Tea Beauty calls to be shared

"When there are no beautiful utensils, there is no real Tea"

"It (Tea) is not a private path, but a highway for humanity.", Yanagi (The Unknown Craftsman, a Japanese Insight into Beauty).

(A Hung Shui Oolong brewed on a Saturday morning.)

'Subtropical forest' Wenshan Baozhong

(En français, la version semblable de 2008).
This picture was taken on April 20, 2 days before the harvest of this Wenshan Baozhong near Pinglin! The leaves look fresh and healthy. The sun is shining and it's not too hot yet. These are great harvest conditions!

Last week, before tasting High Mountain Oolongs with Payton, we started with this obligatory Baozhong. We were in the subtropical Wenshan forest and what better way to start experiencing tea than to drink from leaves produced by the very same environment!

Cultivar: Qingxin (luanze) Oolong
Harvested by hand on April 22nd, 2011
Origin: Wenshan, northern Taiwan

Slightly roasted on May 3rd, 2011

Process: 'traditional' Baozhong with above average oxidation.

In the forest, I used a generous amount of leaves in a gaiwan. For these tasting notes, though, I will write my tasting notes from 3 grams brewed competition style (6 minutes).

Strong
Sheng jin long aftertaste
View:
Dark fresh green dry leaves. Very few stems.
Twisted leaves break more easily than rolled Oolong, so Baozhongs usually have more residue than Oolongs. However, this ' forest' Baozhong displays a good clarity and nice light yellow color.

Smell:
Heavy flower (lavender) scents and subtropical forest fragrances. It's a tea that mirors its environment very well.

Taste:
Quite strong and full body for a fresh Baozhong. A nice stimulation of the glands at the back of the mouth. The aftertaste is long.

Conclusion: This year's 'Subtropical forest' Baozhong is very pleasant and lives up to its weel deserved reputation.

As for this year's semi-wild Baozhong, it was harvested by hand on April 24 and was less oxidized. A qingxin (luanze) Oolong cultivar as well, it has lighter fragrances and a clean taste (thanks to its organic origins).
Here's what a reader in Ukraine wrote me about this 2011 spring 'Semi-wild' Wenshan Baozhong: "I have tried semi-wild Baozhong and it is indeed very special, the taste is so clear and even tends to a "vegetable" side (and that is great!). So I am really happy."

Visite du Canada

Mercredi dernier, Hugo, de la maison de thé Camellia Sinensis à Montréal, m'offre un exemplaire du livre 'Thé, histoire terroirs saveurs'. Comme chaque printemps, il est en tournée à Taiwan pour sélectionner les Oolongs du magasin. Mais cette année, 3 ans après notre dernière rencontre, Hugo a pris rendez-vous pour me remettre ce livre où mon nom figure dans la section remerciements (page 268)! C'est donc à mon tour de remercier toute l'équipe de Camellia Sinensis pour ce geste plein de gentillesse et de générosité.
Et comme vous pouvez le voir, j'avais dressé une table printanière pour déguster ensemble plusieurs Oolongs frais et torréfiés!

Gao Shan Ali Shan Oolong from Spring 2011

This week's highlight is this Cha Xi with 2 American tea lovers. They both work in a tea shop and are so interested in tea that they came to Taiwan to tour the tea growing regions, tea shops and say hi to one of their favorite tea bloggers!

On a beautiful and hot day, I drove to the hills of southern Taipei and, after some searching, we found a great spot to brew tea. It had both shade and a nice breeze coming from the valley. My regular source of spring water was dry (due to the draught). Luckily, we could get enough water from a nearby temple.

Here, among others, I brewed the April 14, 2011 handpicked High Mountain Oolong from Zhang Shu Hu (in Ali Shan). At an elevation of 1600 meters, it is (so far) the best spring Oolong I selected this year. It's so good that I even can use my silver teapot!

Looking at the Cha Xi from above, I called it "Cha Dao, finding your tea path": the 3 qingbai singing cups seem to form a road around the plate and the jar. It's also a theme that resonated with my guests, after their weeks of travel around the island from one tea place to another. What surprised them is that they didn't find the best teas in Lugu or Ali Shan (where they are grown), but in tea shops in Taipei!
This Ali Shan Oolong (Qingxin/luanze Oolong cultivar) felt so pure and refreshing, sweet and long lasting!

The brew is so clear and transparent! And, amazingly, I've only used very few leaves. Opened up, they only occupy half of the teapot. These leaves have an incredible concentration and power that one would usually from a Da Yu Ling. And they also have the fruity and exuberant character of Ali Shan Oolong.

The cold weather and slow growth of this spring's harvest is one explanation for this unusual concentration. Another is that this comes for a new plantation.

For an optimal cup, I recommend to use fewer leaves than you usually do and wait long enough for the leaves to open up in the first brew.

A wonderful celadon tea jar completes the Cha Xi. It's color stands out and reminds me of Ju porcelain. I'm currently testing it along with other jars I've recently received.

3 happy Oolong drinkers!

Thé du matin

Et je me sens bien!

Un excellent Jinxuan Oolong d'Ali Shan

Les stars du printemps font leur apparition: les Oolongs de haute montagne arrivent dans ma sélection! C'est la saison des senteurs les plus fraiches et fleuries!
J'en profite pour signaler que si l'Expo Flora de Taipei est finie, la Taipei Story House continue de montrer ses jardins et son étang d'inspiration Monet! (Ma photo ci-dessus)
Cultivar: Jinxuan Oolong
Origine: Zhang Shu Hu, Ali Shan
Altitude: 1400 mètres
Cueilli à la main le 14 avril 2011.
Process: Oolong roulé sans torréfaction

Dégusation de compétition: 3 grammes pendant 6 minutes.

Les feuilles sèches ont une belle taille et une couleur verte vive foncée.

L'odeur sèche me fait penser à des jeunes groseilles. Ce parfum est pur et languissant. Il pénètre jusqu'au fond de ma gorge et me fait saliver. C'est une fragrance de jinxuan, puissante et suave, limpide et fraiche.
L'infusion est vert-jaune avec une transparence presque parfaite.

Le thé commence léger, frais, moelleux. Cela 'fleure' bon le printemps fleuri de montagne. Puis, on ressent comme un pétillement sur la langue. Et le cha qi envahit la bouche en flux et reflux. Ce thé est excellent! On a du mal à croire qu'il s'agit d'un jinxuan, tellement le caractère puissant et fruité d'Ali Shan est présent.
Les feuilles ouvertes sont immenses et épaisses! Elles respirent le soleil! C'est un cru exceptionnel. Probablement le meilleur jinxuan que j'ai pu boire jusqu'à présent. Et en théière zhuni d'Yixing, c'est encore plus fin et savoureux!

This is it - from a Buddhist tea friend

2 weeks ago, I had the chance to meet a long time reader of my blog traveling in Taiwan. He's American, Buddhist and lives in the 'Plum village' in France! That's already quite an interesting background! I think he was the first from this 'village' to order tea from me. What I'm sure of is that several others followed suit.

Their members practice 'tea meditation' (en français ici). This probably explains why some of the best felt tasting notes I received came from this village. To understand a tea, you need to focus and feel its effects on your body and mind. Most of us don't always have (or take) the time and concentration to experience tea fully. It's a challenge for the modern person to sit down and simply focus on a cup of tea.

He gave me this calligraphy "This is it" that I'm using on today's Cha Xi. It's a useful reminder to live and enjoy every moment. "This is it". It's our life that is happening, right now. Let's live it freely, without the shackles of our past or the fear of future.

In this spirit, today, I prepare a Cha Xi with my 2008 winter Hung Shui Oolong. I want to enjoy and share the pleasure a wonderfully roasted Dong Ding Oolong. "This is it". There's nothing else I'd rather do or nowhere else I'd rather be right now. With such a positive attitude, I can focus on each layer of aftertaste going from my throat to my mouth. I feel the energy on my tongue and my back's muscles loosen.

I can also distinguish how the tea has changed and sweetened after some resting in this object:
What is it?
Its walls are thick and are glazed inside out. The inside wall shows that it has been assembled in the middle section.
No, it's not a tea jar or a vase. In it, the leafs' flavors interact with the old glaze. They become finer and more mellow.
Actually, it's a grenade! Ships would carry them to detonate them with gunpowder when pirates attacked!
(Hat tip to Teaparker for this idea of using these grenades as tea jars!)

This brings a new meaning to the 'explosion' of joy I feel each day when I swallow my first drop of tea!

"This is it!" The love of tea transforms a weapon of war into a taste enhancer! It's a beautiful moment to live and experience, fleeting like a flower and fragile like a butterfly. Life is so short. Let's live our (good) teas with passion and creativity.

Thank you, tea brother, for this powerful message.