White2Tea - Long Jing (February 2017 club)

I am still alive!  Unlike this time last year, I have no real dramatic reason for not posting in a while, just a combination of holidays, vacation/travel, being distracted, mild illness, and sporadic water quality crisis which I might write about later.  (Water has a huge impact on how tea tastes, and if your water tastes funny, any tea made with it might also taste funny.)

I had not planned on writing anything in particular at this time, but the February White2Tea club package was so different that I was eager to try one of the teas right away.  

As someone who loves humid stored puerh and has almost always enjoyed White2Tea's puerh selections, the company's specialty, I would typically be most excited to try the early 2000's traditional stored qingbing; however, I was VERY surprised to see two packets of Long Jing, and this is what I rushed to try first.   At the time of writing this I have yet to even open the qingbing sample (but I'm craving it now).   

This is White2Tea's first time offering a green tea.  I had some initial thoughts when I saw that the box contained Long Jing.  My tastes and preferences align very well with White2Tea's puerh offerings, and when it comes to their non-puerh offerings, I generally enjoy those other teas but can see that some of them, such as the Hot and Heavy yancha or "Hot Brandy" black/white tea, which I found just OK, are not their strongest products.  My initial expectation for the Long Jing was that it's probably not wonderful, but would be "pretty good." 

The club newsletter was a little confusing though.  The exact wording is, "Spring 2016 - This is our favorite version of the classic green tea long jing, which translates as "dragon well", from the Zhejiang province.  We will be selling this version, as well as a higher end bud heavy version in spring of 2017."  The news letter also says, "In 2017 Spring we will be offering a limited pre-order of this green tea, directly after production.  The pre-order will be first come first serve, and pre-order only (it will not be available on the site for purchase..."    I am not exactly sure how to interpret this and can't tell exactly what will be fore sale in the spring and what won't be for sale or what will be pre-order only.   But the part about the alternative "higher end bud heavy version" makes it pretty clear that this version here in the club is probably a later season harvest.  

Upon looking at the dry leaf, it is more obvious that this is not a bud heavy version and is likely from a later harvest of the season.  The dry leaf shows a lot of variation in size, shape, and color.  I also do not see an abundance of tea fuzz on the leaves or any fuzz balls in the package.  The aroma is nice though and has a good nutty smell.  

I decided to brew this in a 100ml gaiwan using about 5g and water in the 175-180F range.  My first infusion was about 15 seconds.  These are the parameters that White2Tea suggested, though there is enough tea in the club box to experiment with other parameters later (about 20g total).  

Like the dry leaf aroma, the wet leaf aroma is also nice.  The nutty characteristic is there as well as some sweetness, and it has a good green tea "salt water aroma."  I'm not sure if this is a common way to describe green tea, but the salt water scent is a pleasant aroma that I find in some Chinese green teas.  Probably a more appropriate term would be "umami."  The aroma is not grassy or bitter.  

The pale yellow liquor is lightly dotted with tea leaf trichomes (tea fuzz) and has a very soft mouthfeel during the first two infusions.  The first two infusions also had a very good creaminess and nuttieness in the flavor.  The "salt water" characteristic in the flavor also reminds me of "marine air" or fresh air at the beach with a hint of seaweed.  This is a good thing and again is probably considered umami. 

I did my third infusion slightly too long though and some bitterness overtook the creaminess and nutty sweetness.  This slightly over brewed infusion became grassy and slightly astringent which also showed up in the aftertaste.  

I was more careful with infusions 4 and 5 and was able to get the tea to return to a more pleasant brew.  These lighter infusions had less nuttiness and creaminess but instead had a crisp citrus taste, and a nice smooth feeling replaced the previous steep's astringency.  The citrus notes came through in the aftertaste for a refreshing finish.  

Examination of the wet leaf confirms that the size and shape of this particular batch is quite varying and quite rough.  It would be very interesting to compare this to the "bud heavy version" which I assume would involve earlier harvest and more careful picking.  Although this current batch is pretty rough, I was happy that the taste was not overly grassy or burnt, especially when brewed with a light hand as it can become grassy and bitter with steep times too long.  

We do not know the price of this tea yet.  I enjoyed the tea, but not enough that I would want to stock up on it unless the price were to be comparable or lower than some other green tea vendors I have tried in the past, such as Teavivre.  However, I am curious about the "bud heavy version" and the "pre-order" version which I assume will be bud heavy as well (maybe they are the same thing?  I'm still confused by the newsletter wording).  For sure though the pre-order version will be about as fresh as you can get, minus the time it will take for shipping.  With green tea, freshness is important and I wonder if this 2016 long jing may have been a bit more vibrant nearly a year ago.  If I do another Life in Teacup Long Jing pre-order this year, it would be nice to compare to the upcoming White2Green pre-order.

So overall this was a strange offering from White2Tea and a welcome experience.  Green tea is not their specialty, but it's nice to offer a little bit of everything, and long jing is a classic tea that I enjoy from time to time.  This long jing won't win any awards, but it's not bad at all.  Based on my first session with it, I would be happy to share this with someone who wants to try long jing for the first time or to have some on hand to sip on in the summer, assuming it will be priced mid range as well.


Link to White2Tea: http://white2tea.com/

#21 vs #21 - Hong Yun (Taiwan Tea Crafts & Taiwan Sourcing)

Despite all the nice black teas that the White2Tea club sent this year from Fujian and Yunnan China, I still think my favorite black teas are those from the Sun Moon Lake area of Taiwan.  I have been meaning for a while to round up a bunch of samples from Taiwan Sourcing and Taiwan Tea Crafts, and thanks to some recent sales on both sites, I finally have done that.

Taiwan Sourcing and Taiwan Tea Crafts sample haul.

Although both of these vendors offer an interesting selection of Taiwanese black tea, there is definitely some overlap in their offerings.  For example, they both offer Ruby #18, which is one of the most popular Taiwanese black teas, and they each have at least one "wild" variety of Taiwanese black tea.    For this write up I am focusing on the "#21" variety that both vendors offer.

Similar to some Taiwanese black teas I have reviewed in the past, this is another one of the tea varieties developed by the Taiwanese "Tea Research and Extension Station" (TRES), and thus calling the variety "TRES #21" is an acceptable name for it.  Another official name for it is "Hong Yun" or 紅韻.  The best translation I can find of this is "Red Rhyme."  Interestingly though, Taiwan Sourcing is calling this tea "Rhythm 21."  The tea on Taiwan Tea Crafts is simply labeled "Hong Yun T-21."  TRES #21 was developed in 2008 as a cross between Keemun and a Napalese assamica from Kyang.  Many vendors that sell Hong Yun mention that it is a premium/rare/precious tea due to a growing cycle that makes planning the harvest more time sensitive than other varieties, and other challenges exist during processing which is critical to bringing out the best flavor that #21 can offer.

Today I am drinking side-by-side the Spring 2016 "Rhythm 21" from Taiwan Sourcing (TS) (a.k.a. taiwanoolongs.com) and from Taiwan Tea Crafts (TTC) the "Sun Moon Lake Premium Hong Yun T-21," specifically Lot 435 which is a summer (June) 2015 harvest.

Taiwan Tea Crafts #21 (left) and Taiwan Sourcing #21 (right)

Both versions show a similar leaf size and shape, with the TS version being slightly lighter in color.  The dry leaf of both versions smells very sweet, with the TTC reminding me of fruity red wine and the TS like that of grapefruit.

Upon hydration, the leaf aroma profile of the two teas completely flipped.   Now the grapefruit note came through more on the TTC version along with a wonderful aroma of fresh baked blueberry muffins.  The TS version had a darker aroma like that of molasses, blackberry cream soda, purple raisins, and raspberry chocolate chip ice cream.  Needless to say, the aroma of both was very very sweet.

The taste of both of these teas remained consistent with the wet leaf aroma.  Both have a very impressive natural sweetness, and the TTC version has those citrus high notes supported by a blueberry bread base and blackberry jam.  The TS hong yun has plenty of fruit berry flavors, though creamier, and has less high notes; instead a hint of spices comes through such as cinnamon, and the base notes are darker, slightly earthy and toasty.  Someone new to tea would probably have a hard time believing that these flavor notes and sweetness are naturally occurring and that no additional flavors have been added.

These flavor/aroma trends continue into the aftertaste.  The TTC aftertaste has the notable sweet grapefruit citrus note, but it also has a good heavy "black tea" base that gives it some depth and keeps the citrus characteristic from being too prominent.  It's important to note here that the "grapefruit" flavor is very sweet, not a sour grapefruit.   I found the TTC #21 aftertaste so strong and lingering that I had to wait several minutes and drink some water before I felt ready to move on to the next infusion of the TS #21.  With a clean palate, the TS #21 aftertaste again had less high notes and seemed more toasty.  Baked berry confections such as blackberry cobbler and blueberry muffins dominate but kept in balance with a hint of port-wine.

Taiwan Tea Crafts #21 (left) and Taiwan Sourcing #21 (right)

Seeing the brewed leaf and liquor side-by-side shows a few differences.  The TTC leaf is slightly more red than the TS leaf which has a hint of green to it.  The TS product page does mention that the leaf is "85% oxidized."  TTC does not try to quantitate the oxidation level, but simply says that it is "high," as you would expect for a black tea.  The liquor of both teas is crystal clear, with the TTC version being what I call "deep orange" and the TS version "medium orange."  As far as liquor mouthfeel, they are similar, with TTC feeling thick and very soft, and TS feeling creamy and coating.

This is another side-by-side comparison tasting where I am not going to try to declare one of these teas a winner or loser.  The similarities of dessert-like berry sweetness in these teas indicate why I love certain Taiwanese black teas so much, and the differences I found in these teas indicate that even the same cultivar can produce slightly different teas depending on variations in, presumably, processing, harvest date/season, exact farm location, farming methods, etc.

One final difference between these two teas is the price.  Both are sold out at the time of writing this, but I will mention it anyway.  The Taiwan Tea Crafts version comes out to be 52 cents per gram up to 50g (with bulk discounts at 150g and above), and the the Taiwan Sourcing version is 30-36 cents per gram depending on the quantity up to 150g.  If buying 25g, the TTC version would be $13 and the TS version would be $9.  Depending on what flavor notes you prefer or if you have no preference, this price difference could be significant.  Unfortunately though it is hard to know for sure if the same flavor notes will be consistent season to season, and a vendor's description can only tell us so much since much of taste perception is subjective.  Both of these vendors occasionally have sales and coupon codes, but these types of teas sell out fast so if you catch them in stock, it might be a risky bet to wait for a sale to come along if you aren't lucky to catch one.  Hopefully the vendors will have these in stock again in the future.


Link to Taiwan Sourcing:  http://taiwanoolongs.com/
Link to Taiwan Tea Crafts: https://www.taiwanteacrafts.com

Yangqing Hao - 2006 Chawangshu and 2004 Tejipin sheng puerh

There have been a lot of teas I have been wanting to write about for a while.  My indecision to pick one to write about has resulted in another long absence of any posts at all.  Then today I had one of those teas that struck me as quite amazing and I had to write some notes.  Today I had the 2006 Chawangshu raw puerh from the Taiwanese puerh boutique Yangqing Hao.

Yangqing Hao 2006 Chawangshu - Wrapper picture courtesy of my friend "Blerrp" who has split this massive 500g cake with several people, which is how I got my sample.

Like a lot of people in the west who are just now learning of Yangqing Hao, I first heard about it through TeaDB.  James, and guest contributor Grill, wrote some extensive and fairly scientific comparison notes and a report* that paint a nice profile of most of the Yangqing Hao offerings which span back to 2004.  I am also thankful for the efforts of a man named Emmett who coordinates group buys of Yangqing Hao teas to western customers since this tea is difficult to buy outside of Taiwan or China.   Emmett is not employed by Yangqing Hao nor is selling tea his full time job; he is a puerh enthusiast who recognized the high quality of Yang's teas and the limited availability of such quality teas in the western market and has been coordinating the group buys in an effort to help bring these teas to more people.

I have sampled about five different Yangqing Hao teas now and so far one consistent finding I notice is that the dry leaf aroma is very clean.  Although the area of Taiwan where these teas are stored is considered hot and humid, these teas seem to have a good balance; enough heat and humidity to allow an aged taste to start to develop within 10 years and clean enough to allow some "dry" characteristics to develop such as leather, honey, and apricot aromas.  Those are characteristics I love in semi-aged sheng.

The 2006 Chawangshu is from an area near Gua Feng Zhai.  This area is difficult to find on Google Maps, but if you find the Yunnan province of China and zoom in to the southern most prefecture, Xishuangbanna, and then look at the eastern part to find the Yiwu area of Mengla county, Chawangshu is here very close to the Laos border.

Chawangshu in southern Yunnan province of China, eastern Xishuangbann, Yiwu area.

The dry leaf shows a nice dark brown appearance and loose compression which allows the leaves to be separated with minimal breakage.  Upon hydration, the clean leathery aroma is still present and a layer of honey aroma emerges.

Yangqing Hao 2006 Chawangshu

I tasted the initial rinse of the leaves and found it to be a bit weak, so for my next infusion I added another couple seconds.  Even still the tea was not very strong.  I was beginning to have some doubts about this tea until the following infusion where I again added a couple more seconds and that is when it started to come out beautifully.  After having consumed a lot of younger raw puerh earlier this week I was still in flash-brew mode, but the age on this tea has rounded everything out and flash brewing is not necessary for getting the best extraction.  When brewed properly the liquor pours up a crystal clear vibrant orange color that almost glows in the cup.

Between mouthfeel, taste, aftertaste, and overall experience, this tea performs very well in all aspects and none of those areas are lacking or showing any significant flaws.  The mouthfeel is very thick, almost syrupy.  It's a tea you nearly feel the need to chew when you take a sip.  It has a coating effect and leaves a pleasant layer of taste behind on the mouth and tongue.  A  nice level of astringency creates a good active feeling on the sides of the tongue without being drying.

The clean leathery notes from the aroma come through in the taste accompanied by a slight earthy and talc/chalk taste, in a good way.  An herbal component of the flavor balances well with the sweet apricot fruitiness.  In the very late steeps it starts to get an interesting leafy flavor-- not like steamed spinach or fallen autumn leaves, but fresh tree leaves.

This leaf taste is interesting because of the tea age and level of fermentation and oxidation of these leaves.  The age taste dominated throughout the entire session until the end when I pushed the steeps hard which is when the fresher leaf taste appeared.  This perhaps is why I like sheng around the 10 year age so much because there's still a hint of youthful leaf that adds a bit of complexity.  Another interesting observation about the Chawangshu leaf is that the leaves and stems are very hearty and thick.  I believe this is possibly an indication of old arbor slower growing trees.

Yangqing Hao 2006 Chawangshu

The leather flavors continue in the aftertaste and the tea provides a wonderful delayed hui gan.  In the middle infusions the aftertaste becomes a bit menthol-like and has an nice cooling effect in the throat.  This contrasts to a slightly warming feeling that I get deeper down.  This is a great tea to enjoy slowly and calmly as it provides a relaxing experience.  There are no sudden dropoffs with this tea and it continues to provide a very generous amount of steeps all day long.  I easily ran my 1.7L kettle dry with this 5g session using an 85ml gaiwan.

Yangqing Hao 2006 Chawangshu

---

To try to get a little more perspective on this tea I had a meal and then later in the day I decided to brew the 2004 Yangqing Hao Tejipin raw puerh.  The material for the Tejipin is also from the Yiwu area, though it is unclear exactly where, which is not a bad thing.  It's common to see a lot of teas that claim to be from one specific village or even one specific group of trees, but often a really great tea will be made from a blend of various places near an area or even among several different areas, and characteristics from each area can add various qualities to the overall brew.

Yangqing Hao 2004 Tejipin

The 2004 Tejipin dry leaf aroma is similar to the 2006 Changawangshu, but it is slightly more earthy.  Could this be due to an extra two years of age or is it a characteristic of the leaf?  The wet leaf aroma again is similar to Chawangshu, but the Tejipin leaf aroma has a bit more tartness to it.

The additional tartness follows into the taste as well.  Tejipin has some leather characteristics in the taste, but is a bit more earthy and slightly acidic.  Wood flavors are present, but not of the cedar variety that I prefer.  Despite the tartness, it does have a certain creamy characteristic to it too which keeps it balanced.

When comparing the mouthfeel of Tejipin to Chawangshu, the differences are quite apparent, but difficult to say if I prefer one over the other.  The Tejipin is creamier, and the Chawangshu is thicker.  The Chawangshu coats the entire mouth, but the Tejipin seems to coat more on the top of the tongue.  While the Chawangshu had noticeable activity on the sides of the tongue, it lacked much activity in the back of the throat; the Tejipin has a very active feel on the back of the tongue and in the throat but nowhere else.  It seems that the mouthfeel of these two teas are like two similar adjacent puzzle pieces that fit well together without much overlap, but each piece alone is large enough to show its own satisfying picture.

The energy found from drinking Tejipin is very deep reaching into the body, deeper so than the Chawangshu and has less of an upper cooling effect to balance the deeper warming nature of the tea.

Yangqing Hao 2004 Tejipin

One possibly significant difference I see between the Tejipin and the Chawangshu is the leaf characteristics.  The Tejipin seems to be comprised of smaller leaves and an abundance of small buds, which seemed to be less numerous in the Chawangshu.  Of course it's possible that these 5g sessions that I had today of each tea may not be representative of the entire composition of the cake, but a higher ratio of the Tejipin leaf just seems a to be taken from a bit younger parts of the tea plant, though I cannot conclude anything about the overall age of those tea trees.

After these very enjoyable sessions with these two Yangqing Hao teas today I wanted to get some notes and thoughts down and share them.  Though I do admit that with teas this good I would really do them more justice if I had several more sessions with them beyond this.  This write-up today is more of a first impressions summary.  Although both of these are wonderful, if I were shopping for a full cake and only buying one, I would buy the 2006 Chawangshu.  But so far I have found a few other Yangqing Hao offerings also very good, and I'm curious and hopeful to eventually try a few more.


*Part 2 of TeaDB's Yangqing Hao tasting report: https://teadb.org/the-cult-of-yang/

Link to Emmett's group guy page which lists several of Yangqing Hao's teas: http://www.yangqinghao.com/

Xinyang Maojian Green Tea from Chayotea.com

Today I have a green tea that Robert James Coons of Chayo Tea/Daoist Meditation picked up during his most recent trip to Asia.  This is Xinyang Maojian green tea from Henan province of China.  Although this tea often appears on lists of “famous Chinese teas,” this is actually the first time I have heard of it, so it is unique to me. Chayo sold this tea as part of a special "Teas of Summer" sale (which is still available at the time of writing this).

Chayo Tea - Spring 2016 Xinyang Maojian green tea

The dry leaf is very thin wispy strands of small leaves and the dry leaf aroma is very intense and unlike any other green tea I have encountered.  It almost reminds me of the freshly processed Fujian black tea from the White2Tea club a couple months ago, as I’m noticing a hint of smoke, like BBQ smoke almost, and it’s quite good.  Robert said that this tea is pretty strong and that a little bit goes a long way, so I have measured out 3g to use in a 120ml gaiwan.  Water temperature is 175F, and first infusion is around 30-40s.

Chayo Tea - Spring 2016 Xinyang Maojian green tea

The wet leaf aroma is just as amazing as the dry leaf aroma and makes it obvious how fresh this tea is.  The smoky note is still present, but the green tea umami characteristics also come out.

The flavor is a bit more complex than the aroma.  Intense green tea floral notes balance out the smokiness on top of a base of sweet creamy cashew nuts.  Perhaps the most impressive feature of this tea though is the wonderful intense floral aftertaste and how long it seems to linger after each sip.  

Chayo Tea - Spring 2016 Xinyang Maojian green tea

I don’t often pick up on some of the body-response properties of teas, but Robert mentioned that this is a good tea to drink in the summer, and I definitely did notice a cooling effect of this tea.

In addition to 25g of the Xinyang Maojian green tea, the "Teas of Summer" package also included three Da Song Chrysanthemum flowers. These Chrysanthemums were grown in Kaifeng, also in Henan, China which is an area with a long history of growing Chrysanthemum flowers, especially during the Song dynasty. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaifeng#Chrysanthemums)

Da Song Chrysanthemum from Kaifeng, Henan, China.

These flowers are quite nice looking and preserved whole and carefully packaged in individual plastic trays to protect them during transport. I brewed the Chrysanthemum in a glass teapot so I could hold it up to the light and look through the bottom of the glass to see the beautiful flower suspended in the water.

Da Song Chrysanthemum from Kaifeng, Henan, China.

The Da Song Chrysanthemum liquor is a pale yellow, similar to the Xinyang Maojin green tea liquor. The flavor is much more gentle than some other Chrysanthemums I have had before-- the taste of some types of Chrysanthemums sometimes reminds me of plastic, but thankfully this one did not have that characteristic. It has a slight peppery/spicy note to it, but balanced with a really nice floral sweetness.

Da Song Chrysanthemum from Kaifeng, Henan, China.

I am very pleased with this "Teas of Summer" set that Robert brought back from Henan, China. At $12, which includes shipping, the quality to price ratio is pretty high and makes this one of my favorite spring tea purchases of this year.

Link to Chayo Tea/Daoist Meditation: http://daoistmeditation.com/shop/
Link to "Teas of Summer" - http://daoistmeditation.com/product/teas-of-summer-sale-mao-jian-and-great-song-dynasty-chrystanthemum/

Spring Long Jing (Dragon Well) Green Tea

Today I am drinking Long Jing (Dragonwell) green tea from two different vendors. I have Teavivre’s “Organic Superfine” Long Jing and Life in Teacup’s “Da Fo” Long Jing.  I’ll go ahead and say from the start that these two Long Jings are not in the same price tier which should be considered if comparing them.   The Teavivre Oraganic Superfine version is $13.90/50g and the Life in Teacup Da Fo is $22/50g.    Teavivre does offer several other versions at various price points, including one called “Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian” which is $21.90/50g which might be a better comparison since it was harvested in late March like the Da Fo.  Teavivre’s highest priced Long Jing is their “Organic Nonpareil She Qian” which is $34/50g.   Likewise, Life in Teacup has a premium version called “Shi Feng” priced at $56/50g.

Here are these two teas at a glance:

	Teavivre	Life in Teacup
Name	Organic Superfine	Da Fo
Location	Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou prefecture, Lin'an County (Tianmu Mountain)	Zhejiang Province, Shaoxing prefecture, Xinchang County
Leaf Cultivar	Jiu Keng	Long Jing #43
Harvest Date	April 10, 2016	March 17, 2016
Price per 50g	$13.90	$22

A look at the dry leaf shows that the Life in Teacup Da Fo Long Jing leaves have a more uniform and smaller appearance than the Organic Superfine Long Jing.  The Organic Superfine leaf is a darker green.  Both teas have a good amount of "fuzz" which is common with younger buds and early harvests.  The aroma of the leaves is slightly different.  Organic Superfine is nuttier than the Da Fo leaves which have a lighter and slightly floral aroma.

Teavivre 2016 Organic Superfine Long Jing (left) and Life in Teacup 2016 Da Fo Long Jing (right)

An abundance of green tea fuzz balls in the Teavivre 2016 Organic Superfine Long Jing package.  Post edit: More about these can be found here: Tea Trekker: What Is Tea Leaf Fuzz?

After hydrating the leaves with the first infusion, the wet leaf aroma is quite different between the two.  The Organic Superfine from Teavivre has a umami seawater aroma, and the Life in Teacup Da Fo has a distinct asparagus with black pepper aroma.  The liquor of the Da Fo is slightly lighter in color, but both are very pale yellow.

Teavivre 2016 Organic Superfine Long Jing (top) and Life in Teacup 2016 Da Fo Long Jing (bottom)

The flavor of these two Long Jing teas is pretty different.  The Teavivre Superfine Organic starts out nutty with a good dose of umami and a nice perfumy aftertaste.  It is a very strong flavor despite such a light looking liquor.  By the third infusion I noticed some grassy notes as well.

The Life in Teacup Da Fo flavor was much lighter, slightly buttery, and had a hint of a green bean taste.  Throughout the infusions I noticed a very interesting peppery flavor.  Umami is present, but balanced with some floral notes and a good sweetness at first which gives way to stronger umami in the later (fourth) infusion.

Back-to-back, the Da Fo is a much lighter delicate flavor than then Organic Superfine and seems more balanced.    The Organic Superfine seemed easy to get bitter when pushed, but the Da Fo never got bitter, only trading sweetness for more umami flavor.  Where the Organic Superfine had a nice nutty flavor note, the Da Fo had an unusual black pepper flavor note which was actually more pleasant than it might sound.

The hydrated leaves again show more variance in the Organic Superfine leaf shape/size where as the Da Fo has smaller leaves that are more uniform.  A lot of this difference is due to both the cultivar difference and also the earlier harvest time of the Da Fo.  These difference are also likely responsible for differences in the flavor.

Teavivre 2016 Organic Superfine Long Jing

Life in Teacup 2016 Da Fo Long Jing

Both of these teas work well brewed straight in a glass "grandpa" style.  Due to the strength of the Organic Superfine, it's better to error on the side of less leaf than too much or expect the first few sips to possibly be bitter.  The later additions of water will show a nicer balance and the strength of these leaves help it last a long time when brewed this way.  Interestingly this method did not give me the umami flavors as much, but the nutty flavors were still there.  I actually bought the Teavivre Organic Superfine Long Jing for the purpose of drinking this way.

Teavivre 2016 Organic Superfine Long Jing

It is not my goal to say that one of these is better than the other.  I find that each one has strengths and weakness, and I would be in the mood for each one at different times.  The Da Fo is a much more delicate brew that can be appreciated more in a more focused session, and the Organic Superfine was capable of producing a nice bold full flavored green tea experience.


Link to Teavivre Organic Superfine Long Jing: http://www.teavivre.com/organic-long-jing-green-tea/
Link to Life in Teacup: http://www.lifeinteacup.com/

Boston Teawrights - Tea Processing in the Comfort of Your Own Home!

Boston Teawrights is a company that distributes freshly harvested raw Camellia sinensis tea leaves for do-it-yourself at-home processing.  They refer to someone who crafts their own tea as a “teawright” like someone who crafts a play would be a “playwright.” 

This write-up is from a fall harvest that I received in November 2015 and processed at that time.  I am just now finishing this write-up about it because I wanted to let my processed tea rest for a few months to make sure the taste was stable.

My tea shipment came in an unusual foil padded envelope, and inside was a large typical looking Taiwanese tea package.  Boston Teawrights do not go into detail about how they keep the tea from drastically deteriorating during shipping, but if I had to guess I would think that the bag has probably been flushed with something like nitrogen to limit oxidation of the leaves, and they suggest that you can refrigerate the unopened bag for a week or two if you cannot get to the processing right away.  When you place an order, you are in a way making a pre-order, and the leaves will only ship when the farm is ready to do a harvest.

Upon opening the bag, the leaves inside did have some signs of slight withering and bruising, what Boston Teawrights refers to as “storage wither,” but the edges were still mostly crisp and the leaf veins were green.  They had a slightly leathery texture and some were shiny while some were more of a matte surface.  When I first opened the bag, the leaves had a strange plastic-like and spinach aroma, but after a few minutes they began to smell more like fresh cut grass.

Pretty neat to have leaves that were still on the bushes halfway around the world just a week prior.

Deciding how to process the leaves can be a difficult choice.  Boston Teawrights gives a few steps on their website for processing as green tea or black tea, and searching around Google did provide some more information, but I had a hard time finding any fully detailed step-by-step instructions, so some improvisation may be necessary if you want to stray from the Boston Teawrights guides.  Since this was my first time trying this out, I probably should have stuck to the guides on the website, but I ended up trying a few other steps along the way, which may have been a bad idea.

I first let the leaves wilt.  This is a common step for processing black tea, oolong, or white tea. (see the chart on this Wiki page about tea processing.)  It’s hard for someone without experience to know how long the wilting process should take.  Factors such as ambient temperature and humidity will have an effect on this process, though I am not sure to what extent.  I decided that I wanted to try to make an oolong.  I watched some videos online** of tea producers in China, and I noticed that they would often shake and toss the leaves while they were wilting, so I did this as well.  Active enzymes within the leaves will cause the leaves to oxidize during this time, and the shaking and tossing of the leaves will slightly bruise the leaves which will promote faster oxidization.  The leaf edges and veins start to take on a red color.

Before and After wilting and some oxidization.  This took place over night.  The aroma became very pleasant during this time.

After this point is where I likely messed up my batch of leaves.  Boston Teawrights suggests rolling the leaves after wilting, allowing more oxidization as needed, and then they describe a process of heating the leaves in an oven at 225F for 5-10 minutes which will halt all enzymatic activity and stop oxidization, increase fragrance, etc.  This heating step is often referred to as the “kill green” step.  When making green tea, you would do a kill green step before any oxidation has occurred which will keep the leaves green after drying them.   Instead of doing this kill green step in the oven though, I tried to replicate what I saw the Chinese tea makers do in the videos I watched. They did this step in a hot wok.  I tried heating the leaves in a wok on the stove, but unfortunately I believe I got the leaves too hot and nearly burnt them.

Note the small batch to the left.  I did not heat those in a wok like the main batch.  Main batch has been twisted/rolled and ready to dry.

 The final step is to dry the leaves in a barely warm oven -- 140F.  They suggest that this may take 40-60 minutes or more depending on how much water content the leaves have.  I believe I may have over-done this step too because my leaves ended up very light weight and brittle.

In the end, I’m not exactly sure what kind of tea I ended up creating.  The leaves looks pretty, but don’t look like typical oolongs or black teas.  If anything, the color is similar to some white teas.  The dry aroma reminded me of sweet orange rind, peach, autumn leaves, but also had a burnt smell.  Oops.

I brewed my leaves in a gaiwan using my typical 5g/95ml ratio.  I experimented with water temperatures, and they handled boiling water fine without getting bitter.  The brewed tea has an initial spicy (slightly peppery) flavor note and then a very nice honey-like sweet finish.  The main flavor notes are that of autumn leaves and peaches, but also that unfortunate burnt leaf flavor which has too much weight in the flavor for me to be able to drink this tea with enjoyment.  In general it is similar to a white tea, but slightly charred.  Another bad thing about my tea is that the overall flavor is very light-- there is no intensity at all even with boiling water and longer brew times.  The aftertatse is also very weak.  I tend to regard good strong aftertaste as being a sign of a good tea, so this is not impressive at all.  I believe I simply had too much heat when processing these leaves. 

White tea?  Black tea?  Oolong?  Hard to tell.

Interestingly I did have a very small second batch of leaves-- these were the leaves that fell off my tray during the wilting process and I did not do any additional wok frying or rolling of these leaves.  I just scooped them up and placed them in the warm oven to dry.  This second batch was only about 3g of leaf and I decided to brew it all in a gaiwain in one session.  This small batch, though similar in flavor profile to the first batch, tastes much cleaner since it did not get burned, and the aftertaste is a bit stronger.  It reminds me of a white tea even more than the first batch.

Small side-batch that didn't get burnt.  Ended up similar to a white tea.

Overall this was a really fun experience and I’m glad I had the chance to do this even if my tea did not turn out wonderful.  I have talked with several people who have also processed their own tea from Boston Teawrights, two people who had the same batch as me last November, and they managed to get much better results making green tea, white tea, black tea, and even oolong.  I will definitely consider trying this again some time, and I'll be sure to get some tips from my friends next time!

Link to Boston Teawrights: http://bostonteawrights.com/

** One fun channel on YouTube to see tea processing is that of Tea Drunk from NYC.  Also, you can find some nice videos of yancha processing made by Essence of Tea. 

Taiwan Sourcing - Da Yu Ling Spring 2015

Wise tea drinkers who wish to experience the best taste, aroma, and energy that a tea has to offer know that it's best to slow down and take your time.  You should concentrate on brewing the tea correctly; you don't want to rush and understeep your tea, or get distracted and oversteep your tea.  A focused mind and attention dedicated to the brewing will allow you to extract the best qualities from the leaves.  In Chinese this is referred to as "gongfu cha" or the practice of making tea with great skill.  (And I'm not talking about a tea "ceremony" which is sometimes associated with gongfu cha, but just the act of brewing tea the best that you can with a patient focused intent.)

Taiwan Sourcing - 2015 Spring Da Yu Ling High Mountain Jade Oolong

Taking your time is also a good idea when trying to gain experience with tea.  New tea drinkers, which would include me since I'm still learning all the different types of tea and quality spectrum, get very excited about trying good tea; experiencing one good tea makes us eager to find the next good one to compare it to.  This is a good way to gain experience quickly, but we must remember to slow down and take time to get to know each category of tea well.  This is the type of experience that must be acquired with patience to expose oneself to many complexities and characteristics within the same type of tea over time.  I doubt everyone would be able to agree on how much time it may take to gain a good understanding of any one type of tea, but it is obvious that the time cannot be quick.   Perhaps there actually is no finish line since we can continue to drink new teas throughout life.

But things get complicated when it comes to high mountain (gaoshan) oolong from Taiwan's Da Yu Ling area.  Some of the most famous quality gaoshan oolongs have come from the highest peak of Li Mountain, known as Da Yu Ling, and demand (and thus price) for these teas is quite high.  It would make sense for someone on a tea journey to get to know more accessible gaoshan oolongs first before finally reaching for something like Da Yu Ling. The issue though is that there are fewer Da Yu Ling tea farms now than just a couple years ago since the Taiwanese government has reclaimed some of this high mountain land to protect the peak from the negative side effects of farming, such as erosion and landslides.  Other farm area may be used for different agricultural products too, not always teas.   I do not know the future of tea from this area-- perhaps some tea will still be grown at Da Yu Ling for years to come, or perhaps not, but it is clear that the "famous" Da Yu Ling teas from the highest farms are already gone.  Those of us who have not had them, we may have waited too long.  But is it too late to have any good tea from Da Yu Ling at all?

Thankfully the Taiwan Sourcing team (taiwanoolongs.com) have trekked the winding narrow roads of Li Shan to reach Da Yu Ling and returned with what they believe is still a perfect Da Yu Ling oolong.  I have decided to delay no longer.  Now is my time to try Da Yu Ling.

Taiwan Sourcing - 2015 Spring Da Yu Ling High Mountain Jade Oolong

(Taiwan Sourcing wrote a 3 part blog entry about their trip to Da Yu Ling.  Some great photos there.  Linked here is part I.  Click "next post" at the end to get to part II, then part III.  http://taiwanoolongs.com/blogs/ ...)

Although I have shopped with Yunnan Sourcing several times, this is my first order with their new sister company Taiwan Sourcing (taiwanoolongs.com).  I ordered four different Spring 2015 oolongs, including this Da Yu Ling Jade.  I was happy to see that the oolong I ordered came vacuum sealed, which I believe is very helpful at locking in the freshness that makes this type of oolong so good.  Although I've read that some oolong has aging potential, these "jade-style" oolongs may not be the best choice for aging and are probably best consumed as fresh as possible.  This tea was harvested in Spring 2015, but the vacuum seal has allowed it to stay very vibrantly green and aromatic.

Taiwan Sourcing - 2015 Spring Da Yu Ling High Mountain Jade Oolong

In the past I have always brewed jade style oolong with water around 185 degrees (Fahrenheit).  I've heard though that high quality oolongs, even ones that are on the green end of the oxidization spectrum, will be able to handle boiling water just fine.  So far I have tried a couple different approaches, and as of right now I have settled on 200 degree water for this tea.  When brewed with water right under a boil it was certainly good and never became bitter, but the slightly lower temperature seemed to bring out a little more sweetness which I liked.

With this type of tea it is not really necessary to do a rinse.  I always expect the first 30 second infusion of a rolled oolong to be a bit weak because the leaves are still re-hydrating and unrolling, but I usually go ahead and drink this infusion instead of tossing it out like a rinse.  With the Da Yu Ling though I was amazed that even this weak first infusion was just as strong and flavorful as the best infusion of some lower quality jade oolongs I've had.  What a great start and an indication that this tea really is as good as I hoped it would be.

Taiwan Sourcing - 2015 Spring Da Yu Ling High Mountain Jade Oolong

The aroma coming from the wet leaf and even the liquor was very strong and rich.  All the great gaoshan aromas were there-- buttery honey and fruity notes (this time being peach/apricot), and the Da Yu Ling also had a deep cooked greens vegetal aroma balanced with a gingerbread or brown sugar sweetness.

I was surprised to find that the mouthfeel was actually somewhat active.  Not as much as a good sheng puerh, but this tea definitely awakens the tongue, and the vibrant yellow liquor has a thick broth-like consistency.

The taste is bursting with tea perfume flavor.  I used the typical amount of leaf that I normally would for this type of tea (5g in 80ml), but the flavor overall is much more intense than I've had from others.  The tea has the buttery honey flavors that I like in goashan, but it also has a rich vegetal taste. Taiwan Sourcing notes that this is the result of high altitude slow growth and processing.  This is definitely one of those teas that can truly be described as being like a soup.

The aftertaste blossoms in the mouth immediately after swallowing and is very unique.  It has tea perfume and guava characteristics, but as those initial flavors fade, I also get a sense of fresh spring air and I am immediately reminded of the photos from part III of Taiwan Sourcing's Da Yu Ling blog entry where they are laying in the grass drinking oolong.   This fresh air is not the absence of taste though, but it is instead as if the tea has a cleansing effect. This effect is so strong that I get a really interesting sensation that my mouth has been cleaned and refreshed, as if drinking a cold glass of pure spring water outside on a pleasant spring day.  Perhaps this is the qi of Da Yu Ling.

By the time I decide that I have reached the end of this tea I feel a sensation of fullness as if I have finished eating a meal.  I can tell that this is a good quality tea because the flavor is so consistent and potent over many infusions.  It does not suddenly drop off or turn bad, or perhaps it is turning out so good because I am taking my time to brew it as well as I can.

Taiwan Sourcing - 2015 Spring Da Yu Ling High Mountain Jade Oolong

I am glad that I decided to go ahead and try Da Yu Ling oolong while I had the opportunity to find one from a trusted tea seller.  Although I have reached this wonderful peak, I know I am not finished yet with discovering and learning about Taiwanese gaoshan.  I am going to continue my tea journey by seeing what else Taiwan can offer, and I feel like Taiwan Sourcing is doing a great job at this as well.  Looking through their list of other teas, I see that they are also exploring some mountains and regions that I am not familiar with, such as Lala Shan, Wu She, and Fu Shou Shan.  I look forward to trying all these other regions next, but for now I am going to slow down, relax and patiently enjoy the rest of my Da Yu Ling.


Link to Taiwan Sourcing's 2015 Spring Da Yu Ling.

Taiwan Tea Crafts - Red Jade Black

I recently did a tea trade with fellow tea drinker and received a generous 25g packet of Red Jade black tea sold by Taiwan Tea Crafts.  My friend also sent a 25g packet of Taiwan Tea Craft's GABA oolong, but I am trying the Red Jade first.  I have never actually ordered any teas from this vendor, but am thankful for the opportunity to give a couple of their teas a try.

This particular packet of Red Jade that I have is lot #346 and is the 2014 version of the current 2015 Sun Moon Lake Red Jade, which is a TRES #18 style black tea.  As I briefly mentioned in my Formosa Assam entry in August, Taiwan's Tea Research Extension Station (TRES) in the Sun Moon Lake/Yuchi area of Nantou County has done extensive research to develop various Camellia sinensis tea hybrids, and TRES #18 is one of the most popular Taiwanese black teas.  The 2014 and the 2015 versions of this tea are from the the same farmer/producer, and the foil package contained an oxygen scavenger packet which has likely helped keep this tea extremely fresh.

This offering from Taiwan Tea Crafts is a near perfect Taiwanese black tea.  The dry leaf is very fragrant with a nice fruity aroma and the leaves are very long and mostly whole.  The wet leaf has a yummy fruity sweet candy-like aroma which also comes across in the flavor.  Like my other favorite Taiwanese black tea, this one has lots of berry flavors and a nice creaminess to it.  The sweet berry flavors are held up by a solid foundation that I simply call "black tea" flavor-- it's the part of the flavor that gives the tea some boldness.  The mouthfeel is also very bold, thick, yet soft, and a hint of astringency.  Like many good teas, Red Jade provides a strong pleasant aftertaste similar to the main taste, and the leave have wonderful resteepability.  I used 5g in a 120ml gaiwan and almost ran my 1.7L kettle dry while brewing this tea today.  I imagine the leaves could have gone even further.

Again, I have not tried any other teas from Taiwan Tea Crafts yet, but Red Jade was an excellent introduction for me.  (I will try the GABA oolong soon.)  If the quality of Red Jade is representative of their other teas, then I look forward to shopping with them quite a bit in the future to try more of their large selection of oolong and black teas!

Tea From Vietnam (.com)

On September 2nd, Tea From Vietnam had a Vietnamese Independence Day sale and offered their tea 20% off and a reduced free shipping threshold.  I decided to take advantage this great sale and I picked up three of their oolong teas: Golden Lily (Jin Xuan), Ta, and Gui Fei.  I also received a sample of their "Red Lily" which is a black tea made from Jin Xuan leaf.

While thinking of my new Vietnamese teas, I had a craving for some pho and thought this would make a perfect pairing.

Unfortunately though, I made my pho much too spicy which completely ruined my palate.  I cannot possibly enjoy tea right now so instead I will use this time to read Tea From Vietnam's blog and learn a little bit more about them.

Tien Vu launched Tea From Vietnam earlier this year and is proud to offer tea produced by his family in the northern province of Thai Nguyen, Vietnam.  Mr. Vu respects the history, reputation, and ideal terroir associated with Chinese, Taiwanese, and Japanese teas and does not try to claim that his teas will outdo the best of those traditional teas but instead promotes his teas as examples of some of the finest tea that Vietnam can offer to a tea lover wanting to experience tea from other regions.  Although Taiwanese style teas have been grown in Vietnam only in recent years, Mr Vu has provided an in depth review of the history of tea from the Vietnamese perspective which shows how deep the tea roots really are in Vietnam and the importance of the Thai Nguyen province for high quality tea production.

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Of the teas I have in my order, the Golden Lily and the Ta oolongs both fall in the "jade" (low roast/low oxidization) oolong category.  The Golden Lily, as expected, is made from the Jin Xuan cultivar of leaf which was introduced to Vietnam from Taiwan a couple decades ago.  The Ta oolong though is a cultivar that is unique to Vietnam and is why I wanted to give it a try.

 

These two teas may seem pretty similar at fist.  The oxidation level is about the same and they both brew up a nice looking very clear light yellow liquor.  Both teas have the distinct "gao shan" aroma that you would expect from this style of oolong, and since these teas were grown at or slightly higher than 1,000m elevation, they may qualify as "high mountain" oolongs if defining that term by elevation alone.  The aroma does present slightly differently for each of these teas though.  Both teas smell of sweet honey and buttery toffee, but the Golden Lily is more vegetal and reminds me of tomatoes where as the Ta leaves are more floral with a slight nutty/cashew aroma.

The mouthfeel of the Golden Lily is surprisingly active with some pleasant atringency, though not much body, and the Ta oolong is very smooth and coats the mouth.

Golden Lily, also known as Jin Xuan is sometimes marketed as "milk oolong" due to a natural milk-like flavor that it can sometimes have.  The Vietnamese Jin Xuan definitely has a very creamy taste.  I even let my 5 year old daughter have a sip and she herself said that it tasted a bit "like milk and something else."  The "something else" in my opinion is the vegetal almost green tea-like flavors resulting from the low oxidization.  The green tea-like flavor also has a nutty characteristic to it like you might find in Dragonwell or some other green teas.  Although the vegetal flavor does dominate at first, there is a good floral aspect as well and later steeps reveal a pleasant lychee flavor.  (To avoid confusion, I should mention that this "milky" flavor is definitely a natural flavor in the tea and should not be confused with artificially flavored milk oolongs sold elsewhere.  TeaFromVietnam doesn't even mention this alternate name of Jin Xuan, but it's just a flavor note I picked up on.)

The Golden Lily aftertaste is slightly peppery early on, but then later becomes more floral.  Of the few times I have brewed this tea now, I find that it does best with slightly more leaf than I originally thought I would need.  Not much more, but an extra one half to one gram seemed to really help this tea deliver a fuller flavor and not taper off as quickly.  As the tea does taper off though, long infusions can produce a good vegetal tea soup that still provides an interesting floral aftertaste.

Tea From Vietnam - Golden Lily oolong - Great looking leaves!

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The flavor of the Ta oolong is also very creamy, but it does not have the same dominating vegetal nature as the Golden Lily and instead has a nice citrus (orange, grapefruit) flavor with lemongrass and a nice floral perfume taste in the back of the throat.  Subsequent infusions reveal more light honey sweetness that combines with the creaminess to create a sugar cookie-like taste.  The enjoyable aftertaste is floral and lingering.  

Tea From Vietnam - Ta oolong - Also great looking leaves!

Another difference between Golden Lily and Ta is the price.  Golden Lily is $5.90 for 50g and Ta is $11.90 for 50g.  Part of the price difference is likely due to supply-- Jin Xuan cultivar is grown more commonly than Ta and is a high yield cultivar which can make it more affordable.  Of course personal preference will dictate if these are good deals, but I think the prices are good.  Although I am not personally a huge fan of the milky vegetal flavor of Golden Lily, I enjoy the tea enough that I think it's definitely worth $5.90 for 50g and I would be happy to buy this tea again as a daily drinker jade oolong.  I also think that the higher price for the Ta oolong is a good deal too because I prefer the flavor profile of the Ta much more-- it's a well balanced tea with good gao shan flavor and complexity. 

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In contrast to the low oxidized Golden Lily, I also received a small sample of the Red Lily which is a black tea made from Jin Xuan leaf.  Red Lily is fully oxidized and has a medium bake/roast. Close examination of the leaf though does show some greenness.

Due to the rolled nature of this tea and large leaf size, it seems to do better with more leaf than I typically use for black tea-- a good leaf to water ratio would be similar to what I use for oolongs, roughly 5g per 80ml, though I would like to experiment more to see if any other parameters would have an effect on this tea.  The first time I brewed it I did not use enough leaf so I used more leaf the second time which helped.

The Red Lily brews up a beautiful clear orange liquor and the leaves unroll fairly quickly and give off an aroma of dark raisins, black cherries, dark chocolate and a hint of strawberry.  The first infusion had a darker version of that milky "jin xuan" taste which I did not enjoy, but the tea became much more enjoyable in the second and third infusions where it transformed into a nice peach cobbler with ice cream flavor, dark cherry, and cotton candy.  Later it reminded me of apple cider spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc), dried orange peel, and figs with a similar aftertaste having a brown sugar sweetness.  Occasionally though I would get a slight milky reminder that this is Jin Xuan which is not something I'm used to in black teas and that made it difficult for me to really enjoy this one as much as I did the oolongs.  At $6.90 per 50g though, it may be worth a try for something unique as it is the only black tea available right now from Tea From Vietnam, but I would like to see them offer some others in the future-- perhaps a Vietnamese version of an Assam would be really interesting.  

Tea From Vietnam - Red Lily - Really nice looking leave, some greenness to them despite being a black tea.

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My final tea from Vietnam is the Gui Fei oolong.  This type of oolong is low roast but moderately oxidized and is similar to Oriental Beauty in that leafhopper insects are allowed to nibble on the leaves prior to harvest which causes the leaves to produce additional flavor compounds that add an extra layer of complexity and sweetness to the tea.

The Gui Fei ended up being my favorite tea that I tried from Vietnam.  The wet leaf is very fragrant of dark honey, nutmeg, raisin, a hint of chocolate, and the muscat grape that is common in Darjeelings and also leafhopper oolongs.  The liquor is an orange dark honey color and the mouthfeel is very soft yet has enough pleasant astringency to keep it interesting.

The initial flavor reminds me of gingerbread and molasses with a rose floral note.  The middle infusions are where it begins to taste like an autumn flush Darjeeling and muscat grape and it has a nice caramel sweetness.  The later steeps bring out some citrus flavors like lemon and lime.  The flavor alone is really enjoyable, but the aftertaste is what makes this tea my favorite.  Over the gingerbread base is a very intense floral aftertaste like red roses.  Overall this is a very pleasant tea to sip slowly and enjoy without haste.  This tea sells for $11.90 per 50g which I think is an excellent deal. (They also offer their teas in larger quantities for less per gram too.)

Tea From Vietnam - Gui Fei oolong - Also very high quality looking leaves - mostly "two leaf one bud" configuration

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In addition to these four teas, Tea From Vietnam also has a couple more oolongs and a few green teas.  I did not order any green teas this time, but I have a fellow tea friend who did order some of the greens and found them quite enjoyable.  I look forward to trying those in my next order!  At the time of writing this, they provide free shipping on orders over $30, but orders under $30 ship for a flat rate of only $4.90, so these teas are very accessible to anyone in the world.