Boundless Cha Xi

Last Sunday, like every 2 months, my tea friends had a tea party at the Taipei Story House with Teaparker. This time, they set up their Cha Xi on the directly lawn, using a wooden plank to create an even surface for the accessories. (This reminds me of the Outdoors Cha Xi contest I organized last August.)

I like the water lily pond on the left picture. It feels like a very harmonious combination of Cha Xi and nature. But it's not just beautiful to see, the accessories are chosen to fit the tea perfectly. On the right hand picture, my friend uses a white Japanese Obi belt (for kimono) to create a long, white 'flow' -almost a river-.

In Teaparker's second article, we can see how these other tea students use fine, long bamboo mats as background of their Cha Xi. I brought something similar from my last tea trip: a 3 meters long woven mat made of dried grass. You can see how I use it here on a Qing dynasty styled Cha Xi, drinking this winter's Feng Huang Hung Shui Oolong with my zhuni Duo Qio.
There are no limits to tea, to passion or to creativity. This gives us boundless possibilities to enjoy our finest leaves in so many wonderful ways. It's all up to you, how you feel and how you'd like to feel! And, interestingly, the more we focus beforehand on the tea we intend to brew, the better it often becomes. So, make it happen. Brew with style, with passion and with understanding.

(The calligraphy says: 'Tea Passion, no limits'! I've shown it before).

Update: Teaparker posted 2 more articles about the tea party. Here, he shows a Cha Xi innovation: using plexiglass to give a modern, light and transparent feeling. And in this article, he shows a stunning picture of the water lily pond Cha Xi. Does it also remind you of Monet?

Oolong Concubine 'sauvage' de 2009

Les feuilles fraiches (ci-dessus) de ce thé proviennent de cette plantation abandonnée de Feng Huang, photo de gauche.

Cultivar: Luanze Oolong.

Récolte à la main le 6 mai 2009.

Ce thé n'est pas exactement un Guei Fei Cha, Oolong concubine. Il a été récolté un peu plus tôt, fin printemps, plutôt qu'au début de l'été.

Cela explique que son oxydation est un peu moins forte que pour du Guei Fei Cha (ou de l'Oriental Beauty).

Ses feuilles sont plus petites que pour du Guei Fei, et elles ne sont pas roulées, comme pour du Oolong de Dong Ding, mais ouvertes.

Les feuilles de cette plantation sont très diverses, ce qui leur donne un air brut. Ainsi, cet Oolong Concubine est 'sauvage' à double titre: par son origine, une plantation abandonnée, et son apparence sèche très variée.

Test de compétition: 3 gr et infusion de 6 minutes avec de l'eau de source bouillante.

L'infusion est d'un joli orange doré transparent.

Les odeurs du thé sont fruitées: pomme et raisin. Je retrouve aussi des fragrances lourdes d'orchidées, puis des notes de miel. On est très proche du Oolong Concubine, mais avec plus de pureté. Les feuilles chaudes sentent particulièrement naturelles. Aucune trace d'engrais, il n'y que du naturel!

Au goût, ce thé glisse très facilement en bouche et dans la gorge. Cette infusion longue laisse ensuite apparaitre un peu d'astringence (fruitée et pas nécessairement déplaisante), et une pointe d'amertume. La longueur en bouche est bonne et soutenue. Mais le plus étonnant, c'est comme ce thé monte à la tête. Sa force déclenche une petite 'ivresse' très relaxante!

Conclusion: Cet Oolong Concubine se distingue par son parfum fruité pur et naturel, un goût pas complètement domestiqué et la force de sa nature 'sauvage' dans un cha qi enivrant.

Recommandations: Pour optimiser le goût de cet Oolong Concubine 'sauvage', je recommande de verser l'eau juste bouillie très doucement et régulièrement. Les premières infusions seront les plus courtes que les dernières.

Cha Xi: La première couche brune est une longue nappe brune faite avec de longues feuilles séchées et tressées, puis un Cha Bu orange. A gauche, le bol de cuisson longue jaune et orange de David Louveau. Un plateau en céramique blanc et un set de compétition de thé en porcelaine. Tetsubin sur Nilu ancien à droite. Plante verte et orchidées oranges dans un petit vase David Louveau.

Tea Plantation gone wild

One way to see if a tea plantation is organic is to look between the bushes. Like reading between the lines, it's not the tea tree that tells you if it's organic, but the space between the bushes.

On the left, grass is allowed to grow, because no herbicides were used. This is not the case on the right hand picture.

The farmer wants a high yield of leaves and that all the nutrition of the soil goes to the leaves. Other plants growing between the bushes would lower his yield. So, farmers either use herbicides or a lot of manpower to cut these plants. (This organic method will let the plants decompose around the bushes and give them natural food). This is one of the most visible clue to see if a tea plantation is organic or not.

So, with this in mind, let's have a look at the following plantation in Feng Huang, near Dong Ding:

The grass and other plants are as high as the tea bushes. I hope that you can still see the tea bushes! (The luanze Oolong leaves are dark). This plantation is more than organic. It is abandoned! The farmer has retired, but no one in the family has taken over.

We are at an altitude of 600 meters approximately. The surroundings include bamboo and betel nut trees. The wild plants have so overtaken this plantation that I can't see the ground of where I walk! I'm making big noises to scare whatever snakes might be on my way. (It worked, I'm still alive!)

This diverse vegetation creates a wonderful view and feeling. Still, this plantation still doesn't qualify as wild, because the trees have been planted by man. -Wild tea trees are extremely rare in Taiwan.- But it is much more natural than organic plantations on which farmers are active to fight against the invasion of other plants. That's why I call this kind of plantation 'semi-wild'.

Somehow surprisingly, the leaves here look less healthy than in a managed plantation, where they'd all point to the sky. They have to compete with other plants for nutrients.
And they are attacked by various insects. These are many on this plantation:
Did you notice the small red spider on the back of the black spider. It's not a baby, but the male!

For us, the most important insect in this field is the tea jassid, jacobiasca formosana Paoli. It is the same insect that also bites the leaves of Oriental Beauty. It feeds exclusively on tea buds and young leaves, which are the leaves that are harvested to make tea. And if I could take a picture of one, there must be many more in this field.

Interestingly, the retired farmer let my farmer harvest this field last month, and I was able to purchase this special production. Tasting notes will follow.

Excursion à Shan Lin Shi

Jeudi dernier, le jour du Dragon Boat Festival, nous sommes arrivés à 12h35 à notre hôtel entre Lugu et Shitou. J'ai pu y remplir un jerrican avec de l'eau de source qui arrive directement de la montagne. Puisée autour de midi (entre 11h et 13h) ce jour précis, cette eau, appelée Wu Shi Shui, est censée être la meilleure de l'année. La culture chinoise lui prête des propriétés curatives (désinfection des plaies, par exemple). Et pour le thé, cette eau serait particulièrement pure et bonne. (Teaparker trouve qu'elle est meilleure). Ayant repris de l'eau le lendemain, je vous dirai si j'arrive à goûter la différence.

Vendredi, nous sommes allés à Shan Lin Shi. Nous n'êtions pas les seuls en ce second jour férié. La route bouchonna jusqu'à Shitou. (L'idéal est de faire du tourisme en semaine). Les 17 km suivants, la route fut bien dégagée. On remarque surtout les nuages bas qui se transforment en brouillard par endroit et l'air bien plus frais qu'en plaine. 

La route vers les plantations d'Oolong est en maintenance jusqu'à mi juin et nous n'avons pas pu aller les voir à Feng Lung Xia. Alors, nous sommes allés faire une balade au parc de Shan Lin Shi tout proche, à environ 1600 mètres d'altitude.

La végétation y est abondante, grâce à la présence de sources et cascades. On y trouve des conifères et encore beaucoup de bambous. L'air y est vivifiant. La différences de températures d'un versant (ensoleillé) à un autre versant (à l'ombre et exposé au vent) est impressionnante: on passe du T-shirt à la veste fermée. 

Ce climat permet de faire grandir les feuilles de thé au soleil, puis de conserver leur fraicheur la nuit ou dans le brouillard. Je n'ai bu que de l'eau fraiche dans ce parc, mais les odeurs de nature de cet air de montagne me donnaient l'impression de 'baigner' dans du Oolong de Shan Lin Shi! 

Sur le chemin de retour, tout près du sommet, j'ai pu photographier cette petite plantation ci-dessous, l'une des rares sur le bord de la route principale. 

1990 Shu Puerh Cha Xi

Strangely, the weather turned cool today, the eve of Dragon Boat Festival. So, with all my new 'Earth and Fire' accessories, I felt like cooked puerh to warm up and relax. I flaked some of my 1990 wild Tuo Cha and set up this Cha Xi. At first (right), I used 3 similar cups with stand. Then (above), I replaced two with my qingbai 'singing' cup (up) and a 7 days fired cup (right) to compare.

The earthware teapot softened this puerh further, as if it had aged several more years. With the thin glazed qingbai cup, it felt mellow, but also very light in taste. This was very nice, but somehow unexpected given the earthy cooked puerh fragrances. It's a little like a 'Susan Boyle' experience: the looks don't fit the voice or, here, the taste doesn't fit the fragrance. It's a wonderful and refreshing experience to feel fooled by your instincts!

With the original cup (left), again, the double action of the teapot and the porous cup proved too strong for the tea and it tasted too weak. (Best to use with a glazed tea vessel and/or a rougher tea).

The 7 days fired cup added depth to the taste and gave the most harmonious result. 

Tomorrow noon, I hope to fetch some 'noon water' from the mountain of Shan Lin Shi! I'll take off for a few days and will return early next week. 

I wish you all a nice Dragon Boat Festival!

  

Wenshan Baozhong 'forêt subtropicale' 2009

Récolte du 11 avril 2009.

Lieu: la forêt montagneuse de Wenshan, près de Pinglin.

Cultivar: luanze (qingxin) Oolong

Process: oxydation un peu plus forte (et traditionnelle) que pour la plupart des Baozhongs modernes (qui sont du type 'fleur de lys').

Il provient du même endroit que celui de l'an dernier, celui de 2007 et même celui de 2006! Je vais donc tenter d'éviter les redites. C'est aussi une raison pour laquelle je ne vous présente pas de dégustation en mode 'test', mais un Cha Xi, mode plaisir! 

Néanmoins, j'utilise ma théière en argent -pure à 99.5%- et celle-ci monte très haut en température. Seules les meilleures feuilles supportent une infusion si chaude sans rendre le thé astringent ou amer. Or, ce 'cru' 2009 est particulièrement moelleux et le reste même dans ces conditions extrêmes.  Il ne faut donc pas hésiter à l'infuser longtemps et ne pas utiliser trop de feuilles. Ainsi, il sera encore plus long en bouche.

Les feuilles ont été triées pour retirer les tiges. La récolte, plus précoce cette année, a permis d'avoir de nombreuses petites feuilles dont les odeurs sont plus fines.

La couleur de l'infusion tire sur le jaune (normal, vu l'oxydation), même si ce n'est pas évident avec les coupes chantantes qingbai.

Ce Cha Bu  représente des poissons (symbole d'abondance en Chine). Kim, un ami expert de cérémonie de thé japonais, m'a raconté la légende de ce dessin: il s'agit d'une carpe qui voulait devenir un dragon. C'est pourquoi, il nage à contre-courant et saute hors de l'eau, par-dessus une cascade. C'est à ce moment que la carpe se transforme alors en dragon!

Telle est aussi la vitalité et la force que je sens en buvant ces feuilles de Wu-Long, noir dargon! Ce sont les odeurs et toute l'énergie de la forêt de Wenshan dans ma coupe!

Earth and Fire tea wares

Besides these 3 teapots, my friend David Louveau has recently sent me some of his latest creations. His work remains very natural. The changes in color continue to come from the firing of his ware.

His previous bowls and cups had been fired for a week. This time, the firing was reduced to 2 days and he used a special technique involving water to achieve these effects. The result on the above tea jars (8 cm and 7 cm high respectively) is a success. The warmth of the fire is clearly visible on these jars. And with the porosity of this type of earth ware, they are very well suited to store cooked puerh.

I also like the cups and their stand. I have used these as Cha Tuos with my singing cups here. The size fits them nicely too.

Compared to the week long firing, the shapes are much better preserved. The week long pieces look much more as if they had gone through hell and barely made it back! Here, it's more like a nice tan on the beach!

The shorter, the more control the potter has on the effects, but also the less 'natural' and unexpected the changes. Here we still have enough natural feel. On the other hand, with less wood and time consumed, the cost (and price) of these pieces can be reduced (roughly divided by 3).

And what about the impact on the tea?

The porosity of these pieces is great. Thanks to the traditional firing and the use of natural clays (some as old as 40 years), these cups manage to filter the tea and change its taste greatly. It's like they are 'sucking' the taste out of the tea. (That's one reason cooked puerh or rough raw puerh is a good fit). Astringency and bitterness are greatly reduced. It's even enough to use just an earth ware cup or teapot instead of both together. The tea felt much smoother, rounder than brewed and drunk from a porcelain cup. (Tests with my 2000 CNNP cooked puerh and a Menghai 'high mountain' cooked puerh of 2008).

How do they compare to the cups fired for 7 days?

First, I felt that the longer fired cups handled heat better: they remained warm longer. Second, the taste was full, more harmonious and had more depth. One of the differences is that the long firing produced natural glazing through the 'crystallization' of the many ashes falling on the cup. However, this natural glazing is only partial and still allows for filtering.

Still, it's already great to experience the positive impact on cooked puerh with these wares. It's nice to confirm that the traditional wood firing isn't just about aesthetics and how different firings impact the tea.

These wares are a real pleasure for the eye, bringing back to a time of folk art where every piece was unique and an expression of the culture of its time.

Thank you, David, for the Fire that lights your passion for pottery and ours for tea.

2009 Spring Gao Shan Hung Shui Oolong

Luanze (qingxin) Oolong from Ali Shan (1200 meters elevation).

Hand harvested on April 5, 2009.

Hung Shui process: slightly higher oxidation and medium roasting.

The most famous Hung Shui Oolong comes traditionally from Dong Ding. However, it is an open secret that the winners of Lugu's Dong Ding competition in recent years come from High Mountain plantations. The higher altitude creates better conditions for the leaves (warm day, moisture from mountain mist and cool nights...). Therefore, a Gao Shan (high mountain) Hung Shui Oolong is something special that often aims for excellence.

What is a good Hung Shui Oolong?

It is like a good bottle of a grand cru classé from Bordeaux. You can enjoy it young, but you can also let it age many, many years. Hung Shui Oolong strikes the right balance between freshness and mellowness, between oxidation and roasting. Like when cooking a fish (or a juicy steak), it's important to find this balance and not overcook it.

You'll notice different colors depending on the cup I use.The tea still looks green in the qingbai cup, but golden in the ivory cups. This is a sign of the right balance.

What can I say about this tea?

It is so soft and sweet! And yet, it brings liveliness to the tongue and a long aftertaste. It is very delicate and refined. But it isn't weak and manages to make even the seventh brew interesting. (I won't say more to let you discover this beauty by yourself).

How best to brew it?

The roasting is very recent and requires some adjustments to our brewing. The challenge is to obtain a tea where the flavor of the roasting and the fresh leaves is well mixed and harmonious. The key adjustment is to pour the boiling water very slowly and carefully in the teapot and then let the leaves brew for a rather long time. The pouring out can then be done faster. Do this for each brew, including the first.

(Normal steps remain: preheating the teapot and cups, one layer of dry leaves on the bottom of the teapot).

My seventh brew (2 hours) reminded me of Ai Jiao Oolong. And the open leaf found its original shape and almost its original color!

Shan Lin Shi Gao Shan Oolong, printemps 2009

Cultivar: luanze Oolong (qingxin)

Récolte du 10 avril à la main à Shan Lin Shi.  (Gao Shan = haute montagne).

J'avais présenté cet Oolong préparé comme en  compétition. Cette fois-ci, je le prépare avec plus de 'gongfu', comme j'en avais eu envie à la suite de mes tests.

Mon Cha Xi se compose d'une théière Da Bing Ru Yi en zhuni, de coupes chantantes sur des Cha Tuo japonais anciens, un bol zafang Terre et Feu, une assiette bleue pour théière de Michel , un Cha Bu bleu foncé, une mini jarre peinte avec des lotus bleus, et des fleurs. 

Mon eau de source vient de Wenshan (j'ai fait le plein lors de mon récent voyage pour sélectionner le Baozhong 'forêt subtropicale'), et je la chauffe jusqu'à ébullition dans ma tetsubin. Après le préchauffage de la théière et des coupes, je mets une petite couche de feuilles roulées dans la théière. Pour ma première infusion, je verse l'eau juste bouillante avec une certaine force pour faire tournoyer les feuilles. Elles s'ouvriront mieux ainsi. (Pour les infusions suivantes, je verse l'eau doucement.)

Mes infusions restent relativement longues, car je n'utilise pas tant de feuilles et car celles-ci le supportent bien!

Le résultat est une odeur moins forte en papaye (par rapport à ce que j'avais constaté en mode 'compétition'), et plus équilibrée entre fruité et fleuri (comme l'a aussi remarqué K.) 

Mais le plus étonnant et merveilleux, d'après moi, c'est le goût soyeux de cet Oolong. Il commence très pur, comme invisible, puis laisse des picotements de vie sur la langue et un moelleux, une douceur gouleyante dans le fond de la gorge. On sent ensuite la richesse du terroir sur les papilles et la fraicheur des montagnes dans toute la bouche. Le reflexe est immédiat: je m'en ressers une coupe, puis une autre, et je repars pour une nouvelle infusion!

Je suis impatient de lire comment vous l'avez apprécié. N'hésitez pas à laisser un commentaire. 

(C'est un thé incontournable cette saison. Il surclasse même les échantillons de Li Shan que j'ai pu goûter jusqu'à présent!)

Ming style San Hsia Bi Luo Chun of Spring 2009

As summer approaches and temperatures rise, I felt like drinking my Bi Luo Chun. It was picked by hand in San Hsia on February 23, 2009, one of the very first harvests of this spring. And for green tea, earlier means smaller and more tender buds, and lighter fragrances. This is especially true this early spring, with temperatures cold and little rain.

So, as the heat builds up in my apartment, I don't want to open the A/C just yet. I long for the fresh, flowery breeze of this early spring in the tea hills of San Hsia. If only I could be transported there and then! If only I could escape the walls of concrete surrounding my apartment... (Oops, I've been watching 'Prison Break' last evening!)

The solution (Michael) isn't engineering, but it will require patience and skills: a Ming style Cha Xi featuring this Bi Luo Chun!

Why Ming dynasty? You'll find many reasons in the performance we did last year at the Taipei Story House. Ming scholars also drank loose green tea leaves to feel a connection to nature. This is why my Cha Bu is dark green and I display 2 plants and flowers. My cups are also light green. 

The cha wan, tea bowl, used during Sung dynasty to make matcha, wasn't the tea vessel anymore. Maybe they 'recycled' these bowls as za fang, to collect the spent leaves and cleaning water, as I do here... 

I started with a small* duanni teapot, but later changed to a glazed gaiwan, a Ming dynasty invention, to give a better account of the tea.  (* Big teapots were used during the Ming dynasty.)

The Bi Luo Chun in San Hsia is made with the Qingxin Ganzhong cultivar. As Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan in 1949 with around 2 million Chineses refuges, they couldn't purchase green tea from the Mainland ennemy. So, the green tea addicts encouraged the production of similar green teas in Taiwan. 

But because Taiwan has Oolong tea skills and culture, the San Hsia Bi Luo Chun is quite different than in China. In some aspects, while still a green tea, the farmers here make it somehow similar to Oolong. For instance, it can brew in just boiled water and its taste will remain quite sweet. 

The tea brew is very clear, transparent. The color is a light fresh, shiny green. 

The smell is fresh, small, barely open spring flowers (dandelion, magnolia). 

It tastes mellow with a hint of dryness. Cold sunny day.

We made it! I feel cool again! 

(Note: the water from the tetsubin brought more depth and mellowness to the tea, but I still felt it was a better fit to use the lighter water from a silver kettle. This also means that a water with lower mineral residue is probably better for this tea.)