What Tea Are You Drinking Today? (Part 1)

[Wholemeal Crank]

Not sure where to discuss this one: today I brewed a marvelous tea kindly sent to me as part of an exchange of Pu-erh tea samples with RK. This one surprised me: Ya Bao Spring 2009 Wild White Tea Pu Erh Varietal--another from norbutea.com.

I had not read the label closely enough before I opened it up and started to weigh out the delicate pale dry leaves--I was expecting a dark earthy puerh--it was delicate, sweet, and floral. I brewed up 4.5 grams into nearly a quart of tea with relatively cool water, and it was delightful. Unfortunately, it is now sold out, so I will have to wait until next year to get some more!

[Richard Kilgore]

That's an unusual and interesting tea isn't it, WmC? I have had the same thing happen before when I delayed on a limited availability special tea.

Tonight I have been continuing my Japanese Green Tea explorations, brewing the yuuki-cha.com organic sencha from yesterday in a different kyusu. Interesting differences - more about all this later in both the Japanese Green Tea topic and the Japanese Teapot topic.

[Richard Kilgore]

A break from the Japanese green teas while I am waiting for more gyokuro to arrive from Japan. Started out the day with the wonderful handmade Nilgiri from teasource.com that was featured in a Tea Tasting & Discussion this year. And this evening it's a gongfu cha brewing of the Diamond Grade TGY Oolong, Spring Harvest 2009 from norbutea.com. Two incredible teas today. The Nilgiri will be good with good storage, but I need to finish up the little bit of this Taiwanese TGY soon. Only 5 grams left.

So, what teas are you all drinking today?

[nakji]

I just bought 100g of wulong from the tea shop across the street. The source notes were handwritten, so I couldn't quite take down the information, but it's from the 2009 harvest, from Anxi Fujian province - I suspect it might be a Tieguanyin, but didn't confirm that. I'm enjoying my first infusion - it's very floral and light, with hardly any of the smokiness I usually associate with oolong. I also had my first pu'er tea last week, which was transformational - who knew tea could have such a rich flavour?

[lperry]

Hyson English Breakfast tea. I needed the caffeine boost this dreary morning.

[Wholemeal Crank]

I just bought 100g of wulong from the tea shop across the street. The source notes were handwritten, so I couldn't quite take down the information, but it's from the 2009 harvest, from Anxi Fujian province - I suspect it might be a Tieguanyin, but didn't confirm that. I'm enjoying my first infusion - it's very floral and light, with hardly any of the smokiness I usually associate with oolong. I also had my first pu'er tea last week, which was transformational - who knew tea could have such a rich flavour?

Were the leaves of the oolong very green? It's probably one of the more lightly oxidized new style oolongs that I've been discovering recently. They're just remarkable teas, and I've cut way back on my jasmine drinking because they're so floral that I don't crave the jasmines the same way I used to. Yesterday I drank another batch of the Diamond Grade Tie Guan Yin from Norbutea.com which is quite amazingly floral.

And watch out for the pu-erhs. They can be habit-forming!

[emmalish]

I picked up some Intelligentsia loose tea for the office the other day. I had the earl grey yesterday – I'm not sure it's my favourite, but it's certainly the most aromatic earl grey I've ever had. Today I'm having a mix of peppermint and chamomille. Very nice.

[Richard Kilgore]

It's good to have more tea drinkers posting today. I guess the cooling weather has something to do with it. I'll be announcing new Tea Tasting & Discussions soon and throughout the rest of the year- some really interesting teas from jingteashop.com in China, pu-erhs and other teas from norbutea.com and a fine sencha from The Cultured Cup...and more. If you subscribe to the Coffee & Tea forum, you'll be among the first to know.

Early today it was the Assam Panitola from teasource.com for me. It's a delicious, well-priced Assam. I'm running low and this is one I'll re-order.

Then I had a little of the Diamond Grade TGY Oolong, Spring Harvest 2009 leftover from yesterday. After a good hot rinse. Still good today, very good. Very amazingly good.

Now it's the 2007 Guoyan 'Golden Peacock' from norbutea.com. It's been relaxing here for months and now tastes even better than it did when I first got it. Gong fu cha brewing, but no measuring today. More intuitive brewing with a little over 1/4 of the Yixing pot filled with the compressed leaf. More on this later in the Pu-erh topic.

Any more tea drinkers out there today? What's in your cup?

[emmalish]

I used to be much more into drinking tea. I'm not sure why, but I drifted away from it for a few years and am just now getting back into it again. I'm not sure it'll be to the extent that I used to be (with at least 20 different varieties of tea onhand at any given time), but I'm starting off with my old favourites – mint, chamomille, earl grey, and pearl jasmine.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Drinking Big Red Robe Wuyi Oolong today. A lovely smooth earthy contrast to the new style tie guan yin from yesterday.

[nakji]

Were the leaves of the oolong very green? It's probably one of the more lightly oxidized new style oolongs that I've been discovering recently. They're just remarkable teas, and I've cut way back on my jasmine drinking because they're so floral that I don't crave the jasmines the same way I used to. Yesterday I drank another batch of the Diamond Grade Tie Guan Yin from Norbutea.com which is quite amazingly floral.

Yes, the leaves were very green. Picture:

It was so floral, you're right - for me it tastes better than jasmine, and I'll no doubt replace my jasmine habit with this tea, as it's floral without being perfume-y. It's such an amazing difference- it's like I'd never drunk tea before trying it.

Big Red Robe Wuyi Oolong today. A lovely smooth earthy contrast to the new style tie guan yin from yesterday.

This sounds like the sort of oolong I'm used to, and love. I have some specific questions about these teas, which I'll take over to the Oolong topic.

Edited September 26, 2009 by nakji
Edited for link and photo. (log)

[Wholemeal Crank]

This afternoon another gongfu session, with the 2007 Sheng White Bud Tea from norbutea.com. Not quite as satisfying as the session I discussed above, probably because I started to get a little more distracted towards the end. But still, a lovely complement to the fruity dan cong that started the day.

[Richard Kilgore]

Today it was a 2003 Mengku Gong Ting Ripe Pu-erh from Yunnan Sourcing. It is pleasant enough, but seems to run out of steam after five or six infusions. May be my brewing technique, of course, so I'll give it another try sometime.

It was 95 F here today, so I also made some first class grocery store tea bag decafe iced tea.

And I am about to brew something in the way of Japanese green tea. Just have not decided yet.

How about you?

[nakji]

A bag of genmaicha just flew in from Japan along with a friend of mine. I forgot to ask the provenance, but from the package, it looks like the tea is from Mie and Nara prefectures, while the rice is from Hokkaido. I normally like genmaicha for breakfast, as it reminds me of the years I spent drinking Korean nok-cha during my early morning classes there. Tonight I needed a mild pick-me-up after dinner. It's perfectly toasty.

[Richard Kilgore]

I almost decided on genmaicha last night, Erin, but ended up with one of the hojichas from kuuki-cha.com. Today started with an Assam Napuk from TCC.

How about you all? What's in your tea cup/bowl/mug/thermos today?

[Wholemeal Crank]

Last night I prepared a thermos of yin zhen silver needle tea from chado, to drink at work while at our satellite clinic today (where I don't have tea making equipment, so I always bring a thermos of tea brewed before hand). I was careful to use cooler water and watched the brewing time, and tasted a sample that was very nice, but it didn't hold well overnight in the thermos--it was too delicate and too cool, so ended up like lukewarm not-quite-water by the end of the afternoon. The earthier puerhs and oolongs hold much better, between the hotter brewing temps and stronger flavors.

[Richard Kilgore]

Two gyokuros and a Banko houhin arrived from Japan today, all from yuuki-cha.com. My first gyokuros. I'll post more in the Japanese Green Tea topic after having a chance to brew these a time or two more, but at first meeting they are easy to brew and I am enjoying them a good deal. 100 g each is a lot of tea to drink in a short amount of time, so I'm splitting these with a tea friend. This works out great, because we'll be able to try several gyokuros this year, rather than just one or two.

[David A. Goldfarb]

A new batch of Heavily Smoked Lapsang Souchong from McNulty's. They also offer a lightly smoked version.

[Richard Kilgore]

Again today I am trying out one of the new gyokuros from yuuki-cha.com: Organic Gyokuro Karigane, that's gyokuro leaves with stems. I'll be experimenting with several brewing methods recommended by Dan at yuuki-cha (brewing at 104 F today!), and will report on that soon in the Japanese Green Tea topic.

[Wholemeal Crank]

More Big Red Robe from Chado today. So soothing and earthy. Good for a frantic day.

Need to drink copious amounts of pu-erh and oolong now before I dare start exploring japanese teas--will put that off for a while.

But my boss down the hall has indicated that he wants a mug in his office too, like the one on permanent loan to my next door neighbor. Another coffee lover who is growing more appreciative of teas. "Your teas always taste so much better than the junk we buy." Yes!

[Richard Kilgore]

WmC - I expect to be able to do a sencha Tasting & Discussion in the near future, and it should be one without much if any astringency and easy to brew. So this is one you might dare to explore.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Started the day with the Chado 1992 loose pu-erh, brewed gongfu style in one of my tiny yixing pots.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Middle of the day, many infusions of Norbu Tea's Diamond Tie Guan Yin.

[Richard Kilgore]

Lots of tea today. An Assam this morning, a sencha later and a 2001 Menghai 7542 as I write this.

eG Society member Kyle Stewart is doing a series on The Teas of Asia at the Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas. I signed up for the series because I always learn something from Kyle, who is a storehouse of information, has a superb tea palate and is a polished and engaging speaker. I'll post more on the series later, but this evening's presentation on "Beyond Masala Chai: The Nuances of Indian Teas from Darjeeling, Assam and Nilgiri" included tastings of a Jungpana Estate first flush Darjeeling, a Makaibari Estate second flush Darjeeling, a Nepal Jun Chiyabari Estate, Glendale hand made Nilgiri, a Jamirah Estate second flush Assam, a Masala Chai...and an unexpected Afgani tea.

Nine teas makes a fairly full tea day.

[Wholemeal Crank]

2006 Hainan "Purple Bud" Sheng Pu-Erh Tea Cake from norbutea.com today, brewed in bulk to fill the thermos, with a higher leaf to water ratio than the first brewing I discussed here. The earthy flavors are dominant today, still wonderful stuff.