This past Sunday, one of the groups more recent members, Troy, hosted a tasting of Chinese teas here in Portland. Seven attendees along with a young chef and Troy himself gathered at a downtown sushi restaurant after hours for a evening of tea and food and talk.
The teas themselves were shipped from China direct by Troy's fiance. We were presented for tasting eight teas in all, interspersed with about five dishes of nibbles to keep us thirsty for more. For most all the participants, this was a first encounter with the broad spectrum of what Chinese tea has to offer. Troy realized this and so made an effort to touch on all the major categories. He did pretty well in this regard, offering the group a few Oolongs (Li Shan, Rou Gui, and Gui Hua TGY), a green (Bi Luo Chun), a couple Puerhs (Ye Sheng and Jin Gua Gong), a jasmine (Zhen Zhu Wang), and the visual treat of a blooming tea (Hua Xian Zi).
Before brewing up each variety, Troy passed around a little bowl of the dry tea itself. As for the brewing, a glass pot of some sort was employed. Maybe Troy can explain a little more, but these were not just simple glass pots, for they held a central brewing chamber to keep the leaves in. At one point, Troy expressed some dissatisfaction one of the pots, saying it wasn't allowing the tea leaves full contact with the hot water. While a teapot and no messy wet leaves is comforting for newcomers to tea, perhaps next time Troy can try a gungfu style. New tea drinkers who might be turned off at this more fussy yet sloppy style can be reassured that making tea this way is just better for tastings in large groups.
As for the teas themselves, for me, the Li Shan was most appealing. As most of you probably know, I'm a devoted Japanese tea drinker, but I won't turn my nose up at a good green Oolong when I can find one. And this one was pretty good, much better than I can find in town locally. This was the first tea Troy offered us, and so maybe some performance anxiety was at play, because I really felt this tea had much more to offer, had we all taken the time to give it proper attention. But no worry, as the taste was enough to convince me to try more. I'll be having a big bag all to myself in short time, so I'll find out soon enough. The hit among the other attendees were the Puerhs. Puerh...my thoughts on the subject have been well documented in this forum. I will say it paired well with the miso smeared, bacon-wrapped asparagus coated in black and white sesame seeds and drizzled with ponzu. But if that's what it takes for me to down some Puerh, it ain't gonna be happening on a daily basis.
All said, a very fun night out with tea. I thank both Troy and his chef friend John for their hospitality in hosting the event. Here's hoping another tasting can be planned come spring when the new tea harvest is available.
--crymad