Hope for the future

2008 raw Banzhang gushu puerh

The recent conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, India and Pakistan, Israel and Iran remind us that we live in a troubled world. These terrible news take a toll on our peace of mind and tea can help to sooth our worries for mankind. Quietly focusing on the each step of the preparation has near meditative power. And when it results in a delicious cup of tea, we feel with all our senses that life is worth living! But today's post goes beyond! There are real reasons to hope for a more peaceful future. You won't hear them on the TV or in most social media posts. So, here we go!

First, let's acknowledge that man is both capable of cooperation for the good and for the bad. Our Paleolithic ancestors would hunt animals in groups to feed the tribe, but they could apply the same group hunting techniques to make war on other tribes. They could also barter, trade between tribes. Others were not necessarily enemies. They could become allies, additions to the family (through mating/marriage...) However, for most of its history, man played a zero sum game. When it comes to food, land, water, natural resources... what belongs to A doesn't belong to B. This made competition and conflict more likely. 

The good news is that the knowledge economy isn't based on physical goods anymore. It's based on knowledge, mostly bits and bytes in computer systems. They can be reproduced almost infinitely at almost no cost. In this new economy, man plays a game with positive outcomes. Unlike land or food, when we share our knowledge, we don't become poorer, but the person who receives it becomes richer!

This changes the dynamics of human interactions! Of course, the prerequisite is that basic needs are already covered. However, for advanced countries, this paradigm shift means that cooperation will make more sense than hostility. 

But the knowledge economy is also partially at work in lots of products that demand a lot of R&D. Because the more these innovative companies can sell worldwide, the more money they can spend on R&D. Smartphones are a good example. The cost of the raw material is low. What costs a lot is the R&D behind the latest chip design and manufacturing. But this cost is fixed and the more people purchase the phone, the cheaper it can become. 

Tea is also, in part, a new economy product. Why? 

Because it's incomplete. Tea requires brewing to fulfill its purpose of becoming a beverage. 

We have 2 cases:

1. The customer doesn't know how to brew the leaves he has purchased. He's therefore likely to make lots of mistakes when brewing the tea (no attention to the water, to the kettle, to the temperature, no preheating, poor choice of tea vessel, tea cups...). A lack of information about the plantation, the process, the character of the tea... might also lead to a lack of understanding on how to get the most out of the leaves.  

2. The tea will taste much better if the seller educates his customer and teaches how to brew using either a gaiwan or a dedicated Yixing teapot (and which is most suitable). He will also help make the experience more meaningful if he gives important information about the character of the mountain, the management style of the farmer, the date of harvest...  Now, thanks to YouTube, I can even make videos to show you how I brew my teas! All this information doesn't make me, the seller poorer, and it helps the customer increase the satisfaction from his tea. 

Note: also remember the principle 'Garbage in, garbage out.'! The more the knowledge matters, the more it's important to find a source one can trust, and to build up your own knowledge to verify it). If the story is too good to be true... 

I hope that you see why I'm confident for the future. Knowledge is key to leading a meaningful and high quality life. And sharing this knowledge makes the world richer while not taking anything away from us! By the way, this summer, I will contact the customer with the highest order each week and offer to interact with my on a video call. This will be an opportunity to help improve your technique, discuss the tea challenges you might have or talk about your tea way in general. I am looking forward providing this free service to the customers who trust in the quality of the teas I have selected for a 20th times this year! 

2008 Banzhang gushu puerh

La pureté de la Beauté Orientale impériale

Beauté Orientale impériale de 2020

 On l'appelle aussi 'Wu Si Cha' (thé aux 5 couleurs) pour la variété des couleurs des feuilles sèches. Cet Oolong à forte oxydation est plus proche d'un thé rouge qu'un Oolong de haute montagne est proche d'un thé vert. Pourquoi?

Cette affirmation est surtout vraie pour les Beautés Orientales 'impériales', de qualité supérieure. Pour obtenir des arômes d'une extrême finesse, on les récolte très jeunes, au stade de bourgeon.

C'est la raison pour laquelle ce thé est alors appelé Bai Hao Oolong (Oolong à poil blanc). Cliquez sur la photo pour voir ce bourgeon de plus près.

C'est le même principe que pour les thés verts: récolter les feuilles les plus jeunes et tendres, quand un fin duvet blanc les recouvre. Les Oolongs de haute montagne, eux, ne sont pas récoltés si jeunes, mais on laisse leurs feuilles grandir et mûrir. C'est un principe de base qui définit la famille des Oolongs. Ces feuilles mûres sont plus difficile à transformer en Oolong que les bourgeons en thé vert.  

Avec la Beauté Orientale impériale, on a des feuilles de taille petite, mais aussi de taille un peu plus grande (c'est ce qui donne la variété de couleur). Le travail de ces feuilles n'est pas aussi aisé que dans le cas d'un thé rouge. Il ne s'agit pas d'oxyder totalement les feuilles, mais de trouver le degré d'oxydation qui fait le mieux ressortir les arômes des feuilles, leur degré de morsure des jassides tout en gardant une certaine fraicheur et finesse provenant de l'oxydation partielle. 

Ces Beautés Orientales de grade impérial, comme celui-ci de 2020, sont toujours issus de très micro récoltes (des lots de 3 à 10 kg), car il ne suffit pas de récolter jeune, mais il faut aussi que ces feuilles soient mordues pour que la Beauté Orientale soit d'excellente qualité. Cela explique la courbe de prix parabolique de ces thés plus rares que les grands Champagnes. D'ailleurs, on les appelle aussi 'Champagne Oolong' en plus de Dong Fang Mei Ren (OB) ou encore Peng Feng Cha (thé des vantards)!

La récolte de ces thés d'été ne vient que de commencer, mais comme ils nécessitent une légère torréfaction pour leur affinage, ils ne seront disponibles qu'à la rentrée, en septembre. Le mieux est de profiter de vos achats d'Oolongs de haute montagne du printemps 2025 pour ajouter l'OB impériale de 2024 dans votre panier. En effet, cette légère torréfaction est possible sur des feuilles suffisamment oxydées et permet au thé de se bonifier avec le temps.

Dans ces temps mouvementés, buvons du thé afin de garder la tête claire et de nous laisser guider par la beauté... orientale de Taiwan!

Snow Oolong, Da Yu Ling of spring 2025

DYL 95K, spring 2025

Snow Oolong is the name of any Oolong that experienced snow on its plantation in winter, before the spring harvest. Snow Oolong is reputed to be superior to regular Oolong, because the snow has a positive on the aroma of the leaves. I see 2 rational explanations for this, but I don't know which one is the most important, because they are somehow contradictory. One reason is that snow and cold help the trees to get in a state of profound winter sleep. This helps them preserve their energy for the spring. In this explanation, the snow and cold are signals to the trees to rest very deeply.

The second reason is that snow is a stress, like strong drainage on the mountain slopes, and that this stress causes the tea trees to react positively by overperforming. Like tea trees fighting the jassids' bite produce fragrant honey aromas, trees who had to overcome the stress of snow would produce more vibrant fragrances and deeper aftertaste. Or, maybe, it's a combination of both? First, the snow rests the trees longer and better, and then it stresses the trees more when the temperatures end up rising considerably within a few weeks in spring?!

This year we had a long cold spring that delayed harvests in Alishan and Shan Lin Xi. However, the harvest dates in FuShou Shan and Da Yu Ling in the Li Shan region, are quite similar to 2024. There, in the Li Shan area, the late winter snow and the normal harvest dates mean that the spring 2025 teas are 'snow Oolongs' that have grown without delay. 

 

I have only seen snow fall once in Taipei city in the 28 years I've lived on the island. And this snow melted away instantly at sea level. Snow is less unusual in Yang Ming Shan, the mountains north of Taipei (elevation 200 m to 1120 m). And in the Lishan region, there's snow on mount He Huan (3420 m) almost every winter. But the lower and more south you go, the less chance there is for snow on the tea plantations. So,  'snow Oolong' is not an automatic occurrence every spring, even in Lishan. And it's no guarantee that the Oolong will be exceptional. This spring's harvest season was quite rainy in Da Yu Ling. Picking the right day and time to harvest was a challenge and explains why quality can vary greatly from one batch to another..

The Da Yu Ling 95K I'm tasting in these pictures is an absolute beauty, though! I'm very pleased to drink it and be able to share it with you! Its fragrances are almost like perfume! Brewed in this gold plated silver teapot, the taste was pure as fresh snow! This blog also makes a good point why tourists don't find the best teas in the tea mountains. 

This spring 2025 gives us a rare and delicious opportunity to enjoy 'snow Oolongs' from DYL 104K, Fushou Shan and Tsui Feng! Enjoy them while supplies last...(These teas are just as rare as the finest Burgundy wines...)

L'histoire de Taiwan à travers le thé

On ne peut pas boire du Oolong de Taiwan sans en connaitre un peu l'histoire. C'est pour cela que je vous propose cette petite vidéo qui rappelle 3 moments clés de l'histoire de Formose au travers du thé: