Tuesday, November 29, 2016

My tea gift for Christmas 2016


The Christmas season provides a great opportunity to share the joy of tea with friends and family. But what is a good tea to introduce others (or oneself) to real, natural high quality tea?

This Jinxuan Oolong from Zhushan from spring 2016 is, imo, a very good choice.
It has fresh, flowery aromas similar to the popular high mountain Oolong. The taste is mellow, almost sweet and long lasting. It's rather easy to brew and not too likely to become bitter or astringent if you don't use too many leaves.
 The brew's bright and light golden color is full of sunshine.
Great tea provides a connection to nature and fuel for the mind to travel in thoughts to distant places like a dragon.
The leaves of Jinxuan Oolong are particularly big as they unfurl. It's like a magic trick compared to the tiny size of the dry loose leaves!
Brewing Jinxuan is simple. Preheat. Cover the bottom of your teapot/gaiwan with 1 layer of leaves. Pour the just boiled water on the side with strength. Wait roughly a minute for the first brew. Pour in the cups. Should the lid remain on the teapot or not between brews is a question I often get?
The correct way to do it is to always keep the lid on the teapot between brews. Otherwise, the leaves and teapot will cool down faster and the next brew won't be able to extract as much aroma.
And don't forget to show/tell your friends that you can brew the same leaves several times. This is also a nice change compared to tea bags. Drinking such Jinxuan Oolong is also healthy because your taste buds learn to enjoy natural scents and unsweetened tastes again.
A 25 gr sample of this tea only costs 4.05 USD in my online boutique right now (10% discount)! Where can you find a meaningful gift for such a low price? (A 150 gr pack only costs 16.2 USD.) And I give away 1 pack of 25 gr for free for any order greater than 60 USD (excluding shipping)! This is my Christmas gift to you so that you may spread the fresh, mellow and flowery aromas of Taiwan's Jinxuan Oolong around you!
Fly to Taiwan in spirit, riding the bright Jinxuan dragon!
Zhushan tea plantation

4 comments:

EG said...

Stéphane,
I would add that the larger 150g pack is the best gift for a friend who is just getting excited about tea - or for oneself! I think I've learned the most by repeatedly preparing the same tea, rather than switching all the time. You begin to relax with it and know it's qualities. If the tea is the same, you can appreciate the effect of all the other variables: water temperature, teapot, timing, even your mood or patience on a particular day.
Your post is a good reminder to get back to that simplicity. And you've made it affordable.
Best,
Elisabeth

TeaMasters said...

Elisabeth,

You're making a great point about how to improve your tea brewing technique. Repetition and practice with the same tea provides a great way to taste how other variables that tea impact the quality of the brew.
Thanks a lot for your advice!

VincentFTRY said...

This jixuan is a very good deal.
I had a gratifying 150gr,it's a great daily-drinker, I recommend it as i hope there will be some left next time i place an order to Stéphane.
By the way, Stéphane, thanks for being there in the world of tea.

VincentFTRY said...

This jixuan is a very good deal.
I had a gratifying 150gr,it's a great daily-drinker, I recommend it as i hope there will be some left next time i place an order to Stéphane.
By the way, Stéphane, thanks for being there in the world of tea.