Gongfu Girl» Reviews

Reading “A Tea Reader”

Cinnabar — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:31:22 +0000

There are books that are enjoyable to read because they are about tea, and books particularly well-suited to a read accompanied by a cup of tea. Katrina Avila Munichiello’s recently published anthology of non-fiction writings about tea, “A Tea Reader,” is both of these. The 52 essays in the book are arranged thematically into five sections, entitled “Tea Reveries,” Tea Connections,” “Tea Rituals,” “Tea Careers,” and “Tea Travels,” each one prefaced by a short introduction written by Munichiello herself. The contributions to the book range in era from a translation of a work written in Tang Dynasty China to writings by contemporary authors solicited for this book.

While all of the writings are thematically linked, centering on tea-inspired memories and the ways that tea forges connections between people, there is enough variety in the writing styles and perspectives to give nearly any reader something he will respond to. Munichiello’s skillful curation and editing have produced a book that is deceptively small in size, while containing a great deal of variation. One of the things that is especially appealing about the book is its flexibility: a reader can either delve into it straight through and traditionally, frontispiece to back cover, or browse among the different essays in capricious order, reading one or two at a time.

My own essay in the book, entitled “Immersion,” and published under my real name, is about my first explorations of Gongfu Cha, and how I fell into a compulsion toward Chinese tea culture. It was an enjoyable piece for me to write, giving me the opportunity to step back and look at a bigger-picture view of my evolution as a person involved in the tea world. I am very proud to see it in this collection alongside works by so many wonderful tea people and writers.

The book is widely available for purchase, and if you’re really fortunate you can attend one of the many reading events taking place across the country. For additional information on the book, visit the “Tea Reader” website.

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Lan Xiang Xian Zhi (Orchid Fairy Twig, 蘭香仙枝), a wonderful green tea sold by Life In Teacup

Cinnabar — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 21:25:59 +0000

Confining scope to just the teas of China, it seems to me that tea drinkers in the United States tend not to approach green teas with the same level of seriousness that they afford rare aged pu’er teas or high quality oolongs.

But there are indeed some fabulous and exquisite green teas from China, some of which have been well-known and respected enough to get regularly included in the “Top Ten Chinese Teas” lists, most commonly Bi Luo Chun and Long Jing (Dragon Well). And there are other lesser known but wonderful green teas that we’re lucky enough to encounter here in the United States. Lan Xiang Xian Zhi (Orchid Fairy Twig, 蘭香仙枝), sourced by Life in Teacup, is assuredly one of the nicest I’ve run into lately.

This rarely exported green tea comes from Jiangxi Province, situated near the middle of the southern part of China. It is very lovely, complex and for the most part unlike any other tea I can think of. The tea has a very interesting pre-brewed appearance. The leaves are tiny and very narrow, but mostly straight rather than curly like Bi Luo Chun dry leaf. They’re rich and varied in color and have a nice grassy-sweet scent. The brewed liquor yields a nice grassy, alpine-lake quality, a little like heavily diluted mint or lemon.

I brewed this tea using slightly cooled water, and initially steeped it for about 20 seconds. The brewed liquor had a warm, silky quality to it and a delicious aroma. Its underlying tones and variation from infusion to infusion deemed it exceptionally unusual. It held up to five very satisfying infusions before it began to lose its character.

Interestingly the only two green teas that I can think to compare it to are Gushan Baiyun (Drum Mountain White Cloud) from Fujian Province and Trà Móc Câu (Fish Hook Tea) a green tea from Vietnam. But these other teas are only slight references and pale in comparison. The Gushan Baiyun I have tasted was good, but not nearly as interesting as this Lan Xiang Xian Zhi. The Trà Móc Câu I’ve had was of considerably lower quality and did not have anything close to the special, delicate flavors of the Lan Xiang Xian Zhi, although it did have a vague similarity in the sweet, slightly pleasantly bitter character of the brew.

The tea I tasted was last spring’s harvest and is not currently available for sale on Life In Teacup, but I would recommend trying to get some of this coming spring’s harvest if it becomes available for sale.

Read more about this tea on Life In Teacup’s blog: “Two Great Teas of Jiang Xi Province (1) – Orchid Fairy Twig 蘭香仙枝”.

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Tea Review: Rishi Tea: Hong Yue

Cinnabar — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 22:07:35 +0000

Hong Yue (红玉, “Red Jade” in Chinese) is unlike any other black tea you’re likely to drink, but it’s one I recommend trying when you can get it. It’s not commonly available outside of Taiwan, due to the small amounts produced each year and the relative lack of awareness among worldwide tea drinkers. That said, demand is considerably high among the people who know about it, as it’s a wonderful tea.

The export tea industry in Taiwan was established by the Japanese during their occupation of the country, which lasted from 1895 through the end of World War II, and included systematic attempts at assimilating the Taiwanese people into Japanese culture. Black tea production began in earnest after the Japanese brought the larger-leaf Assamica plants into the region from Burma in the 1920s. These plants were cultivated with the local Taiwanese wild plants to produce the bushes which now produce Hong Yue.

Naturally we wouldn’t even be discussing a black tea from Taiwan if the Taiwanese had not maintained and improved the local tea industry and trade following retrocession of the island to the Republic of China in the mid-forties. Within the relatively short span of time since the end of Japanese colonialism, Taiwan has built up a stellar reputation among tea drinkers, primarily for its oolong teas, such as the various types of Bao Zhong and high-mountain oolongs. While not as well known, Taiwan’s black teas deserve wider recognition for their unique character as well.

From the description on Rishi’s site:

“The five year old Hong Yue black tea farm in Nantou is too small for organic certification but the tea is still cultivated without any pesticides or harmful chemicals. Special yellow flowers are planted between the rows of tea bushes to help nurture the young tea bushes in place of fertilizers. Their roots aerate the soil and create an environment where beneficial bacteria thrive. They are mulched into the soil when the tea trees are older and stronger.”

For more details, including photographs and more about the nitrogen-fixing yellow flowering plant that is planted alongside the Hong Yue bushes, read the post on Rishi’s blog.

I brewed this tea using Gongfu methods, in a Taiwanese clay dragon teapot, with a high leaf-to-water ratio and 30-second steeps. The tea has a luxuriant red/orange color and yields a delicious, flavorful liquor through multiple steeps. As one would expect from a leaf with Assamica in its pedigree, Hong Yue produces a strong brew, with intense depth of character. I’ve read descriptions that compare it to brandy, which is understandable given its wine-like tones. It has a deep, slightly bitter woody quality, somewhat akin to the character imbued in a wine casked in oak rather than stainless steel. Even before the first sip, I recommend inhaling deeply to experience the rich complex aroma, which includes a slight note of peppermint.

Note, there is a limited amount of this tea available from Rishi, and I’ve been told it is almost sold out already.

For more on the history of the Taiwanese tea industry, read The Art of Tea on Cultural Taiwan, which is published by the Republic of China government.

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Chasing the dragon?

Cinnabar — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 04:34:14 +0000

In my opinion, the best response to a day-long compulsion to drink Longjing (龙井, Dragon Well) is to yield to it as soon as possible. Longjing is a tea that I prefer to savor with full attention, so it is not typically a tea that I would drink while I am working. So the earlier part of the day held the desire, but not the conditions for a cup of this famous Chinese green tea. But this evening when I was at home, I had both readily available, so I located the 1st Grade Dragon Well that I got from Teas Etc. and brewed some at the Gongfu table.

Longjing is a tea traditionally brewed in glass. I used a glass gaiwan, glass faircup and glass cups. Glass has a neutral impact on the tea and also displays the rich green, distinctively flat leaves to nice effect.

There are plenty of poor quality Dragon Well teas on the market, and they won’t provide much of an experience of what this tea can be when it’s good. The Longjing that Teas Etc. sells is a very nice one, typical of good quality Longjing, and one that I would recommend to anyone who has been interested in trying this legendary tea.

This particular Longjing is from Long Jing Village in Zhejiang Province, which is the only legitimate place that can produce a true Longjing Cha. It is a pre-Qing Ming tea, which means it is plucked before the Qing Ming festival in early spring. It is best enjoyed with a soundtrack of Purcell ground bass as reinterpreted by Michael Nyman, along with a profound sense of satisfaction at fulfilling a daylong desire for a particular delicious tea.

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Tea Review: Chicago Tea Garden, Golden Bi Luo

Cinnabar — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:17:00 +0000

Chicago Tea Garden is the name of the company opened recently by Tony Gebely, the blogger who writes World of Tea, and his partner Erin Murphy. Through a set of exceptionally wonderful circumstances they have connected and joined forces with David Lee Hoffman, procurer of great Chinese teas, who was profiled in the film All in This Tea. The partnership has led to the introduction of some extraordinarily interesting teas into the tea market, and I have had the opportunity to taste a couple of them, including the Golden Bi Luo.

Looks aren’t everything, especially in the world of tea, but one of the things that struck me when I first got a look at the sample of Golden Bi Luo was that it was one of the most beautiful teas I’ve ever seen in dry leaf form. Some of the half-ball style, lightly oxidized, rolled oolong teas from Taiwan are quite pretty, but these little golden swirls are exceptionally lovely to look at. Its appearance made me quite curious to find out more about it.

The company’s description:

David Lee Hoffman has been traveling China for over 20 years. His work has led to vast improvements in the quality of tea available to the West. David is especially proud of this tea. Golden Bi Luo is a high-grade black tea made in Yunnan Province in the style of Jiangsu Province’s Green Bi Luo Chun. The name means “snail spring” — spring because this tea is harvested in the spring; snail because the two leaves and down-covered tips are carefully rolled into tight spirals that slowly unfurl to release more flavor during steeping. The spirals are formed using three different hand movements in a heated wok. This tea produces a golden, creamy-tasting liquor with sweet notes of vanilla.

The tea also smelled wonderful, and as I expected, it brewed into a wonderful liquor. Black teas from Yunnan province in China are some of the best black teas I’ve ever tasted, and this tea is no exception. It has the nice malty, sweet flavor that is typical of a good quality Yunnan Hong Cha. As stated on the company’s website this tea can stand up admirably to multiple steepings, and I found this to be the case in my tastings of it.

If you’ve never tasted any Yunnan Hong Cha this one would be a very good tea to start with. If you’ve already tasted other Yunnan black teas and enjoyed them, this one will certainly live up to your expectations.

Note: Bi Luo Chun (碧螺春) translates literally to “Green Snail Spring,” a tea named for its color, spiral shape, and the season during which it is picked.

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Tea Review: TeaSource: Puerh Special Grade

Cinnabar — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:05:32 +0000

I anticipated that Puerh Special Grade, a loose leaf pu’er from TeaSource, would brew into a nice liquor after I smelled the intense sweet aroma of the dry leaf. I was not disappointed. In general, but especially in the initial steep, it was very malty, almost like graham crackers or Ovaltine. It opened up more through the third infusion, exhibiting a briny, seaweed-like character along with the sweet maltiness, but it was not at all salty. The character was something like a bonfire on the beach, with charcoal and burning caramel.

One of the notable aspects of this tea was its beautiful, rich color. The first time I made it I was not aware of quite how striking the color was because I used a serving pitcher that was made of yixing clay. It was pretty in the white porcelain lined cups, but in a subsequent brewing I used a glass pitcher, and was impressed with its bright reddish orange hue and sparkle. It was a sunny afternoon, and the tea shone nicely with the sun coming through the window and into the liquor.

Like many pu’er teas, this pu’er can stand up to very long steeps, which affects the number of flavorful steeps one can get from it. In each tasting that I did, I found the third steeping to be the most interesting and flavorful, and by the fifth it had dropped off considerably in its intensity.

TeaSource’s description:

The steeped cup has a lovely deep black/red color with a wonderful dark aroma. The liquor is very smooth and thick (almost brothlike), with great depth and richness to the flavor. It also has a slight sweet note, with no harshness or astringency.”

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Tea Review: Mighty Leaf: Holiday Blend

Cinnabar — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:27:59 +0000

There’s a certain set of scents that I (and probably a whole lot of other people) associate with Christmas. Mighty Leaf’s Holiday Blend tastes like Christmas smells: like the decoration aisle of a craft store in winter, like candles, fireplaces, and red and green and gold glittery stuff. The dominant flavors that contribute to this overall holiday-ness are clove and cinnamon, which led my clove-obsessed cat to pester me the whole time the teapot containing the tea was on the table. (I didn’t give him any of the tea.)
Mighty Leaf’s description:

“Our holiday blend is a festive winter chai. Indian black tea converges with chai spices of clove, cinnamon, star anise, and ginger for a robust, slightly astringent cup. Apple and goji berries give it a slightly tart, mulled spice profile. Great with milk.”

The tea is good, but as the company’s description would suggest, it did not taste good black. It really, really needed sugar so I added some. It seemed like it might do well with milk also, but I didn’t have any to experiment with when I tasted the tea and I found that it was quite tasty once it was sweetened. I liked the peppery flavor of the blend, and I was relieved that it didn’t have the cloying, cheap potpourri flavor that I feared it might have. I also determined that it would have been greatly enhanced by a shot of brandy, which I also did not have on hand, sadly.

It is a very nice tea, and provided me with the unusual experience of drinking a type of tea that I would not encounter under normal circumstances. I very rarely drink flavored teas or blends or teas that need sugar, so it was really interesting to taste this particular tea. It was almost like trying a completely different cuisine, like trying something that is enjoyable, but struck me as not tea-like since it was so unlike the varieties of tea I drink. I think that for anyone who does drink spicy and aromatic blends and flavored teas the Holiday Blend would be quite enjoyable. It would be perfect for drinking in front of a fire surrounded by shreds of wrapping paper and relatives you don’t often see, which might necessitate adding the brandy, depending on your circumstances.

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Tea Review: Teas Etc.: Plum Blossom Reserve Oolong

Cinnabar — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:31:15 +0000

Teas Etc.’s Plum Blossom Reserve Oolong (Dong Fong Mei Zen), a Bai Hao style oolong from Taiwan, is an exceptional and fabulous tea. It is one of a small number of teas that Teas Etc. has started importing from an award-winning Taiwanese grower.

If you’ve tasted any Bai Hao oolong and are capable of calling to mind its flavor, you’ll know what the essential character of this tea is like. As its name suggests, the scent of plum blossom is a dominant element of this tea’s flavor profile. If you’ve never tried any Bai Hao style oolongs (also known regrettably as “Oriental Beauty,” a name attributed to Queen Elizabeth II, in her enthusiasm over this tea), I recommend that you do. They’re quite deserving of their worldwide repute, and this Plum Blossom Reserve in particular is a very good example of a Taiwanese oolong produced in the style of a Bai Hao. Teas Etc.’s description:

“Obvious fruit tones, crisp bright notes and a smooth finish make this a rare yet classic favorite.

This exceptional dark Bai Hao (Oriental Beauty) style oolong comes to us from MiaoLi County in Taiwan, long renowned for producing some of the finest of this superb varietal.

The high elevation, environmental conditions and synergy of the tea bush and the green leaf hopper impart a unique fruit tones, the likes of which we have not cupped since 2002-2003.

This summer harvest is oxidized at approximately 50% and was produced by an award winning tea master.”

Teas Etc.’s recommendation for brewing suggests using water between 180-185°F and I would encourage you to follow this advice. If you use water that is too hot, the tea will be a little bitter and will not emit as many of the deep floral fruity notes that make it so enjoyable. I wouldn’t get too caught up in thermometers and worry, though. If you’re brewing it Gongfu style just pour the water from the kettle into your sharing pitcher and leave it for a minute or two before pouring it into your teapot or gaiwan to begin steeping the tea leaves.

One of the most notable things about the Plum Blossom Reserve was how the deep aroma and flavor lingered for a long time after I had finished drinking it, slowly fading with time.

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Tea Review: Rishi Tea: Shan Lin Xi Gao Shan Cha

Cinnabar — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:52:14 +0000

A while ago I reviewed a Formosa Shanlinxi high mountain oolong from auraTeas. Not terribly long after that I received a sample of Rishi Tea’s Shan Lin Xi Gao Shan Cha Oolong, and I was quite interested in finding out how different the teas would be from each other. They are both from the Shan Lin Xi region of Nantou, Taiwan, and I would expect they would have been processed using nearly identical methods, perhaps even by tea farmers who know each other. So I thought they would be almost indistinguishable.

But I was mistaken. Unlike the oolong from auraTeas, which exhibited such a strong note of lemon grass, the oolong from Rishi had, as described in the company’s description, notes of evergreen. I was also aware of a flavor similar to thyme, which I can not remember ever associating with a tea before.

Part of Rishi’s description reads:

Shan-Lin-Xi is an independent and secluded area in Nantou. There is almost only one way in and out of the tea gardens. The tea from this garden has a flavor that is totally different from other areas in Taiwan. Because of the closed geography, the environmental humidity is very high and the weather changes so often. It’s so difficult to make good tea there during the rainy spring season so good Shan-Lin-Xi tea is sold at very high prices.

This tea is known as “Gao Shan Cha” or high mountain tea. It has a character that is best suited to gong fu brewing using a guywan. The tealeaves are tender and have a rich content of amino acids and aromatic essential oils. It is best to use water below boiling, about 190 degrees f to preserve the aroma.

It was an interesting opportunity to taste two teas that were this similar. Both teas are of high quality and are quite enjoyable to drink, but I am surprised at how different they are from each other. I think part of this may be attributed to the fact that Rishi’s Shan Lin Xi is more highly oxidized than auraTeas’ is, but it could also be due to the Qing Xin varietal that produces the leaves for Rishi’s oolong. Both, of course, are very green, lightly oxidized, high-mountain oolongs, much more similar in character to each other than to aged or darker Taiwanese oolong teas. From Rishi’s description:

This special batch is more fermented than usual giving it an alluring mouth feel. Its flavor and aroma is clear and pure with accents of fresh evergreen and wild flowers. It can be brewed many times and has a long lasting flavor and aroma that lingers on the palate and lsts for many infusions.

Note: Rishi Tea’s preparation instructions recommend a porcelain gaiwan, which I have also used for this tea. It was indeed a better brewing vessel than the glass gaiwan shown.

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Tea Review: Tea Source: Golden Spirals

Cinnabar — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:00:44 +0000

Looking at the pictures I took of Tea Source’s Golden Spirals I’m tempted to describe the experience as a strange art project instead of a tea tasting, but the visuals are half or less of the story of this unusual tea. Tea Source’s description:

“This hand-tied display tea is made of long golden/brown tea leaves and brews up with a silky smooth, medium-bodied, sweet (rosy-like) flavor. Wonderful.”

I have an inherent distrust of “display teas,” but this tea is more than a mere novelty object. It brews into a very good tasting tea. As you can see by looking at the dry tea, the leaf is long and golden. It looks and tastes like it must be made from the leaves of a golden Dian Hong from Yunnan Province in China, although its origins are not identified on the packaging or on the company’s website.

As a tea drinker who really enjoys Yunnan Black teas, I was quite pleased to discover that this tea tastes quite similar to the loose leaf Yunnan gold teas that I like. It has that delicious burnt sugar taste that I enjoy with Yunnan Gold teas, although not to the extent that a very high-quality Yunnan Gold Tip would have. But it also has the added element of having been tied and twisted into a neat little cone-shaped bundle that emerges into a wet, brown, drowned flower-like thing as it absorbs hot water and transforms it into tea liquor.

At least one of the times that I drank this tea, I brewed it in a teapot that holds more than one cup of tea and chose not to decant it, so the second pour into my cup steeped considerably longer than the first. It did not have any bitterness or unpleasant strength in spite of the long steep, which was probably at least ten or fifteen minutes. It was a little more boldly flavored, but was still just as nice to drink.

The second infusion was lighter in flavor, but almost as good, and the color of the liquor was not significantly lighter. The third infusion was completely unexciting in taste and color, which is what I expected. The soggy anemone of tea held together throughout. This is a very nice tea, to watch and to drink, and very convenient if measuring spoons or tea scales seem like way too much work.0

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