Photoshop AI to the rescue

DYL104K Oolong

This summer, I'm faced with a new problem when I want to enjoy my high mountain Oolong at my window: I'm faced with a new building under construction. The blue plastic wrapping up the site is a big contrast to the view I used to have.

So, I played with the new AI function of Photoshop to see if it's possible to return to a nicer view. Here are the results.

The original picture:

The view of the calm sea on a sunny day:

The original Chaxi with Oolong poured in the cups:

And this is what my view could look like if I lived in Taipei with a nice view:

In this third shot we can see the tetsubin kettle and the tea ware matching the Chabu:

Here, AI imagines the view of mountains with tea plantations.

The Japanese Chado has solved this problem by building huts without large windows. The tea person is not distracted by the sight of nature during the preparation. Tea is so beautiful that it's enough to focus on it!

Beauty is in the detail and in real life. And tea connects us to reality, because we can touch the leaves, smell them, feel the heat of the kettle, hear the water boil, lift the cup, kiss it with our lip, swallow the tea and taste all its flavors. These are feelings that AI can't reproduce, no matter how realistic the pictures become. 

Have a wonderful summer!

Note: the online boutique will remain open this summer. You may order your favorite teas and teapots for your garden parties and travels. Stay hydrated and happy with top quality tea from tea-masters.com !

FuShou Shan vs DaYuLing 104K

FuShou (left) vs DYL (right)

Now that the spring 2023 high mountain Oolong from  DaYuLing 104K is available, let's compare it to the other star of my Gao Shan Cha selection, the FuShou Shan Oolong! These 2 teas are in a league of their own, as they both come from plantation located around 2300-2500 meters in elevation, while AliShan and Shan Lin Xi Qingxin Oolongs are grown between 1200 m and 1400 m.

The first thing that strikes us is the color difference of the dry leaves: a yellow hue on FuShou shan and a green/blue hue for DYL! This should mean a higher oxidation level for FuShou Shan, which I brewed first here:

Then comes the brew of Da Yu Ling.

The DYL brew looks lighter and the leaves less yellow, which suggests that the oxidation is indeed lighter.

In terms of scents, there are more similarities than differences. Both have the typical delicate flowery and buttery scents of top spring Oolongs. The major difference came in the taste. But before I continue, I would like to add that the quality of tea does not correlate linearly with the strength of taste. Maybe for some people it does, because they feel they get more taste bud stimulation for the buck. But for a more experienced palate, harmony and finesse also count. How controlled and smooth is the strength of the taste?

What struck me was that both Oolongs have an excellent aftertaste (even though I just used 2 grams each for this test)! The FuShou Shan feels actually more powerful, but the DYL104K feels sweeter and more refined. 

Conclusion: the DYL104K remains the emperor of Taiwan high mountain Oolongs. Don't brew it too strong, otherwise you'll miss its finesse. But if you are looking for brute force, then the FuShou Shan is more for you (or the Shan Lin Xi and the AliShan ShiZhuo).

La fin de mes illusions sur le thé

Oolong Beauté Orientale impériale

La lecture du roman chinois 'Au bord de l'eau' de Shi Nai-An et Luo Guan-Zhong traduit par Jacques Dars aux éditions de la Pléiade est très divertissante. Elle nous plonge dans la dynastie des Song du Nord au temps de l'empereur Huizong et conte les aventures d'anciens fonctionnaires d'Etat ou gens du peuple qui sont contraints de 'rejoindre les monts et les lacs' pour échapper à la justice corrompue. Au début du livre, le thé occupe sa place traditionnelle et sacrée, telle qu'on se l'imagine, telle que tout le tout le monde la véhicule.

Chapitre 1, page 12: "Ensuite, que le grand maréchal daigne venir prendre le thé dans la salle de l'abbé avant d'arrêter une décision."

L'action se déroule dans le monastère taoiste de la Pureté-Supérieure. C'est conforme avec le fait que le thé était la boisson préférée des moines depuis la dynastie Tang, car elle leur permet de rester éveillé durant les longues séances de méditation qui commencent souvent avec le lever du jour. D'ailleurs, le célèbre écrivain LuYu, auteur du Cha Jing, était un orphelin recueilli par un moine bouddhiste. Dans cette première mention du thé dans 'Au bord de l'eau', le thé est fidèle à cette tradition monacale. C'est aussi un breuvage qu'on offre à un personnage prestigieux et puissant. Et, finalement, il est suggéré que le thé va aider le maréchal à prendre une décision sage et réfléchie, puisqu'on l'invite à boire le thé avant de décider.

Ainsi, le thé, boisson des moines, fait pratiquement partie du rituel spirituel qui guide le monastère et met ses adeptes sur la voie de l'éveil et de l'harmonie universelle.

Beauté Orientale impériale de 2020

Dans les chapitres suivants, les héros du roman se retrouvent souvent soit à prendre un bol de thé de manière pacifique dans une maison de thé ou bien festoient et se saoûlent (avec de beaucoup d'alcool) dans des auberges ou des tavernes, et cela se finit alors parfois en bagarres!. Là encore, on reste sur une opposition nette et attendue entre le thé qui contribue à la paix sociale, et l'alcool qui cause des malheurs par ses excès et la perte de contrôle de soi qu'il entraine. Jusque là, tout va bien et le thé a le bon rôle...

Au chapitre XXIV, tout l'univers spirituel et pur du thé s'écroule. On découvre une toute autre face à la maison de thé, tenue par Madame Wang, mi entremetteuse, mi maquerelle. La note de la page 527 nous explique que "Cha-Fang, maison de thé. D'après le Du-cheng Ji-sheng (faits notables de la capitale), ces maisons servaient essentiellement aux chanteuses-prostituées de maisons de rendez-vous ; les jeunes gens, sous prétexte de thé, y laissaient des sommes dites Gan Cha Qian, "argent pour le thé sec", en guise de contrepartie." En effet, cela sonne mieux de dire 'je vais prendre un thé' que 'je vais aux putes'! Mais dans les faits, c'est bien cela qui était sous-entendu pour ce genre particulier de maison de thé. 

Au lieu d'être synonyme de pureté et d'harmonie spirituelle, le thé de ces maisons est synonyme de luxure, de tromperie (de son épouse) et de plaisir charnel! Le changement de paradigme est total. Mes illusions sur le thé comme produit zen sont en morceaux! En fait, je suis aussi choqué que capitaine Renaud quand il 'découvre' que le restaurant chez Rick abrite une salle de jeux dans le film Casablanca! Mais j'imagine que cela a de quoi choquer certaines personnes moins familières avec les usages chinois. 

En réalité, on retrouve cet univers 'galant' dans le nom de certains thés. Par exemple, le Oolong Beauté Orientale (Dong Fang MeiRen) ou bien le Oolong Concubine évoquent de belles femmes. Ce lien se manifeste aussi dans le choix de la personne qui prépare le thé dans la maison de thé. A Taiwan, on a beaucoup de maitres de thé et dans 90% des cas, leur style vestimentaire va rappeler le bonze taoiste, alors qu'ils ne sont pas plus dévots que vous et moi! En Chine Populaire, par contre, pour plaire à une clientèle très masculine, les maisons de thé emploient souvent de jeunes filles en qipao pour leur communication visuelle. Cela m'avait très frappé lors de ma participation au salon de thé international d'.Emei. J'étais l'un des rares à n'appartenir à aucun de ces deux univers. J'avais choisi de garder mon identité occidentale avec mon costume cravatte afin d'enseigner le thé de manière rationnelle.

Conclusion: le thé n'est ni zen, ni érotique. Il est ce que notre esprit en fait. Faites juste en sorte que votre esprit suive votre volonté et pas celle que d'autres essaient de vous faire suivre. Avec votre petite amie, faites-en un moment de galanterie. Le matin, faites-en une énergie. Avec un repas, mariez le thé avec les saveurs de votre plat. En été, que le thé vous rafraichisse. Le soir, qu'il vous relaxe. Durant les études, que le thé vous aide à vous concentrer... 

Le thé n'a pas d'autre limite que votre créativité et votre volonté!

The optimistic traveler drinks tea - a hero amongst us

Let me introduce Muammer Yilmaz to you, my tea blog readers. He's the most fascinating tea guest I've had the honor to share tea with! He has already achieved fame thanks to several films or documentaries that he has made with his friend Milan Bihlmann. Muammer Yilmaz has Turkish roots, but was born in the same region as I, in Alsace (France). He's a photographer (and has allowed me to use the photos he took for this article!) and he's also an optimistic traveler as I could see in 2 of his movies that he has shown at the Alliance française in Taiwan.

Spring 2023 SanHsia BiLuoChun in a bowl (photo by Muammer Yilmaz MY)

Muammer and Milan had know each other for 4 years, but had only spent 7 days together before embarking on a 3 months adventure ! Its name explains why they consider themselves optimistic: "Around the world in 80 days without money"! (2014) Spoiler alert: I'm going to reveal the end and portions of the movie! The plot is to find out if it's possible to travel around the world, eat and sleep without any money? Are there sufficient generous people in each country to make this possible?

Same tea, my picture

DYL 104K, by MY

I must admit that, at first, I didn't fully understand and appreciate the concept of this movie. It can sound very selfish to go on a world tour without spending your own money and only living and travelling thanks to the generosity of others. 

Indeed, I believe that they wouldn't have gone far if they had had a selfish and entitled attitude. However (spoiler alert), they were able to complete their tour around the world in time, because they brought so much joy, energy and hope to the people they met on their journey.

They listened to people and gave them the positive feeling of being part of something bigger than themselves: making a seemingly impossible dream come true. Because if these 2 guys can make their crazy dream come true than we may all dream big and follow our callings. Napoléon said "Impossible isn't a French word". Muammer and Milan's adventure tells us that 'impossible' is a word to banish from every language!

DYL 104K chaxi, by MY

This doesn't mean that things were always easy for them. They had several setbacks. At one point, a bag with photographic equipment got stolen, a missing visa meant several days lost... But the joys of meeting nice people, discovering new countries greatly outweighed these troubles. 

Open DYL leaves in late Qing teapot, by MY

This first movie they made is very inspiring and I recommend it for the sheer amount of positivity that exudes in each frame. The pictures from Muammer Yilmaz in this article also show what a professional photographer he is. I enjoy the fact that he brings a new perspective to my Chaxi in the gardens of the Lin Family!

DYL104K by MY

This was his first gongfu cha session! In most countries around the world, they were offered tea when they entered a house or a business. This is especially the case in Turkey and Asia. And one of his favorite tea is milk tea with spices in India!

DYL104K, by MY

On a hot and sunny day, I did my best to show him the beauty of the Taiwanese (and Chinese) tea culture. We started with the lightest green tea, my San Hsia BiLuoChun, simply brewed in a celadon tea bowl that I received through an exchange with Michel François. My goal was to show how easy tea brewing can be. I also wanted to show the leaves dancing in the bowl. And the fact that the bowl came from a friend also had its meaning...

With the Da Yu Ling high mountain Oolong from 104K, I wanted to brew the tea from the highest tea plantation in Taiwan. Since it's lightly oxidized, it's also a tea that is thirst quenching and refreshing. The fact that the leaves are able to unfold and grow so large compared to their dry size impressed Muammer!

This Oolong and the Chaxi below, with a white (Fuji) mountain are the perfect transition to Muammer's latest movie, which I also saw this weekend.: "Tour du Mont Blanc without eating". (2022). This tour around Europe's highest peak is 170 km long and takes up 10,000 meters up and down along its way. Muammer came up with a new challenge: fasting for 10 days while completing this tour!

DYL104K Chaxi, by MY

My hands are starting to sweat just as write these words. While the first movie was about 2 young guys goofing and joking around to bring joy around them, this movie is as much a physical than a spiritual adventure. Both body and mind are pushed to their limit. The common theme is that "impossible doesn't exist" if you know how to stay positive. 

The other common theme is that we get to meet several people who have inspired Muammer's journey. Each one is a specialist about a particular subject: 

- a trainer who uses the cold (and the Wim Hof method) to overcome fear and pain,

- a minimalist female traveler,

- a humanitarian traveler,

- a specialist of fasting and its benefits,

- a yoga and meditation master from India.

You can see most of them in the trailer of the movie.

The happy tea master, by MY

In this movie Muammer doesn't just talk the talk, he literally walks the walk. Muammer applies these shared wisdoms as he walks without eating in the Alps for 10 days. We can see his transformation as his body adjusts to the lack of food. He gets thinner, his pace slower and his voice sparse and deep. 

The eighth day was the hardest on him. The climbs were particularly steep and he needed all the support from his friend Milan (the director) to go through it. Maybe this is also a lesson from this movie: that we can do great(er) things when we have the support of a friend (or friends)! Muammer really went to the limit of what is humanly possible (that's another way of saying that he almost died!) After the movie ended, there was a Q&A session with him and he told the audience that after the tour he stayed 2 or 3 days in bed and couldn't do any physical exercise for 2 weeks before his forces came back ! 

This is probably the movie in which the main character has suffered the most for his movie. But for him, this pain made him more mature, focused, aware of how precious life is, how tasty food can feel, how delicious and beneficial  mountain water is... He even repeated the often quoted Nietzsche line "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!" Now, his aura is that of a prophet who has seen death with his own eyes, has laughed and come back to encourage us to lead a happy, responsible and beautiful life!

Muammer Yilmaz 

It was a real honor and pleasure to share my tea and my tea knowledge with Muammer Yilmaz. By serendipity, I also shared some tips about a healthy life, diet and tea in a video at the end of April. I didn't go as far as fasting, but now I wouldn't be afraid to skip a meal or two anymore! As for the benefits of cold showers, this is something I've been training for years, which is why I swim in an outdoor swimming pool in Taiwan all year long (even when the water temperature drops to 17 degrees Celsius!). I also explained that making gongfu cha requires a similar mindset as for meditation. And tea is medium to let the mind travel to where the tea is grown. When you drink a particular tea and close your eyes, the lingering aromas are so close to the how the tea fields smell that it's easy to imagine yourself transported there! Tea leaves are very good at absorbing the scents that surround them, and that's why a tea bag should always be well sealed and not be exposed to bad scents.

The point I try to make in conclusion is that our paths are quite similar in terms of direction, even if they differ in intensity. Anyway, he has inspired me to become more fearless and optimistic. I hope that you'll also feel inspired by this hero amongst us (if not, watch his movie online!)

The Oolong/Baozhong confusion

Fo Shou Baozhong

The confusion over these 2 names, Oolong and Baozhong, comes from the multiple meanings of Oolong and the many kinds of Baozhongs and their similar flavors.

In order to clarify things, let's start with 'Baozhong'包種 which is phonetically derived from 包中 and means 'packed inside'. It comes from the way tea used to be packed inside a sheet of paper at the end of the 19th century in northern Taiwan (about in the 1880s). At that time, this described semi-oxidized and roasted single tea leaves made in the same manner as in Wuyi, in the Fujian province. 

The name Wenshan existed already during the Japanese era (1895-1945) and described the area from south of Taipei, XinDian to Pinglin. However, in the early 20th century (1901-1903), this Wenshan area was 4th in the volume of Baozhong produced. At the top spot you had the TaoJian bao (from Taoyuan/Jiantan/Linkou to Chungli), then came ShiDing bao (including Keelung) and third BaiJie bao (Banciao, ChungHo, Tucheng). So, Wenshan Baozhong only became the standard name for Baozhong when Baozhong production had receded in the other 3 regions in the 1960s.

So, the name Wenshan Baozhong means that this is a semi-oxidized tea produced in the Wenshan area in northern Taiwan. The shape of its leaves should be straight or twisted and not rolled. And farmers can use any kind of tea cultivar they wish to produce their Baozhong.

The name Oolong 烏龍 (black dragon) has several meanings in Taiwan. Originally, it  poetically described the shape and color of Wuyi tea leaves or a Baozhong leaf nowadays. It can mean a process and can be used to describe any semi-oxidized tea. That's why Baozhong is part of the Oolong tea category, because it's semi-oxidized.

However, the name Oolong can also mean a cultivar in Taiwan, the Qingxin Oolong cultivar.

And finally, the name Oolong can also be meant in opposition to Baozhong and describe a leaf that is rolled instead of one that is twisted!

So, a Baozhong tea can use a Oolong cultivar and it's part of the Oolong (semi-oxidized) tea category, but it can never be rolled like a (high mountain or Dong Ding) Oolong. If a Wenshan farmer rolls his tea leaves, they have to be called Oolong, even if he packs them in a sheet of paper!

Now that we have clarified the words, we can turn to the brew and try to put words to differentiate Baozhong from Oolong. First, Baozhong brings a lightness where Oolongs are usually more concentrated. Second, and this Fo Shou Baozhong is a great example, fresh, unroasted Baozhongs often have a citrus note that adds a zesty flavor to the brew, where high mountain Oolongs tend to be sweeter and more powerful.

Third, Wenshan Baozhongs are also more unpredictable and full of surprises depending on which cultivar it is made from and how well it was dried. Rolled Oolong leaves can be tightly vacuum-sealed and keep their fresh flavors for several years. With Baozhong, some air will always be present in the pack and hasten the aging process. This means a tea that is very alive and changing! It can be a weakness, but it can also be a strength as some tea friends shared their wonderful experiences of tasting Baozhongs they had purchased over 10 years ago from my selection!

Have a clear mind when you drink tea. It starts by learning what exactly you are drinking: what cultivar, what region, what process, what season and what year it's from.