I'm back in Taipei!

Here is a picture of a nicely decorated park in Taichung, taken last vacation last week. Lantern festival is just around the corner and this picture is a good reminder how powerful a red lantern (made of simple red paper) is to create a classic Chinese atmosphere at night. Maybe some of you even have one in your tea room...

Happy Lunar New Year!

I wish you all Shenti Jiankang (good health), Gongxi Fa Tsai (Prosperity) and Wanshi Ruyi (all your wishes)! Thanks for your support and interest in my tea blog. I'm taking a week off in Taichung for the festivities and will be back at the end of the month to continue the tea study.
Je vous souhaite à tous de très bonnes fêtes de Nouvel An chinois à l'aube de l'année du cochon (je résiste mal à l'envie de faire un jeu de mot qui consisterait à adjectiver le nom de l'animal). Il est donc temps que je prenne des vacances et que je me ressource avec du bon thé et de la méditation dans un de ces nombreux temples bariolés que l'on visite en famille pour bruler de l'argent factice pour ses aieux.

Théière en argent de rêve

Si tout se passe bien, j'aurai acquis la soeur de cette théière en argent durant le Nouvel An chinois. Cela fait plus d'un an que j'en rêve. Depuis que j'ai pu boire du oolong de haute montagne préparé avec. L'argent massif très pur de cette théière est si conducteur qu'il faut prendre encore un tissu supplémentaire pour tenir l'anse recouverte de fils rouges. Le thé infuse à une chaleur encore supérieure à la glaise zhuni d'Yixing. Très peu de thé suffit généralement. Mais il faut que cela soit de la meilleure qualité, car si cette théière intensifie les fragrances et le goût, elle intensifie aussi les défauts éventuels. Ainsi, tous les thés ne lui conviennent pas. Les Oolongs torréfiés et les vieux puerhs iront quand même mieux avec une Yixing (sauf pour de rares exceptions qui approchent du sublime). Elle convient donc surtout à des thés 'frais' comme le longjin pre-Qing Ming, les meilleurs Gao Shan Oolongs et les puerhs crus sauvages.

J'ai eu l'occasion d'utiliser d'autres théières en argent, mais c'est avec elle que le résultat fut le plus pur. Bref, je palpite déjà à l'avoir bientôt dans mes mains, ma précieuse, celle qui domine toutes les autres!

Make tea personal and beautiful

This is what my tea friend Toki did. For his wedding, he didn't just buy a puerh cake, but added a personal touch by designing a new wrapper with his and his wife's initials. And he also designed the neifei with his wedding date on the cake.


He actually went to Yunnan and ordered a whole lot of cakes directly from a farmer, selecting high grade leaves and buds! (You won't go through this trouble if the tea is just average.)

In the same spirit, I have made a special handwritten calligraphy for the best raw puerh cake in my selection (the 2003 raw wild Yiwu qizi bing). In ancient China, emperors (and powerful people) would add their seal on the side of a painting or calligraphy as a way to show their appreciation for it. So, if you like your puerh, or if your guests do, you coud all sign the wrapper! Each time you'd open the paper you would remember that day of shared tea friendship...

For loose tea leaves, a nice way to improve on the sealed plastic packaging is to use a fitting ceramic jar (glazed for fresh tea and unglazed for shou cha). Jars are so much more sensual to handle than plastic bags. They are nice to look at on a shelf or next to your teapot during the gongfu cha.

These are some ideas to treat good tea with respect. They can enhance our tea experience and enjoyment. Do you have original ideas that make your tea more personal and beautiful that you wish to share?

Tuo Cha sauvage cuit de 1990

En complément à mes notes de dégustations, voici un extrait d'un courier que Mathieu m'a envoyé à propos de ce puerh:

"Je m'appelle Mathieu et je vous connais par l'entremise d'un de vos contacts au Québec: Tommy. En effet, c'est avec lui ainsi que ma compagne que nous profitons de vos thés.

Donc, un soir de dégustation chez lui, nous décidons de goûter un de vos échantillons : le 1990 cooked wild first leave grade pu-erh.Ce fut en vrai délice. Le verdict fut unanime, il y avait quelque chose de spécial avec ce thé, il s'en détachait une ambiance chaude et feutrée,presque spirituelle. Nous avons donc pris la décision de vous le commander pour des occasions spéciales.

En fait, pour moi et ma compagne, l'occasion se présenta assez rapidement... Nous partions pour une retraite fermée et ce thé se révéla tout indiqué pour ce type d'expérience. J'en étais donc à ma troisième journée de solitude, sans contact avec personne (même pas ma conjointe). Pas d'électricité dans ma poustinia, je n'avais que déjeuné et il était tard dans la journée, donc tout mes sens étaient prédisposés à déguster ce thé, rien ni personne pour me déranger. Quelle merveille...pure(ou pu erh délice) délice...un moment sublime!!! Sa liqueur d'un rouge intense rappelant celle du vin, me remplit littéralement la bouche. Moelleux, rond en bouche, onctueux, rafraîchissant, sans aucune astringeance ni amertume, vraiment le meilleur pu erh que j'ai gouté à venir jusqu'à maintenant! Ses arômes de terre humide et d'écorce de bouleau s'alliant pour donner une liqueur qui n'irrite en rien les papilles. Doux, sans aucune prétention et qui se laisse boire entoute quiétude et sérénité!!! Je suis vraiment conquis et je suis impatient d'y regouter en d'autres contextes, mais cette fois-ci en bonne compagnie!!!

En terminant, je tiens vous remercier pour votre générosité et je peux affirmer, que c'est sans aucun doute grâce à vous si j'ai développé mon goût pour le pu erh. En effet, c'est à travers vos échantillons que s'est développé notre expertise sur le pu erh ainsi que les autres types de thés que vous nous faites parvenir. J'espère donc que ce commentaire saura faire votre bonheur car pour moi, vos thés font le mien!"

J'en profite pour vous rappeler que vos commentaires sous mes articles sont le bienvenu. Ce feedback m'aide à mieux connaitre ce que vous aimez et aide les autres lecteurs à mieux faire leur choix. Je vous remercie pour votre participation. Elle contribue à rendre ce site vivant.

Puerh's latest news

Teaparker has come back from Shanghai last weekend. He was very impressed by how quickly China was developing in terms of quality and prices of tea. Old puerh can be found in department houses and it sells for top dollars. He also visited a new tea house in Shanghai that left him stunned. The setting is an old renovated colonial house (in the French quarter, if I remember well). Inside, each room is named after a famous puerh mountain. And in the main room, the wall is covered with a display of old puerh beengs (Sung Pin, Red label, Yellow Label...) All the famous puerh cakes are there. And -what makes it worth mentionning- they are real! (According to Teaparker's evaluation). The prices for such cakes run in the 200,000-400,000 RMB (25,000 to 50,000 USD) in this tea house. If that's too expensive for you, you can always ask to just brew a little sample of such teas for... 20,000 RMB (2,500 USD). This is just 2 third of the price membership there costs... If you choose to brew something younger and less expensive, just keep in mind the minimum cover charge of 1000 RMB (125 USD)!

This feedback about China (I personnally haven't been there, despite over 10 years on the island of Taiwan) sounds pretty consistent to what my brother in law reported. 7-8 years ago he travelled there feeling proud and superior coming from Taiwan. 2 weeks ago, feeling that his career prospects in the construction business are limited in Taiwan, he made another trip to interview for a engineering job on the Mainland. This time, he felt very humble. So much had changed there. He almost felt he wouldn't be qualified enough for the job. The project he would work on (the construction of a new industrial park) is bigger in size and capital spending then all the building projects he has worked on in Taiwan over his 20 years career!

In June 2005, when China's stock market hit a low, I had recommended China as a good investment opportunity. The China 25 ETF I had mentioned has roughly doubled in the meantime (also boosted by the fact that the dollar has started to loose value against the RMB).

What does this all mean for puerh fans? China's continuous and strong economic growth means that there are more and more people who can afford quality tea. But not only do they have the means, but they also start to the desire and the curiosity to buy puerh. That Shanghai, a green tea stronghold (Bi Luo Chun from Jiangsu) would be the place for such a puerh store shows that the rich and famous are being conquered by the puerh wave. And like most fashions, they start in the cities of influence and then spread to the rest of the country.

The combination of these 2 developments means that puerh prices are rising and will continue to do so for some time (or that the quality you get for the same price will be lower than in the past.) I'm probably not the first (or the last) to have figured this out. This also explains why so many merchants are keeping puerh for long term storage. However, Yunnan is one of the poorest regions in China and I believe that increasing prices will mean that more puerh plantations will be established to fill the increased demand. That means that plantation puerh shouldn't increase as much as wild puerh.


Last Sunday, in a tasting of puerh from south west Yunnan, we had 2 different cakes (sorry, no pictures). They were indeed very different. One was excellent, fruity with a long aftertaste that seemed endless and coming layer by layer. The other one was so bitter (after the 4 minutes testing brew) that I still shudder when thinking about it. The mao cha used in these 2 beengs was were very similar. The main difference was in the process. One had been made with care, with leaves sun dried. The other one showed more sloppiness in the making: the cake was uneven and not well pressed. Also, the leaves had been oven baked. So, even if the leaves are first grade, coming from an old and wild tree, this still doesn't mean that the cake will be good. It still takes lots of skills to process it well.

Teaparker had a fitting comparison: you may have a farm chicken fed on organic food, but it still takes an experienced cook to turn it into a wonderful dish! A hint: look at the craftsmanship of your cake. Are the leaves evenly laid out? Is the inside the same as the outside? Is the back the same as the front? How well is the cake on the rim? Are there old leaves?... This can help you evaluate the quality of the cake, even though there is no substitute to actually tasting it.

Dégustation simultanée

Hier, j'ai fait une dégustation de thé simultanée avec un ami théophile habitant de l'autre côté de la planète. Je lui avais envoyé un peu de mon Oolong de Feng Huang, Dong Ding du printemps 2006 que j'avais mis dans cette vieille jarre pour le vieillir. On s'est dit une heure précise pour commencer à le boire au même moment. Et puis à chaque infusion on s'est alors envoyé des e-mails pour décrire comment on l'avait fait, le résultat obtenu, les odeurs concentrées, le délice de ce goût qui reste en bouche pendant des minutes... Comme la dégustation était simultanée, nos e-mails se croisaient et il était intéressant de lire combien nos sensations étaient proches et se complétaient. Et puis, il y avait ce côté émouvant de savoir qu'on partageait les mêmes émotions malgré les kilomètres qui nous séparent...

Ces derniers jours, j'avais souvent bu mes Oolongs de Dong Ding de cet hiver. Boire sa version printanière fut donc très intéressante. Je ne crois pas que la conservation en jarre l'ait beaucoup changé. Il fut excellent. Par contre, je fus surpris de voir à quel point je pouvais percevoir la différence de saison avec les Dong Ding de cet hiver. Il était bien plus fleuri et doux. Ceux faits en hiver sont plus secs et ont plus de longueur. Le fait de pouvoir comparer des Oolongs de la même plantation aide certainement pour distinguer ces différences, car il n'y a que la saison qui change.Pour ceux qui voudraient faire une telle dégustation simultanée entre amis, je conseille:

-de sélectionner un thé superbe que vous découvrez tous les deux pour la première fois. Ainsi l'expérience sera plus intense et inoubliable.

- d'écrire des e-mails plutôt que du messaging afin de garder une trace et ne pas être interrompu dans l'écriture (le messaging peut être bien pour des thés plus communs).

Bonne dégustation!

Félicitations Teaparker!

Son livre 'Un voyage dans le monde du thé chinois' a été distingué lors de la foire du livre de Taipei qui a eu lieu la semaine dernière. En effet, il a été sélectionné comme l'un des 12 livres à lire en 2007 (parmi les centaines de livres qui furent soumis au jury). Et c'est vrai que c'est un livre plaisant. Même si on ne lit pas le chinois, les nombreuses photos en couleurs sont très belles et parlent la langue universelle du thé!

Teaparker's book "A walk in the world of Chinese tea' has been selected by the Taipei Book Fair last week as one of the 12 books to read in 2007! Congratulations!

A study of Oriental Beauty

This tea dates from the end of the 19th century, when Taiwan started exporting its Oolong teas overseas. At that time, tea was mostly harvested at low altitude in the plains of northern Taiwan or in the Wenshan forest. Most tea farmers were new immigrants from Fujian with little tea growing experience. They had moved accross the Formosa Straight in search of a place to start a new and prosperous life. Formosa tea was their 'Klondike gold'. They mostly sold their harvests to foreign agents (John Dodd or Jardine Matheson) for export to the West. The better the quality, the higher the price they would get.

During each summer, the tea farmers would be upset to see their crops eaten by swarms of small criquets, particularly present in the warm plains. They didn't even bother to harvest the leaves, because low quality tea was usually turned down by the foreign tea traders. One farmer in Hsin Chu county didn't accept this fate. He harvested these bitten leaves nonetheless and managed to sell them for a high price to John Dodd. Legend has it that this tea was so good that it supposedly made its way to the queen of England who named it "Oriental Beauty" (or 'Dong Fang Mei Ren' in Chinese. See the calligraphy on the left). In Hsin Chu county, meanwhile, our farmer proudly told his friends for what a high price he had been able to sell this tea. There, people named it "Pong Fong Cha" or braggar's tea.

Oriental Beauty is sometimes called 2 other names: Bai Hao Oolong, Oolong with white hair/fur, or Wu Se Cha, tea with 5 colors, in reference to the appearance of its dry leaves.

Beyond the name, what is Oriental Beauty? It is a highly oxidized (+/-70%) Oolong harvested from young leaves, in summer, just after they have been bitten by the tea jassid (a small criquet). This bite starts the oxidation of the leaves and adds a sweet and sour note that is so characteristic.

But because it is such a popular and tasty tea, many plantations around Asia and Taiwan are trying to imitate Oriental Beauty. This year, I tasted imitations from India and China (fragrant, but very bitter mouthfeel). I also found 'high mountain' farmers in the Lugu area making Oriental Beauty with their summer Gao Shan Oolong (but leaves are bigger and less insect bitten, which gives a less distinctive taste). To clear the confusion in search of the real Oriental Beauty, let's examine the following:

A. Summer 2005 Pinglin, Wenshan area, top grade Oriental Beauty

(The actual leaves look better in real. This picture was taken with the bottom of the package). The leaves are made up mostly of luanze (qingxin) Oolong. This Wenshan Oriental Beauty has a very nice and fresh fragrance (red berries, pineapple...). But I found it was best brewed light or with short infusion times. Unpleasant astringency would develop if brewed too long. (Open leaves on the left show the high oxidation level). Therefore, typical Wenshan Oriental Beauty has an emphasis on fragrance.


B. Summer 2005, Pinglin Wenshan Mao Ho Oriental Beauty (monkey hair)

This is particular Oriental Beauty is made with an older Oolong varietal. It is particular feature are the many white hair that cover the dry leaves like fur. It is less fragrant and sweet compared when compared with A. It develops more forest, mushroom notes. However, it can better be brewed for longer times and has a mellow and long aftertaste.

Red tea (and Oriental Beauty is close to being fully oxidized) is best brewed in glazed ceramic. The Mao Ho Oriental Beauty, however, with its forest notes will be enhanced when brewed in an Yixing zisha teapot.

C. Summer 2005 Hsin Chu county Oriental Beauty

This top grade Oriental Beauty comes from where it was originally invented. That means where the tradition making this tea is longest. It is probably no accident then that this Oriental Beauty tastes best in my overview. It has both wonderfully complex smells (cinnamon, hints of orange, pineapple...), but also a sweet and round aftertaste. It can brew for minutes without turning astringent, a trait only the very best teas display.

D. Summer 2005 Feng Huang, Dong Ding, Guei Fei Cha (Concubine tea)

This summer Dong Ding Oolong finds its inspiration in Oriental Beauty: the farmer hasn't used any pesticides on purpose. He wants the criquets to get a bite of the leaves and then oxidize them more strongly than he usually does with his traditional Dong Ding Oolong. But it's not an imitation of Oriental Beauty, because the leaves are still fist rolled as is tradition in the Dong Ding area. That's why he could give this tea a new name, Concubine tea. And that's why I find it interesting, because it doesn't try to imitate Oriental Beauty (and imitations are almost always very inferior to the original in the tea world, as this study and my experience have shown). Instead, he created a new tea with its special character: a highly oxidized, insect bitten, summer Dong Ding Oolong that is better than a traditional summer Dong Ding Oolong.