Does RFDT still have a following?
This post may read like a promo or shill. That is not my intention; rather, I hope to make a good and non-self-promoting resource more rapidly available to fellow tea-drinkers - at the risk of driving up prices and depleting stocks of what I hope to acquire!
Many of us remember David Lee Hoffman from his days running Silk Road Teas, or have seen him in the Les Blank documentary film. SRT changed hands a few years back, with David exiting the business for a time. He is now back, d/b/a The Phoenix Collection. Product choices, currently available only by paper mailing or conversation, cover a manageable selection of "normal" teas and many Pu-erhs (some older than most of us), currently being inventoried for sale. He has a more businesslike management now than in SRT days.
I just received a test order of 14 teas covering several of the usual styles. What follows are brief notes, just to give an initial sense of how the offerings shape up. Prices seem to be in line with quality, with several favorable exceptions. Minimum order seems to be 1/4 lb. for loose teas, and whole cakes or other natural units for others.
David's Green Private Reserve "All In This Tea" focused mainly on greens, so I wanted to try whatever he currently picks as his signature offering. It is apparently made from a varietal called Mei Zan (or something like that). Leaves are about 1" long, very clean and uniform. They appear to this untrained eye to have been rolled and then flattened, perhaps by pan-firing. Color is a dull green-gray. Flavor is more vegetal than brothy; I usually prefer the latter, perhaps more Japanese style, but find this one quite appealing. Wondering if the dull color might indicate processing that would render the product more robust than senchas and the like, I have left a sample open to air. It seems to be holding up pretty well. I'm always looking for good greens that don't have to be rushed into the cup to avoid staling, and this may be one such.
Lu An Guapian This all-leaf style is one of my favorite Chinese greens, for the buttery taste (like a malolactic chardonnay) and forgiving brewing requirements. This lot was a good example of the style, and a good value at $40/lb. I give away a lot of melon-seed to beginners as well as swapping with more experienced friends, and enjoyed this one.
Golden Bi Luo Wanted some nice Yunnan Gold, since those I've tried in the past two years have been disappointing. (The hoarded remnant of a large lot of
2007 from Yunnan Sourcing is holding up OK; some of these seem to keep well.) David's recommendation was this snail-rolled example, which is very pretty and would make a good gift. It is a brighter and cleaner taste than most tippy or all-bud dian hongs I've tried. For me, that's a plus: most of them are cloyingly sweet/musky for my taste even when made thin, suited only to the tiniest cups. This is more refreshing and invigorating, like fino vs. oloroso sherry. Bit pricey, but reasonable for the quality - and produced good liquor for many more steeps than I would expect from a dian hong. (Showing how tastes vary, one gold-loving friend strongly preferred the rather cheaper offering from Tuochatea.com. Why it's good to try a lot of leaf...Phoenix Bird Oolong, High Mountain David was justifiably famous for these at SRT, and this example respects the tradition. Only made it twice so far, so can't say much, but it certainly ranks among the best of the 30-40 I've tried. It did well with three characteristics I look for in dan cong-type oolongs: strong flavor for at least 12-15 steeps, persistent taste in the mouth for hours afterward, and minimal astringency in later steeps. Latter is a real issue for me with most Phoenix oolongs; I wonder if this one might be slightly more oxidized/fermented than usual? (Leaf color post-brewing supports this hypothesis.) As is frequent but not universal with the type, the unbroken, twisted leaves are delicious chewed up right out of the bag.
Fisted oolongs not reviewed here: a very reasonable everyday Tieguanyin, and a competition grade of the same style. Somebody accidentally (?) took these away with a bunch of other outgoing bags, and I need to get some back for a careful tasting before commenting further.
Pu-erh Cha Wang, 1995 King of Tea I never met one of these I didn't like, and rarely met one I could afford. This one runs to form: $320/lb and stunningly good. With intense flavor from a small pinch of tippy leaf, and no problem extracting 15 or more good steeps, it's actually a bargain per unit pleasure. -Just kind of a high ante. Of the dozen or so of this style that I've tried, the only comparable one I recall was from Roy Fong, some years ago, and (I think) about the same price.
Bamboo Fragrance Pu-erh (green) I have yet to love a bamboo-roasted Pu-erh, and this is no exception. So I don't feel competent to comment on how good it is or is not for the genre. Perhaps there's a special trick to brewing these that someone could share.
Tibetan Brick Pu-erh 2002 About as ugly as they come: twiggy, loose, powdery, completely composted cake. I was not optimistic. Turned out to be delicious from the first steep. (I only do a "rinse" when tea is visibly dirty; don't want to miss anything, and early notes are sometimes best.) Pretty good but predictably pondy at the start; free, however, of mildew taste. Later steeps were wonderfully sweet and complex, and quite different from many "normal" pressed-cake ripe Pu-erhs. This one must have been carried on the back of an especially pleasant horse. Or perhaps whatever processing technique produced the friable structure did something especially good for the chemistry. Certainly not a shu Pu-erh of the sort that allegedly converges with old sheng; rather, excellent as a separate species.
Liu An 1999 basket Melon seed that's been to hell and back? I don't usually like these cousins to sheng Pu-erh. This one is a rare exception. When made weak and oversteeped or at too low a temperature, it tasted to me like one of the smoky malts - say, Talisker or Laphroaig - with too much water: harsh, smoky, a huge hole in the middle where all the real flavor and fragrance belong. With plenty of leaf, boiling water and in-and-out infusions, it is rich, complex, sweet and a lovely color, and lasts for many infusions. (I've made it three times so far, and ran out of time at more than ten, with plenty of flavor left.) Possibly the best example I've tried yet - of only 6-8, to be sure.
Nannuo Mountain Wild bingcha 2002 Specially recommended by the vendor. Good, powerful, but by my standards still on the rough side for drinking. Tastes like it might age well.
Nannuo Mountain "Camouflage" bingcha 2006 Even rawer than above, with similar promise. Visually, a stunning cake - among the three or four prettiest I've seen. Big leaves, well assembled in a cake pressed lightly enough to remove single leaves w/o damage. Another great gift or presentation-serving tea, IMO.
Yiwu bingcha 2004 This small (250g) cake smelled mellow and sweet dry, and followed when wet. It's a sure winner, for those who prefer the sweet and fragrant Yiwu character. Though still young, it is quite ready to drink. I made it several ways; though abuse could make it a little astringent, it was good for many delicious steeps under all circumstances. I plan to get more of this to store, in hope that it will keep all the good aspects while losing the few asperities.
Green Pu-erh large-leaf 1995 Best, perhaps, for last. I've not yet had maocha I didn't like a lot; presumably, it's not worth the trouble of handling such a fragile and low-density product unless it's pretty good. (Or else most maocha is better than most pressed cake, which I rather doubt.) The one is just plain stunning. Don't know how else to put it, and I wouldn't mention it at all had David not affirmed that stocks are solid. It's a pretty leaf dry and drained, and infusions are good first to last. I've made it with water from about 150F to boiling; all did fine, though somewhere between those extremes worked much better. Though the infusion is still more green than red, I'd call this a ready-to-drink Pu-erh: further aging will no doubt change it, but could hardly make it much smoother. In my experience, this is flat-out the easiest sheng Pu-erh to brew well and possibly the easiest to brew to its best potential. And at $80/lb (equivalent to about $63 for a 357g bingcha, if bingcha were really 357g as promised), that's a very fair price for the age and quality. I'll be loading the shelves with this one.
As a side-note, I've been experimenting a lot with adding divalent cations (calcium/magnesium) to the too-pure local tap water. Since these Pu-erhs are so good and yet (for the sheng) still unripe, they make interesting test subjects. I find dramatic differences, whether the salts are added in brewing or to the fair pot. (Still teasing these effects apart; might report later.) I recommend exploring at least this one variable in water when exploring interesting teas.
Would welcome others' experiences with DLH offerings, since I can't quite afford to try all 300.
-DM