Summer brewing. Tea in a bowl

2010 fall top OB

"Is brewing tea in a bowl a Taiwanese brewing method?" asked a reader yesterday about one of my post on Instagram. Apparently, it's still quite unusual to prepare tea in such a manner. I've written several times about it on my blog, but so, far, I had been using a bowl mostly for green tea. Today, I've used it with Oriental Beauty Oolong.

Brewing tea in a bowl is one of the most simple preparation method. Yes, you can find it in certain Taiwanese tea houses, but you can also see that most Taiwanese tea producers use this method to test their teas. Tea farmers only use the competition method for formal events. In everyday life, most producers I've met in Taiwan use a white bowl (sometimes the bowl from the competition set, sometimes a rice bowl) and brew their tea inside the bowl. The leaves keep on steeping and the farmer use a (porcelain) soup spoon to pour some tea in his cup and taste the tea. And when there's not much liquid left in the bowl, he adds boiling water.

When the farmer brews in a bowl, it's because he wants to push the tea to its limit and test the taste of the leaves when they brew for a very, very long time. It's the easiest way to tell if the tea is good or not: get all the flavors out of the leaves in one long steep.
But we tea drinkers brew like this for different reasons.

The bowl with its round shape is the ancestor of our tea cups. Big tea bowls are accessories from the past and each shape can be linked to a certain style or particular Chinese dynasty. Tang dynasty bowls were quite shallow and large. Song dynasty bowls were taller and 11.5 cm to 13 cm wide. Their shape were more suitable for whisking green tea powder. A shallow and large tea bowl (like here) will cool down faster. Therefore, it will only extract the lightest flavors from the leaves. That's why it's best to use it in summer. Under the sun, the (preheated) bowl is warm enough to release enough flavors and the brew will soon see its temperature drop and feel cooler than the hot brew from an Yixing teapot.

In terms of harmony and beauty, a tea bowl is also the most simple and harmonious vessel. And it lets you see the leaves unfold and dance with the boiling water you're adding on them. Watching the leaves turn in the bowl is like watching a clock turn, life unfold. They make a circle or two as the color of the brew darkens. Usually all these transformations are hidden in the teapot. Now you get to see the leaves soak the water and regain their original size.

This method is particularly well suited for green teas, because these teas are meant to have light flavors. However, as you can see here, it's also possible to enjoy Oriental Beauty Oolong or a Baozhong. (If you choose a partially oxidized tea, it's best to select one that doesn't have tightly rolled leaves like a high mountain Oolong. Because of the quick temperature drop in the bowl, twisted leaves open up much better than rolled leaves. - By the way, to solve the loss of temperature problem, a lid was added to the bowl and this created the gaiwan!-)

It brings out the lighter side of your Oolong teas. Less aftertaste, but more sweetness and delicate fragrances. The result is delicious! Especially if it's a good quality Oolong, it can take a very long brew. Here, my fall 2010 top Oriental Beauty feels pure and smooth. It's as if I had poured sugar in it!

La mode du dragon de la compétition de Dong Ding

Plantation de Feng Huang, Dong Ding

La façon de vendre le thé nous renseigne comment il est dégusté. A Taiwan, plus le thé est bon marché, plus il est vendu en grande quantité. Ainsi, les 2 premiers niveaux de distinction de la compétition de Dong Ding sont emballés dans une boite en carton qui contient deux boites métalliques de 300 gr chacune.

Les niveaux supérieurs sont packagés en 2 x 150 gr. L'achat d'un lot de Dong Ding de compétition correspond donc à 600 gr ou 300 gr! C'est une assez grande quantité pour un thé! Cela montre que la consommation de ce type de thé concerne surtout des buveurs habituels qui boivent ce type de thé régulièrement.

Mais les choses changent et la compétition de Dong Ding s'adapte elle aussi à des consommateurs plus curieux et aux goûts changeants. Ainsi, depuis quelques années, la compétition permet de goûter au vainqueur et aux 10 Oolongs suivants. (Je vous en avais déjà parlé en 2016). Mais cette dégustation a donné une nouvelle idée: au lieu de vendre les 11 meilleurs Oolongs de la compétition séparément, il est dorénavant possible de les acheter en 1 lot de 11 x 50 gr! Et on appelle 'dragon' ce lot qui contient les 11 meilleurs thés!

Cette nouvelle pratique nous montre que les amateurs les plus passionnés trouvent du plaisir dans la variété. Et ce printemps, un 'dragon' d'Oolong de Dong Ding s'est adjugé 100,000 NTD (2900 Euros) aux enchères!

Lac Cilin, Dong Ding

C'est dans cet esprit que je propose mes thés en petits échantillons depuis longtemps! Et pour vous faire mieux connaitre la diversité des Oolongs de cette compétition, je vous ai fait une sélection de 3 thés de fermiers, de 3 montagnes et de 2 grades différents.

Là, je déguste quelques feuilles du lot 6342. C'est un lot du niveau 'second prix' qui groupe les Oolongs de la tranche 2% à 7% parmi les meilleurs. Et pour avoir pu goûté au top 11, je suis très satisfait par la finesse, la complexité des arômes et l'endurance de ce thé!

Cette mode de petites quantités se retrouve aussi à WuYi où les Yan Cha sont le plus souvent emballés par petits sachets de 8 gr. Et l'an dernier, mon gushu puerh fut pressé en petites balles de 7-8 grammes. D'ailleurs, on les appelle des 'balles de dragon'! La tendance de fond pour le thé haut de gamme, de régions à thé historiques, va donc vers plus de qualité et des quantités de plus en plus réduites.

Spring 2019 Dong Ding Oolong competition

I spent my Dragon Boat festival in Lugu, at the spring 2019 ceremony of the Dong Ding Oolong competition. It's the biggest tea competition in Taiwan and the world! 6701 different teas competed for the top spot this spring! And 49% of the lots were kicked out for failing to pass their standard!

Here is a little reminder of how this competition works. The first round of tasting is performed by the farmers of the association who are trained as judges. Of course, the lots are anonymous and no judge knows whose tea he's tasting. These local judges are in charge of rejecting the teas that are not good or typical enough (for all kinds of reasons). And the teas they accept are classified in 3 categories: 2 plums (the lowest prize level, 20.4% of the lots), 3 plums (the second prize level, 15% of  the lots) and the best (15% of the teas).

In the second round of the competition, the best teas are sent to TRES (the Tea Research and Extension Station) where scientists taste the teas and give them the following ranks: The best tea, 10 follow-up, first prize (2%), second prize (5%) and third prize (8%).

The major benefit of going to this ceremony to purchase Dong Ding competition Oolong is that you get to taste the 11 best teas of the competition (if you purchase 5 jins = 3 kg of tea)! The teas are brewed in the same manner as for the competition: 3 grams with boiling water for 6 minutes in porcelain (see below) and then the brew rests 6 minutes so that the tasting temperature reaches approx. 42 degrees Celsius. First you smell all the teas and then you are allowed to taste a little sip of each.

Below is the competition winner. This year, the winner comes from Shan Lin Xi and the next 2 runners-up are from Alishan according to my information. There were no Oolongs from Lishan, because the harvests there were too late to take part in the competition. And, like last time, I patiently waited for all the visitors to leave the tasting and put the spent leaves in the small plastic bag. This way, I was able to brew the best Oolongs of the competition again later that evening!

The main takeaway from tasting these 11 best competition Oolongs is that they have very different flavor profiles. They are also a little bit lighter in roast than lower grade Dong Ding Oolongs. If you want to have a quick overview of 3 different styles of Dong Ding competition Oolong, I recommend you try this set of 3 prized Oolongs I have selected that day. One comes from Feng Huang (in the Dong Ding area), one from Shan Lin Xi and one from Alishan.

Cilin lake, Dong Ding

The Dong Ding competition dates back to 1976 and is the invention of Dr. Wu Zhen Duo (director of the TRES). It made Lugu, near Dong Ding, the new center of Taiwan's Oolong teas. I met old farmers whose eyes shone when I mentioned his name. "I'm one of his student! I was there for the first competition" said one 60 something old farmer (the maker of lot 913). His legacy is still thriving, and for a good reason: if you open a Dong Ding competition Oolong from over 10 years ago, you're very likely to enjoy an excellent tea that has aged with grace. These teas have powerful roast that give the Oolong a particular flavor and long aftertaste right now, and these teas can age so beautifully with time that it's sometimes good to forget it for many years...!

Cilin lake, Dong Ding

Tian Chi 2019 et le nouveau site tea-masters.com

Jardin de Tian Chi

Qingxin Oolong de Tian Chi

Chers amis francophones, mon site tea-masters.com/ est de nouveau disponible en version française! C'est un site amélioré, avec notamment des photos plus grandes qui vous montrent les thé et les accessoires tels qu'ils sont. J'espère que vous ne serez pas trop déroutés par l'affichage des produits. Autrefois on avait les plus récents d'abord, maintenant le site affiche les plus anciens en premier.

Pour mieux vous montrer les thés, avec les dernières sélections, j'ai commencé par ajouter une photo de 3 feuilles sèches en gros plan, ainsi qu'une feuille ouverte. Mais ce qui ne change pas, c'est la photo de 3 grammes de feuilles et de son infusion de 6 minutes dans un set de compétition en porcelaine blanche et les feuilles infusées. L'infusion est montrée sans filtrage d'impuretés. Je veux que vous voyez le thé de manière brute et clinique et vous donner tous les éléments visuels pour choisir votre thé en connaissance de cause.

Cela fait depuis juillet 2005 que je vends du thé de qualité de Taiwan par correspondance. Durant les premières années, la vente fut une activité annexe à ce blog (et à mon activité de père au foyer avec 2 adorables enfants en bas âge). Maintenant, c'est le blog qui est annexe à mes activités de vente, d'enseignement du thé, de photographie (et mes enfants sont devenus des ados qui ont moins besoin de moi)!

Dans mon travail de sélection de thés, ce qui donne le plus de satisfaction, c'est d'arriver à trouver de nouveaux thés exceptionnels! Longtemps, les meilleurs Oolongs de haute montagne venaient de Da Yu Ling, mais depuis le printemps dernier, c'est la plantation de Tian Chi qui m'impressionne le plus! Ce jardin fait parti de la ferme de FuShou Shan, celle avec les ventilateurs! Mais il n'y a pas de ventilateurs sur cette plantation, bien qu'elle soit située un peu plus haut que les autres plantations de cette ferme.

L'orientation de Tian Chi est aussi différente de celle des autres jardins de Fushou shan. C'est pourquoi ce fut une bonne idée de parcelliser Tian Chi et de lui donner un nom propre et de ne plus vendre cet Oolong sous l'appelation Fushou shan. Or, Fushou Shan est déjà appelé 'thé du président', car cette ferme de la région de Lishan est dirigée par d'anciens du KMT, le parti nationaliste de Chiang Kai Shek. L'ancien président leur avait permis d'acquérir le meilleur terrain de Lishan et FuShou Shan devint le fournisseur inofficiel en Oolong du palais présidentiel de République de Chine. Tian Chi est donc à Fushou Shan ce que le la parcelle Romanée-Conti est à l'appelation Vosne-Romanée! 

Rien de tel qu'une très bonne Yixing zhuni pour extraire toute la finesse et la force de ses arômes printaniers! La clarté et la pureté de l'infusion sont impeccables. Et quelles senteurs!! C'est bluffant d'élégance et de notes légères...

Et les feuilles ouvertes de Tian Chi sont impressionnantes de force et de fraicheur elles aussi!

New puerh auction record

10 years ago, I wrote this puerh auction article that gained lots of views. Before I state the latest records, let's quickly summarize the market for 'Hao' type puerh from the 1920-30s 10 years ago. (In those times, all the famous puerh brands had their name finish with 'Hao') So, in December 2008, a tong of puerh from the 1920s would cost 160,000 USD or 73 USD per gram.

These were the good old times when aged puerh was (almost) cheap! On May 27, 2019, the price of a Fu Yan Chang Hao tong was set at 3,3 million USD at this auction (including fees)! That's roughly 1300 USD per gram and 18 times more expensive than 10 and a half years ago! This is a new record for a puerh from this period. By contrast, a 1950s red mark puerh was sold at about 100,000 USD per cake or 275 USD per gram.

This price evolution shows how aged puerh has gained in fame in the last 10 years. It also shows that the pretty serious (= rich) puerh collectors are in China. And this also helps explain why the prices for fresh gushu puerh are continuously rising: because experts agree that the 1920s puerh companies pressed gushu leaves. This means that your gushu cake could be worth a fortune in a 100 years! You won't be there to enjoy it, but you could do what I did 15 years ago: purchase a tong for your newborn baby!