Tea Nerd

Disaster in Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 01:38:00 +0000

First off, I received an email yesterday from Ilya at Adagio, in which he informed me of a support program they have going on:

Adagio Teas is donating 15% of its Japanese Tea sales to the American Red Cross and for every one of these sales we will post a paper crane to our site to mark all of our collective efforts.

Check it out: Adagio Teas - Japanese Relief

Secondly, I want to encourage you all to continue supporting the Japanese economy by buying Japanese tea products when the new harvest comes out. If Japanese teas aren't... (I'm so sorry for this) your cup of tea (groan), they also make some pretty nifty teapots, tea cups, tea canisters, etc. that you can use for whatever teas you like.

I know some of you may be concerned about radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant incident contaminating your Japanese tea, but fear not! While some crops in areas in the vicinity of the reactor have demonstrated unsafe levels of contamination, the tea-producing regions of Japan are quite far to the south and are extremely unlikely to be adversely affected.

I understand if you don't just take my word for it, though. Fortunately there is some excellent discussion on the issue going on over at TeaChat; I suspect this thread will be updated as more information becomes known.

High Fired Da Hong Pao, from Aroma Tea Shop

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 21:07:00 +0000

Class: Wuyi Oolong
Origin: Wuyi Mtns, Fujian Province, China
Year: <5 years, most likely
Vendor: Aroma Tea Shop
Price: Can't remember. Helpful, aren't I?

I was walking through San Francisco's Chinatown a couple months ago with a few friends and happened upon Aroma Tea Shop. With some inkling that I had heard good things about this place somewhere at some time, we stopped in for a quick tasting of a few crowd-pleasers the shop had lined up. I guess after all the sweet Tie Guan Yin, cooked puerh, and some sort of green tea, the siren's call of yancha was too difficult to resist.

I picked this high fire Da Hong Pao off the shelf and asked if he could brew us some to sample. He obliged but brewed it a bit weak— weak for me anyway, perhaps not everyone brews yancha to the milkshake consistency (Not literally. Uuggghhhh.) some of us prefer. Still, it seemed like it had potential so I stumbled, slightly tea drunk, out of the store with a satisfyingly full bag of it.

The dry leaf is very dark, with a deep, earthy cocoa aroma. There isn't much of a floral or fruity nose to it. This tea is serious business.

I honestly don't think it's possible to make this tea taste over-brewed. If the neglect I mentioned in my last post was borderline criminal, I should be hanged for the atrocities I committed against these leaves.

You can see in the photo how dark I brewed this— it's almost black— yet there is barely a hint of unpleasant astringency. Instead there is a relatively simple yet rich mocha flavor that turns sweet as it cools, and a slight oily sensation felt on the lips. Coffee-lovers would really get a kick out of this, I think.

I don't remember other Da Hong Pao tasting like this, but I'm not sure whether to chalk it up to mislabeling or just greater variability within the variety than between the various yancha varieties. Regardless, it's pretty delicious. I wish I could tell you which of the two Da Hong Pao offerings on their website (Premium or King) this tea is, but if you want to take a gamble and order one of them, let me know what you find out.

Shan Lin Xi (Light Roast), from the Tea Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 23:35:00 +0000

Class: Oolong
Origin: Nantou, Taiwan
Year: Winter 2009
Vendor: The Tea Gallery (Product page)
Price: $35.00 (25g each of light and medium roast)

This is the perfect tea for a rainy day. The dry leaf smells sweet and soft, with a bouquet of cool rainy air, apples, flowers, and vanilla. The liquor aroma is strongly vegetal but with enough floral sweetness to keep it balanced, while the flavor is more the opposite; floral and sugary-sweet with a slight veggie backbone.

There is a lingering, subtle, sweet aftertaste. The cha qi feels sedating but is thankfully not too heady, so there is no headache and only a bit of tea-drunkenness.

Brewing this tea is remarkably easy; I would have expected the amount of neglect and abuse I inflicted to be unforgivable (if not borderline criminal), but most of my over-steeps were actually pretty delicious.

Spring come early

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:06:00 +0000

There's something about unseasonably spring-like weather that causes me to revert back to my hopelessly romantic teenage self.

I thought I might find some inspiration to write about this gorgeous tea— a 2009 Shan Lin Xi oolong from The Tea Gallery— but it turns out I'd much rather just get tea drunk and listen to old crooners sing love songs. I'll get back to you about the tea. :)

2010 Rou Gui, from Teacuppa

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 21:47:00 +0000

Class: Wuyi yancha, oolong
Origin: Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province, China
Year: 2010
Vendor: Teacuppa (Product page)
Price: $13.80 (50g) / $24.00 (100g)

It's been a while since I wrote about anything from Teacuppa! Look past their goofy name and you'll find that these folks have many lovely teas available, particularly their Wuyi yancha.

This Rou Gui does not disappoint. The dry leaf has quite a range of brown tones thanks to its lighter firing, making it a pleasant tea to look at. Chocolate, caramel, and cinnamon are all clearly present in the dry leaf aroma. The brew itself tastes of caramel and spice, but more remarkably its texture is smooth (especially for such a young tea) and oily, coating the lips and mouth long after it is reluctantly swallowed.

It isn't too heavily fired, so its aromas and flavors are more rounded-off, and less harsh or edgy than high-roast teas. This can be a good or bad thing depending on what you're looking for— this isn't a terribly complex, floral, or fruity tea— but I think the velvety texture is worth the trade-offs.

One thing about Teacuppa's yancha is they are almost all light-to-medium roast with a smooth, coating mouthfeel— so if you enjoy that style as I do, be confident and sample ferociously.

Water Golden Turtle / Shui Jin Gui from The Tea Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 23:30:00 +0000

Class: Wuyi yancha, oolong
Origin: Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province, China
Vendor: The Tea Gallery (Product page)
Price: $18.00 (25g) / $63.00 (114g)

This is another lovely yancha from The Tea Gallery. The dry leaf smells soft, with a nice balance of caramel and tangy florals. The first few infusions show a strong yancha mineral base, as well as a nice cocoa/roast flavor. The tangy florals are quiet at first but linger, then bloom into a sweet, cool aftertaste. A caramel sweetness dominates once the flavor of later brews tapers off, until it ultimately fades.

This isn't a powerhouse of upfront flavor, but that's alright— the solid aftertaste and approachable mineral character make for a graceful, youthful tea.

Starting over.

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 22:08:00 +0000

It has been a long time since I had any sort of meaningful experience with tea. At some point I just... gave up. Looking back, I think one can see this in my last several entries; fearing that I would lose some important part of my life if I accepted my budding lack of interest, I desperately grasped at new ways to find meaning in the hobby I had spent so much time exploring. Sometimes it even worked, however briefly.

But sometimes we just have to let ourselves let go. Do I regret that I gave up on a beautiful thing, a creative outlet, and a means to meet interesting people and have stimulating discussion? Absolutely— I'd be stupid not to. But did dwelling on it accomplish anything?

Over the past year (probably even longer) I often had the thought, "I really should put together a new post..." I would look over at my tea stash and associate it with the burden of taking photos, looking up information, writing, formatting, etc.; it got to the point where I felt obligated to write about tea whenever I so much as looked at it. This obligation eventually turned into a weird guilty feeling I couldn't help but dwell on, and, well, it's no surprise that tea lost its magic.

Dwelling on guilt is an incredibly easy way of telling ourselves how much better we could be— how much better we should be. You know what? Screw that. You're just as shitty a person as you know you are; no more, no less.

"Quitters never win and winners never quit." A noble sentiment, but ultimately harmful. Does this mean we fail every time life takes us down a new road? Is one failure all it takes to permanently label us as failures? Where did we get this notion that we have to, or are even able to, win everything? Why do some of us give ourselves endless amounts of grief for not achieving the level of perfection we expect?

Take comfort in your revolting humanity, the piss-poor excuse of a god that you've become. Suffering from guilt is not righteous suffering, and freeing yourself from it is not a resignation to complacency but rather the first step in getting out of your own damn way.

All this to say, hopefully I can put this mode of thinking behind me and start (among other things) enjoying tea again. And who knows? Once that happens, maybe I'll start writing again, but forget about regular updates for the sake of regular updates.

Fortunately, my readers are used to waiting. :)

2009 Tie Luo Han from The Tea Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:17:00 +0000

Class: Oolong
Origin: Wuyi Shan, China
Year: 2009
Vendor: The Tea Gallery (Product page)
Price: $18.00 (25g)

A few weeks ago I wrote about The Tea Gallery's 2006 Tie Luo Han; this is it's younger brother. I would be interested to know if they were both made from the same farm and/or producers; they are similar enough compared to other Tie Luo Han sold by other vendors that I would believe it. (To briefly recap, I wrote that the 2006 is a mineral powerhouse which is very interesting but not terribly approachable or well-suited for casual brewing.)

The dry leaf smells of caramel, bright tropical fruit, and copper. The lid aroma was mostly floral, but a bit of the mineral/copper character can be found here too. It's not quite as powerful as a good dancong, but "dancong-like" isn't far from a good description of this tea's fragrance.

The first few infusions are quite unlike the 2006; they are sweet like caramel, floral, and ethereal. The only thing that links the two so far is the above-average mineral aftertaste which grounds the otherwise flighty flavor nicely. After the first few though, the similarities between this and the 2006 become much more obvious; the earthy mineral flavor comes into focus and the caramel/floral sweetness tapers off, though if brewed with a lighter hand some sweetness remains to cut through the strong minerals. I also played around with the altitude at which I poured from the kettle: pouring a thin stream from high above the leaves seems to brighten the flavor a bit.

This tea has a lovely cha qi. It brings peace without being overly intoxicating or jarring, though it has the potential to lay you out if you don't pace yourself. This is a tea worth sipping slowly, anyway.

If the price doesn't bother you too much, this should be on your short-list of teas to try. It is more approachable than the 2006 (though my experiences with the 2009 make me want to revisit that one soon) but still strongly expresses the same mineral character. This is yet another lovely tea from The Tea Gallery— but really, is anyone all that surprised? :)

Light

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:10:00 +0000

[As with my post on mindfulness, this is more a personal reflection than a lesson. Hopefully you can glean something useful from it, but I certainly do not want to imply that I know what is best for you.]

I recently noticed that light is a critical part of my great tea sessions. Of course one needs adequate light in order to brew tea adequately, but for a special tasting I need remarkable light. It has to create a sense that something is different, special, not merely mundane.

Whether it be bright sunlight outside, soft diffuse light through a window on a cloudy/rainy day, or dim incandescent lighting in a quiet room at night, the best light is simply and unpretentiously beautiful. It shouldn't be contrived, melodramatic studio-like lighting; it should be natural, effortless, and not distracting. Finding great light, whether planned or accidental, is more rewarding than my attempts to cobble something together myself.

The light should resonate with me; if my mood doesn't match the quality of the light, things don't quite fall into place. When everything harmonizes, though, and the cha qi of the tea is just right, and I feel as though I am dissolving into the light around me... Perfect!

2006 Tie Luo Han from The Tea Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:40:00 +0000

Class: Oolong
Origin: Wuyi Shan, China
Year: 2006
Vendor: The Tea Gallery (Product page *be sure to select the 2006 option*)
Price: $23.00 (25g)

This is one of those rare instances when I am in agreement with a description on a vendor's site (though it's debatable who is usually at fault!). This is an interesting tea, as it should be for its high price, but it's not my favorite.

Even the dry leaf smells strongly of rocks (especially when placed in a warmed gaiwan), though the aroma is tempered with caramel and some tropical fruitiness. It certainly has a strong mineral taste, too; so much so that it overwhelms almost all traces of other flavors unless one is paying attention. It's like the crafter of this tea took a normal yancha and cranked the usual mineral character (aroma, taste, aftertaste) all the way up to 10.

Personally, I like a bit more sweetness and a more balanced flavor in my tea, but I wouldn't say that this isn't a fun tea to try; partly because it's a great example of yancha mineral character, but also because it is quite a bit different from the typical Wuyi you'll find on the internetz. (Did I mention it's expensive? Yikes!)

Mystery Aged Oolong A from MarshalN

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:53:00 +0000

This is the other tea given to me by MarshalN; you can find my notes on "B" here.

The dry leaf smells like caramel, toasty grains, and blueberry/classic-aged-oolong. The lid aroma is thick and luxurious, saturated with caramel and toastiness.

Despite the subdued flavor of the first steep (it was a flash infusion, after all, I wouldn't have expected otherwise), this tea's cha qi was already kicking my ass by the time I was ready for a second steep. The flavor developed as I went along, though the roast tended to dominate early infusions if I gave them too much time. The tea also had a light oiliness and a sweet, refreshing aftertaste throughout the session.

Good stuff, mmmm. Thanks again MarshalN!

Tea notes

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:37:00 +0000

I feel increasingly weird posting tasting notes here, especially for old teas you can't buy anymore. They make sense for group tastings where others may actually want to compare observations but... let's be honest, you don't really want to read about the bag of unlabeled oolong I just found in the back of my cupboard.

So, if you wouldn't mind, check out the poll to the right. Be honest, you won't hurt my feelings... much. *whimper*

Mystery Aged Oolong B from MarshalN

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:01:00 +0000

This tea comes from MarshalN, along with its sister "A", which I'll write about soon. It's an aged oolong of some sort, but I don't know anything more. I'm sure it has been discussed but in my prolonged absence from the online tea world, I missed out.

The dry leaf smells like rich, finished chocolate; I don't smell any of the raw cacao bitterness (lack of recent firing, I guess?) that is in most chocolate-y teas. There's also a whiff of that classic aged-oolong character— it always reminds me of blueberries, though nobody else seems to agree with me!

The lid aroma expresses more of the blueberry/classic aged aroma, is lighter, and more citric.

This tea has good flavor: sweet and fruity (more so than I would have guessed from the chocolate-y leaf aroma), and some chocolate. It is not the most complex, but it is well-rounded and enjoyable. The most remarkable characteristic, I think, is its balanced oiliness, mouthfeel, and flavor, which comes across as very "clean." I'd even call it "refreshing," which is more than a little surprising considering how many years it has been sealed away in a dark jar.

---------------------------------------

Oh yeah, by the way, Tea Nerd passed its 3rd birthday not long ago. It's a little late to make a big deal out of it, but I wanted to say thanks to all of you who actually read this thing. Despite not posting anything of great value lately, more and more of you come to visit my little corner of the internet. I hope you've enjoyed what I've written here over the years, and I hope to earn your continued readership— you know, by actually providing content or something.

Mindfulness

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:48:00 +0000

This article is about something I take very seriously, though not often enough. I generally try to live by Oscar Wilde's maxim that "Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about," but there are a certain few things in this world that I cannot help but revere. Mindfulness is one of them. The others are so corny they would probably make you puke. (Alright, so maybe I can't be completely serious.) I am no philosopher, so I'll try to keep my ignorant musings about mindfulness to a minimum, but I can at least relate how I try to cultivate mindfulness while making tea.

It starts with setting up my tools. I pour water into my kettle; I taste the cool water, watch and listen to it splash. I like to close my eyes for as long as I feel comfortable doing so; without sight, one gains an appreciation for how dependent we are on it. I like to see how much I can do without vision, just to feel the uncertainty and anxiety of being without my dominant sense.

As the water is heating, I set out the rest of my things. I don't place much importance on the overall plan of how I will arrange these things, other than a simple yet pleasing composition, but I pay attention to the act of moving and placing each object. I see and feel the different materials and textures, and listen to how they interact with each other.

I pick up the bag of tea leaves. Today I've chosen a dancong from The Tea Gallery called "Essence of Ginger." I like dancong, especially when I can set some time aside to get serious about it. I open the bag and smell the leaf. I breathe into and out of the bag (I wouldn't recommend this if you share this tea with others or if you don't plan on finishing the bag relatively soon) to circulate the aromas and immerse myself in them. This tea smells soft, sweet, and floral; not overpowering, but confidently defined. I take a breath of fresh air, for contrast.

The water is coming to a boil now; it is violent and a bit unnerving, and starkly different than anything else at the moment. I pour it into an empty gaiwan, listening and watching it as it first splashes against porcelain, then itself. I let it sit, then pour into two cups to warm them as well. As I pick up the cups to empty them, I hold on a bit longer than I normally would; they are not hot enough to burn, but enough to cause minor pain and discomfort. Mindfulness allows us to experience pain and other "negative" experiences in a more (though not completely) objective light; they are simply sensations like any other. After I put down the cups, I run my warm fingertips across my face. Why? Hell if I know, why not?

As I take a few photos, I wonder why I don't take more photos of the water I use for my tea; I typically focus on the leaves and teaware to the exclusion of all else.

I place the dry leaf in the still-warm gaiwan, close it up, then open again to smell. It is different now; stronger, fruitier, more lively, with an unmistakable hint of ginger. I pour boiling water onto the leaves in a thin stream, again watching and listening as it splashes. I place the lid back on the gaiwan; it sings as I lightly scrape porcelain against porcelain. I wait a while, then decant into the cups.

I get jolted back to reality by an advertisement so abruptly interjected in my Pandora playlist. Damn. But, I slowly make my way back to tea.

I lift the gaiwan lid to my nose and smell. Again, it is different than before; woodsy, slightly acidic. I pick up the cups, once again savoring their slightly-uncomfortable heat with my fingers. I smell again, breathe out, then take a sip. First small sips, then big sips (though not so big that I burn myself), and everything in between. I play around with it a bit. Why not? I feel for oiliness on my lips, and warmth in my nose. The flavor is delicate, sweet, floral. I overbrewed some of the infusions, but for the moment I don't really care; I try to be mindful of the bitterness and astringency and experience them fully aware of their usual negative bodily reactions, like I did with pain earlier.

This reminds me a bit of something the composer John Cage said. "The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason."

I don't know if it is cha qi, various poorly-understood chemical interactions, or just plain-ol' caffeine, but after a few infusions I begin to feel the tea's effects on my body. Most notable is my jaw tightening; not usually a pleasant sensation, but mindfulness and objective perception help to sidestep some of the discomfort. I also feel a bit drowsy and heavy-headed, which only deepens the trance-like state this tea session has put me in. It is around this time that I start to pay attention to my breathing; not as much as one would in full-on meditation, but enough to feel its effects on the body.

Then, another advertisement yanks me back out. Shit, that's annoying.

I don't do this enough. There is something remarkably peaceful and satisfying about spending a couple of hours mindfully preparing tea. I'm not sure this post is particularly useful as a guide, but hopefully you find something here that you can incorporate into your own mindful tea practice. And please, feel free to share your own musings and observations! I would love to post some links to other similar tea blog posts as well, so don't be shy...

Aged Oolong from Imperial Tea Court

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:42:00 +0000

Class: Oolong
Origin: Fujian, China
Year: ?
Vendor: Imperial Tea Court (Product page)
Price: $6.00 (28g) / $21.25 (113g)

This is not a bad tea. (What, expecting something more profound after a month and a half?) The truth is, my taste buds are a wee bit rusty after such a long break from routine tea consumption, so I won't be waxing poetic 'bout none-a-those etherial hints of ambrosia this time.

ITC's aged oolong is an enjoyable tea though; not as rich and chewy as some others of its kind, but for the (relatively!) modest price I can't complain. It also seems to give an above-average cha qi experience if I'm looking for it, so it's not without its redeeming qualities.

This would be a good, economical introduction to aged oolongs, but you veterans looking for the next diamond-in-the-rough may want to give this one a pass.

[Happy new year!]

Thoughts on minimalism

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:56:00 +0000

My preferred "style" is definitely minimalist-leaning without being completely spartan (Proper capitalization and punctuation? On a blog? Gadzooks!), as you may have noticed through my teaware choices and the various templates Tea Nerd has sported in the past. Even putting aside aesthetics, there is something elegant and satisfying about having a clean, simple, capable set of tools.

Oh right. Well, uhh, about that...

(Happy Thanksgiving!)

Stale tea

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:15:00 +0000

I brewed up the last of a sample of 90's Golden Pearls Dancong. A bit stale, but still tasty. I have to say, I'm not sure tea would be quite as good if I knew it would never go stale.

Hope you weren't expecting a lot of text!

Tea and Weight Loss | IT'S ALIVE, kind of

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:37:00 +0000

Bwahaha, I'll bet I had you going for a minute there with this title. It's actually exactly the opposite of what you are thinking.

This is mostly a "look guys, this blog really isn't dead" post, but here's a fun fact: over the past few months, despite drinking almost zero tea, I have lost 20 pounds. Now, I could use this anecdote to launch into a satire about how dumb the customers of weight-loss tea companies are, but this has already been done to death so I'll spare you.

Anyway, look guys, this blog really isn't dead. ["Comatose" works, though.] Like I said, I just haven't been drinking much tea at all, for various reasons. I'll get back into it eventually, but I don't want to stuff this blog full of boring filler reviews about teas I'm really just not that interested in (no offense to the vendors whose teas I have stockpiled) right now.

I greatly appreciate that some of you still regularly check this site for updates, and I'm sorry that this post isn't more substantial! This blog isn't gone for good though, so keep checking back every couple weeks (or whenever); you never know when this fickle mind will want to write again. :)

Classic Roast Tie Guan Yin from The Tea Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:34:00 +0000

Class: Oolong
Origin: Anxi, China
Year: ?
Vendor: The Tea Gallery (Product page)
Price: $9.00 (25g) / $33.00 (100g)

nomnomnomnomnomnomnom
This was a free sample I got with my order. I almost ordered a small amount but decided against it; apparently they can read minds (is there anything The Tea Gallery people don't do well?).

This is a very solid tea, definitely worth picking up if you like roasted teas. It is roasted just heavily enough without being harsh, at least to my palate. I brewed it pretty strongly, using all the leaf shown in the photo. I still haven't quite figured out this method, and mouthfeel tends to suffer as a result, so I can't really comment on that. It does produce lots and lots of tasty infusions, though.

The aroma is nice and toasty, with some deep rich fruitiness and a bit of cocoa. The flavor is everything you would want from a roasted Tie Guan Yin and more: deep cocoa and fruit for the bass notes (I hesitate to use the word "bass" to describe tea flavor in print, for obvious reasons) with sweet high notes. Every now and then I picked up some cinnamon (more obvious in the lid aroma), though not as strongly as in some yancha. Thumbs up!

A big thumbs up also goes to my new gaiwan from The Tea Gallery, shown above. The lid fits perfectly, the porcelain is thin without feeling fragile (the cup is slightly translucent), and there are no bumps or blemishes. I don't claim to be an expert in gaiwans, but this one really looks and feels great.

Newbie's Guide to Teaware: Getting Started and T.O.C.

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Table of Contents

The Spartan
The Lone Ranger
The MacGyver
The Orient Express (Part II, Part III)

Where's the matcha guide? I wrote this before I started the Newbie's Guide series, but it is probably still helpful to mention it here:
Matcha Madness (Part II, Part III).

Which is best for me?

If you have no experience brewing tea, or have only dunked teabags in coffee cups, you will likely find The Spartan and The Lone Ranger guides the most useful.

If you have some experience brewing loose leaf tea, you probably already have a setup similar to The Spartan. You may find The Lone Ranger refreshing and convenient, or you might want to step up your game with The Orient Express.

If you are absolutely broke but have some basic kitchen equipment, or like doing things the wrong way, read The MacGyver first. Then, read The Lone Ranger.

Want to brew tea in an office environment? The Lone Ranger is low-profile and low fuss, and The Orient Express can be equally convenient if you go with a very basic setup. The Spartan may work, but it doesn't really do anything the Lone Ranger can't, in less space.

Newbie's Guide to Teaware: The Orient Express (Part III: Cups and Miscellany)

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:14:00 +0000

Continued from Newbie's Guide to Teaware: The Orient Express (Part II: Teapots and Gaiwans).

Addendum to Part II

I forgot to mention a common concern of new Yixing owners: pre-seasoning or pre-treatment. This is another topic about which everyone and their mother has something to say! My advice? Don't worry. Some don't think any treatment is needed before use, some boil their pots in water, some boil their pots in tea, some soak their pots in tea, etc. etc. I doubt you could do permanent damage with any of these treatments, so don't be concerned about possibly choosing the "wrong" one. (If you decide to boil your teapot, it would be a good idea to line the saucepan with a towel to prevent chipping.)

Part III:

3. Cups!

MOARMOARMOAR
Yay! The hard concepts are over; you're on the home stretch now. There is actually more than meets the eye when it comes to cups for Eastern brewing, but we'll avoid the more esoteric stuff for now.

The best part about cups? They're cheap! Of course, this makes it dangerously easy to buy cups on a whim, but a little variety is always nice. :)

Size

There are a couple ways to go about this. One way is to buy a cup roughly equal in volume to your teapots/gaiwans, or two cups around half that volume each. This is very simple and easy, and I prefer the minimalist aesthetics. The other strategy is to buy a few or more teeny (1 oz) cups and a faircup, which I'll get to in a moment. Some people like those little cups, but I don't and you probably won't either if you are used to 6-8oz cups.

Shape

The two extremes are the tulip shape and the flat-ish bowl shape. For our purposes, it's mostly a matter of aesthetics. Flatter cups cool your tea faster (more liquid surface area is exposed), but it is much easier to spill from them.

Material

The most common materials you are likely to see are porcelain, stoneware (glazed or not), glass, and celadon (a very popular glaze, somewhere between green and blue in color). I would probably avoid unglazed stoneware, but other than that, go for aesthetics.

While a white porcelain or white-glazed stoneware cup will allow a tea's true color to show, celadon tends to make the tea's color much more attractive, particularly with green teas and greener oolongs. Glass doesn't display color very well, in my experience, but go for it if you like glass.

Aroma cups

A.K.A. Wenxiangbei (See Hobbes's excellent wenxiangbei article). Try them out if you like, you will probably get at least some enjoyment out of them. They provide extra aroma data when tasting a tea, which can be nice. I grew tired of using them, but many do not.

Recommendations:

Buy lots of them!

4. Faircup (Optional)

Left: R.I.P. with your fallen brethren. Right: My new baby. Let's hope it survives more than a few months.
You're probably wondering about the name. These are also called fairness cups, sharing pitchers, servers, or a few other choice words* (by me anyway). They are "fair" because if you decant your tea into a faircup, the tea will mix evenly, so every guest receives tea of the same strength. If you try to decant from a teapot or gaiwan into several cups, you have to make several passes to balance the strength of each cup, and chances are it still won't be very even. You really don't need a faircup if you are decanting into one or two cups, though, so this is an optional item for the budget-conscious.

*Why do I curse at my faircups? Don't get me wrong, they are great tools. For whatever reason, they like to break for me. I have only slightly chipped one gaiwan and had just two Yixings and one cup break in transit, but I have destroyed at least four or five faircups. Can't explain it. Anyway.

There's not a whole lot to say about them, just pick one that looks pretty. Most of the time they are either heat-resistant glass or porcelain. I think porcelain clashes with some tea setups, so I prefer glass, but that's just me.

Recommended models:

Whatever. Most tea and teaware vendors carry them and they are generally the same level of quality, unless you find an artisan piece. Try Yunnan Sourcing, Dragon Tea House, and Imperial Tea Court for starters.

5. Tea Tray (Optional)

Um, pay no attention to the blowtorch. (Seriously, what other tea blog has to say this?)
Ah yes, the tea tray. I don't use one very much anymore; I prefer a simple mat and waste bowl setup for aesthetic reasons, but they are undeniably useful. Still, you can get by without one quite easily, so I consider it optional.

Aside from size, shape, materials, and color (these are mostly a matter of personal preference), there are three main styles of tea tray.

One is the basic two-piece box type, which is essentially a large waste trough with a slotted surface placed above it. These are simple, cheap, and usually the most compact (making them ideal for the space-challenged), but there are two problems. First, it may or may not be watertight. Metal trays are probably fine, but my bamboo tray leaks A LOT. Second, if you fill this up too much, it is quite difficult to carry to a sink without spilling.

Another, the kind with a removable plastic tray (shown above, right underneath the blowtorch), is very similar to the two-piece box tray. The plastic tray is less likely to leak and easier to clean than wood. It also allows for (potentially) much larger and more luxurious tea tray designs, as the plastic tray only has to sit beneath the slotted portion. However, these plastic trays are even harder to carry when full, as they can twist more than wood.

The third type is a solid piece of wood (whether flat for use on a table, or an enormous block of wood which serves as its own table) with grooves leading to a drain. One generally connects the drain via a plastic tube to a bucket, so cleanup is easier and less frequent. The downsides? You can't dump leaves in the drain, so you need to either use the collecting bucket or a separate waste bowl. Also, you can't dump liquids as quickly due to the bottleneck in the drain.

Recommended models:

"A Look at 32 Tea Tables" is a great guide to the various options out there on the 'net. It was written a while ago so some links may be outdated, but it is still the best guide that I know of.

6. Waste Bowl (Optional, but recommended!)

A container for discarded rinses, leaves, etc. This item's function is dependent on its design which is, simply put, a concave continuous solid. The structure utilizes the downward force of gravity on tea waste and its partially opposed force from an inwardly-sloped interior surface to create a force vector pointing medially toward the inferior-most point of the interior surface. It is more effective if made from or covered by a non-moisture-absorbent material.

Conclusion

That's it for this guide (finally)! Sorry about the recycled photos, some of them are baaaaddddd. As I said in the beginning, there are far more items traditionally used in Eastern brewing methods than those I have listed here— the various "Cha Dao" tools (an odd name, really), filters (possibly helpful for puerh, otherwise unnecessary in my opinion), water baths for cleaning/warming cups, etc. For practical/newbie brewing, they aren't necessary or even particularly helpful.

This will likely be the last article of the series. Somewhere down the road I may write another, but it probably won't be any time soon.

However I would enjoy writing shorter articles on specific teaware questions submitted by readers, so ask away!

Newbie's Guide to Teaware: The Orient Express (Part II: Teapots and Gaiwans)

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:48:00 +0000

Continued from Newbie's Guide to Teaware: The Orient Express (Part I: Kettles).

2. Gaiwan and/or Teapot

This is dangerous territory. It seems that there are about as many opinions on the gaiwan and teapot issue as there are tea drinkers (and that's not even counting the arguments over the various types of Yixing clay)! I'll try to explain the basics of both, but it's up to you to decide which you prefer. I also can’t promise that I’ll be completely neutral in my recommendations, so you should research elsewhere too.

Size

If you are used to brewing tea in big honkin' two-cup or larger teapots, gaiwans and Yixing teapots are going to look shockingly small. The online pictures don't usually convey how teeny they are, so be prepared! If you are brewing tea for one or two people, 5 oz (~150 mL) is considered large (I promise you, it will feel that way after a few long sessions with it). I prefer something in the 3-4oz (90-120 mL) range, and some use vessels even smaller than 2 oz (60 mL).

You may be wondering, "Why so small? Do you just drink less tea this way?" The main difference is that typical Western brewing produces a large quantity of tea a few times, while Eastern methods produce a small quantity of tea many times. This is accomplished by using a lot of leaf per volume of water, compared to big-pot brewing, with shorter infusion times. If that doesn't make sense, mull it over a bit, you'll get it eventually!

What's all the fuss about Yixing?

If you believe what some have to say, this wünderclay has the power to call on ancient spirits, quell demons, restore the balance of one's four humors (that's right, I made a humorism reference), and grant godlike wisdom. However, many argue that this magical type of Yixing is extraordinarily rare, that 99.9% of what is on the market is dangerously laced with other clays and shoe polish, and that anyone who purchases teapots without the combined aid of the I Ching and a blind hermit is a buffoon.

Okay, so maybe I'm a little tired of hearing what seems to me like endless speculation about Yixing (What was it that I just said about neutrality?). For those who spend lots of time and effort studying the subject, know that this is all in good fun and I mean no offense. :) Moving on to actual information...

One of the main qualities Yixing is said to possess is a superior ability to absorb tea flavors. This "seasons" the pot and improves the flavor of the tea it brews by rounding out imperfections. It seems to be commonly accepted that some residual tea flavor remains, but there are those who are skeptical whether Yixing is significantly, if at all, better than other clays. Still, a well-seasoned Yixing (a long process!) is supposed to be quite a thing to behold.

Related to the flavor absorption issue is the practice of dedicating a pot to a type of tea. There is a large spectrum of beliefs here; there are those who will only brew Da Hong Pao in a certain teapot for fear of contamination with other yancha flavors, and there are those who will brew everything in one pot. It's up to you, really, but I advise a happy medium: avoid strongly contrasted flavors from colliding in the same pot. Yancha and roasted TGY? Not so bad. Baozhong and shu puerh? Oof.

It is commonly said that you shouldn't brew green or white teas in a Yixing pot. I'm going to rebel a bit and say that I really haven't heard any good argument other than "it just doesn't work." Some say "the clay doesn't work," but the next logical question to ask is, "Then why are so many unglazed clay teapots used exclusively for Japanese greens?" I have not yet heard a satisfying response to this question. It may be that Yixing is not the ideal brewing vessel for greens and whites, but as long as you watch your temperatures, they should come out just fine.

I feel I should mention one last thing— pour speed. Cheap teapots usually have terrible pour speeds, sometimes 30 seconds or more. Obviously this becomes a problem when you are trying to do flash infusions! It is difficult to determine pour speed by photos alone, but larger spout openings are a good sign. I don't know if this generalization is valid, but all the cheap Xi Shi shape Yixing pots I've handled are slowwwww, so avoid those.

Many, many books have been written about Yixing clay and pots, so there is no way I could explain everything. Notably absent here are discussions about types of clay and teapot shape; this information can be found elsewhere, but really isn’t important for first-timers.

Brandon (the creator of wikiCHA) also offers a good newbie tip: avoid duan ni clay for your first Yixing. It tends to be much more rounding and subtracting than other clays. Thanks B!

The Mysterious Gaiwan

Compared to Yixing teapots, this is easy. If you haven't seen one yet, a gaiwan is an elegantly simple two- or three-piece brewing tool. You can use it to brew tea, like a teapot, or you can drink directly from it, similar to how you would drink while glass brewing. These babies can brew anything, are often dirt cheap, and you don't have to worry about dedicating them to a certain type of tea. Gaiwans are usually made of porcelain, though glazed and unglazed clay (which you may want to dedicate) variants are not uncommon.

They are a little tricky to use at first, but you should catch on pretty quickly, especially if you study this fantastic instructional video made my MarshalN. If you find that you really can't handle a gaiwan, you might look for a gaibei, a commonly used (if not entirely accurate) name for gaiwan with a handle and spout. Kind of a teapot/gaiwan crossbreed.

While some prefer thicker stoneware gaiwans, I think porcelain is a better material for most purposes. Some complain that porcelain heats up too quickly, making porcelain gaiwans difficult to handle. Their response is that stoneware gaiwans are thicker and heavier, so they do not get unbearably hot as quickly.

There are two problems with this argument. First, it is true that stoneware won't heat up as quickly. However, the other side of that coin is that stoneware will store more heat, so when it does heat up, there is no place to pick it up that will not burn you. Second, if you are preheating effectively (not just dumping hot water in and out, which has no effect on a big heat sink like a stoneware gaiwan), the stoneware automatically loses any advantage it may have had.

There are times when a hollow cup-shaped block of magma is an appropriate gaiwan material though. If you want more heat retention for a particular tea, stoneware is better than porcelain. I just hope you can pick that sucker up—if only it had a convenient handle. Oh wait, there is something just like that! A teapot!

Here is the secret to not burning yourself with a porcelain gaiwan. Hold it by the very edge of the lip (where heat dissipates rapidly into the air) and don't pour hot water on your fingers. This does take a while to learn, but until then the easier way should work. Shorter infusions also help.

Quality or Quantity?

If you are buying your first gaiwan, get something cheap. The odds are in favor of breakage. Once you feel more confident, step up and buy something nice— I promise you will enjoy it more.

Yixing teapots are another matter. The cheapies are almost always terrible, and quality really does affect performance when it comes to teapots this tiny. Do yourself a solid and pony up for a $30+ teapot. Think of your blood pressure.

Gaiwan or Yixing?

Both! If budget is a concern, buy a gaiwan now and save for a Yixing later.

Recommended models:

Any cheap gaiwan in the 90-150 mL range. Look at these from Dragon Tea House or Yunnan Sourcing.: Buy something cheap so you won't be too sad when you break it. Don't be concerned about these vendors being on eBay— they have very good reputations. Be aware that they are located in China, so shipping will take a long time if you don't pick the expedited option.
Quality gaiwans from The Tea Gallery: I have heard nothing but praise for these. I don't own one quite yet, but it should be here in a few days! [Edit: Just received it. It's all true! If you don't mind a plain white gaiwan, the construction quality of these is spot on.]
A Yixing teapot, also in the 90-150 mL range. Try Nadacha, Dragon Tea House or Yunnan Sourcing: I wouldn't spend too much on your first teapot, just in case. If you don't want to spare $40 + shipping for a teapot you won't curse at, it might be a good idea to stick with a cheap gaiwan for now.

It's not over! There's more to come in the next post!

Newbie's Guide to Teaware: The Orient Express (Part I: Kettles)

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:48:00 +0000

Though the previous few articles have been revolved around basic Western brewing methods, the purpose of this guide is to outline a basic inventory of teaware you will need for some more Eastern brewing methods. Because there is so much to say, this article will be broken up over a few posts. I hope you're packed, because it's time to take a ride on...

The Orient Express
Okay, so maybe the Orient Express only went as far east as Istanbul. Give me a break.

For some of us, Western methods of brewing just don't cut it. Whether it is the appeal of the foreign and strange, the beauty of age-old techniques (be they simplistic or extravagant), or the usually superior tea they produce, Eastern brewing (often called "gong fu," though this is really a more specific thing) fascinates us. Though the items I will describe here are not enough to follow Lu Yu's complicated protocol, they will be enough to get you started and keep you going for a while. You will need: 1) a Kettle, 2) a Gaiwan and/or teapot, and 3) One or multiple cups. Some optional items include: 4) a Faircup, 5) a Tea tray, and 6) a Waste bowl. There are many many other items that you could get, some of which others may insist on, but for most of you the extra tools will probably just get in the way.

The Orient Express is ideal for the following people:

The Starving Artist/Student: Needs something cheap, but more interesting/advanced than the previous guides.
The Prospective Tea-Head: Wants to move past basic Western brewing methods and explore gong-fu.
The Sinophile: Loves anything and everything Chinese.
The Cube Monkey: Wants something relatively low-fuss, and doesn't want to deal with changing leaf every few infusions.
The Flavor-Craver: Wants the very best that his/her tea leaves have to offer.

1. Kettle

Any kettle will do (see here for the full guide), but certain features become much more important when dealing with Eastern brewing.

Pour quality

Eastern teawares are generally much smaller than their Western counterparts, so a smooth and accurate stream of water from one's kettle is important. A well-designed kettle is also helpful for varying the strength of your pour (some teas tend to do better with different pouring methods— I'm usually skeptical of the abstract hocus-pocus stuff, but this really does matter) and targeting certain points on a gaiwan. These qualities are especially important for brewing delicate green teas, so I hear, but can have a dramatic effect on other teas as well.

How do you know if a kettle has a good pour? Spout design is obviously the main factor, but it isn't always easy to tell without trying it out first. Some things to look for are a somewhat long spout, a narrow spout opening, and a protruding lower lip at the end. You really don't need all these things to produce a serviceable pour, but in my experience, they help. Ultimately, you just want a kettle you can control.

You don't need a terribly long spout, but you will want something that is at least a bit off the body of the kettle. Think of how much easier it is to be precise with a watering can vs. a big liquid measuring cup (you also don't have to worry about dripping as much). The simplistic designs with a notch in the body of the kettle are okay when you're aiming for a 2 cup teapot, but are a little harder to work with when you're trying to delicately fill a 3 oz gaiwan.

Overkill?
The narrow spout opening allows you to stop the pour when you want, and makes it easier to maintain a thinner laminar stream of water. I prefer spouts like the one on my Kamjove, which is wide at the base, slightly curved, and tapered at the opening.

This spout rocks.
The protruding lower lip at the end of the spout helps to prevent dripping. My guess is that it takes advantage of water's strong surface tension, but I don't think I could explain precisely how it works.

Still, the best way to know whether a kettle has a good pour is to get user feedback. If you can find the kettle online, chances are someone on TeaChat owns it. Search the Teaware forum, then ask around or start a new thread if you don't see a pre-existing discussion on your kettle.

Material

Owners of silver, cast iron, and ceramic teapots often tout the superior qualities of these materials over stainless steel, glass, and plastic. I don't doubt this, but they are much more expensive, so you will want to weigh the cost and potential benefits after some research. Also be aware that silver and cast iron usually require more maintenance than the others, and that neither silver, cast iron, glass, nor ceramic should be heated over a strong open flame (like a gas range). If you're just starting out, I would go with stainless steel; it's cheap and flavor neutral, as far as I can tell. If you upgrade to a more expensive material later, the cost of your stainless steel kettle will likely be negligible anyway, so don't worry about starting out cheap. Glass is great too, but expect to pay slightly more than for steel.

Fuel

Electric kettles are cheap and easy to deal with, as are non-electric kettles on a gas/electric range or hot plate. Alcohol burners and charcoal are preferred by the same people who use silver, cast iron, or ceramic kettles, though I suppose you could use those fuels with a steel kettle if you wish. Alcohol burners are relatively easy to use; you can pick up denatured alcohol at most hardware stores, and they burn cleanly. They do take a while to heat up full kettles, though. Charcoal is the pinnacle of kettle fuel, but is way out of my league, so look elsewhere if you are interested in that. :) Don't even bother with those tea candle things.

Variable temperature

If you brew a lot of green teas, this may be a useful feature. I don't drink many greens and use boiling water for pretty much everything else, so I don't need this. This is a pretty rare feature to find in conjunction with a good spout design.

Recommended models:

Kamjove Electric Kettles: These are ideal for budget gong-fu setups. They aren't the highest quality, but they are cheap enough to be replaceable. Mine is still going strong after roughly a year and a half. The auto re-boil feature is handy, but some kettles have been reported to stop short of a full rolling 212°F boil when set to auto.
Induction Kamjove w/ variable temperature control: One of the two kettles I know of with a gong-fu appropriate design and variable temp. control. It is an induction kettle though, so be aware that it is loud (a fan is needed to keep the electronic components cool) and not exactly conducive to a peaceful tea session.
Glass Electric Kettle w/ Variable temperature control: The other one with temp. control. Made of glass, obviously, but also pretty expensive. I don't know if it uses induction or not, but my guess (because of the size of the base) is that it does.

The Orient Express will keep chuggin' along with the next post. There's a lot to say!

Untitled, as always | Poll Results

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:58:00 +0000

I don't like to title my photos, unless it's a simple description like the name of the place or the item in the photo. To me a photo title is suspiciously similar to the foreword of a book; it really only exists because the author wants to tell you how to read the book. The other reason is that the only clever titles I can ever come up with are cynical ones like "Self Indulgence" or "Cliché." (See?)

[First: Tri-X @ EI 320, Rodinal 1:50, Yashica 12. Second: Fomapan 100 @ EI 80, Rodinal 1:100 (50 min stand), Yashica 12.]

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The poll results showed that around half of you (47%) don't mind seeing the occasional unrelated post, like this one. For the 35% of you who would like me to relate these posts back to tea somehow: I'll try to do that most of the time. For the 17% who don't like these posts at all and are now reading this: that wasn't so bad, was it? :)

Hachiju Hachiya (88 Nights) Shincha from Sugimoto USA | Reader Poll

noreply@blogger.com (Brent) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:07:00 +0000

Class: Green
Origin: Not sure. Shizuoka? Blend?
Year: 2009
Vendor: Sugimoto, USA
Price: Free for me! (Thanks Chip and Pentox)

This shincha comes courtesy of Chip and Pentox of Teachat-- thanks guys! Hachiju hachiya means "88 nights" and, in this context, is a claim that this tea was picked on the very traditional 88th night from the beginning of spring. Mmm, history.

I liked this tea quite a bit. For those who like precise parameters, I brewed 5.3g of leaf in 10oz of water (between 165-175F) for 60s, 30s, 60s, and 90s.

Second infusion.
I'm not feeling very prosey right now, so here are my verb-less and adjective-heavy tasting notes:

1st Infusion: A little creamy, clean, good solid foundation flavor.
2nd: Nice green color. Bright flavor, intense, "chewy". A little muddled, not clean like the first. Slightly grassy, slightly sweet. A bit marine.
3rd: Best flavor, still pretty green in color. Sweeter and less intense than the 2nd, also cleaner.
4th: Yellow-green color. Still pleasant and sweet, not a whole lot else though.

Based on the leaves and the flavor, this is probably in-between chumushi and fukamushi. Between this tea and Zencha's Takumi, I think I prefer Takumi, but only by a slim margin. They are different beasts; this one seems sweeter and more candy-like than Takumi, while Takumi has a more satisfying "round" or balanced quality.

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I added a poll to the sidebar of this blog. I'm curious whether you would like or dislike the occasional post on other topics like photography, wet-shaving, etc. (Not crap about the pathetic minutiae of my daily life.) I would still mostly post about tea; I'm not trying to drastically change the focus of this blog, I'm just thinking of diversifying a bit. Thanks for voting!