled medium to higher oxidized Oolongs. The last couple of mornings an American Breakfast tea from The Cultured Cup. I have had this black tea (actually very much like an Irish Breakfast tea) for a couple of years, and I don't know if it's still in their stock, but a good, relatively inexpensive tea. Brisk, but not so much you want to bite back. No Chinese green teas recently, but three from Yuuki-cha: I still have a little left of the Kanaya Midori Sencha and that's what is in my cup at the moment; also the Organic Honyama Gyokuro Kin-un and Organic Honyama Gyokuro Haku-un. I'll post more on these gyokuros in the Japanese Green Tea topic soon. Along with a tea pot near (I hope) disaster.

Look for an Indian restaurant that either specializes in, or has a large selection, of South Indian dishes. We did a tasting several years ago at the one in the old Sakowitz Village (don't recall the name of the restaurant or new name for the center, but it is between Montfort and the Tollway starting at Beltline and strerching southward). I have not eaten there in recent years, but it was excellent. I'll try to find the name of the restaurant, but I am pretty sure it is the only one in the center. If fish is okay in a dish, you really have a lot of Asian options. Vegetable dishes with or without fish, of course. For two inexpensive options: Thai-riffic remains my standby for Thai, but there are some newcomers I have not tried. Royal Szechuan for Chinese (for authentic) - lots of vegetable dishes, and be sure to check out the appetizer bar. Tei An for Japanese - call and ask about the tasting menu, a terrific experience.

Good question. I have a call in to him.

A friend ask me for suggestions for a location for a rehearsal dinner in Austin in July this year. I do not know Austin well enough anymore to be helpful, but I offered to ask you all. He is looking for a "semi-formal" setting (as opposed to a casual or formal one). He is aiming for $35 - $40 per person for 40 people. Can you eGulleters help this fellow out?

I use the Mae Ploy and have for years. I get mine at Asian groceries and was not aware some regualar grocery chains are carrying it. My technique is to use the very best fish sauce and coconut milk you can find (Asian grocery), use half the amount of the curry paste in the directions on the box(or to taste for wherever you are on the chile whimp/chile fire breather continuum), and add fresh galangal, lemon grass and basil.

I should have mentioned that at Central Market stores here in Texas, you can sample almost anything. Wondering which of 3 types of pear is the best today, just ask anyone in the produce department and they'll usually offer to let you sample all of them. Which olive oil tastes best to you? Just ask to sample them if they do not offer first. Any cheese, just ask. I'm in a hurry and don't want to make a sauce tonight? Ask for ideas, and a foodie may take you to the large sauce, salsa and condiments bar and let you sample until you find one that suits you. Central Market has great customer service! Can you tell I'm a fan. Most employees are at the very least well-trained, pleasant and helpful, and many are good cooks with excellent palates.

There is a great deal of info on brewing Wuyi Oolongs and many other Oolongs in the Oolong Topic. It's a good place to ask for brewing ideas. You may also find some of the TT&Ds featuring Oolongs, including Wuyi, helpful - this one in particular.

I sample frequently at Central Market and feel no compulsion to buy. Not that I never buy, but I never experience pressure to buy beyond the obvious fact that they offer a sample in hopes you'll buy. Their products are generally very high quality, whether it's prepared foods, produce, bread, wine, coffee...whatever. So they offer a sample and some ideas about how to use it: you like it or not. Even if you like it you may not want to buy it or buy it that day. I have often seen a couple dozen people go by a sampling station without anyone buying. Today I picked up a bottle of an Indian Vindaloo sauce that I had sampled yesterday. The cooking station foodie cooked it with chicken and florets of cauliflower and then finished it with mango chunks. Pretty good stuff. I have also bought a salad dressing after sampling at that station. But, other than bread and produce, I generally buy what I sample only - maybe - 1 out of 100 times. No guilt, no looking up (or down) my nose at samples and samplers.

WC, I'll be interested in reading your tasting notes on the Norbu Alishans, since I have not had the more recent ones. I really enjoy the Ding Xin old plantation -almost brewed it yesterday, so it will be on today's tea list. So far today have only had the Keemun Hao Ya B from Teasource. Found it at the bottom of a black tea bin in my tea chest! A very nice Keemun. Probably the best I have had except for the Keemun Hao Ya A, also from Tea Source.

Recent black teas: two Ceylons from Tea Source, the Vithanakanda Estate Extra Special, and (finished off the last of the packet of) the Lumbini Estate FBOP; the Jamirah Estate Assam from The Cultured Cup; the Fujian Bai Lin Gongfu Red Tea from Jing Tea Shop; and the Dian Hong Imperial Hand Processed Yunnan Black Tea from Norbu Tea. Oolongs yesterday and today: the Phoenix Mountain Dan Cong from The Cultured Cup and the Anxi Bai Xian from Jing Tea Shop. Green Teas: the Wu Niu Zao Chinese green tea from Jing Tea Shop; the Kanayamidori Sencha and two gyokuros - Organic Uji Gyokuro Gokou and Organic Honyama Gyokuro Kin-un - both from Yuuki-Cha. So what have you all been brewing in your part of the world?

The three sets of samples go to *drum roll* AllanSantos Genkinaonna Chris Amirault You should receive them sometime next week. If you wanted to participate, but were not fast enough with your PM, stay tuned for the upcoming TT&Ds in April and throughout the year.

Only one set now available of the three Japanese teas. Tea newbies welcome. If you are interested, just review the posts above and PM me.

Enjoying a cup of Vitahakanda Estate Assam this morning. Only one free sample left in the TT&D featuring 3 Japanese teas. Take a look.

Presently sipping the Wu Niu Zao green tea from jingteashop.com. Blew this by doing it grandpa style (too much leaf), so salvaged it by transferring some wet leaf to a gaiwan. Remains a favorite Chinese green despite my blundering today. Earlier had some of the Assam Jamirah Estate from The Cultured Cup. Really great as it cools. Two sets of samples left in the new Japanese tea TT&D from Norbu Tea. Check it out. How about you, tea sippers? What's brewing?

One set of the samples of the three Japanese teas provided by Society member Greg Glancy at Norbu.com - GONE. Two sets of three free samples still available. If you are interested in receiving a set - and have either 50 posts anywhere in the eG Forums or 10 posts in the Coffee and Tea forum - please review the above posts and then PM me.