Tea study, tea joy

Pat Penny and Jason Cohen (from the Tea Institute at Penn State) have spent the month of June studying and enjoying tea in Taiwan. Indoors, the classes were serious, detailed analysis of various teas and concepts. When they happened in the morning, these 2 students were not always fully awake! (See picture above). Luckily, most classes are a mix of theory and practice : teas are tasted and this clears the mind.

Pat and Jason have shown a lot of passion and motivation in learning about Chinese/Taiwanese tea culture. And when 2 more distinguished guests joined them, I decided to take them to one of the nicest place to brew tea: outdoors, in the mountains of Tucheng!

Professor Jae-Sup Park, Ph. D (left) and Yasuo Koike (right) joined their 2 American tea friends and a European tea blogger (me) for this international tea summit!

Professor Park teaches Korean Studies at the Inje University in Korea. And Mr. Koike is a retired Japanese journalist with a great interest in tea (his wife is a Japanese tea master in NYC).

So, to expand their understanding of Taiwanese teas, I had the pleasure of brewing several Oolongs with my silver kettle!

I started with my winter 2011 Shan Lin Shi Luanze oolong. They were very pleased with its sweetness and long aftertaste. In Japan and Korea, high quality green teas are mostly harvested in spring (twice), so they were very surprised to taste a winter harvest. The examination of the open leaves also proved very unusual for them: whole and big mountain leaves!

Then, I proceeded to brew my spring 2012 Da Yu Ling Luanze Oolong. This made the difference between winter and spring Oolongs very obvious. This tea displayed its amazing clarity and high, natural fragrances. The silver teapot strengthened the crisp, clear taste. (Later, we brewed this tea with a zhuni teapot and found that the hard Yixing clay gave more body and a more mellow aftertaste.)

With just these 2 high mountain Oolongs, we could enjoy very light, but powerful and fine brews. Sharing this pleasure through our faces didn't need many words. The tea was speaking its own direct language to us.

A natural breeze helped power the charcoal in my white Nilu at a relaxed speed. Like all tea accessories, the more often you use your Nilu, the better you understand it. The time it takes for the water to boil tells you the strength of the fire and you learn to add charcoal earlier if you want more heat for a faster boil. But adding charcoal can also reduce your heat if your piece of charcoal is big and covers the fire! Like with brewing tea, it's a matter of paying attention and learning from past mistakes/successes.

We now proceed to one of my charcoal roasted Shan Lin Shi Hung Shui Oolong. Everybody is amazed of the difference of aromas between the leaves in the foil and in the jar. "The oolong smells stronger and finer in the jar!", observed professor Park.

The Hung Shui Oolong tasted deeper and more complex than the unroasted Oolongs. A rich golden color brew combines the fragrant scents with the sweet and nutty notes of a medium roast. The mellow aftertaste unfolds by waves and seems never to go away...

I can see my guests are true tea connaisseurs who know how to appreciate the quality of my teas! So, I reward them with my 1990 San Hsia Hung Shui Oolong! This 22 years Oolong hasn't been reroasted. It wasn't necessary, because it has been very well stored. I'm using fewer leaves than with my newer Oolongs, but the brew still comes out darker!

Mr. Koike is amazed by the freshness of this tea. It reminds him Japanese green tea: "I can taste unami", he said with a smile!

We were all moved by this tea. Time has chiseled the aromas with increasing clarity and depth.

The hard zhuni clay extracts high notes with precision. It proved to be a perfect match for this old Oolong!

Tea study and tea joy go hand in hand!

Update: I'm adding a picture of the 22 years old Oolong leaves we brewed in Tucheng.

La vie en rose

Je n'ai pas de penchant ou d'affinité particulière pour le rose. C'est probablement du à un (dé)goût masculin transmis par les générations, à moins que ce ne soit une norme culturelle occidentale plus récente pour les hommes. Toujours est-il que je me rappelle avoir été frappé par l'utilisation de tissus roses délavés et un peu grisâtres dans le Musée National du Palais à Taipei. Il s'agissait de la section des céramiques céladon de la dynastie Sung. Parmi elles, on trouve 33 pièces 'Ru', le céladon plus vénéré.  (En mars, je vous avais parlé d'un petit bassinet Ru mis aux enchères pour 8-10 Millions de dollars. Or, c'est à 26.7 Mio de dollars que cette pièce Sung fut adjugée!)

Après le choc de ce rose en la place d'un tissu gris passe-partout, je m'habituai progressivement à la combinaison de cette couleur avec ce 'ciel bleu juste après la pluie'. Or, en regardant l'émaille Ru de plus près, on peut apercevoir des irisations roses sur certaines parties de sa surface!!! Voilà ce qui donne un aspect si tendre et doux aux pièces Ru.  

Ce bateau à thé de David Louveau est un céladon bleuté proche du Ru

Cette douceur, on la retrouve aussi dans la porcelaine ivoire de mes coupes 'dragon' de De Hua. Celles-ci sont posées sur des petites assiettes en céladon de la fin de la dynastie Qing. Chacune est différente, jamais parfaitement formée. Le thé (un Oolong de haute montagne) ressort particulièrement bien sur ce contraste de couleurs et de matériaux.

L'ambiance de ce Cha Xi m'évoque le raffinement de la dynastie Sung. Mais, en même temps, ces sous-coupes en céladon grossières de la fin de la dynastie Qing me font penser au paradoxe chinois des fins d'époque. Chez les Sung, le raffinement de la culture les conduisit à la perte face aux Mongols barbares. (Ils avaient perdu l'envie de se battre.) Chez les Qing, au contraire, le déclin du pouvoir impérial s'accompagna d'un délitement des arts. On produisit de plus en plus, mais de qualité de moins en bonne. La Chine avait perdu son avance technologique et son monopole de la porcelaine et du thé...

"Se cultiver et périr ou se barbariser et vaincre"* tel fut déjà le dilemne insoluble de la dynastie Han il y a 2000 ans! A l'époque, l'armée chinoise dut apprendre à monter à cheval pour ne pas se faire déborder par les cavaliers des steppes.

La poursuite de la culture et de l'art reflète la réussite d'une société (voir l'acquéreur du bol Sung Ru et toutes les enchères dominées par les riches Chinois!). Mais avec le thé, plaisir simple et raffiné, il faut aussi savoir éviter les excès et savoir trouver la beauté dans des pièces nouvelles, mais faites traditionnellement, à la main, par des artistes/artisans passionnés! Remarquez d'ailleurs les reflets roses sur cette aiguières en céladon de David Louveau. Avec tant de douceur en bouche et devant mes yeux, je vois la vie en rose!

* ("La civilisation de la Chine classique", de Vadime et Danielle Elisseeff)

Blue Lagoon - Cha Xi, Mandala

Last Sunday, in Bei-Tou, Teaparker spoke at a book club about his book 'Cha Xi - Mandala'. After his presentation, he asked me to perform a real-life example of a Cha Xi of my own creation.

There are 2 things I love to do in summer: going to the beach or walking in the mountains. And when I can't do that, I can always combine these two feelings of clear, fresh air/water with my 'blue lagoon' Cha Xi (here, I'm using Da Yu Ling high mountain Oolong!).

I use the third Cha Xi from this article and added some corals on the beige fabric! I found those on the beach of Kenting. The 'crystal clarity' of Da Yu Ling's taste and brew is like the water in a 'blue lagoon'. The result is Paradise!

(Click this first link for better pictures of the event.)

The large crowd shows that many Chinese are interested in deepening their knowledge, understanding and practice of tea!

Qizhong Oolong de Wenshan

Cultivar: Qingxin (luanze) Oolong

Récolté à la main au printemps 2011 dans les monts du Wenshan, au nord de Taiwan.

Baozhong (de type 'forêt subtropicale') torréfié moyennement en 2012.

Le triage des tiges s'effectue à la main. Cela rend l'aspect des feuilles sèches plus harmonieux. Mais cela permet surtout de concentrer les arômes. (Les fermiers revendent traditionnellement ces tiges à des restaurants traditionnels chinois où le thé est offert comme l'eau en carafe en France).

 

Cette nouvelle version de cet autre classique de ma sélection a une torréfaction douce, bien réussie. (Voyez cet article pour plus d'informations générale concernant son histoire.).

Je l'ai essayé de nombreuses manières: en gaiwan, en théière d'Yixing, peu dosé et moyennement dosé. Chaque variante m'a donné satisfaction. (C'est peut-être aussi un avantage de bien connaitre un certain type de thé: avec l'expérience, on sait comment bien l'infuser! Mais c'est aussi une preuve du degré d'adaptabilité des feuilles.)

Ci-dessous, par exemple, les feuilles remplissent à peine la moitié de la théière. L'effet obtenu est léger, doux et presque fleuri! L'arrière goût reste longtemps présent en bouche. La torréfaction a bien préservé la fraicheur de ces arômes subtropicaux tout en lui donnant des notes plus mielleuses. Voilà une manière bien désaltérante de le préparer en été!

3 Cha Xi, 2 pillars

Saturday, I had 3 teas to celebrate 8 years of tea blogging!

For each, I designed a set-up, a Cha Xi, that would fit with the mood and taste of the leaves. Through these 3 examples, I would like to emphasize the 2 pillars of any successful Cha Xi: content and form.

- Pillar No 1: Content.

The core content of your Cha Xi is the tea. To have a content of quality, you need quality tea. If you are going to make the effort a creating a beautiful and meaningful Cha Xi, do it with a great tea that fills you with joy when you drink it. Such tea will probably taste even better than usual if you take your time to brew it slowly in a beautiful environment. (Teabags, low grade leaves have much more limited room for improvement).

- Pillar No 2 : Form.

Once you have selected the high quality tea you want to prepare, you will face the question of how to brew, with which accessories...Form and content should go hand in hand. In other set up's design should follow, underline or even magnify your tea. High quality tea calls for high quality accessories that further improve the tea drinking experience.

You have a lot of freedom to brew like you want, of course. Everybody has different tastes and accessories. But what should guide you through all the possible choices is the focus on the content: what is most suitable to express this tea's potential.

I have combined the theory and practice on the first 2 Cha Xi. There, I have displayed 2 big qinghua tea jars. Standing far apart, these tall jars look like 2 pillarsI Each contains roasted Oolongs that I'm storing (or aging if they last long enough) in a suitable and beautiful container. (These jars have the content - tea - and the form - a fitting material, nice shape and decoration! -)

For my first Cha Xi I'm having my 1990 San Hsia Hung Shui Oolong. The mood for this old tea is very classic. An Yixing Di Cao Qing teapot, old qinghua cups on pewter cha tuo, 2 qinghua plates and a black Jianyang bowl. My decoration is also classic with 2 bonsai on celadon plates. The (new) Cha Bu has a complex green color (like a jeans that has been washed over and over). These green elements among the darker background symbolize a kind of eternal spring (especially the pine tree bonsai).

This tea that starts with dark and malty notes, but finishes like a spring Jiangsu Bi Luo Chun. It's old but tastes so young. Amazing!

I kept the 2 jars, the black background, the tetsubin, a small plate and the Nilu from the previous Cha Xi. This allowed me to make the switch to this other tea faster.

As you have probably guessed it already from the dark orange brew, I made a hung cha (red tea). My Cha Bu matches the tea's color and brightness. The plants are more flowery and bright as well. This new, not yet reviewed, red tea is made of high mountain tea buds. That's why I'm using my silver teapot (instead of porcelain): to bring out the fragrance and energy out of those leaves. Ivory dragon cups underline the red color. And the green plates on the long bamboo mat (from Zhu Shan) provide a nice, refreshing contrast with the cups.

This red tea has been made with luanze (qingxin Oolong) cultivar small leaves, hand harvested at an elevation of 1700 meters in... Yunnan! It reminds me the 2007 Oriental Beauty I called 'perfect'. However, here the high noted, crystal clear fragrance lasts many more brews! Mesmerizing!

The sun, a good lighting effect can also highlight a tea. Here, on my summer setup, I'm brewing my 2011 spring Qi Lai shan (2200 meters) Oolong. The light brown background and bamboo mat look like sand on a beach. The celadon plates and cups look like lagoons, while the ivory cups shine like suns. The freshness of the high mountains is like a quick dip in the ocean!  I think I could even catch a fish if I wanted!

Le blog fête ses 8 ans!

Et j'en profite pour vous rappeler que j'offre encore des cartes postales avec chaque commande (et mon stock se réduit...).

C'est aussi le moment de renouveler le décor de mon espace thé. Les couleurs claires (foin et/ou sable) de l'été succèdent au vert printanier. En ces jours de chaleur, je me délècte tout particulièrement de me Oolongs de haute montagne.

Hier, il m'est d'ailleurs arrivé une expérience extraordinaire. Il me restait du Da Yu Ling 2012 infusé 3 fois la veille dans une théière en zhuni. Je fis une nouvelle infusion avec ces feuilles ouvertes depuis 24 heures, et j'obtins un thé aux odeurs de bonbon! Ces feuilles d'Oolongs ont évolué (oxydé) sous l'effet de la chaleur et de l'humidité, ce qui transforma mon infusion en une véritable gourmandise! J'en tirai même une infusion supplémentaire du même tonneau, mais un peu plus légère.

Et en parlant de tonneau, je vous signale à cette autre expérience intéressante dans le monde parallèle du vin: le fut de vin vieillerait mieux en mer que sur terre! Les amateurs de thés chinois penseront immédiatement à la préparation du thé sous la dynastie Tang: un peu de sel était rajouté au thé cuit (ce qui en relevait le goût). Le vin rouge, de son côté, est souvent destiné à accompagner un plat salé...

Cet aparté illustre bien que le thé continue de m'étonner et de me fournir mille et un nouveaux plaisirs. Aussi, ce jeune blog n'est pas prêt de s'arrêter!  

Winter 2011 Concubine Oolong from Dong Ding

Feng Huang, Dong Ding and Yong Lung are the 3 small villages near Lugu (Nantou county in Central Taiwan) that are at the core of the historical "Dong Ding Oolong" name. In the late 1970s, early1980s, this became the center of Taiwan's tea world, overtaking Wenshan Baozhong. Its peak period lasted until the 1990s when High Mountain Oolongs became most popular. The peak of Shan Lin Shi is just half an hour away!...

To adapt to changing times and tastes, the Oolongs harvested started to be lighter, similar to Gao Shan Oolongs. However, the lower elevation (below 900 meters) meant that Dong Ding Oolong would never be able to replicate the characteristics of high mountain plantations. Around 2005/06, the farmers of Feng Huang innovated with the Concubine Oolong, inspired by Oriental Beauty. At first, it was meant as an organic summer Oolong taking advantage of the green leaf insect bites. But with the growing popularity of organic teas, it now makes sense to also produce Concubine Oolong with spring and winter harvests. These seasons produce finer scents (spring) or tastes (winter).

Cultivar: Luanze/qingxin Oolong
Origin: Feng Huang, Dong Ding

Hand harvested in November 2011 (Winter)
Process: High Oxidation and medium charcoal roast.

Brewing: Neutral porcelain gaiwan. Long brews.

View.

The dry leaves appear very dark and dry.
The brew is orange gold, very transparent and clear.
The leaves open up well, a sign that the roasting was slow and didn't hurt the leaves.

Scents.

Dark ripe fruits, honey melon. There is also a hint of perfume (Fendi). And, of course, it smells like in the plantation on a sunny day.

Taste

Sweet, sweet, sweet. No matter how long I let it brew, I can't get bitter or astringent notes from these leaves! And it's a clean, bright mellow taste. The mouth feels very comfortable. And the aftertaste seems to stay on forever.

For this Cha Xi, I'm using a new Cha Bu (dark with stripes). For the Cha Tuo, I'm using small ancient celadon plates under ivory classic cups. (The symbolism is that there is something green/fresh below the golden taste). As for my plant, I'm using a pine tree bonsai. This winter season plant (=>winter tea) is a symbol for longevity, everlasting youth. Indeed, the taste seems everlasting. While tea doesn't prevent death, we can surely hope that this organic tea will have a positive impact on our health. 

We also brewed it in the hills of Tucheng, outdoors, using a similar setup. After drinking fresh, unroasted high mountain Oolongs, this almost fully oxidized and well roasted roasted provided a nice contrast. The special sweetness was immediately obvious.

The nicest part of this tea's experience is its completely natural, clean, soothing feeling it leaves.

Thanks to its charcoal roasting, it's a tea with an excellent aging potential (longevity!) Storing it in a glazed jar refines it even further.

Also, because of its easy brewability, it's the perfect tea to carry 'on the road'. Even in a thermos, it remains sweet and beautiful, like a wonderful concubine Oolong would be!

Dong Ding Oolong tea is back!
Long live Dong Ding Oolong!

How fitting: a pine tree growing in a tea plantation in Feng Huang!

Welcoming the Penn State Tea Institute in Taiwan

For this meeting with tea literati, university students dedicated to the study and research of tea, I returned to one of my favorite spots in the mountains of Tucheng. This setting recalls ancient Chinese paintings of scholars among majestic landscapes!

Last year, I had the opportunity to visit the Tea Institute at Penn State. So, as a member of the Tea Institute's outside advisory board, it's my responsibility to guide and motivate these students. The experience of a complete, classic Cha Xi outdoors sets a high standard for their tea enjoyment. At the same time, this provides a great reward for the work and research effort they have dedicated to tea.

Pat & 

 Jason 

Happy to be in Taiwan on such a sunny day!

These 2 lucky students just arrived from Korea and Pat will continue with his tea trip to Japan at the end of the month!

This Cha Xi is completely traditional thanks in great part to the charcoal fire in the white Nilu heating the spring water in my silver kettle! This traditional method of boiling water is slower than a gas stove, so it was the first element we set up. What makes a good Nilu is that the fire burns well without much monitoring. The air flow created by the hole in the Nilu should make the fire sustain itself easily. All I had to do was adding charcoal from time to time.

The silver kettle also added its distinctive pure and bright characteristic to the fresh spring water we had just collected nearby. 

Protected from the sun by trees around us, we could see a bamboo forest between the branches from where we were!

I started with my summer 2011 Shan Lin Shi Luanze Oolong, brewed in a Yixing zhuni teapot from the 1980s. While it was obvious that this Oolong produced fruity tastes, nobody guessed it was actually a summer Oolong (instead of spring or winter). Our ideal brewing conditions had produced such a nice cup of tea!

To help my guests better understand the taste of spring vs summer, I continued with 2 spring 2012 High Mountain oolongs. First, the 1600 meters Ali Shan Luanze Oolong. The fresh cooling sensation is much more present in the mouth and the whole body. It's exactly what we need on this hot day.

Secondly, I brew my latest Da Yu Ling qingxin Oolong (harvested on May 10, 2012) at 2300 meters elevation:

Both spring Oolongs are very similar indeed, especially when tasted outdoors where it's more difficult to focus on detailed fragrances. The Da Yu Ling felt a little bit more powerful, but also more refined.

The last brew of this Da Yu Ling lasted over 30 minutes on this rock (while we drank another Oolong). The taste was still very bright and clear. No bitterness or astringency! High Mountain excellence!

A Cha Xi to remember. The other accessories we used for these 3 Oolongs:
- Celadon ever by David Louveau,
- Ancient glazed greanade as tea jar with a tea cup by Petr Novak as lid,
- qingbai singing cups on pewter Cha Tuo
- Jianyang black glazed tea bowl for the waste water.
- Small Qing dynasty qinghua plate for the dry leaves,
- Celadon plate by David Louveau for the zhuni teapot
- Ancient bamboo/wood basket to transport the equipment. The cover of the basket was also used as a tray for the cups.

The memory of this day shines brightly.