Turning tea into wine!

Since I've taken classes in the Tea Sommelier course, I have opened much fewer bottles of wine! The classes didn't say that tea should replace wine, but that tea is an alternative pairing option to wine and that you can even use both tea and wine in order to have more pairing options. However, since this is a new field of experimentation, I find myself so busy and excited tasting tea with my meals that I only seldom open a bottle!

And since today is Thanksgiving, I thought I'd share a great tea for pairing with poultry: fresh high mountain Oolong! The powerful light flavors of Oolong go well with the light flavors of the white meat of turkey or chicken. And then there's the fun of finding which high mountain is the best fit!

It's the 17th year since I've started to learn about tea and there are still new things to learn and explore! This is something I'm grateful for. And I also wish to thank you all who read my blog and support my tea journey thanks to your purchases on tea-masters.com (By the way, I'm glad I was eventually able to upgrade to a better eBoutique platform this year). I am also very thankful for the renewed opportunity to teach at Penn State in the spring and to meet tea friends in NYC! I also wish to thank all of those who come to have a tea class with me in New Taipei City, because the more I drink good teas, the more I enjoy sharing them!!

Note: tomorrow is Black Friday and I have 20 teas and 20 accessories on sale, free shipping starting at 100 USD and free samples (see here for more details). And I also have free eBooks! My latest is a short story taking place in ancient China: Emperor Fei's Dream of Tea.

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Note: on these Ming dynasty De Hua porcelain cups, you can find the character 'tea' on one side and 'wine' on the other side of the cup. This shows that early on the Chinese have switched from wine to tea effortlessly and used the same cups!)

La musique des tableaux de Leonardo da Vinci, et un thé qui va avec!

Beauté Orientale impériale de Taiwan

La synesthésie, c'est le mélange des sens. C'est quand on entend les couleurs, quand on sent les mots, quand on voit des sons... Pour certains, c'est un phénomène neurologique involontaire, mais pour la plupart, c'est une recherche d'harmonie entre les sens. Imaginez écouter de la musique punk pour un repas de Noël: cela ne va pas bien ensemble!

A un mois de cette fête justement, je me suis amusé à prolonger le travail de Denis Raisin Dadre et de son groupe de musique ancienne 'Doulce Mémoire' dans le coffret ci-dessus: la musique secrète de Leonardo da Vinci. Sur le CD, chaque musique de la Renaissance correspond à un tableau particulier de Leonardo. Et le premier tableau marque bien la saison de l'Avent: L'annonciation (1473-75). Il représente l'ange Gabriel annonçant à Marie qu'elle va donner naissance à Jésus:

L'Annonciation, Musée des offices, Florence

Ainsi, pour ce tableau, Doulce Mémoire avait l'embarras du choix concernant les Ave Maria, les uns plus somptueux et complexes que les autres. Mais le choix s'est finalement porté sur plusieurs laudes qui sont des chansons religieuse simples et lentes. Elle conviennent parfaitement à l'ambiance relaxante et spirituelle d'un Chaxi, et ces musiques et ce tableau m'ont inspiré le Chaxi suivant:

Christie's images. Nov. 2017

La couleur rouge de la joie est présente sur l'étoffe de l'ange, chez Marie et à l'intérieur de la maison. Je l'ai donc adoptée comme thème et pour mon Chabu.

Ce rouge représente la joie du miracle de la naissance du Christ. Partant de là, je me suis dit que le thé (presque) rouge le plus miraculeux est la Beauté Orientale. En effet, pour être vraiment bon, ce thé de plaine, d'origine modeste, a besoin des morsure d'insectes minuscules, les petits criquets verts (Jacobiasa Formosana Paoli). Et autre miracle, ses feuilles sèches sont multicolores!

Et pour l'infuser, le choix de ma théière en porcelaine 'blanc de Chine' de De Hua s'est imposé, car c'est dans cette porcelaine qu'on faisait des statues de Guan Yin durant la dynastie Ming (1368-1644). Or, les missionnaires occidentaux utilisaient ces statues pour parler de la Vierge Marie aux Chinois. D'ailleurs, on notera que les gestes des mains de Marie sur le tableau font aussi penser aux gestes des certaines déités du Bouddhisme!

Mes coupes sont également en porcelaine de DeHua, et cela tombe bien, car la couleur ivoire permet de rehausser la couleur de l'infusion des feuilles fortement oxydées!
De plus, avec la théière et mes petites coupes en porcelaine DeHua, j'ai la chance de disposer d'accessoires qui sont pratiquement contemporains de Léonard de Vinci! Leur grâce et leur pureté sont en harmonie avec le sujet, la musique et le thé!

L'annonce est faite dans un jardin de pins et de cyprès. C'est pourquoi j'ai disposé plusieurs bonsai sur mon Chaxi

Sous la théière, j'ai pris une petite assiette porcelaine encore plus ancienne (dynastie Song). Elle est tout ce qu'il y a de plus modeste et simple, comme Marie. Et en même temps, son ancienneté fait écho au fait que la naissance du Sauveur avait été annoncé dans l'Ancien Testament!

Merci Doulce Mémoire pour ce magnifique livret et CD qui allie si bien l'oeuvre de Léonard de Vinci à la musique de son temps. Associer musique et art est une excellente idée, et on peut même s'en inspirer pour son Chaxi!

Learning about puerh can help you save a lot of money

Aged sheng puerh is the Holy Grail of gongfu cha drinkers. As prices of cakes from the 1970s reach 20,000 to 30,000 USD, they have become the dream of all the serious puerh drinkers. And for this class, I have prepared some sheng leaves from the 70s to show my student what such tea is all about.

But before that, I wish to show the difference between a real aged sheng and a well made imitation. So, we compare these 2 teas: a 1999 and a 1985 sheng.

Can you spot which of the 2 was actually made in the 2000s and is faking its age?

We use gaiwans to brew the 2 teas. And 2 sets of ivory porcelain cups. The color difference is more obvious in the singing cups, but the flower cups are more suitable for the cold weather. Here, the answer is much more obvious, but only if you know that one is a fake.

First brew

Below are the 2 puerhs. Any idea which one is genuinely aged?

 Maybe you wish to have a look at the spent leaves to identify them:

1985

Spotting a fake can help you save a lot of money and it will prevent you from purchasing tea pretending to be older than its actual age.

1999

Of course, the biggest difference is in the taste (and especially in the aftertaste or its lack of aftertaste) and in the fragrances. But this is easier experienced than explained in an article. That is why I have created this puerh sampler in order to taste both teas, s shu puerh as well as the next one:

Below and cup: 1985 loose sheng puerh.  Above: 1970s puerh.

Spoiler alert! The answer is about to be unveiled. In order to show that the first 1985 was a fake, we brew a real 1985 loose sheng puerh. The color of the brew is lighter. It has more aftertaste, but that aftertaste is more refined than the 1999.

1970s sheng puerh

After that, we move to the 1970s loose sheng puerh. We brew it once in a gaiwan to compare it fairly with the other 3 puerhs. Then, we use a small shantou teapot in order to get more out of the leaves. And we are surprised by the fact that the brew from the gaiwan came out very clean and beautiful, almost like from the teapot. It's as if it doesn't need to have its edges polished by the porous clay of the teapot.

The other advantage of the clay teapot over the porcelain gaiwan is that it keeps the brew at a higher temperature on a cold day. This means a better extraction of flavors.

I can't start to explain the pleasure we enjoyed with this 40 + years old puerh. Antonio said that this is a tea that makes you meditate. It overwhelms you with its peaceful force and brings quiet to your mind.

The color of that second brew in the flower cup above is very dark. In the singing cup below, it seems to shine. What a beautiful tea! No wonder it has become a holy grail for which rich Chinese are willing to spend a lot of money despite the risk of getting a fake! The most common way they make sure is that their puerh tea is old is by trusting the packaging. An old wrapper gives the customer a certain reassurance about the age of the tea. However, it's relatively easy to forge a wrapper and I don't recommend trusting the packaging. The best is to learn how aged puerh taste and then trust your own taste to recognize genuine aged from faked leaves!

This tea feels like Christmas!

Anji Bai Cha

Printemps 2019

Ce thé vert en forme d'aiguille n'a pas seulement la taille fine: ses saveurs sont aussi fines et légères. Par une belle journée d'automne, quoi de plus beau de se sentir déjà au printemps!

Un des avantages du thé vert par rapport au Oolong, c'est qu'il convient bien à l'infusion en bol. Et comme ces feuilles ont une couleur vert très clair quand on les infuse, le contraste est particulièrement saisissant dans un bol noir de Michel François.

Et c'est l'occasion de me servir de cet reproduction de l'ancêtre aux Chatuo (chataku): un socle à bol en bois. On s'en servait à l'époque Song pour présenter les bols après avoir fouetté la poudre de thé vert. Ne dirait-on pas une grande fleur? C'est vraiment impressionnant de voir le thé s'élever si haut au-dessus du sol. Non seulement il se rapproche de notre bouche, mais il se rapproche aussi du ciel et on dirait l'offrande d'une cérémonie silencieuse.

Et cette touche de bleu dans le bol est de toute beauté! C'est original de n'avoir ces variations bleues sur une petite portion du bol. En plus, elles ont l'air naturelles, pas réptitives. Et le contraste des matières entre le tissu du Chabu, le bois et la céramique ajoute de la variété à la sensation très pure et uniforme de l'Anji Baicha.

The Gushu Puerh Conundrum

2019 loose raw gushu puerh from Lancang

Teas differ in intensity of taste. The lightest teas are the least oxidized: green and white tea. In the middle, we have Oolongs, which are naturally sweet and therefore can be brewed more concentrated without tasting bad. And the most powerful of all teas is sheng old arbor puerh! These leaves grow wild at high elevations and are by nature full of flavors. This different degree of taste explains why many green tea drinkers feel that puerh is too aggressive to their taste, and why many puerh drinkers feel that white/green tea tastes weak like scented water.

For that reason, and I generalize a little bit here, puerh drinkers will also tend to brew their teas with more and more leaves, because they are particularly enjoying the punch, the kick in the (taste)buds! Bitterness isn't feared, but expected and ridden like a mighty dragon jumping on the tongue.

The paradox with gushu puerh, especially single origin -not blended-, is that its beauty isn't simply more power. After all, power is rather easy to obtain: more leaves and/or longer brewing time and the result is more concentrated flavors. No, the beauty of a gushu puerh (= tree that is over 100 years old) is its purity and thickness in scent and taste, even when brewed lightly! Or I should even say especially when it's brewed lightly. Because that's when you can experience the amazing purity and long aftertaste of a tea that should be light. Any other tea brewed with so few leaves would have little taste.

And it's not just the taste that is thick, coats the palate, evolves from bitter to sweet and feels very pure, natural. By reducing the power, you are taming the wild beast. Everything feels more relaxed, less aggressive, clean and pure. Instead of a rock concert, it feels like the solo piano of Ludovico Einaudi in Seven Days Walking.

This is gushu puerh conundrum: many tea lovers drink it for its immense power (a tea friend told me once that he got so tea drunk on one occasion that he felt physically ill) and thereby they are missing its other, even more amazing quality, IMO, its purity and deep finesse! A good example of such a gushu puerh is this loose sheng puerh from 300+ years old trees from Lancang from spring 2019. It's the puerh I'm having in this zhuni teapot! And it's amazing!

Oolong de très haute montagne en HD

Dans mon article précédent, je vous ai fait découvrir le Oolong d'Alishan d'hiver 2019. Ce thé a toutes les qualités d'un Oolong de haute montagne et un super rapport qualité/prix. La question se pose donc: pourquoi payer 3 fois plus pour un Oolong de très haute montagne planté 1000 mètres plus haut?

Qu'est-ce qu'ils ont de plus les grands Lishan, Fushou Shan, Da Yu Ling ou Tian Chi?

Pour moi, la différence est celle de la clarté et de la pureté. Ces photos illustrent bien cette impression de passer d'une définition moyenne à de la haute définition! Pour réussir des photos d'une telle précision, il faut que toutes les conditions soient remplies: bon appareil, bon objectif, sujet attractif, belle lumière.

Pour ces Oolongs de très haute montagne, il n'y a pas non plus de maillon faible: plantations très bien entretenues, moins d'insectes en haute montagne, des conditions météo excellentes (soleil et fraicheur), des producteurs très expérimentés et une sélection rigoureuse.

Cette quasi absence de maillon faible et tous ces plus en termes de qualité permettent d'obtenir des Oolongs encore plus purs et précis, surtout si on les infuse bien, avec une belle théière en zhuni d'Yixing!

Winter 2019 Alishan Oolong

The winter harvests for Qingxin Oolong in Alishan are almost done already. Most of the plantations I saw last Friday have been picked and the tea processed. This last harvest of the year takes place in similar conditions as the spring harvest, the first harvest of the year: the weather is warm enough during the day for the leaves to grow slowly, but the afternoons and nights are cold and preserve the freshness of the leaves. (In summer and autumn, there's much more sunshine and heat, and shorter, warmer nights).

New plantation of Qingxin Oolong where the selected tea comes from

That's why winter and spring high mountain Oolong have a similar finesse and light notes. But there's still a difference: spring has higher notes in the scent, while winter has more sweetness in the taste.
Compare the next picture with the first and you'll see how quickly the weather can change between noon and afternoon:

Luckily, the sun comes back half an hour later and let me prepare this outdoor Chaxi in the midst of ChangShuHu's tea plantations.

This is my front view from this spot:

And this is when I sit down:

Naturally, I choose to chose winter Alishan Qingxin Oolong I have selected. It was harvested by hand on October 20th, 2019 in ChangShuHu in a new plantation (see the second picture of this article).

The leaves have a light color, because the way this plantation is oriented means it doesn't get much sunshine (the photo shows that half of the trees are in the shade at noon already). White buds are visible on some of the dry rolled leaves: this is a characteristic that only winter high mountain Oolong has.

The dry scent is lightly fruity and completely fresh, of course!

A warm sunset shines on the Chaxi and emphasizes the sweetness of the brew. My aim of brewing this fresh tea here is to see if it really conveys the terroir, the surrounding smells and flavors. And it does perfectly! It's difficult to imagine a more harmonious feeling!

Brewing at an elevation of 1300 meters means the water boils already at 95.7 degrees Celcius. And since it's quite cool outdoors in the late afternoon, one has to be very careful brewing rolled Oolong. If the gaiwan isn't properly preheated, the leaves won't open well and release their flavors. Then you don't know how good your tea is! As you can see, I avoided this problem and got my leaves to open beautifully and fill the gaiwan evenly:

The leaves are quite typical for high mountain Oolong: 3 big leaves, a small leaf and a bud. They are quite thick, because they come from young tree bushes. This probably explains the long, complex and sweet aftertaste.

The feeling couldn't be better!

The brew has a good clarity and the open leaves are so tender that it seems they have just been picked from the plantation!

Winter high mountain Oolong has a sweetness that fits nicely with the cooler and drier weather of November/December. This winter 2019 Alishan is my new flagship, since the spring version sold out faster than expected, 2 weeks ago!