Siji DongPian Oolong from Chayo Tea

Thanks to my friend, Robert Coons, for encouraging me to try this years harvest of this wonderful green, organic oolong. Here is what I learned about it from him:

"The tea is grown in Muzha, in northern Taiwan at the base of Maokong mountain.
It is typically made into a low price organic oolong, but in the winter, fresh growth occurs on the bush and during this flourish (early January) the farmers collect the buds and make a very floral green oolong tea.
It is called Siji Dongpian.  Dongpian literally means 'winter pieces,' since the small sprout material is so small, it seems like a bunch of little pieces. This is about as close to fresh green tea as oolong gets and is a specialization of Taiwan, especially Muzha, which is where the cultivar was discovered."

I've just finished my first session of this tea, using a shibo of about 150ml water at 205f. I used four grams of this tightly rolled oolong, which very quickly opened up and filled the gaiwan. The scents of the wet leaves are lovely, the flavor buttery, smooth and a little peppery. Just an awesome way to start my day! The price is beyond fair at 75 grams for $20! You can find out more and check out this passionate,(to say the least) vendor at Chayo Tea.

Misty Peak One Family Sheng Puerh from Autumn 2013

A really nice raw tea, far easier to drink than I had expected, and by far my favorite of Misty Peaks teas thus far. I only wish I had more than this small sample of it, as I would like to have 'researched it farther' and really pushed the limits but I can report that using my 100ml hohin, and an unknown grammage, (as my scale wasn't close enough and I really was in the mood for this sweet smelling sheng session to start!) lasted me 15 steeps so far. All flash-brewed with water just under boiling, very nice indeed.
Nicholas has been so welcoming to me since I started exploring teas this summer and I am delighted to have found this one, many thanks to my tea-head friend who told me to give it a go, it truly is a easy and pleasing yet vibrant sheng.

A Darjeeling Arya white tea in Petr Novak shibo set.

A Darjeeling first flush white tea is a special and rare thing indeed. And my new shibo is perfect for it. I used only 2.5 grams, with water at barely 180f. The vessel from Petr holds 160ml.
The leaves are gorgeous. Pale jade shades, and the scent dry is light and slightly nutty. the broth is full of hints of apricot and what is either a little vanilla or my imagination.
For a white tea of such delicacy, it has a strong and slick mouth-feel and a lot of personality without a hint of astringency. It is delicate a good 'tribute tea' for my Petr Novak and it was to him I raised my cup ( part of the matching set) and enjoyed three infusions
before this wonderful tea gave up the ghost. Not long lasting, but very present while it is with you! some teas you don't push, but just appreciate every moment of instead of having ambition for longer sessions. This is such a tea. Tea sample by Teca Tea.

Da Jin Rock-Style Tea from Smacha!

So delicious, my favorite rock style tea so far! 

This offering from Smacha Tea is from Fujian using Wuyi Rock Tea varietals but is made about 150 miles south of the actual area called Wuyi Shan. Smacha calls it a Rock style tea, which is a med/high fermented and med/roasted strip style Oolong Tea. Phoenix Tea is similar in some respects but is from Guangdong Provence which is south of Fujian. Also, the tea is made from other varietals of Camellia Sinensis med/fermented but not generally roasted.

These tea trees were planted in 1955 during an "everybody is employed" phase of Mao's regime. Over 2,000 workers toiled for several years to clear a mountaintop across from the Da Jin Buddhist Monastery in Fujian, about a mile high, in the rich red soil. After clearing and planting, national priorities changed and the newly planted tea gardens where abandoned for over 50 years, virtually forgotten. The gardens were leased five years ago by a wealthy Taiwanese hotelier who pledged to bring them back to active production. The tea trees were by that time over 10 feet tall and their root systems were deep and strong. They were cut back almost to the ground and the resulting growth produced very impressive results. The tea is processed in both a rolled "High Mountain" style as well as a "Twisted Leaf" Wuyishan style. A new state of the art processing facility was completed three years ago. The complexity, strength, flavors, and aromas are brought to their peak by a team of Taiwanese Tea Masters with over 150 years of tea making experience.

(At this point the Rock Tea Style is only available in Smacha's brick and mortar store but I am told it will soon be for sale online. I will update this post or create a new one as soon as this happens so my newbie friends can try it too!

At that time I will discuss the parameters I've tried so far and my thoughts for future steeps.)

2015 Gui Fei Mei Ren from Floating Leaves Tea is amazing and available and affordable too!

Just had my first, and a very long, tasting session with this tea sample that Shiuwen from Floating Leaves sent me with my last order. I made a big 'mug' of it using my auto-brewer, and it has brewed up gorgeously from the first steep and continues to be soft-bodied and a great morning tea the past hour.
Here is what Shiuwen has to say about it:

"This one of the softest Gui Fei Mei Ren I have ever tried. It's fruity and sweet. The dry leaves of this Gui Fei Mei Ren have some sort of dark dry fruit smell. The broth is sweet, balanced and very soft. I can't emphasize enough how soft this tea is. This tea can also yield many infusions. Before my tea friend Mr. Tsai sent out this tea in December, I asked him to do a light roast for me. This style of roast is not to turn the tea into a roasted tea(you won't taste the roast), but to bring out more fineness and stablize the tea. I also enjoy this Gui Fei Mei Ren directly brewed in a cup( just leaves in a big cup without infusers. When the tea turn strong, just add more hot water). I think in America, people call this the "grandpa style". I highly recommend this tea."



When the owner of floating Leaves highly recommends something, it is always good. She is an amazing upfront person. Price point on this lovely oolong is great too.
So, check it out, check-it-outers!

Off to drink some more!

Warm rocks and cinnamon. Caramel and minerals. Walnut shells and wood...

These are a few of my favorite things...
Why does a 'rock tea' tastes like rocks?
And more importantly, how is it I know what rocks taste like?
Why have I been licking rocks my entire life? Should I not be admitting this? Do I have an issue? Is this perhaps just a tea-head thing? Rocks, trees on occasion when I had a private moment and the urge was upon me, shells plucked from the surf, you know, nature. It's not like I am not licking housing bricks and cement! I'm not crazy.......right?
So if I didn't know this was a 'rock' tea, would I taste the rock? I have no idea. But I do know that this tea makes me feel a little more connected to nature just as quickly tasting a rock cliff while on a hike might have done when I was a child. And feeling more connected? That cannot be bad for me, especially as I seem to grow into more of a recluse, a hermit and a more-than-slight misanthrope as the years pass. I will, and do fight that. Tea is my way of dis-armoring myself and reconnecting to Source.
Perhaps the most important, and emotionally triggering part of this nice tea session with this tea is the vessel. Like any good prop upon a stage, it creates an ambiance and deep mood that helps envelope me into a full transportive session. And yes, I did lick the cup, and not for the first time. The cup of which I now speak is really the star here. The tea was nice, but truly it was the pairing of the rock tea with this cup from Greenwood Studio that elevated the whole thing to a new level.

(These three pictures are from the studio and although they are nice, they do not capture the magic of this piece. I will attempt to do so on my own!)

(The best part about this cup is in the inside. Wait and see!)

Greenwood Studio is located in New York, and the ceramic artist is a man named Shaun McGuire.
This cup came the same day as my new Novak items came. It was a very good day to say the least.

Everything was lovely, the yunomi from Novak almost hallucinatory in its intensity, but I readily admit, that once I picked up and used this little cup from Greenwood I've been somewhat enchanted.
It reminds me of a rock quarry I used to swim in when I was a teen. Naked. I did that? I had totally forgotten until I drank from this cup. There is so much to look at with this cup, the crazing, the glaze drips, the whole thing has got me intently interested in pottery when I never have been before. I start to wonder how much of these results were intentional, how much chance, or accidental art, which is my favorite kind of art.
It's like a rock itself, distinct from any other when looked at closely, its veins and lines and color variations as subtly unique as anything the shadows have ever played with as the sun went down upon it.

( Here you go! Just like the old quarry where I used to swim!)




More on Greenwood Studio to come as I went ahead and ordered a few more pieces.

Check this guy's work out, and thanks to the people who urged me to take a look, you know who you are!

I finally fell in love with a truly awesome Da Hong Pao thanks to White2Tea

Can't write. Must only say this. Nom. Nom. Nom.
More later, but really, the title of post says it all. Have had quite a few DHPs, and now I know what the fuss is all about when a really good one is in your mouth. Nom.
Must get back to session! Go! Get!

( Photo courtesy of W2T as I am too into it to stop and take pics)

(ditto)

Loving my Japanese teas today with Gyokuro Uji Superior from Zen Tea!

A really nice example of a Gyokuro from Uji in Kyoto. The cooler the temperature gets here in Los Angeles, (and it was down to a 'freezing' 50 degrees Fahrenheit last night, brrrrr!) the more I crave Japanese teas. I don't know why, but even more than a dark rich Yunnan shou puerh or an oolong, I tend to dream of and partake in Japanese teas this time of year. Not only have I got my Kyusu and Yuzamashi out but I have been collecting artisan Yunomi cups as well. In fact I sit biting my nails the past few days just waiting for my first Petr Novak pieces to arrive. Can hardly wait. This is the most gorgeous cup I have ever seen, and will be dedicated to the best Japanese teas I can find!

Zen Tea's Gyokuro Uji is a nice verdant green and a little goes a long way, at least when using a 100ml hohin. I did not measure by grams, but just took a largish 'pinch' and enjoyed three consecutive steeps with the water temp at around 175f. What a nice way to finish supper, (even if supper was Mexican chicken tacos, that I, of course, being a horrible cook, failed to make a success out of.)
Who cares? I've got tea!
I love Zen Tea. The attention to quality has been apparent with everything of theirs I have had. I enjoy their website and love trying new things they have procured.
Tonight is sushi night, which means I don't have to cook, thank goodness. The sushi at our local place is fine but the tea they serve? Shameful! Tonight I will be taking my own tea and asking them to bring me a pot of water, I will have Zen Tea with me, a small hohin in my purse and a feeling of gratitude for Zen Tea in my heart!

Gaba Tea from Teca Tea in Houston

(First steep, after a short rinse. Leaves just starting to awaken.)

This is my first Gaba. To paraphrase Fred Flintstone, "Gabba-dabba-GOOD!"
It's really delicious. I don't know anything else about it aside from this one is from Nantou, Taiwan and was supplied by Teca Tea who I am quickly learning are well-loved online vendors, good people and owners of Ten Yen Teahouse in Houston. If this teahouse is as good as it looks from the photos I've seen, I'm ready to move to Houston. Seriously. People love this brick and mortar establishment. Plus I miss living in Texas, I actually do.
The GABA, which stands for something, look it up if you care, is said to have certain properties for health. I personally do not care. If tea of any kind has health benefits, that's cool, but it isn't the goal. I care about NOW, and this particular tea, moment by moment, sip by sip is making my head say, 'Hell, YES' and that is my benchmark. Period.

If I even see a tea on a website that touts all kinds of health benefits, I go to another website. I am not looking for health but for a perfect moment. and with high grade tea, I find I get to have perfect moments a lot these days. Used to be every few years, and usually involved being in the same room with such personal luminaries as Tom Waits, Spalding Gray, Kurt Vonnegut, but as I grow older I find I can access perfect moments through tea. Not as often as my hedonist soul craves, but certainly on a weekly basis if I keep trying new things at the rate I am now!
Teca's Gaba tea is warm, honey-hued, floral, delicate yet full bodied..... its a lot of things. All good so far!
I started out with four grams last night in a 160ml gaiwan at 200f, a bit strong but I wanted to have an intense introduction. I left the leaves to sit in the gaiwan overnight, and this morning moved them into my Smacha auto brewer and filled it up, giving me a large 6 ounce cup to sit and enjoy instead of gongfu style. Both ways of brewing created excellent sessions. I have a feeling this is a tea that might like to be pushed, so I am going to go pour another 8 ounces of 200f water in the infuser again and see if it is still as flavorful, I am guessing it will be!
Big deep bow to Richard Lin of Teca for introducing this newbie to something I am sure I will learn a lot more about, I might even go read what the back of my large bag of GABA rice has to say. I don't avoid good health, you see, I just let it come to me, so if I have a choice between Uncle Ben's instant white rice and a rice that yells GABA at me, I'm no dummy, I always go for the good stuff!

Jingxian Jin Jun Mei from Camellia-Sinensis, 'Beautiful Golden Eyebrows'

Really delicious example of Jin Jun Mei. I chose to brew it very lightly in a 100ml hohin with about two grams to start.

Thanks to Camellia-Sinensis for this tea and reader, do look for it when they have it back in stock!