TeaChat

Today a cool,cleansing wind tears chaotic at the crimson maple leaves; chimes clang arrhythmically, and tossed branches scrape the tea room window...Autumn. I pour TTC's Lishan Cui Feng wulong tea (lot 217?) and have some very enjoyable rounds in a 150ml Novak glazed pot and glazed cups with Fiji water, heated in a Bonavita and poured for 8 rounds with a new tea setting at the tea table. As is often the case, the pour finishes with my general sense of gratitude renewed.

Blessings!

Post wind-storm day...calm and sweet, a slight chill in the air through the window: I pour TTC Long Feng Xia Taiwan wulong with Evian water in an Andrzej Bero glazed kyusu and white, crackle glazed cups for 9 rich, tangy, sweet rounds. The association I had with a few of the rounds (rounds 4 and 5 I believe) was of starfruit. Pouring the Long Feng Xia in a glazed kyusu, in glazed cups the high notes of tea really came through, particularly a wonderful huigan in the first three rounds that accompanied a very smooth, slick mouthfeel, with a lot of forward mouth flavor.

Blessings!

A busy day, so I rewarded myself this evening with Bai Ye Wang (King of white leaf) Dan Cong from Tea Habitat. Mellow, sweet, floral, delicious--brewed in a glazed kyusu, so the aroma came through without any loss of the delicate notes. Mmmm.

Just started a session with some baked four season (Si Ji Chun cultivar, harvested in the month of May of the current year, Baguashan - Nantou County).

I had a session with LiShan 2012 winter oolong yesterday, which affected me in a weird manner, the tea was lovely at first but the taste was very intense in a way, I got woozy after the second cup which I thought was the "tea high" that has been mentioned at times, and after the third cup I got jittery and developed a bit of a headache.

I love this tea, it has magical qualities, but I think I need to use a bit less of it because after the third cup the feeling was unpleasant.

Sea Dyke TGY--old faithful--nice to enjoy it brewed carefully in Petr's kyusu, bringing out the plummy notes often missed when I bulk brew it for out & about days. Not a great tea, but an always reliably pleasing tea.

First day home to the tea room after a five day trip on the Northern California coast (Encountered a new (for me) teaware artisan, Cliff Glover, and picked up a new bowl. (http://www.northcoastartists.org/cliff-glover.html)). It's good to be back and be in a prepared space to sit for tea. I pour TTC Lishan Cui Feng wulong in a 150ml stone teapot in thin to medium walled, glazed Petr Novak tea cups for 9 rounds. The stone alters the mouthfeel, makes it less slippery, more gritty, minimizes any buttery elements and lengthens the flavor, spreading it throughout the mouth, while still providing a pleasant Lishan huigan; the sweetness is still there but not as tangy or bright...all in all pleasant.

Traveling and tummy troubles kept me away from tea for a long stretch. My first tea back is a Wuyi oolong, a 2012 Lao Zhongshan Shu Xian from the now defunct Five Star Tea.

Yesterday I brewed it in a tiny glazed gaiwan from Greenwood Studio and was disappointed. There were smoky notes that I didn't enjoy, although the resident coffee drinker didn't notice them. Today I brewed the same tea with the same parameters in my Beros shib made from a red/brown clay and unglazed on the inside. It adjusted the flavor profile just enough to remove the few unpleasant notes so that I can enjoy all the pleasant ones.



The wide shallow flared shape means that this shib is comfortable to use with the hot water that oolong requires. I bought it on a whim because I liked the bluish crawling glaze which is similar to the glaze on the hobin I was buying. I didn't know what I was going to use it for but it's found a home with all my Wuyi oolong samples.

JRS22 wrote: a 2012 Lao Zhongshan Shu Xian from the now defunct Five Star Tea.

What happened with Five Star Tea? I didn't realise they'd closed.

They sent out an email in August announcing a closing sale with no explanation. I vaguely recall a discussion here about one partner not really wanting to work at the tea business but it doesn't turn up when I search for it.

Started with a puerh today, but quickly back to oolongs--some Imperial TGY from Yunnan Sourcing, and now some traditional roast Da Hong Pao from Norbu. Light to dark, floral to earthy, oolong happiness in Yi Yong Cheol pot and Seigan Oribe Hagi.

JRS22 wrote:They sent out an email in August announcing a closing sale with no explanation. I vaguely recall a discussion here about one partner not really wanting to work at the tea business but it doesn't turn up when I search for it.

Thanks... I'd missed that. It makes sense if they weren't both heading in the same direction.

Enjoying more of the Imperial TGY from Yunnan Sourcing today, which has such a deep floral power to it--a heaviness, almost, but not like too much perfume, more a depth of the floral quality that is quite refreshing to return to after months of Taiwanese Mountain Oolongs--lovely teas in their own right, but quite different.

I'll be happy to go back to my mountain tea when this pouch is empty too.

Some of ethan's red Thai oolong. Looks like high fire TGY dry, but smells sweeter. Using a Taiwanese porcelain infuser mug for this.

After a rinse, I noticed a fair amount of dust (not tea dust) in the first brew. Nice, deep, red color, and good, sweet flavor; tastes like a black tea, perhaps a sweeter and less astringent Assam, or a Chinese black lychee tea (with less distinctive lychee, but still a hint of something, and it is somewhat like lychee). Interesting stuff, and not what I expected! Kind of like an aged TW oolong (baozhong), but you know it's not.

This is the first tea I've had in two weeks. The first infusion put me to sleep like a baby last night. It's good to be drinking tea again! I've been drinking coffee (especially Filipino kapeng Tagalog out of a Vietnamese coffee maker), and the feeling the tea leaves me with is so much more peaceful and pleasant.