Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

[ethan]

I'm hoping there'll be some gems, despite my past tea drinking experience. Still haven't had a Darjeeling (from any year) as good as 2011 Jun Chiyabari. That was simply heaven in a cup.

I don't know a word for tea that is the equivalent of "vintage" for wine, though there are times when a tea is produced that is special. If somehow you have not noticed, I post quite often about Himalayan Orange (HOR) from Jun Chiyabari. When I first tasted teas from that company, I was tasting a few other black teas from them & 2 other flushes of the HOR besides the one that is my favorite. The flush that I consider special was harvested in late summer 2014. I think many people would call it an Autumn Flush. (Not most people's favorite flush of darjeeling.)

Anyway, the company had 10 kilograms of that late summer 2014 tea remaining for sale & I bought all of them. I drink it several times a week. Sometimes I think it has changed a little since I bought it, but it is more likely I change, not the tea. I have drunk so much of it that some days it does not seem so special; yet, other times it stuns me w/ how much I like it.

I sell HOR via Teaswap (hit Community, then Teaswap, then look for Ethan) if you want to order some.

Several of the Teachatters who have bought this "vintage" HOR from me have re-ordered. I don't remember anyone saying it is his very favorite tea or the very best tea. It is "special".

[Milo]

If somehow you have not noticed, I post quite often about Himalayan Orange (HOR) from Jun Chiyabari.

Indeed I have! I was hoping you'd chime in. Rainfall reports are hard to come by (or maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places), so I rely on the reports of those who've tried the first flushes of the year. Akira Hojo is the only tea vendor I can think of that does this but I admit I'm not the most adventurous reader of tea vendor blogs. I just happen to like his a lot (see my related post in 'Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion' thread (http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=5055). If there are others, I'd be eager to follow them.

According to my order history with Upton, the Jun Chiyabari tea that I liked was indeed the HOR (first flush). I've tried their Imperial (purchased through Klasek Tea who, based on their selection, seems to have the JC estate on speed-dial) but did not like it as much.

I really like the brightness and sharpness of first flush muscatel teas (as temperamental as they can be to brew) so I tend to prefer them over the second/summer flushes, which usually taste 'darker' and more round to me. How does the 2014 JC HOR summer flush compare with its spring sibling?

[ethan]

You got it right. I did taste the 1st & 2nd flushes of 2014, though I believe they were not labeled as such. The dates of their packing was on the packets. Whatever, you got it right. Sharper flavors, perhaps slightly harsh for me, in those earlier flushes, led me to the rounder less astringent last flush of the year.

I only like light astringency. In fact Teadoff once treated me to phenomenally flavorful cup of a first flush darjeeling (sorry I cannot remember the estate) but as the dryness remained in my mouth for so long a time, I decided the powerful flavor was not worth having the mouthfeel that I dislike.

The tea of Dhankuta, Nepal, seems to me to offer flavor like Darjeeling, India, w/ less astringency & more roundness. Bolder, sharper tea feels unpleasantly medicinal to me. I do want to taste what you like to taste, I don't want to feel it.

As to vendors. I don't know how many taste & then decide what to buy constantly. Producers don't offer everything to every vendor of course. If you found one coming through for you consistently, that is an accomplishment.

[Milo]

The tea of Dhankuta, Nepal, seems to me to offer flavor like Darjeeling, India, w/ less astringency & more roundness.

That actually sounds pretty tasty! I don't mind some roundness as long as it still has an edge somewhere. I recall having an Assam while in Seattle (not Remedy Teas) that was the best of all three worlds: aromatic, light (for an Assam), and with just the right amount of roundness appropriate for an Assam. I regret not asking the place (which was a brunch & lunch kind of operation) where they got it.

In fact, the only tea from Teabox that I've liked is an Assam, so maybe my tastes are shifting and I just haven't noticed. Of the eight Darjeelings I received (two each of white, green, oolong, and black), I've tried five (one white, both greens, both blacks) and not one of them did anything for me. I find it hard to believe that my tastes would've shifted so much in so little time. Unless 2016 has just been a dud year, something seems amiss.

[Alucard]

Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong #1 and #2 from White2Tea's tea club this evening. Both were good, but prefer #2.

[jayinhk]

The tea of Dhankuta, Nepal, seems to me to offer flavor like Darjeeling, India, w/ less astringency & more roundness.

That actually sounds pretty tasty! I don't mind some roundness as long as it still has an edge somewhere. I recall having an Assam while in Seattle (not Remedy Teas) that was the best of all three worlds: aromatic, light (for an Assam), and with just the right amount of roundness appropriate for an Assam. I regret not asking the place (which was a brunch & lunch kind of operation) where they got it.

In fact, the only tea from Teabox that I've liked is an Assam, so maybe my tastes are shifting and I just haven't noticed. Of the eight Darjeelings I received (two each of white, green, oolong, and black), I've tried five (one white, both greens, both blacks) and not one of them did anything for me. I find it hard to believe that my tastes would've shifted so much in so little time. Unless 2016 has just been a dud year, something seems amiss.

Did those teas just come in? If so, you might want to let them rest for a few weeks to give you a better representation of what they really have to offer.

[kuánglóng]

The tea of Dhankuta, Nepal, seems to me to offer flavor like Darjeeling, India, w/ less astringency & more roundness.

That actually sounds pretty tasty! I don't mind some roundness as long as it still has an edge somewhere. I recall having an Assam while in Seattle (not Remedy Teas) that was the best of all three worlds: aromatic, light (for an Assam), and with just the right amount of roundness appropriate for an Assam. I regret not asking the place (which was a brunch & lunch kind of operation) where they got it.

In fact, the only tea from Teabox that I've liked is an Assam, so maybe my tastes are shifting and I just haven't noticed. Of the eight Darjeelings I received (two each of white, green, oolong, and black), I've tried five (one white, both greens, both blacks) and not one of them did anything for me. I find it hard to believe that my tastes would've shifted so much in so little time. ...

Did those teas just come in? If so, you might want to let them rest for a few weeks to give you a better representation of what they really have to offer.

In case of Darjeelings, especially First Flushes it can't harm to start sampling them right away and get an idea on how they evolve over time (weeks/months). Those teas lose their top notes more rapidly than most other teas out there - the fresher they are the better this phenomenon can be observed. Some of those teas might reach their climax at some point further down the road but that's something highly subjective and for many folks over here those ephemeral overtones represent the very soul of FF teas and they pay those extra €€ to get them as fresh as possible ('Flugtee' - flown in vs. transported by ship).
I've sampled more than 40 2016 first flush Darjeelings during the last two months and as usual, after that time the first teas that came in have mellowed out significantly and lost the better part of their overtones already which is 'OK' for some teas but less than OK for others as far as my impressions and preferences are concerned. YMMV.

Unless 2016 has just been a dud year, something seems amiss.

So far it doesn't look too bad, despite the somewhat dry stretch but you'd really need some more samples to get a better idea about this season. I'm afraid even my 40+ FF samples are not quite enough to come to a definite conclusion in this regard but there sure are some really nice teas among them.
BTW, I was lucky to get some consecutive invoices of three gardens this year and have ...loads of fun with comparative brewings.

[jayinhk]

I only suggested two weeks rest to help them settle down after traveling all that way! Travel does funny things to tea.

[kuánglóng]

I only suggested two weeks rest to help them settle down after traveling all that way! Travel does funny things to tea.

Certainly, Jay, I'm glad you've mentioned this aspect The strange thing is that it has also happened to properly sealed teas that I've carried in my onboard luggage on my trips back from Asia - back home they often needed weeks to recover from whatever might have affected them. Interestingly I couldn't observe the same effect when I took some tea, say from Darjeeling (2300m above sea level) to the hot plains where our monastery is located - no matter if they were fresh from the garden or somewhat rested.
My actual point was to sample the tea anyway to get a better idea of those effects and other developments over time - a little over a gram in a small (80-100ml) gaiwan or tasting set is all it needs sometimes. I guess I've learned as much from negatively affected or badly processed tea as from better leaves in their heydays.

[Tead Off]

BTW, I was lucky to get some consecutive invoices of three gardens this year and have ...loads of fun with comparative brewings.

What can you tell us concerning the consecutive invoices of a garden?

[kuánglóng]

BTW, I was lucky to get some consecutive invoices of three gardens this year and have ...loads of fun with comparative brewings.

What can you tell us concerning the consecutive invoices of a garden?

Comparative evalutions and blind tests have been a part of my job for many years and are a bit of an obsession of mine . I'm regularily drinking more than one tea at a time (with some water on the side) and more often than not consecutive invoices can take that game to another level, especially when those teas are so similar in all regards that they're really hard to distinguish as it can be the case sometimes. So, in a nutshell they can be anything from nearly indistinguishable to distinctly different due to having been processed from different raw material (coming from different areas of an estate), weather influences and/or differences in processing//transport/storage.
In case of these 2016 FF invoices, I've done a number of tastings and blind (enough) tests but will continue these tests every couple days until I've finished the 50g I have of each tea. After a couple weeks they already seem to take different turns in their development, some losing their overtones faster than others, while others turn more fruity or there are notes showing up that I haven't noticed when I just got the tea etc...
It's all pretty fascinating and an excellent training for the senses especially when it comes to FF DJs and sheng Pu where you're dealing with something very much alive.

[ethan]

I drank 3 black teas yesterday

I have varied too much in my enjoyment of some teas though I know they are excellent. I decided to be mindful & careful. I used a digital scale to weigh leaves, a timer w/ a beeper to time steeping, & the temperature control on the electric kettle to heat water at exactly 99C. I preheated all of the teaware. I steeped each tea twice--1 1/2 minute infusions.

I used a celadon teapot that holds 6 ounces + leaves.

Nepal: Morning: The first cup of HOR was so aromatic. About halfway through I realized I was drinking it too fast & had burned my tongue a little. I prepared the second infusion & added half of that to the first. I drank that combination slowly. I did not drink the remaining 3 ounces of the 2nd infusion until 2 hours later (at room temperature). All of this HOR was delicious. The fantastic aroma of the 1st infusion does not present for the 2nd, but flavor is as bountiful.

Taiwan: Mid-afternoon: Nine Years: I haven't settled on steeping times for this tea & don't know that the timing yesterday was ideal. I do believe that combining the infusions is. I only drank 1 ounce of each infusion straight & did drink almost all of the combined infusions. Delicious w/ a lot of the flavor coming as aftertaste. Evening: Black TGY: 1st: Some aroma & flavor of TGY oolong in the first few sips, then it begins to be much more of a black tea. Delicious. Again, the best tea is the combined infusions but drinking some of each infusion is good to do, especially if one steeps the 1st infusion for only a minute to highlight TGY-oolong qualities & then steep the 2nd for 2 minutes to accentuate the black qualities.

Conclusion: 1. I enjoy combining infusions in a server. (I learned to preheat it & often have it sitting in a bowl of hot water.) 2. I am preparing too much tea at a time. Yesterday, I was able to concentrate on the tea & space my sessions well, but that is not a usual day. 3-once infusions are better. (I have 2 celadon cups w/ lids & jagged fronts. Very easy to use. I am going back to using them.) I prefer having 6 tea sessions w/ less tea than 3 sessions w/ more tea.

Cheers

[Milo]

Did those teas just come in? If so, you might want to let them rest for a few weeks to give you a better representation of what they really have to offer.

Huh! Alright, I'll give that a try. I think I have enough of each sample for two more tastings (I use a 150mL porcelain houhin for evaluating new teas, so 10g can go pretty far).

You piqued my curiosity, though. How does this resting period work? I mean, in terms of how it changes the aroma of the tea. Is it a humidity thing? Because I gotta say, these teas from Teabox have by far the lowest moisture content of any tea I've ever put in my hand. Very brittle. Yunnan Sourcing's black teas feel like they just came out of the oxidizing room by comparison.

[whatsinaname]

I drank a lot of Lapsang over the winter. I have fallen in love with Yunnan Gold and Purple Hongcha.

I was recently (re)gifted a heavily-overpackaged mediocre Golden Eyebrow from a Chinese colleague. He was impressed when he called it red tea and I said, "hongcha"?

[jayinhk]

Did those teas just come in? If so, you might want to let them rest for a few weeks to give you a better representation of what they really have to offer.

Huh! Alright, I'll give that a try. I think I have enough of each sample for two more tastings (I use a 150mL porcelain houhin for evaluating new teas, so 10g can go pretty far).

You piqued my curiosity, though. How does this resting period work? I mean, in terms of how it changes the aroma of the tea. Is it a humidity thing? Because I gotta say, these teas from Teabox have by far the lowest moisture content of any tea I've ever put in my hand. Very brittle. Yunnan Sourcing's black teas feel like they just came out of the oxidizing room by comparison.

The only thing I can think of is the effect of air pressure on the tea; many of us have noticed that tea acts funny after air shipment. After a few weeks it is often much better than it was when tried initially. Give it a shot and see what you think!