Tea

[joeblast]

My friend's grad school advisor gave her a good tip on a tea shop close by...we stopped there the other day and I picked up an ounce of Organic Wuyi Oolong and an ounce of Silver Needle white tea. I'm just sippin a cup of the silver needle right now and by george it is that fantastic that I needed to write about it. Of course, at $7.50 for the silver needle, I probably wont buy it all the time, but...wow. Lady in the shop was telling me they can only pick this stuff 2 weeks out of the entire year because it only uses the very first and freshest buds that appear. Mighty fine stuff. This Oolong is very tasty as well, although I havent really had that many different Oolongs. In fact I didnt really even know what it was when I bought it, but it smelled good and then I sipped and ooh! this is the tea that the chinese restaurants always have...only this one is better! I didnt bother looking at the prices when I bought 'em though Just figured I'd get what looked good!

 

I've also got a bunch of green tea that was given to me by this lady that I work with...its whole leaves crunched down to small little balls. Only...I dont really know what the stuff is because the packaging is all written in chinese! I just know its green tea and I like it.

 

For more conventional tea I have been drinking Carrington white tea with ginseng that is pretty good...but after a few boxes of it, I think the ginseng is starting to get on my nerves. I can get ginseng elsewhere, dont need it in my tea!

 

I'm not familiar with tea ceremonies, but I thought they'd make a good addition to the thread. What's the score with those?

Edited January 25, 2008 by joeblast

[Stigweard]

mmmmmm .... Chai Tea just before Tai Chi .... very nice

[mota]

Started drinking matcha about 2 months ago and it has completely replaced our coffee habit in the morning. Terribly expensive, but when compared to the $'s spent on all those fancy coffee's it is about the same.

 

A little tin of Do Matcha is about $30 and it is nice, but I have found that I prefer the Muzi brand better.

They sell several grades. They have a matcha for cooking which according to their description is blended for professional use to make green tea chocolates, smoothies and lattes. But it tastes nice straight up which I sometimes put some Agave syrup in for the sweet. It is economical as well, 100 gms for $20.

 

A small note of caution, do not over do it. I went a bit overboard at first, drinking many bowls per day and after about 10 days started to detoxify. Matcha is very alkali. So now I have it in small doses, mainly to get me going in the morning as it is a better buzz than coffee. Clean and long lasting.

 

As much as I like coffee, I no longer touch the stuff. I found an article on coffee which stated that coffee when roasted develops a compound called empyreaumatic oil which is an extremely strong antiseptic, a few drop of which will entirely suspend the digestion process for several hours causing food to be processed by putrefactive fermentation rather than by normal digestion. Also it is highly acidic which is not good for the health.

 

Anybody else have a favorite matcha?

[justme]

edit

Edited January 27, 2008 by justme

[Yoda]

Someone here recently suggested that I rid myself of bagged tea for flavor purposes and it's a fun angle. I can fancy myself a tea snob and be cheap at the same time!

[doc benway]

 

 

I'm not familiar with tea ceremonies, but I thought they'd make a good addition to the thread. What's the score with those?

My sifu is a tea connosieur. He is very picky about what he'll drink. He gets the best Taiwanese oolong each Spring and doesn't drink too much else (I try to get a little from him - it's really special and costs ~ $250/pound!). He taught me the gung fu tea brewing method (I posted about it on this forum a few months ago). I bought a really inexpensive set up to keep at our school and we really enjoy it - we'll drink tea sometimes after meetings or when a few of the instructors get together to train at off times. I really enjoy the art of the tea pot as well - I like to check them out on the web.

 

The basic gung fu brewing method is as follows:

1. Bring water to near boil (water temp will vary with the particular type of tea, cooler for green, hotter for black).

2. Put tea in small yixing pot (clay) and put tea pot on something to catch overflow (saucer, special tea tray).

Generally speaking you put in enough tea to cover the bottom of the pot but this can vary depending on the size and shape of the pot.

3. Pour hot water in pot.

4. Immediately pour water out into serving pitcher (this step is optional and rinses the tea of crud, warms the pot, and helps the tea to begin to open up before brewing).

5. Fill pot again with hot water and then pour the first rinse water over pot for further warming.

6. Steep for desired time.

7. Pour into serving pitcher - this is important so the tea doesn't continue to steep as each guest is served in turn.

8. Serve from pitcher.

Repeat as often as desired.

 

Some people use a special cup for sniffing and second for tasting. The first is tall and narrow, the second short and wide. The tea is poured into the aroma cup then poured from there into the tasting cup. The aroma cup is then sniffed while empty to appreciate the fragrance of the tea.

 

For high grade oolong tea, this process can be repeated multiple times. My sifu usually does about 4 or 5 rounds. First round ~30 seconds steeping time, second ~45, third ~60, fourth ~120 and so on... That varies considerably with the tea, size of pot, temperature of water, personal taste...

Generally the second or third rounds are the most fragrant and flavorful. The first can be a bit bitter. Gradually the tea loses it's potency and is discarded.

 

Generally speaking, this is not as ceremonial and ritualized as the Japanese cha no yu. As I find to be a Chinese cultural characteristic, gung fu brewing is more practical than the Japanese equivalent and simply designed to extract the most out of the tea. Nevertheless, going through the process does create a very nice atmosphere among friends or colleagues, and the art of brewing the perfect cup of tea can be challenging and rewarding.

 

THere are some tea shops around that will teach you the technique if you're interested. I found a really good one when visiting Seattle this year at the market on the waterfront.

Edited January 25, 2008 by xuesheng

[Oolong Rabbit]

I've also got a bunch of green tea that was given to me by this lady that I work with...its whole leaves crunched down to small little balls. Only...I dont really know what the stuff is because the packaging is all written in chinese! I just know its green tea and I like it.

 

Could also be Anxi Benshan Oolong:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gourmet-Benshan-Wulong...bayphotohosting

 

I can easily get 3-4 infusions out of it.

 

The Wuyi is also very nice. There's a not so subtle peachy aftertaste. More delicate than some of the other oolongs.

 

 

P.S. I bought a bunch of tea from the Chinese company in the above link on ebay (somebody posted the link on TB a while back). Great prices, and he combined shipping for me.

[joeblast]

Nice! Tell ya what, I'll bring some to Lin's cultivation get together and I'll give you some. if you can tell me what it is I'd be appreciative!

[Oolong Rabbit]

Nice! Tell ya what, I'll bring some to Lin's cultivation get together and I'll give you some. if you can tell me what it is I'd be appreciative!

 

Sounds good Joel! I would bring some but I am a little leary that the customs people might think it's something else

[Mal]

Could also be Anxi Benshan Oolong:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gourmet-Benshan-Wulong...bayphotohosting

I can easily get 3-4 infusions out of it.

 

Mine looks like that too (comes in a little vacuum sealed green packet with Chinese all over it) expands / unrolls into sticks and leaves in hot water.

 

Any hints on how to keep it between infusions.......I don't really enjoy hot drinks. This makes a nice enough tea, but I rarely feel like drinking tea so it usually gets thrown out after just one infusion.

 

Sounds good Joel! I would bring some but I am a little leary that the customs people might think it's something else

hehehe

[Oolong Rabbit]

Mine looks like that too (comes in a little vacuum sealed green packet with Chinese all over it) expands / unrolls into sticks and leaves in hot water.

 

Any hints on how to keep it between infusions.......I don't really enjoy hot drinks. This makes a nice enough tea, but I rarely feel like drinking tea so it usually gets thrown out after just one infusion.

hehehe

 

Hi Mal,

 

I am by no means an expert, so not sure if there's a decent technique to store used leaves for an extended period. Even if there is, it probably wouldn't be recommended. They take great pains to ensure that the tea is stored in a moisture free environment. It's pretty amazing how much this stuff can expand after a couple infusions though. For stronger teas I sometimes think the second infusion is better then the first which can be be slightly bitter.

 

P.S. Make sure you store your tea buds in a different colored container than your other "buds". I would hate to see you have a mix up, although it might make for potent tea!

[joeblast]

I brought some of that tea down to Phoenix and they never even gave it a second glance going through the scanners now the piece that I didnt realize was in my laptop bag that I thought was lost ~6 months ago...well, they thankfully didnt give that a second glance either glad I searched through my bag after I got down there!!! TSA was far more concerned about my too large bottle of listerine, my too large bottle of lotion, and they didnt like my little tin of green tea body butter, either. Bastids, that stuff was expensive! I would have had to check my bags in order to keep all that stuff, and not trusting the airlines, I let go of my offenses and got on the plane...good thing, because I would have had a nightmare getting my stuff with how screwed my flights were!

As long as its straight up tea I wouldnt worry about it.

 

My name's Dan btw

[Oolong Rabbit]

I brought some of that tea down to Phoenix and they never even gave it a second glance going through the scanners now the piece that I didnt realize was in my laptop bag that I thought was lost ~6 months ago...well, they thankfully didnt give that a second glance either glad I searched through my bag after I got down there!!! TSA was far more concerned about my too large bottle of listerine, my too large bottle of lotion, and they didnt like my little tin of green tea body butter, either. Bastids, that stuff was expensive! I would have had to check my bags in order to keep all that stuff, and not trusting the airlines, I let go of my offenses and got on the plane...good thing, because I would have had a nightmare getting my stuff with how screwed my flights were!

As long as its straight up tea I wouldnt worry about it.

 

My name's Dan btw

 

Sorry Dan

 

Yeah, I have heard all kinds of confiscation horror stories like that. You know, I am sure with the body butter, a paperclip and a rubber band you could have built a death ray and taken over the plane. In fact, maybe they should just ban body butter to make the world a safer place. I digress. It's the international thing that worries me flying in from Canada. I just don't feel like arguing with the paranoid customs gestapo agents. Besides I like to travel light. Looking forward to meeting you brother!

[rain]

thanks xuesheng for the details on brewing. just bought some white tea, pai mu tan supr., and really enjoying its soft "sweetness" i really am looking forward to try the silver needle white tea. this thread revives memories of the pinesmoked lapsang souchong i used to enjoy years ago.

in france many years ago an old woman served me a deliscious russian black tea. i forgot the name though.

[Yoda]

Anyone have a favorite online tea shop?

[Oolong Rabbit]

Anyone have a favorite online tea shop?

 

I bought some stuff from www.enjoyingtea.com but it was kind of pricey. The ebay link I posted above is direct from China, so you are cutting out the middle man. The prices pretty much blow everywhere else I have checked out of the water.

[joeblast]

Sorry Dan

 

Yeah, I have heard all kinds of confiscation horror stories like that. You know, I am sure with the body butter, a paperclip and a rubber band you could have built a death ray and taken over the plane. In fact, maybe they should just ban body butter to make the world a safer place. I digress. It's the international thing that worries me flying in from Canada. I just don't feel like arguing with the paranoid customs gestapo agents. Besides I like to travel light. Looking forward to meeting you brother!

Likewise! I hope you have a safe trip down. thanks for the tea links bro!

[Protector]

tea threads!