Mountains of glass and steel

NYC is a city where men have created mountains of glass and steel. Even coming from a big city like Taipei with its 101 bamboo shaped building, it's hard not to be fascinated by New York's skyline. 

This is especially the case at night or in the early hours of a sunny morning! I wonder if these buildings have inspired the name of the Floating Mountain Tea House. In any case, I find this an excellent tea house name in this city! And that's one reason why I was eager to meet with Scott Norton there.

(I'm sorry if I didn't contact all my blog readers in the NYC area. These trips always receive a very late approval and it's difficult to plan many or large events. That's why it made sense to meet someone who is very dedicated to tea education and share some of my techniques so that he can pass it onward to a large number of people.)

So, I brought my little gold coated silver teapot and I let Scott play with it! He's a fast learner and poured with calm and dexterity.

We tasted three very different teas. A green tea from the tea house, a lapsang souchong and my early 1990s green mark. All three felt particularly pure and light brewed in the silver teapot.

It's as if the teas were under a microscope: all their scents were intensified. We also experimented with different cups to see how they affect taste and color. The ivory hue went really well with the red tea and the aged sheng puerh.

I still feel that the best place to brew tea is at home where I have all my teas and accessories (or in nature), but such a tea house is a really nice place to have tea with a friend when the home is not an option. And it's also the opportunity to meet other tea drinkers at events hosted by the tea house and where Scott is the instructor. If you're new to the tea scene, I think it's a great way to learn.

And it's also a place where you can find inspiration for some simple and beautiful flower arrangements! Because the taste tea is always a taste of nature...

I wish Scott and the Floating Mountain tea house success in spreading traditional tea culture in NYC. It's not an easy task in a city where the water quality is more suited to brew coffee than fine teas!

But when the air is clear and the sky is blue, it feels we're walking among mountains of glass and steel! That's when I feel almost electrified by the energy of city! It's a similar feeling to a sunrise in Alishan or Lishan.

Bryant Park

Even in the big city, you'll find the green beauty of nature...

Central Park

... and a longing for a good cup of tea.

Le temps des Oolongs

OB impérial 2016

 Dimanche prochain, je pars pour NYC et la Pennsylvanie pendant 10 jours. Ce sera de nouveau l'occasion de donner des cours de thé avec Teaparker à un grand nombre d'étudiants américains passionnés de thé chinois. Aussi, aujourd'hui, je comptais faire un tour à Alishan pour sélectionner du Jinxuan printanier. Mais quand j'appelai les fermiers, ils me dirent qu'ils ne commenceront les récoltes qu'après le 15 avril et pour le qingxin Oolong, il faudra même attendre le 24 pour que les productions se mettent en route! Je m'occuperai donc de cela dès mon retour à Taiwan!

Pour l'instant, mon seul thé de 2019 est ce Dong Pian de SiJiChun. Le temps avant QingMing ne fut pas trop bon dans le nord de Taiwan, et c'est pourquoi j'ai fait une croix sur les BiLuoChun de San Hsia cette année. Cela nous rappelle que le thé est un produit de la nature et sensible à ses variations. Et le temps du Oolong n'est pas celui du thé vert. Le Oolong a besoin d'une maturité et ne se récolte pas au moment où il ne fait que bourgeonner. L'exception est le Oolong Beauté Orientale de haute qualité.

Mais la raison pour cette exception, c'est que ce thé n'est pas issu de la première récolte du printemps, mais de la seconde, lorsqu'il commence à faire plus chaud et que la finesse des arômes ne se retrouve que dans les bourgeons mordus par nos petits criquets verts. Le résultat est un Oolong à forte oxydation aux senteurs de parfum féminin et mystérieux. Caliente! Le plus latin des Oolongs de Formose!

Le temps du thé vert est court, mais celui du Oolong est long. Les récoltes en plaine ne s'arrêtent pratiquement jamais. Les photos de plantation de cet article datent du 21 février, à Mingjian. On voit que les bourgeons poussent au milieu de l'hiver.

Et l'on voit la nécessité d'arroser les théiers durant cette saison sèche. C'est d'ailleurs un manque d'eau dans le centre de Taiwan qui explique aussi le retard dans la croissance des feuilles.

C'est aussi parce que le temps des Oolongs est long qu'ils se conservent bien sur plusieurs années et que je me régale ces jours-ci avec des récoltes de 2016/17!

The very green Qingxin Oolong

This tea is confusing, because it's a Qingxin Oolong green tea! Wait, what? An Oolong green tea? Do I mean it's one of those very lightly oxidized Oolongs sometimes called 'nuclear green'?
No these are still Oolongs. The explanation to this riddle is that this is a green tea (= with 0 oxidation). But it's made from a tea cultivar named 'Qingxin Oolong' (aka ruanzhi Oolong or soft stem Oolong). That's because you can process any tea leaf the way you wish. You could also make white tea or red tea with Qingxin Oolong leaves!

This spring 2017 Green Qingxin Oolong was harvested on April 25th, 2017. I have stored it vacuum-sealed and the freshness is still very present in the dry aromas. To celebrate spring, this tea now my gift for orders in excess of 60 USD (excluding shipping) and below 200 USD.

I'm brewing this tea in a (preheated) thin white porcelain bowl (by David Louveau). I make the leaves turn thanks to the pour of water from the (silver kettle) and, later, by lightly using a porcelain soup spoon to lightly make the leaves dance. This helps them to unfold and release their aromas.

 This method works well with green tea. Its purpose isn't a very strong cup, but a light one. Once you smell or see that it's ready, you can pour the tea in the cups with the soup spoon. And if it's becoming too strong, you simply add more hot water in the bowl.

This green tea is interesting, because it shows the character of the Qingxin Oolong (famous for Hung Shui and High Mountain Oolong) as green tea. Its freshly cut grass notes, typical of green, have a very high note, very refined. And in terms of taste, there's a good mellow taste feeling when brewed lightly, but it turns bitter if it's left to brew too long. It's full of 'green' energy!

The biggest difference with Oolong, is that the leaves are mostly buds or very small. This leads to this kind of beautiful picture. Imagine using the spoon to let these 2 buds dance!...

Brew the flower inside

Taiwan Oolong teas often have scents of flowers. Sometimes, it's because they are artificially or flower scented. But most of the time, these aromas develop naturally during the partial oxidation production process. Here resides one of the great mysteries and beauty of tea: a green leaf that can be turned into a flower! And a special kind of flower, one that keeps its fragrance for the moment YOU choose! 

 And contrary to tea bags, whole leaf Oolongs can be brewed again and again and again... The power of the aromas may diminish little by little, but it's still fun to play the game of seeing how far the leaves will take you, how many good brews you're getting! This is especially true with traditionally roasted Oriental Beauty.

Close your eyes while you're drinking your Oolong tea. What flower can you smell and see?

With a tea friend by the lotus pond

The following Chaxi finds its inspiration in the above painting by Shen Shichong (1602-1633) in the year year 1625 (Ming dynasty). It is from the album of "Twelve scenes from the Jiao garden", a garden that belonged to Wang Shimin, a very famous painter of the orthodox school.

We see two men side by side outside a large house and next to a lotus pond. The men are looking in the same direction. They are quietly talking and gazing at the pond. This painting bring art and art of life together. Isn't that the ideal way to meet with a friend? The place is covered against the sun and the rain, and the view on the pond exudes peace and beauty.

So, with this painting in mind, I asked Christopher to join me here for tea.

Here we are in the Fang-Jian study of the Lin gardens in Banciao! The resemblance is amazing!

Old and large banyan trees add their shade, but the late afternoon light is vivid nonetheless. 

I have brought my late Qing dynasty cup, my late Ming Anping jar, a small late Qing celadon plate, my old bamboo basket and 2 thrown ceramic, woodfired cups by David Louveau. They kept the Xiaguan shu puerh of 2001 I brewed warm and gave it life and texture.

I last saw Christopher three years ago, but we reconnected very quickly. I credit the tea and the relaxed scenery for the ease of our conversation. At one point, I mentioned that tea class isn't like a sect. He then shared that he didn't always feel comfortable when learning tea in Taiwan several years ago. Some of his previous teachers insisted so much on the meditative part of tea that you have to prepare tea their way, at their (slow) speed, with certain movements, that he felt that all these rules didn't help him, but were in the way of enjoying the tea moment.

So, he must have felt vindicated to see me prepare my puerh in a Ming dynasty manner: few leaves, a large teapot and large cups. This style is the most practical when you're not brewing at home, but on the go. And since Christopher is working overseas most of the time, I wanted to show him that he can still enjoy good tea, even if the water isn't great and with a limited amount of wares.

This shows that this Chaxi doesn't just find its inspiration in the aesthetics of the Ming painting, but that it also connects more deeply to how tea was prepared at that time. There's a lot we can learn from the past! It guides us as a light in the dark!

Thank you for this memorable afternoon by the lotus pond.

Vide et plein de François Cheng

Je n'ai jamais été très fort dans les concepts philosophiques. Je n'ai pas l'intention de me ridiculiser et de vous emmerder avec les racines historiques du Tao, la cosmologie chinoise ou les notions de yin et de yang. Tout cela c'est quand même très abstrait quand on veut simplement boire du thé! Aussi, si j'ai envie de vous parler et de vous recommander ce livre, c'est qu'il a réussi à mettre des images, des exemples concrets sur ces concepts bizarres de la philosophie chinoise du Tao.

Et quand je lis la phrase claire ci-dessus, j'ai l'impression qu'il fait référence au Chaxi, cette recréation d'un monde à nous où s'exprime l'énergie du thé!

Par exemple, pour ce viel Oolong de la compétition de Mingjian (Nantou) du printemps 1992, quelques grammes offerts par mon fermier, j'ai créé ce Chaxi aux couleurs sombres. Il s'agit d'un Oolong torréfié au style de Wuyi et conservé sans nouvelle torréfaction depuis 1992 dans un sachet plastique dans sa boite d'origine.

Je retrouve dans ce thé les caractéristiques des Oolongs âgés qu'on a laissé évoluer sans les retorréfier. Les odeurs et le goût sont en harmonie et se fondent l'un dans l'autre, alors que pour un jeune Oolong torréfié on sent toujours bien les arômes des feuilles et les arômes de la torréfaction de manière distincte. Ici, pour ces feuilles qui furent assez fortement torréfiées, ces odeurs ont disparu. On pourrait dire que les senteurs de la torréfaction sont inexistantes, vides, mais que l'énergie, la charpente, la structure en goût est toujours là. On a donc ce paradoxe de vide et de plein, de pureté, légerté d'où surgit la puissance et l'harmonie en bouche.

C'est un peu pareil avec les coupes en porcelaine sur ce sombre Chaxi. On s'attendrait à une infusion très sombre (style puerh cuit), mais on est surpris par la couleur relativement vive du thé. On sent que la fraicheur, la jeunesse de ces feuilles fut bien préservée. 

Pour François Cheng, "en Chine, l'art et l'art de la vie ne font qu'un. Dans cette optique, la pensée esthétique chinoise envisage le beau toujours en relation avec le vrai." Boire du thé en créant un Chaxi est bien un art de vivre qui tend vers le beau et cherche à exprime une vérité profonde, le vrai arôme des feuilles. Tout doit être mis en oeuvre pour exprimer le caractère des feuilles (choisir une théière et des coupes adaptées, une eau bouillante pure...) Et pour l'infusion, le principe est simple: remplir de feuilles les endroits qui sont vides dans la théière! L'idéal est que les feuilles de Oolong occupent également tout l'espace dans la théière! 

Huichong (965-1017) Pair of mandarin ducks on an autumn bank

Cette paire de canards est admirablement peinte. La texture de leur plumage est fidèlement restituée avec force de détails et une impression touffue. Mais autour d'eux, à part quelques feuilles plus ou moins vivantes et le sol sur lequel ils marchent, on a un fond vide. Il laisse place aux énergies et à notre esprit pour s'y promener en contempler cette image sereine et belle. 

Dans une peinture occidentale, tout l'arrière-plan serait peint et derrière les canards on verrait un paysage et un ciel avec des nuages. Mais pour le peintre chinois, c'est à partir de ce vide qu'il crée le sol, ces plantes et ces animaux. Comme il y puise sa force créatrice, il n'épuise pas le vide, mais en garde pour suggérer un état d'âme, de l'harmonie et une tension entre ce qu'on voit et ce qu'on imagine.

"Vide et plein" de François Cheng est un ouvrage qui nous offre une clé puissante pour apprécier l'art chinois de la peinture. Je le recommande vivement à tous ceux qui veulent aller plus loin dans la compréhension de ces concepts chinois fondamentaux.

Spring!

The temperatures reached 30 degrees Celcius today in Taipei: It felt more like summer than spring! That's why I turned to one of the highest Oolong plantations: Da Yu Ling 90K and enjoyed its refreshing aftertaste with hints of alpine forest! It's a tea that shines green and blue... Its fragrances bring me closer to the purest air of the highest tea mountain.

JS Bach was born on this day (in 1685) and this tea feels joyful and allegro like one of his violin sonata. Like Bach's music, Da Yu Ling Oolong flows with grace and energy, aiming for the divine!

The new spring season is going to unleash new energy in nature. Stones will be stones, big trees will grow a little and new green leaves will appear. Time does not have the same impact on nature. Leaves are the most sensitive to springtime and its energy. Within weeks, tiny buds will appear and turn into big, mature leaves. We can just marvel how the Oolong process turns these tender leaves into hard little 'stones' and how well spring's freshness and aromas are preserved in them!

Top fall 2010 Oriental Beauty in 2 Chaxi

The leaves smell of dark, bitter chocolate, but the brew tastes very sweet! This is the 'magic' and complexity of aged Oolong. The taste becomes more and more round, deep and mellow, while the aromas slowly evolve and shed their fresh production smells.

 In this golden Chaxi setting, the color of the brew shines bright. It reflects the perfume like scents and silky taste of this excellent Oriental Beauty. I made this Chaxi a month ago, with artificial lights for crisp and warm colors.

 Today, I brewed the same top OB of fall 2010 again. I know this, because the Chaxi features the same qinghua jar (in which I've stored my share of this tea). And that's also why I'm brewing it again in the same Yixing teapot, because it worked well in it.

This time the light is natural, indirect and the Chabu has a darker mood. It reflects better the colors of mid March as the northern hemisphere makes its transition from darkness to light. In a month or so, I'll receive direct sunshine at this spot in the afternoon and the feeling will be transformed again.

So, even if we are brewing the same tea, it won't be/feel exactly the same, because you brew it in different settings, different light, different seasons, at different outside temperatures...

Today, the OB felt richer, deeper, darker. And it brought a lot of warmth to my hands in particular! Not just because of the changes of light and chabu, but also because of the way brewed it (a little bit longer, more concentrated, in harmony with the mood, the season...) Complex teas like Oolongs have more than one face, one character. That's why it's possible to express different moods and aromas with them! The harmonious match between tea, feeling and chabu is key to meaningful and beautiful tasting.