Tea with the Black Dragon

Today was a lesson in being mindful on my journal of Cha Tao. I opted to make this particular sheng puerh so I could compare it to its 2017 counterpart that I enjoyed yesterday. However, I was definitely multi-tasking while getting to know this tea -- listening to a podcast, looking at my phone, writing, etc. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and I, certainly, wasn't being mindful of my main task at hand --- drinking this tea. I was holding my tea when I accidentally turned my hand over reaching for my phone...resulting in tea all over my notes; and fountain pen ink isn't too forgiving. I mopped up the spill along with most of the ink. I had to read the faint words and re-create them with a gel pen instead. OY! Afterwards, I took the hint; put on some quiet calm music, and set my mind to actually getting to know this tea! Lesson learned. The Way of Tea starts with being mindful and present in the here & now. Denong's Notes from their Web

This morning, I wanted to have a tea session with a shou puerh. I feel like I'm finally making headway on developing a taste for puerh...at least ripe puerhs. So, I grabbed what I thought was Denong’s Ripe Puerh sample that I got from the San Francisco Tea Festival this year. I measured out the tea, made the first infusion, took a sip, and thought...wait, this can’t be a shou puerh. I might not have fully developed my puerh tasting chops, but I know enough to distinguish most shous from shengs. So I took another look at the sample box, and nope, it wasn’t a ripe puerh at all,  but it turns out it was the sheng sample...oopsie. Sometimes, the tea has to decide for you. Denong's Notes: The 2017 Mountain Oasis, is quickly becoming quite well known for its unique floral, fruit and menthol like characteristics it developed from the 2017 drought harvest. It had become a favorite of many Pu-erh tea drinker and will continued to be remembered for years to come. Tasti

When I try a new tea and if it leaves something lacking, I try it a couple more times before I make my decision on whether it's worth it to drink more, buy more, etc. I think you often have to sit with a tea to see what it tries to tell you. Not all tea sessions will be good; you could be 'off', your water isn't at the correct temperature, or maybe you don't have enough tea.....any myriad of reasons could be why you might not like a tea. (It's not the tea's fault!) So, here's one example of a tea that I tried several times over. Here's the description from Yunnan Sourcing.com "Yi Mei Ren" ( 彝美人 ) means literally Yi (Minority) Beauty.  This tea is named "Yi Mei Ren" as its made from Wu Liang Mountain material, an area inhabited primarily by Yi Minority people and bears similarity to both and oolong and a black tea in its fragrance and taste.  Yunnan large-leaf varietal material is used and the tea is wilted and fermented like a bl

This tea is part of a large order I put in with Yunnan Sourcing back in September 2019 and received in November. Since it's the American Thanksgiving Holiday this week, I took this week off to get some personal work and tea tasting done! Tea: High Mountain Red Ai Lao Mountain Black Tea Spring 2019 Merchant: Yunnan Sourcing From their website: High mountain tea grow at 2000 meters on Ai Lao Shan in Zhenyuan area of Simao.  Picked and processed only from the first flush of spring this black tea is lightly oxidized and processed similiar to Taiwanese black tea or Wu Yi Rock tea.   There is a still a greenish tinge left to the leaves!  The brewed tea is rich and thick with hints of dried Longan fruit with a protracted mouth feeling! The tea is grown at almost 2000 meters making it one of the highest black teas we offer.  Mr. Guo was born and raised in central Taiwan and his father had a black tea factory there.  Mr Guo, traveled to Thailand and eventually decided on Yunnan. 

This tea is part of a recent Yunnan Sourcing Order that I made in September, received in November, and I'm slowly doing an initial taste of the different teas that I ordered. For this session, I chose: Wu Yi Shan "Zi Hong Pao" Purple Da Hong Pao Oolong Tea (Spring 2019)  From their website: "Zi Hong Pao" is a purple varietal that's a naturally mutated offshoot from the classic "Da Hong Pao" varietal.  It's also called "Jiu Long Pao" (lit.  9 Dragon Robe) or Wu Yi varietal #303.  It's "medium-leaf" class of tea, not purely Assamica or Sinensis.  The leaves are thick and dense with a purple/red/green color when fresh. Zi Hong Pao is a very rare tea with only about 10 mu of land in total producing this tea.  The buds and leaf shoots are slow to grow and the harvest is the last of the spring harvests. Perhaps the most special aspect of "Zi Hong Pao" is the lovely delicious, thick and pungent tea that it

Back in September 2019, I ordered a bit of tea from Yunnan Sourcing during one of their sales (IIRC?) or maybe I just ordered tea without the sale. Regardless, I ordered tea.  Usually, I order using the faster shipping, but I picked the much slower boat shipping this time around, for whatever reason. I am blaming the lack of tea! It takes about 7-12 weeks for tea to arrive via this type of shipping, WHICH I KNEW! However, due to circumstances, I was going to lose access to the shipping address where I sent my tea! So, I was a bit antsy on that front. However, precisely at 7.5 weeks (the last week I would have full access to the location), the shipment ARRIVED! Hallelujah! It was a bit worse for wear, but everything was intact. I've never been so happy to see a box. When I got home, I greedily broke into it! Although, by this point, I think I had pretty much forgotten what I ordered. Did I really order this much tea? Yes. Yes I did. (Honestly, didn’t think I ordered t

My new tea tray arrived! Just big enough for a 150ml gaiwan and cup.  # gongfucha   # tea   # teafiends   # teatray So far, I'm liking it. A thorough test run will be needed.

I purchased this tea from Whispering Pines, because, well, I liked the name! It's been sitting in my cupboard for a bit and  I finally got around to tasting this tea. It came in a small 5.5 grams brick.  I broke it in half to try in two sessions. Whispering Pine Notes Toss the leaves into a warm teapot and you'll find aromas of figs, raisins, and hints of cocoa. The wet leaf aroma is very oolong-esque, reminding me a lot of the oolong version of this ( Faerie Pillows )...it's creamy and floral with some maltiness. The mouthfeel is super silky and clean, with a touch of spice and walnut notes. Malt and cream follow with a strong dried papaya note, and the finish brings to mind dark honey. Delicious tea! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - These mini black tea bricks come from the Fujian province of China, and are made with the shui xian (translation: water faerie) varietal of tea. They are triple bagged, first in a paper wrapper, then plastic, and fi

I bought this at the SF Int’ Tea Festival because I’ve heard of Kenyan tea but not have had a chance to sample. I tried their jasmine flavored version and thought it was good. A friend tried the chocolate or mint and also found it tasty. However, I really just wanted to try  JUST  the Kenyan purple tea without any flavors. I had to ask them if I could taste  JUST  the purple tea without any flavoring, but they didn’t have it brewed, so I bought this untasted. The tea leaves are small and have a purple tinge to them. The dry leaves smell faintly of plum. The warm (not wet) leaves smell more of plum and a light roast. I brewed this in two different ways. Western -- Hardly any flavor GongFu -- MUCH too bitter, even at a low temp/short steep times. WESTERN : I brewed this per their recommendation on the bag: Western Style 1tsp (3g) for 1cup water @ 175F for 3 minutes. ( NOTE : Their website suggests 3g at  BOILING   WATER  for 3-5 minutes) Steep 1 : Tea broth: a very pale dirty yellow