Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Enjoying Spring 2009 Shan Lin Shi Gao Shan Oolong

My lily flower is blooming and it feels like spring today (25-27 degrees Celcius). After a cold week drinking roasted Oolongs and older puerhs, I crave my spring High mountain Shan Lin Shi Oolong. For my Cha Xi, I switch to my qingbai cups, use my zhuni (Xmas gift) teapot and display 3 of David Louveau's "Al Gu Dae" bowls. The fact that there are 3 goes back to the calligraphy of mountain ( in Chinese) that uses 3 peaks. Each bowl is different: the left one is gaz fired, the one is the middle is raw wood fired and the one on the right was glazed and wood fired close to the fire. Diversity (water, pine wood, bamboo) is also a characteristic of Shan Lin Shi.

The major risk with this tea is to use too much of it. It is very powerful and concentrated. A layer on the bottom of the teapot is enough. Then it's possible to let it brew in a relaxed manner, for long time, and extract all its spring flavors. Surprisingly they are both thick and light, deep and smooth! Strength and purity!

The sweet pleasure is immediate and goes on and on.

Spring is all around.

3 comments:

Marilyn Miller said...

Beautiful!

Coty said...

Wow, those are amazing photos! Looks like such a calm area to enjoy tea. Is this in your home?

TeaMasters said...

Thanks Marilyn and Coty.

Yes, this is my tea place in my apartment.