TeaChat

Si Ji Chun

oxidation 12% harvest December 2010. 1000m.
something between TGY and Tsui Yu;) Nantou province in the central massif of Taiwan

A stuffed pot of Red Blossom, 2011 Ai Jiao, Wu yi area grown tea.

It is quite nice. The tea has a nice medium-low roast to it. The aroma is robust and complex with both cocoa and floral notes. It reminds me of some decent DHP's I have tried. The liquor is pretty well represented by the aroma. They mix and mingle for a pretty long aftertaste.

Not a totally mind blowing tea, but better than an average daily drinker.

I have yet to brew it to completion, but so far it appears to hold up well to multiple brews and pushing. The mid-tones are a bit raw. It could probably stand a year or two more of aging.

Remarkably 'boring' teaweek: lots and lots of a few teas, continuing today with infusion after infusion of the "Imperial" Tie Guan Yin from Yunnan Sourcing. Mmmm. I'll be all ready for some Alishan or Lishan by the time I'm done with this packet.

TenRen (Taiwanese brand) toasted TGY. I can appreciate this stuff now after drinking lighter TGY. Quite enjoying the sourness and toasty flavor.

ZeDa Hwangcha - nice tiny leaves with vibrant smell of autumnal garden. Really natural and tasty with aspects of many many teas I've tasted so far! When I was tasting it I encountered:
- light herby notes similar to wild grown hongchas from Tong Mu Gan in Wuyishan
- sweetness and freshness of good Oriental Beauty Oolong
- light, not bitter malty tastes of Keemun Hongcha

It seems to be a little bit "darker" than other korean hwangchas I have tasted.
I appreciate the work of teamaster Hong.

...and now: it's time for some dark roasted Dongding oolong from mr. Lao Ming selection.

2011 Spring Mi Lan Xiang Phoenix Dancong Oolong

Five Star Tea

so fruity and sweet...all infusions has 20 sec.

A very dark roasted TGY from a traditional roaster here in HK. Definite coconut notes to it.

I am drinking a very heavily roasted tky as well.

The cool mornings are perfect for oolong. Today, 2011 wuyi yancha high fired old bush Shu Xian from the Mndarin Tea Room. A bouquet of varied taste notes, and this time I could actually taste some of the more obscure notes mentioned on the website. I need to take a break after 6 infusions but I look forward to more infusions after lunch.

This is my first year with yancha - when do the 2012 tea begin to appear on the virtual shelves? And is moving on to the new tea as important as with greens?

JRS22 wrote:when do the 2012 tea begin to appear on the virtual shelves? And is moving on to the new tea as important as with greens?

I've already spotted one 2012, but usually don't see a lot of them for another month or two.

Moving on to the new teas is nothing like as critical as with greens--some yanchas are deliberately aged, even, like puerhs, and highly prized. I've preferred the unaged versions, but have bought and enjoyed yanchas that were a couple of years old, with no loss of wonderfulness.

Another 5 infusions of the Shu Xian from MTR that I began yesterday. That's 11 delicious infusions in all, brewed in my beautiful thick porcelain Seong Il pot!

Trying the Winter Ba Xian from Jing for the first time. Wow, so fragrant and floral, awesome. I should try more dan cong.

Tea Habitat: 2011 Jiang Mu Xiang Phoenix Dan Cong
Ginger Flower Fragrance
Original Mother Tree
From Imen.
I brewed 5 grams in a porcelain gaiwan with family. I tried to go light on it and then expand the brewing parameters. The leaf aroma in the hot gaiwan was quite beautiful. It had that DC broad complex floral palate.

Can a tea be both delicate yet carry depth? This one seemed to. It is hard to not get worked up about the opportunity to drink a mother tree tea. The heavens did not part, but it wasin line with the top-high end samples Imen brewed for me in LA. (that post to come, I am way behind!)

I do not pretend to understand all the classes of exotic eastern flower smells these teas apparently exude.

As with the other top DC's, this one did not go bitter. However DC has that relatively fragile boundry between extracting flavor and going to far and "cooking the egg." I felt that some of my brews explored that realm. In the end it is a very sophisticated subtle tea. It was not that bigger rich "chicken soup" kind of DC. Nice long permeance in the mouth from it's essence. The lighter brews brought out more of a honeysuckle sweetness.

Pics:

BioHorn wrote:Tea Habitat: 2011 Jiang Mu Xiang Phoenix Dan Cong
Ginger Flower Fragrance
Original Mother Tree
From Imen.
I brewed 5 grams in a porcelain gaiwan with family. I tried to go light on it and then expand the brewing parameters. The leaf aroma in the hot gaiwan was quite beautiful. It had that DC broad complex floral palate.

Can a tea be both delicate yet carry depth? This one seemed to. It is hard to not get worked up about the opportunity to drink a mother tree tea. The heavens did not part, but it wasin line with the top-high end samples Imen brewed for me in LA. (that post to come, I am way behind!)

I do not pretend to understand all the classes of exotic eastern flower smells these teas apparently exude.

As with the other top DC's, this one did not go bitter. However DC has that relatively fragile boundry between extracting flavor and going to far and "cooking the egg." I felt that some of my brews explored that realm. In the end it is a very sophisticated subtle tea. It was not that bigger rich "chicken soup" kind of DC. Nice long permeance in the mouth from it's essence. The lighter brews brought out more of a honeysuckle sweetness.

Pics:

a bit confused here. Is this the $10,000/500g private stash of Imen's? Thought she wasn't selling that?

Interesting the color, kind of a mix of pale mandarin & pale yellow...strange some of the DC's come out like that in stead of pure pale straw yellow.

Btw, just about *any* DC can go bitter, at least that's my experience with tea that Imen used to brew at her store, especially with the thicker /expensive line of Chaozhou pots. In fact, if you let the tea cool down enough to lukewarm (gong fu style brewing) via oxidation or whatever, *most* DC's will get some bitterness.

wh&yel-apprentice wrote:

BioHorn wrote:Tea Habitat: 2011 Jiang Mu Xiang Phoenix Dan Cong
Ginger Flower Fragrance
Original Mother Tree
From Imen.

a bit confused here. Is this the $10,000/500g private stash of Imen's? Thought she wasn't selling that?

I got a free sample of it when I placed an order a couple of months ago, but it did require a sizable order total.