What's been in your cup lately?

Being known as a tea nutso in my family, my old father brought more and more tea for me. These are the greener (qing xiang) oolongs of so-so quality that are packaged in absolutely beautiful looking boxes and cans designed to initially impress the giftee. My father gets A LOT of these from his business contacts in China and Taiwan, and they usually end up with me (the tea that is).

So I've been drinking a lot of those so-so greener oolongs. I just chuck the leaves into a large coffee mug, rinse once and steep. No hassle. Green, grassy, and sometimes seaweed-y. Not yum, not yech, just tea.

I guess with one exception: 2001 Xia Guan iron beeng, which was quite nice.

Phyll

Also, Dominic, You may want to try Jing's Guang Xi Gui Ping Shan Cha. This is so reasonably priced and absolutely delicious. Although Jing calls this"everyday tea", it's just too luscious to be ordinary. AND, amazingly inexpensive, too $3.99 for 100 grams.

Good thread, Dom.

I've been enjoying some baozhong samples, originally from Stephane Erler of Teamasters, courtesy of xCasperx - very decent. Good for the bright winter weather. "Half-wild" and "lily flower" were their informal names.

I read your shuixian notes with interest - I'm after a good one. Any recommendations, anyone? Also, recommendations for suitable pot characteristics for this tea would be welcome - thin/thick, round/ tall, &c.

Toodlepip,

Hobbes

I don't think Min Pei is indicative of Da Hong Pao perse. It simply means Northern Fujian. Min is an old name for Fujian and Pei or Bei is north.

Jim

Seven Cups Lao Cong Shui Xian is wonderful,

'7

and I would highly recommend any of the Shui Xian teas from Golden Tea House. They are really refined. I have some from last year and it has actually improved with age.

I have never ordered a tea I didn't appreciate from this company, including their Tribute Puerh which I think is one of the best 5 yr old cooked loose puers out there, with a flavor very reminiscent of Roy Fong's Special Reserve. So good.

My teafaring has been taking place in the world of roasted teas, and figuring out which teapots are best for my Rou Gui (I have about 40+ acquired from our favorite vendors, ebay, and locally). The Seven Cups Imperial Rou Gui has a haunting, lingering flavor in one of my smaller Zhuni pots (I would add a link to a picture but am not at home as I'm writing this). I also think Jing's Traditional Rou Gui is a warm, delicious drink with great spiciness.

Houde's Mu-Zha Tieguanyin is a phenomenal value for it has a wonderful fruity flavor against a soft roasted background, and frankly it's addicting. Their Light-Roasted Wood Fired oolong is another delicious tea, for its smoothness is remarkable. It lasts for many brews, I think I got 8 at work, and probably could have got one more.

I've also been drinking Taiwanese high mountain oolongs, one from 2480 feet that I got from Houde. Wow this one is good, esp. in a zhuni teapot. The flavors are deep and rich, with vegetal and floral overtones. They play across the tongue so remarkably that there is no way one can deny that one is in the presence of a remarkable tea to be savored.

Has anyone else had the experience with TGY wang that it tastes like delicious water? I've bought several recently that deliver on the green vegetal kind of like the Taiwanese HMO, but not on the complexity and aftertaste.

Danica

I bought this from a local coffee roaster who has been venturing into selling teas. The tin was only labeled "Min Pei (Red Robe)" It is very good and hints towards the Shui Xian I had, but not quite the same. It was pretty expensive so I didn't buy a ton as it was an unknown to me at the time.

Dom> I don't think Min Pei is indicative of Da Hong Pao perse. It simply

Hi Hobbes,

I have been doing a lot of exploring about pot characteristics. I'm discovering that shape is important, but more so is the clay.

I have a lot of high-end pots, ebay pots, vendor pots that I have been exploring with teas (I'll brew a gaiwan then distribute through 3 teapots, whoever tastes the best wins). A shorter fatter lo pan type with a wide mouth turned out to be better for tieguanyin than a rounder pot which by its shape should have been the winner. The clay brought out more of the fruit and floral and softened the roasting.

Technically the best kind of pot for Shui Xian should be a taller pot that retains the heat with a domed lid where the fragrance can collect. Zhuni better than zini to bring out the aroma (as it is supposed to be narcissus). I currently am using a heizini pot and a teeny but tall zhuni to brew my shui xian. The heizini subdues the roasting and brings out the tea flavor, while the zhuni puts the roasting in the background with a lot of warmth.

Personally I would go to a vendor who you trust and ask them to pick out a pot that will render the tea you like the best. I have found that I can trust Stephane Erler, Guang of Houde, Jing, and if you ask Anling of 5000friend on ebay he will give you a recommendation, he hasn't yet steered me wrong. The pots are not the quality of Houde, but they are also cheaper (I'm still saving for my Houde Zhuni however!!!)

The other interesting candidate for a good pot is Bill from Chinaflair

He and I have had extensive discussions and he claims his pots make his tea taste so good you will drink all of it quickly and buy more. He is very knowledgable and although I haven't ordered from him yet I am intrigued.

Danica

I haven't been too happy with what's in my cup lately and I don't know why. I've tried 60 or 70 teas over the last few months, and had pretty much come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a bad tea: green, oolong, China and India blacks, and 2 or 3 pu'er samples. Since I'd really enjoyed Harney's Da Hong Pao and generally like black and strong teas, I decided to try more dark oolongs, hoping for some robust version of the heady aromas in high mountain light oolong. Got some Shui Xian & a dark roast Rou Gui from Generation Tea and also a Song Zhong Dan Chong from TeaSpring. These things arrived yesterday and I spent the afternoon and evening brewing them in a small gaiwan at various times and temperatures trying to get something I liked.

Over and over I kept finding unpleasantly (to me) smokey, burnt tastes. Cigar butts, ashtrays, forest fires kept coming to mind. Maybe chewing tobacco laced with sugar.

There are several possible explanations for my unhappy day of tea--

1) these are just not the teas for me (alternately: I'm just not man enough for these tough-guy teas),

2) the samples I tried were over-fired and may not be good examples of their ilk,

3) they will be better in a year or two if I leave them alone till then,

4) I just need to hang in there and develop a taste for these things.

I am tempted, Danica, to try the Shui Xian and Rou Gui examples you suggest, but after yesterday I'm afraid I may just hate them. Would you call them very smokey or sweet-burnt tasting?

toci--

Where do you get your 2 > Assam, Rembeng Estate, CTCBOP a dark, black, strong,

Show quoted text -

Hi Dominic, Well have you tried the Assam Silver Needle White Tea.It really has a sweet after taste. If you liked the Snow Leopard Buds, this one is a must try for you.

Regards, Zach

Dom> Activity has been a bit low lately 'round here, so in hopes of both

OK:

Mengku Original Ancient Silver Bud Tea 2006 (which has an nice finish for so new a tea, I think) -- A similar cake on order from Yunnan Sourcing is eagerly awaited.:)

Haiwan Raw Mini Tuo

Cooked mini tuochas from Upton and Holy Mountain (definitely prefer "Camel's Breath" from this source, but it is more pricey).

Very nice TGY from my Chinatown, visible at

Ozzy

I thought I replied to this earlier but it never made it onto the board... sorry about that. I have some thoughts!

Here's my take: your Shui Xian sounds like it's poorly roasted and is possibly not a high quality tea. There shouldn't be any cigarette butt, tobacco-type flavors, just a smooth tea, almost red-tea flavor without the tannins, and a hint of roast. It should taste good and make you want to drink another cup. Rou Gui has a little more of a roasty 'kick' to it that leaves a kind of 'spiciness' on the tongue but it's in no way reminiscent of smoke or sweet burnt. In essense it's fruity, a little woody with a spicy note that is probably attributable to roasting but I would say not quite. Of the two teas I'm drinking right now, the Imperial has the spiciness much stronger than the Traditional, which is more roasty. It may take you a few tries to identify the flavor I'm talking about, it's like pepper and lingers. To that end you may want to order samples of several different wuyis. If you want an excellent sampler there is one on Houde's website. Jing's also does samples, as does Stephane Erler. If you email Goldenteahouse or Seven Cups you can probably get samples from them too. These teas are really good so if you like reds, I suspect you will like their WuYi Yancha. Don't give up because of a bad batch!!!

Keep in mind you should brew these teas at very high temperatures, almost boiling, to really see what they can do.

Regarding the Song Zhong Dancong, it's not a typical oolong. It's not a WuYi Yancha either, although it looks like one. It's a special kind of tea they drink in the south of China, and it's very fragrant and simultaneously bitter. You are supposed to brew it almost filling the gaiwan to the top (so it is 80% full or so when wet) and then super short steeps--pour water in, pour water out. This will maximize the taste and minimize the bitterness. Alternately you can brew smaller amounts but the flavor is thinner. One way of brewing Song Zhong dancong that I've heard about is to put a few leaves in a bottle of cold water overnight and then drink. The best dancong is single bush (all dancong is supposed to be, but many times it's not), and not everyone is an expert on dancong tea so some tea vendors are selling the stuff but it's not amazing, it's just ok. Here are people who have excellent dancong: Jing, Mike Ryan of M&Js

and Kam at Funalliance sells it as Snowflake Lone Bush. All of these made me love the tea.

This one also needs to be brewed at almost boiling temperatures.

Let me know what happens!

"Dominic T."

I want to know what's

I've been drinking through some old (from 2005) greens that are not bad enough to throw out, they're not primo but really they're not horrible either. Bian Cha, Huang Shan Mao Feng, and also a Darjeeling from 2005 (Avongrove FF). A bit from a sample of Feng Huang Wu Dong Zhi Lan Dancong from Jing. I've been putting about two tablespoons (of the greens and Darjeeling, not the Dancong-that's a gainwan steeper) in my small tea thermos (Yellow Mountain Imports type) and then using that for gong fu, since it already has the screen in it. I bring a thermos full of hot water to my desk with me, a glass, and the thermos and I can drink all afternoon. I have really been going to the bitter end with these teas though, I think I got 6 or 7 out of the Bian Cha today and when I first bought it I only got about three, lol....Not much taste but the water still had a little color. I did use hot water for the greens though, very short steeps, and it wasn't so bad. I think I remember someone saying the better Chinese greens can stand hotter temps than sencha.

Biancha was from Teaspring, the Avongrove was from Kyela...HSMF was also Teaspring. I have to get through these greens so I can buy new ones this spring. Yeah like I won't get new ones even if I don't drink all these...

I've got Da Hong Pao and Trad Rui Gui, quite coincidentally, coming from Jing's. I'm looking forward to trying them out.

Melinda

Danica,

Thanks so much for the enormous advice, info, and encouragement. I will order more of these from the vendors you suggest, follow your brewing instructions, and not lose the faith! If Shui Xians, Rou Guis, and Dan Congs are half of what you describe, I will be very happy. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tom

snip Hello guys, Heres in my cup these days wuyi, all wuyi I can find in the tea cabinet I have been drinking alot of red robe that I am severely low in it. rooster comb this is very yummy Mao Xie from Jing, cant get eno gh Shui Xian Startin my second bag of this when my red robe runs out. makaibari 2nd flush still good and Feng Huang Huang Zhi Dancong Wow what a fragrance. and some crumbs of golden lily (I am considering brewing the bag and maybe some flavor will come out...) Jenn

I have recently acquired the Shi Feng Shan Long Jing (Lion Peak Dragonwell) directly from China West Lake area, from a tea farm that supplies Zhong Nang Hai (China's White House). It is not the best grade (which is doubled the price), but the same origin as the Dragonwell that won the national golden award in 1981. Completed three infusions gracefully and taste zillion times better from Adagio Tea's dragonwell sampler. AWESOME.

Julian