A living Tea Pet!

Readers! This could be the start of a whole new tea-table look! This is just the first! Bonsai are great, but mine needs to be outside more and this little guy is perfect!

I don't often drink tea using a tea-bag and a giant mug but when I do...

        

I drink Buddha Tea's Turmeric/Ginger.

Why choose Buddha Teas?

What sets us apart from other tea companies? We start with a philosophy of living in harmony with nature, not using it for profit. Buddha Teas uses only fresh, pure organic or sustainably wild harvested ingredients and maintains their natural purity in every tea we sell. We have also created the "Teas for Trees" campaign, planting 5000 trees a year to offset the paper use in our tea bags. Each of our tea bags is bleach-free to eliminate the risk of chemicals, and our boxes are made from 100% recycled material. When you buy Buddha Teas, you'll enjoy the fresh, full flavor of a truly natural tea in every sip.

A new favorite emerges. 'Sun Moon Lake' or as I just called it upon first sip, 'Oh. My. God.'

This is the first time since my first sip of Oriental Beauty that I have been this blown away by a tea. And that is saying something for the sip of OB that blew me away back in August when I first started this gongfu tea journey, was my first sip ever of good loose-leaf tea. I have tried over 100 teas since then, some of them totally wonderful, but this tea today hearkens me back to that first sip ever of something really exquisite.

I don't know a thing about this tea, I tell you laughingly, but I still have to write about while it lingers on my palate! I drank first and researched second.

After a great piece of advice from a tea friend about yesterdays Dian Hong to brew 2.5 grams in a 6 ounce gaiwan, I did the same thing with the Sun, Moon, Lake.

Sipped first rinse, nothing much, but pow!!! The first steep the scent coming out of the gaiwan was amazing, and from the first steep to the fourth, (which is where I paused to write this,) it was miraculous.

This was a gift from Golden Leaf Tea and I bow so deeply to them for this experience that my forward smacks the floor. (The proverbial, non-literal floor. I am old, I do it in my mind while I write from my rocker.)

I'm off now to play around with this some more, and to ask my tea-expert friends their suggestions on how to brew it properly, for if I got it to be so good this first, fumbling attempt, I almost cannot imagine what it will be like brewed to perfect parameters.

Here is what I learned...

"Nearly 80 years ago, the first Assam cultivar was brought to the hills around Sun Moon Lake in Nantou, Taiwan. 80 years of cultivation and research later, #18 Red Jade is born. We are proud to introduce the Sun Moon Lake Tea – a black tea that brews to a deep earthy red color, with hints of cinnamon, camphor, roasted chestnut and malt. It is a robust tea but the tannins are well controlled and balanced, resulting in a creamy and smooth mouthful. Never bitter or astringent. A rare and truly outstanding tea."

(Treat yourselves nice, and go get some of this tea!)

Buddha Teas open my eyes to a Japanese black tea with cherry blossoms!

Buddha Tea is an interesting company with lots to offer! They knew I was interested in exploring Japanese black teas and sent me their 'Sakura and Japanese Black Tea' blend. When I say 'blend' all I mean is a black tea with cherry blossom pieces, that's it. I didn't quite 'get it' the first time I brewed it. I didn't follow instructions, I just gongfu'ed the heck out of it and it was not the eye-opener I have since found it to be! tonight I tried it again and I finally just did what I was told on the package and the website although to my mind it was an insanely small amount of tea at only two grams for a very big amount of water, my 250 ml gaiwan! I mean, it looked silly in that big gaiwan! I was tempted to add another gram.....so I did. Aside from that I followed the instructions perfectly though, water temperature was around 175f, and I steeped it for a full two minutes. I never steep anything that long, ever! I was a bit nerve-wracking. Prior to that first two minute steep I did do a ten second rinse though I am not at all sure that is the way of Japanese black teas. I didn't not drink the rinse, but that first and second steep were crazy delicious!

( Not the prettiest steeps with the small pieces in the large vessel but the taste? Lovely!)

This 100% organic black tea is not the easiest thing to use in a gaiwan and I clogged my strainer more than once with my less than nimble hands being unused to using the huge 250ml gaiwan, but pretty or not, this was a wonderful brew. So nice to have that cherry blossom taste just so subtly on the roof of my mouth!

(I wish I could describe the heavenly scent coming out of the gaiwan as I take this photo!)

Buddha Tea tells us..."If you’ve ever stood underneath a Japanese cherry blossom tree, you’ll understand the almost magical quality that has made these delicate blooms a subject of fascination in Japanese culture for centuries. Known in the Japanese language as “sakura”, the cherry blossoms are revered in art, poetry and song. Now, you can enjoy these mystical flowers yourself in the floral blend of sakura Japanese black tea.

This blend combines crisp leaves of Japanese black tea with fragrant sakura petals. The result is a tea with a deep, earthy base, accented with sweet floral notes to capture your senses from the first sip to the last. Elegant and inviting, this Japanese tea blend is a luxurious delight to even the most seasoned tea drinkers."

Check them out at www.BuddhaTeas.com and tell them Buddha-Mom sent you!

Second post in as many days regarding the Feng Qing Diang Hong Golden Buds black tea, brewed under totally new parameters.

It was suggested to me to use 2.5 grams of this tea in a 180ml gaiwan! Yes, it was! I was under the impression that really four grams was the minimum you would use in a gaiwan, and in a 180 ml with a black tea, even a light colored one like this I might have gone to 5 grams if left to my own devices.
So I brewed this tea at 203f, using those parameters and it was gorgeous and smooth. Not all that light either, intense amber colors. rinse was far darker than a five second rinse was expected to be, the first steep was forty seconds, (this is an approximate as I count in my noggin) was terrific and the second steep, at approximately one minute was toasty and divine. Something I could easily drink all day long. In fact, I am heading over to Zen Tea to get some of this right now. Not that I need to buy ANY tea, not for a long time, but this is a winner, and so many things I have in my vault I have no clue as to what they will like. With the personal guidance of the man who suggested these parameters, I am off at a run t make sure I can recreate this for myself time and time again.
The photo below is of the first steep, the 40 second steep at under three grams!

(Seriously, look at the tiny amount of tea and what it produced! And the flavor was as rich and lovely as the color!)

The Tuesday after a long three-day holiday weekend requires something meditative in its deliciousness.

So I went with the Fengqing Golden Buds. I 'drank heavily' all weekend long, lots of new stuff, lots of puerh, everything brewed with a rather heavy hand as having the family around kept me from 'meditating' too much on my timing steeps!
I'd pour the water into the gaiwan, and get called in to my kids room to look at something apparently 'vitally important' on her computer screen or some fascinating position one of the dogs had fallen asleep in, and then wander back to my tea wondering how long I had been gone. Always less than two minutes, but still! When you are brewing a sheng or a shou or a duck-shit or really anything Gongfu style you can't be wandering off like that. Needless to say there were a few steeps I ruined, but this morning, the house quiet and peaceful I went right for the Dian Hong. This tea from Zen Tea has a lovely light color to the leaves, a nutty fragrance and is full of flavor. I was able to quietly brew this in my new 160ml gaiwan, using 5 grams of leaves with the water at 205f. Very deep-colored rinse, which I then proceeded to drink. Sometimes the rinse is just too good to dump. I believe I will ask my expert friends if perhaps there is a better temp to steep this tea, I don't want to risk running into bitter brews. Goodness knows the flash-stepped rinse was perfect but truly I don't think I would have wanted it any richer in body. Next steeps I will lower my temp's to 190f I think and see how it goes!

My Gongfu brewing of teas from Thailand continues with this aged Oolong, Lao Chin Shin from 1995!

Wow, is this a different tea experience from any other. This is not a simple tea session, I am tasting a lot of things and my mouth is being put through some trials and tribulations of change, all of which are proving to be interesting! I taste a little honey, some fruit notes like figs perhaps, hay and that taste of 'age' that is hard to explain. In later steeps it seems I am tasting even more warm hay, and a slight earthiness as well. By steep seven it has faded to a great degree, though the color remains a gorgeous lush amber. Here is what the Thai company Tea-Side has to say...

'Lao Chin Shin, Aged Oolong Tea from harvest of 1995.

Growing Region: Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. 1500 metres.

Appearance: Semispherical, slightly roasted, lightly fermented, hand-picked from the high mountains (1500 meters) of the northen Thailand.

Taste: A thick, deep taste with rich aroma of cherry, chocolate, sweet red apple. Velvety aftertaste of aged tea with cinnamon and bark notes. It is not like any of the Chin Shin Oolongs that I ever tasted.

Lao Chin Shin Oolong - it is very unusual tea. It's pretty picky about the water, It can be brewed up to 6-7 times and stronger oolong I've never met.

In addition to amazing taste and flavor, it gives a very powerful state. By the third-fourth brew different metamorphosis of consciousness begin to happen. The tea has a calming effect, it always brings relaxation to my mind and body and fills me with tranquility and light euphoria. I would gladly recommend you to drink it at night. (It helps to sleep and brings sweet dreams.)

Tea is a very delicate thing. It can show itself from different angles, depending on people around, the level of your care and attention, experience and native sensitivity.

Moreover, this Lao Chin Shin is really unique. If you look at the photo you can see a memorial plate confirming the age. There are numbers: 2538, witch mean the year of the harvest of this oolong. Don't be scared, Buddhist 2538 is only 1995 for the Christians. It was the first harvest on the plantation and the owners decided to memorize this event in such way. To my great regret, this plantation of Chin Shin have been totally cut down long time ago, so we can't try any fresh tea from there. But this old Chin Shin also remained just in a few amount on the farmers' vaults, so it's trully threatened spice! Hurry up to order!

(I agree, you best hurry on this one if you want to try it!)

Aged Green Heart Oolong, 2003 from Mountain Tea

Note to self....... GET MORE OF THIS!

I like the aged taste of this Oolong, a little yeasty, a little more intense than most of the other aged Oolongs I have tried so far, which is certainly not that many, not enough to compare or god forbid, judge! I did not find it to be overly sweet, but very warming with a good-tasting roastiness and a long-lingering mouthfeel. I could easily drink this tea all day long!

From Mountain Teas site:

The nose exudes enticing herbal fragrance, including thyme and dried basil, finishing with a hint of something malty.  Once steeped, the aroma shifts into pleasant memories of buttered toast, promising rich and full flavors.  The notes include raisins and crackers lightly flavored with honey.  The aftertaste is smooth, milky sweet and can be savored for minutes.

Aged oolong is fast gaining fans in the east; enthusiasts cite smoother mouthfeel and bolder yet more complex notes as superior features compared to the non-aged variant, and after a long experiment we must agree! Aged oolong is stored under strict conditions, minimizing heat and humidity, and re-roasted every two or three years to remove naturally accumulated moisture.

Floating Leaves Tea's Nantou Four Seasons Oolong from Spring 2015

Wonderful Oolong for a Sunday morning after a night of Shou Puerh experiments!

I am always really happy with teas that Shiuwen from FLT recommends, she knows I started my adventures in tea by falling in love with Oriental Beauty so when she has an Oolong sale, (and she really does have major sales sometimes!) I buy everything I can get my grubby-newbie hands on and slowly am moving through about seven bags of different Oolongs to try.

This morning I finally opened the package of this Nantou Four Seasons and just love it.

Smooth mouth-feel, floral, slightly vegetal, all in what feels to me like a prefect combination to touch my sense in just the right way.

I am loving this tea in a big way! 

Golden Fleece

Great color, wonderful aroma coming out of the bag. A generous sample, more than the 5 grams noted on the sample bag, which I put into my glass gaiwan. Both came from Verdant and what a fine treat it is to get to use a glass gaiwan for the first time(glass gets hot, ouch!) as well as try a brand new sort of tea at the same time.
The tea is fun, rapidly changing from one brew to the next, first three steeps at 205f, and the fourth steep lowered down to 190 as that third steep had a little too much 'tang' to it. Steeps four through six were really lovely, this tea has a profusion of flavors, none of them anything other than easy to enjoy. Fruits, citrus maybe, vegetal a wee bit, a full mouth-feel, very warming with no astringency at all, though as I said a bit 'tart' with the hotter steeps.
Visually this tea is a total winner and I am enjoying looking at my own photographs here more than I usually do! Delicious and worth ordering more of for certain! A nice break from my usual daily drinkers, I can see this one being a tea I enjoy in the evenings over games of backgammon making cup after cup in my sweet little glass gaiwan, happily burning my fingers all night long...