Yesterday, a #friend of mine visited us. We didn't meet for a few years, and what could I do besides serve him several good teas to taste?😃 So in one teapot I had Tie Guanyin Xiang Hua #oolong, and Lao Dan Tsung Mi Lan Xiang oolong in another.
Also, I've discovered a more visually aesthetic way to photo teas.
Today’s #tea is Lao Cha Tou or “Old Tea Heads”. It’s an unusually looking shu #puer tea, which lasts multiple brews. Also, these heads do not split apart.🙂
However, I don’t understand how good it is because I don’t understand #shu puers at all.🙈
The Xiao Zhong #tea. For me, it tasted like the default black (or red) tea. It was similar to the Ceylon tea I am quite familiar with. The only difference I felt was the prolonged aftertaste. I see it as a good basis for every tea collection.
The Bai Jian #whiteTea. It’s as good as its brother, the more famous Yue Guang Bai #tea. I have two types of the second one, so I am not sure that I will buy something extra, but it would be interesting for me to taste Bai Jian and Yue Guang Bai simultaneously.
The Jin Luo Golden Snail #blackTea (or #redTea). This #tea reminded me of my beloved Jin Jun Mei. It has a close eloquent aroma and taste. Maybe if you don’t have either of the named two, I would recommend getting this one, as it's more visually interesting.
A little story about the saucer that I use. It’s a product of the Imperial #Porcelain Factory of Saint Petersburg. The factory is old, 279 years in 2023. During the soviet times, the name was Leningrad Porcelain Factory. Back then, my grandparents bought these dishes, so they are more than 30 years old!😃 The “ЛФЗ” on the bottom refers to the “Ленинградский фарфоровый завод”. I admire how vibrant are the colors, nothing besides the letters tells about the age.
These days, I’ve tried two different shu puerhs: “Golden Buds” Jin Ya shu #puerh and Xiaguan shu puerh. I feel like I am yet to understand the big shu puerhs’ idea.😁
This #GABA opal made from Hong Shui #tea was as good as my beloved GABA diamond. Or maybe I was not that attentive when tasting it to discover any kind of significant difference.🙃
Recently, when talking about the #Xiaozhong #tea, we first identified it incorrectly as the Zhengshan Xiaozhong. No, these two are quite unfamiliar.😅
I didn’t expect that much from Zhengshan Xiaozhong after the previously mentioned, but it turned out to be fascinating. It was the first tea I decided to put in my collection, just feeling its aroma on the first, “technical” flush.
Highly recommend it!
The Da Jin Zhen “Big Golden Needles” black (red) #tea. It has an elegant but insistent and not shrill aroma. Added it to my collection of the desired teas.
Da Yi shu #puehr tea. I can’t say that my not very big understanding of shu puehrs has changed, but at least this one had a little more gentle taste than the previous ones.
The story of Xiao Zhong #tea continues. Now in a Lapsang Souchong fashion.
When talking about Xiao Zhong, @babelcarp shared an article about the Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong. It's described as known as Lapsang Souchong in the West. Well, if you sometimes face a choice between the last two, I warn you to choose carefully.😅
If doing the rude comparison, Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong is a plum juice, while Lapsang Souchong is a drink from stewed prunes.
However, Lapsang Souchong is still cool, and having it in a personal collection would give you a source of interesting experience.
Let me quote the description of the Liu Bao #tea:
> An ancient variety of Hei Cha from the province of Guangxi, which arose long before Shu #puerh. Liu Bao's technology is listed in China's intangible cultural heritage. The aroma of tea is specific, combining shades of mushrooms, wet wood, nut shells, fermented milk products and beets.
The red Dian Hong Mao Feng #tea. In my opinion, it tasted like a slightly milder version of Zhen Shan Xiao Zhong. It might be interesting to have in one’s collection as it has some visual attractiveness.
#GABA Amethyst #tea. Heavily roasted GABA tea differs from its siblings and strongly reminds me of Da Hong Pao. It has some GABA-specific aroma, but not enough to compete with its roast. And if it was the case, I would surely add it to my collection. It would then be the “brutality” tea.
Another interesting characteristic is that leaves do not unwrap on brewing.
Hei Jin Black Gold red #tea. Being a member of Xiao Zhong family, its aroma strongly reminds of Zhen Shan Xiao Zhong. However, its visual glance looks interesting and pleasing, so it’s a good alternative for the fashionable tea lover.🙂
Unfortunately, the photo doesn’t reflect the glance fully.
The Tai Ping Hou Kui “Peaceful Monkey Leader” #tea (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_houkui). It’s a famous tea, and its fame is a deserved one. The taste and aroma are very gentle however vivid and present, not elusive.
Alishan Jin Xuan #oolong #tea. It’s the one which inspired people to create the milk oolong.🙂 I hoped to be surprised before trying it, and my hopes were granted.
Dian Hong Mao Feng red #tea. I remember this one being a good member of the Dian Hong family.
Also, I came up with an idea to photo tea closely.🙂
Tan Yang Gong Fu red #tea. It’s a good one from the Xiao Zhong family. I recommend this one.
The Li Shan #oolong tea. Almost indestructible in terms of the number of brews. It has a creamy and floral aroma. The creamy aroma is more straightforward than the one Alishan Jin Xuan has, but it’s still very delicate. I recommend this one.
White #tea from old Mengku mother trees.
White tea from 200-year-old trees from Mengku village, harvested in autumn 2022.
It’s straightforwardly sweet at the very beginning, dried-fruit later and delicate with sweet aftertaste then.
It’s different from its 500+ years old predecessor, and I recommend both if you have a chance someday.
After some time, the #tea path continues. This time it might be not that long as I’ve purchased 10 samples, not 30. The teas are from Taiwan and Japan.
The first one tasted is the Taiwanese #oolong, Tang Bei Dong Ding. It has the strong roasted aroma with the oolongish aftertaste. I didn’t add it to my collection, as these days I have absolutely no wish to drink roasted (Da Hong Pao-like) teas.🙃
The Bi Lo Chun green #tea. It’s not from the samples I purchased, but from the collection. I like its fresh taste and recommend it to tea lovers.
The Kukicha Japanese green #tea. It has a stable aroma and taste lasting multiple brews. I can’t say that I was amazed by the qualities mentioned, but it is a good tea with an interesting look, which is the result of mixing leaves with young twigs.
Unfortunately, the whole-plate view picture occurred to be a low-quality one, so it’s only close look now.
What always astonishes me is the size of #oolong #tea-leaf after brewing compared to its initial size.😃
The Da Yu Lin #Taiwanese #oolong #tea. Either yesterday my tongue was too sensitive, or this oolong has some kind of “explosive” taste, slightly pricking the tongue at the time of drinking and then.😃 The aroma is strong and energetic, full of flowers. It was an interesting experience!
The Gyokuro “jade dew” #Japanese green #tea.
There is a thing about green teas that almost no tea is green once brewed. It’s usually yellow. On the other hand, there is yellow tea, which was once the drink of the emperor and one's circle. As you see, I don’t have a clear picture of tea coloring and naming.🙂
Nevertheless, Gyokuro’s drink color is indeed green. I don’t remember its taste clearly, but it was good enough to purchase more.
The Shan Ling Xi #Taiwanese #oolong #tea.
After drinking this one, I decided that drinking oolongs so often is not the path that I want to go. This kind of tea is highly nuanced, so I feel like I need some time to rest and miss it before taking the next one.
The Genmai Cha #Japanese green #tea.
Well.😅 Usually the whole point of drinking teas like a boss is to take what’s derived from Camellia sinensis and feel the rich taste without any extra aromatization. However, this doesn’t work for Japanese teas as far as I can see. Here is the #greenTea mixed with… roasted rice. Altogether brewed, it feels like a popcorn.🤪
For me, it’s a tea attraction, something like Lapsang Souchong.
However, as I can read from Wikipedia, the original idea was to make a tea cheaper as it was not that affordable for everyone. Only later, the combination became spread across all Japanese society circles.
I also know a story about similar economical attempts in Russia. Do you feel like interested in reading them?🙃
The #Japanese Hojicha roasted green #tea. If you look for something like Da Hong Pao but with a milder taste, consider this one.
Could I expect this color from the white (!) tea already brewed for more than 10 (!) times?!
It’s Yue Guang Bai from 500+ years old trees.
In my personal top, the most capricious tea I met to the moment is Da Jin Zhen. It is a red #tea, and brewing it with 100 °C water makes it sour.😳 The same at 90 °C works better, but I still look at it quite suspiciously. On the other side, it’s quite resistant. It somewhere around 10th brew, and it’s still strong.💪
What is interesting about teas is their dynamic nature. Well, there are two dynamic natures: tea's taste and my perception.
These days, I percept the majority of teas as too sweet. Dan Cong Mi Lan Xiang which I previously thought of rather roasted and brutal one, feels very delicious today.
Preparing for the new #tea journey through India and Georgia. Visiting the Dan Cong as well as light #oolong families.🙂
The most unusual thing to taste — #GABA Shen Puehr.
Yesterday I tried #GABA Shen puehr, and what I felt was the milder version of the Simao #Shen #puehr #tea I already have. I didn’t feel the bright sweetness which I usually notice in a well-fermented GABA. I have one more portion of the tea, and maybe I’ll feel more the next time.😊
For some while I didn’t have the inspiring “wow!” caused by a tea, but today I have one. Today I tried the Qi Dan “Odd Cinnabar” #tea. The following is said about the tea:
> The Qi Dan cultivar was bred from a mother bush, consisting of a blend of the original Da Hong Pao from Jiulongke (Nine-Dragon Cave)—the very one from which the history of the famous “Big Red Robe” began.
Previously, I tasted only quite a straightforward Da Hong Pao variation, quite inexpensive one, and the aroma was easy and brutal. Qi Dan places this brutality in a distant background and brings forward quite a playful set of fruitful aroma, which is quite a surprise!😃
I have two types of teapots to brew the tea by pouring. One is my daily glass teapot (unfortunately I still don’t know how to translate it correctly, in Russian I would name it “Проливной чайник”) and this flask on the photo. I use it when the main teapot is taken by other tea or is in a washing machine.
There is one thing about the flask which I enjoy. Right after pouring out the tea to smell the empty glass part. The steam coming out makes me feel like in a tea sauna.😅
The ones who read my tea diary might have wondered. I've announced the new set of tea samples arrival and disappeared. Unfortunately, I had a cold for the last few weeks and was not a very good tea taster.🙃
However, I hope to return in a more consistent fashion.
Today I'll write about quite an interesting tea, which is unusual in many senses. First, it's from Georgia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(country)). For a little while, I was not that thrilled about the non-Chinese #tea. But the more I taste, the more diamonds I find.
E.g., Chinese tea that I tasted is usually sweet, and Indian is astringent. Moreover, the red Indian tea was of a brighter red color, while the Chinese was a timid orange one. I decided that this was not an accident, but a specialty.
And if there is a specialty for Indian tea, why there couldn't be one for Georgian?
There is a book called “Russian tea tradition” (https://en.nitkatea.com/?store-page=Kniga-Russkaya-chaynaya-traditsiya-c140292926). In it, I discovered that starting in the 1840th, the first tea growing trial started in Sukhumi and then in Ozurgeti. Previously, I thought that Georgian tea was a Soviet attempt to have tea locally.
So the Georgian tea is more than 180 years old!😃
However, during the Soviet times indeed there was a concentration of tea plantations in Georgia. Up to 85% of all of them.
One of the interesting side effects of the Georgian tea industry were... Tea sodas! They were made from irregular tea leaves with sugar and lemon oil. The most famous one was the soda “Bakhmaro”.
I've never tried this one and never knew of it before reading the book.🙂
Many toots appeared already, and finally, it's time to write about the #tea that I tasted!
It's Georgian #oolong “Kesane”. The translation of the word is "Myosotis".
The aroma of the tea is a little sourish. If usually oolonges are about flowers or fruits, it's not the case here. “Kesane” is about vegetables and especially tomatoes.
The tea is very intriguing and I highly recommend it.
The thing behind tea journey is that, as in any journey, you can get into trouble in the wonderful place. It’s my case with Te Guanyin. During one of my previous trials, I drank it too often and became tired of it.
Here it’s the “Tie Guanyin Gande” #tea. I feel like I missed the thorough acquaintance and need to revisit it some day. At least because it combines the aromas of my favorite teas: “Tie Guanyin Xiang Hua” (lilac) and “Bai Hao Yin Zhen” (cucumber).
Indian Longjing from Meghalaya. Sweet and lasting green #tea. It differs a lot from the original Longjing (upper in the last picture), so it’s fine to have them both in a tea lover's collection.
The next tea is also from India, but it uses its own toponyms, so I hope it to be not that controversial.☺️
Darjeeling Tindharia #tea. On the website of the tea shop where I buy it, there is a note that Darjeeling Tindharia is generally accepted as a red tea, but its technology of creation reminds of oolongs.
In the aroma is mild but playful citrus sourness with officinal background. I would recommend having this one in tea lover's collection.
The Indian white #tea, “Flowers of spring, white from Darjeeling”. This tea is as sweet as you would expect from Chinese #whiteTea. Maybe, its taste is even more playful and light-hearted. I would recommend this one to tea lovers. I wouldn’t add it to my regular collection, as I already have 3 types of white tea, and such a nuanced set would be too much for me.😅
The “Ya Shi Xiang” #tea. It’s Guangdong #oolong which I didn’t get that much. And the thing was not with the tea, but with my knowledge about it. If I knew a story behind (you can find a little note on @babelcarp: http://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=Ya+Shi+Xiang&define=1), I would be much more attentive.
So this toot will be a question. What sources of knowledge do you use to gain knowledge about the teas you drink?
If you look for something between the Alishan #oolong and the Bi Luo Chun #greenTea, consider the Indian Darjeeling Moonlight Margaret's Hope.
Feng Huang Dan Cong, the rather complex #oolong from the Dan Cong family. I might return to it one day with advanced taste and knowledge. It also reminded me of the Qi Dan.
@babelcarp, ah, I didn't know it's your website! If you are interested, I can provide you the email of the tea shop, which link I've shared a few toots ago. I regularly talk to them, and they are communicative.🙂
P.S. And the reason I didn't know this is that I've never previously seriously read your nickname and the name of the website.🙈
@turbobureaucrat I’m guessing “Dan Tsun” is Dancong. Where did you see that spelling?
@turbobureaucrat Sour, really? Are you sure you don’t mean astringent? When you get an undesirable taste at 100°, how long are you steeping it?
@babelcarp, indeed sour! Occasionally, I can confuse words as I am not very confident about the most suitable English words for the tea topic, but here the tea is sour and not astringent.😧 I usually steep it for a few seconds as I do with other teas.
I even wrote to the tea shop, and they said that sometimes they also have troubles with this tea. Once the taste is as desired, and another time it’s like beer went sour.
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