tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46612499095704348672024-03-13T17:08:42.814+08:00travelling teapotwilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.comBlogger540125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-73964634903219951872024-03-02T16:51:00.001+08:002024-03-02T16:51:05.611+08:00Flavoured Chinese Tea<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdaCCrjVXRC0xqZ0RATV1LTZKTKzH0JusI5NK8wUrhDIOlWjnJtPp-vPQMLFgvXRByKkKZYjQMFFudO3-6cgxO3XSLuUHrxRBzDqbEcMflQI4dOirdb9965r6kkrUDssXL7cAlHulEQp7K4fKp0F-50psnPtw0khePZXX_alYJMMN64bu5TAj9NXEGdgg/s640/IMG_7931.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdaCCrjVXRC0xqZ0RATV1LTZKTKzH0JusI5NK8wUrhDIOlWjnJtPp-vPQMLFgvXRByKkKZYjQMFFudO3-6cgxO3XSLuUHrxRBzDqbEcMflQI4dOirdb9965r6kkrUDssXL7cAlHulEQp7K4fKp0F-50psnPtw0khePZXX_alYJMMN64bu5TAj9NXEGdgg/s320/IMG_7931.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT6nFZyKMroQ5F5i25rc5AsJm51A_zWimKuftEE7YS2u0e3u9TC3Wj7ZTPSJLahUE8CSgQbJZYWEjn5ePlffo9pyOjPeI64WutOOHfdyRZwmFPD5f5VODTg4PJ7E39_xAz-zmlTuxJtIfka2DYiGJj7-6pPNg48_BGGWqKcSCbYGf9e0TKqShh5Dy-ODQ/s640/IMG_7929.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT6nFZyKMroQ5F5i25rc5AsJm51A_zWimKuftEE7YS2u0e3u9TC3Wj7ZTPSJLahUE8CSgQbJZYWEjn5ePlffo9pyOjPeI64WutOOHfdyRZwmFPD5f5VODTg4PJ7E39_xAz-zmlTuxJtIfka2DYiGJj7-6pPNg48_BGGWqKcSCbYGf9e0TKqShh5Dy-ODQ/s320/IMG_7929.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">There are Chinese tea with extra flavours added to the tea. I am sure you had heard or drank j</span></b><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">asmine tea. This is Chinese tea, that during processing had layers of jasmine flowers piled between the tea for a few weeks. The result is the tea would have absorbed the jasmine floral aroma and you have this popular tea to enjoy. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Another example would be tangerine tea where tea was </span></b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>packed into the dried tangerine husk (flesh had been taken out). As a result, the tea would smell and taste lightly citrusy. Some tea drinkers would increase this citrus level by adding a small piece of the tangerine peel into the tea as well.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>The tea used in tangerine tea are normally ripe (shou) pu erh. The one in the pix has black tea stuffed into the dried tangerine. Delicious. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Masala tea has spices like pepper, cloves and cinnamon added to the tea. Milk is included into the brew before the tea is served.</b></span><b style="font-family: arial;"> </b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Flavoured tea are actually quite common all over the world. Fruit tea are sold in many convenience stores and supermarkets. Lemon tea and peach tea are commonly seen on the shelves of many stores and eateries that sell drinks.</b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There are 2 points I would like to highlight about flavoured tea </span></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">- tea absorbs smells easily. Jasmine tea is such an example. If you are storing your pu erh tea for aging, keep the tea away from strong smells. Incense, cigarette smoke and cooking smells from the kitchen are also not desirable as tea are able to absorb these scents. Keep your tea safe. </span></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">- some commercial tea sold in the marketplace may have artificial flavours and fragrance in the tea. Look at the labels before you buy.</span></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And....if you are in my part of the world. We should meet up. I will treat you to a cup of coffee and tea concoction. </span></span></b><b style="font-family: arial;"> </b></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-64392711377194421922024-02-09T14:20:00.001+08:002024-02-09T14:20:05.954+08:00Happy Chinese New Year<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxQAcZSJfzNfYot7oafchziFMMs96kPIBiEk1sJLMsWI42Ae5YiCTBZED1qdtQPs-H_Xlg5_PuqC7oKi5-FprVjQLnO5FB2LlNcd89_3yjCN9xVXjkSEQ-1OUNAMuzpf12BXRxOOiEmIBxsChE70cw0iWXhLxhaprxef183DqAmziPY_YuC6PfIBYlUU/s640/IMG_7761.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxQAcZSJfzNfYot7oafchziFMMs96kPIBiEk1sJLMsWI42Ae5YiCTBZED1qdtQPs-H_Xlg5_PuqC7oKi5-FprVjQLnO5FB2LlNcd89_3yjCN9xVXjkSEQ-1OUNAMuzpf12BXRxOOiEmIBxsChE70cw0iWXhLxhaprxef183DqAmziPY_YuC6PfIBYlUU/s320/IMG_7761.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Tomorrow is Chinese New Year. It will be the year of the dragon. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I will be making a trip or two to Hong Kong, China to visit the tea markets there. I will keep everyone updated on all the happenings about Chinese tea there. Lots of pictures as well. </span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I would like to wish all my tea buddies and friends a Happy Chinese New Year. Live long and prosper. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-65248297466552015572024-02-04T14:39:00.001+08:002024-02-04T14:39:21.088+08:002003 Xiaguan Baoyan Tibetan Flame Tea Brick<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxtTFYVJRGH7KW576SBHg4fUpjfaWp7bgoB-9WvUEhDGXfDyvNw1RHNMugH5uLYQNXWBNncpimxQarbwU7MbsHJ4HlnimsLLpAAQuh7IEa589DqRfgNAGAUCJluDwY1COP_zMQOQO1QmD01pwFI-v2wvTcaEr9ERfAtvYPnjCjjpH0PGOgds5nGG5i90/s640/IMG_7856.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxtTFYVJRGH7KW576SBHg4fUpjfaWp7bgoB-9WvUEhDGXfDyvNw1RHNMugH5uLYQNXWBNncpimxQarbwU7MbsHJ4HlnimsLLpAAQuh7IEa589DqRfgNAGAUCJluDwY1COP_zMQOQO1QmD01pwFI-v2wvTcaEr9ERfAtvYPnjCjjpH0PGOgds5nGG5i90/s320/IMG_7856.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZRGV2VYFi4puDVnPLbiKCX0uXoxrPy7c-2cSW7A2u0eLxNmDaY1p-ZsAaA9xN6ZaNenhdAMcxC4qyqMlPNr7WkVbutVTDgPWttMi4z_-8aIln7ICisLSwvqRM4K1P8El7pFZ0yerrfhDuO4zAFNO-TVPPjiW00jgt93-L_0Q8cpQmYMo-bdK1l9zwFSk/s640/IMG_7857.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZRGV2VYFi4puDVnPLbiKCX0uXoxrPy7c-2cSW7A2u0eLxNmDaY1p-ZsAaA9xN6ZaNenhdAMcxC4qyqMlPNr7WkVbutVTDgPWttMi4z_-8aIln7ICisLSwvqRM4K1P8El7pFZ0yerrfhDuO4zAFNO-TVPPjiW00jgt93-L_0Q8cpQmYMo-bdK1l9zwFSk/s320/IMG_7857.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Chinese new year is next week. I had been busy working to get my new online store up by the end of the month. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Time to shop for Chinese New Year. I must buy the pastries and goodies to feed the guests who visit me. I think the goodies may be eaten by me within a day or two after I buy them. </span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I had selected a 20 year old tea for this festive occasion. This is a 2003 Xiaguan baoyan brick 250g. Such tea were originally produced for export. They were made for the places like Mongolia and as far as Tibet. The people there have little access to green vegetables and drinking the tea helped in their digestion. The tea is often boiled with salt, pepper and even adding spices like cinnamon or cardamon. Milk is also added to the tea to make it a delicious beverage. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Xiaguan Banyan tea was regarded by tea collectors as being a lower grade tea. This tea brick has more broken tea leaves than regular pu erh tea sold in mainland China. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Lower grade and broken leaves......to me does not mean that this tea is an inferior tea. I am sure a blind taste test of this tea will fool many serious tea drinkers. I am going to have fun with this tea when I visit China in the later part of this year. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I am impressed with this tea. It has all the hall marks of a good traditional pu erh. This tea is spicy (think pepper and ginger), a little smoky with nice hints of camphor wood. Being 20 years old and aged in my part of the world, this tea is smooth, mellow and sweet. A nice tea for the Chinese New Year. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-73743327234494667932024-01-19T14:35:00.001+08:002024-01-19T14:35:26.853+08:00Yi Yuan Long 60<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifjefRxfKGwE0DV4Yy9Mro_3VeK9v8j6lJCJ0LSgGQdQeAmVc0k2VDGAK1ZtBEnw6NHk-gfqYQnrhkLIyeaOLWxZob5ATSAaO1cNKl-8k81E6YGm9vqE6-m5v5moK8JUYQz5bhOdNQR6R5MLvRSamPLIYc1OAYG8uDN_XbBaW4AbA6fzSK7qV5_vEKINg/s640/IMG_6913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifjefRxfKGwE0DV4Yy9Mro_3VeK9v8j6lJCJ0LSgGQdQeAmVc0k2VDGAK1ZtBEnw6NHk-gfqYQnrhkLIyeaOLWxZob5ATSAaO1cNKl-8k81E6YGm9vqE6-m5v5moK8JUYQz5bhOdNQR6R5MLvRSamPLIYc1OAYG8uDN_XbBaW4AbA6fzSK7qV5_vEKINg/s320/IMG_6913.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgOJscoWy7pcaX1L96FCp3duHKGsLZ8JTyoDCAAIYlz581h1nww7hblMsZ3_0VWWQlpSp8Iux2CCgzxfGluIJKtKCciJN6jbBwTBB1Cbk8AL8EpmTD-Sppg5ZBDEOza6-V6Xy8hnf_VscuflLR9_x2t7cCNEo95YO-8G32FjCGKARTc-a2W95YSBh4ZP8/s750/IMG_7715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="750" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgOJscoWy7pcaX1L96FCp3duHKGsLZ8JTyoDCAAIYlz581h1nww7hblMsZ3_0VWWQlpSp8Iux2CCgzxfGluIJKtKCciJN6jbBwTBB1Cbk8AL8EpmTD-Sppg5ZBDEOza6-V6Xy8hnf_VscuflLR9_x2t7cCNEo95YO-8G32FjCGKARTc-a2W95YSBh4ZP8/s320/IMG_7715.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig9nuAgMQktzwkZCPcdPlmffo2dEaBZkBaf_n4aBOQ71zyYjTkCqXWBLGbR8OmnM83Lw1laaSnuvfwtt1O2ErhaOuJESBRt1-gj_mMy6Ww_4S2-0-m-1EEeruXhrcbcT52VdkivVcdlv9BnJDMUEK9nnTZS7nk7tZO2lhMT8-i6l4sly-aOqiplXc2SNU/s640/IMG_7663.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig9nuAgMQktzwkZCPcdPlmffo2dEaBZkBaf_n4aBOQ71zyYjTkCqXWBLGbR8OmnM83Lw1laaSnuvfwtt1O2ErhaOuJESBRt1-gj_mMy6Ww_4S2-0-m-1EEeruXhrcbcT52VdkivVcdlv9BnJDMUEK9nnTZS7nk7tZO2lhMT8-i6l4sly-aOqiplXc2SNU/s320/IMG_7663.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3RTd1YOhw_q3w-7Mghz33-DzxPyY6JCOeaKOlstIeyWXOw8X3USLyIG85jIJGJ45tQWZEkIfdY9MnTjnccOTNHksiXVrnwdpjJKexmxDfZcyBMMFV3o1oXst1cS_YlFOeFQ_O49SHSf0qFEutr4akveZWAUuvzjynPObG1ztnq9WtGkb92_xBUzP0p7I/s640/IMG_7714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3RTd1YOhw_q3w-7Mghz33-DzxPyY6JCOeaKOlstIeyWXOw8X3USLyIG85jIJGJ45tQWZEkIfdY9MnTjnccOTNHksiXVrnwdpjJKexmxDfZcyBMMFV3o1oXst1cS_YlFOeFQ_O49SHSf0qFEutr4akveZWAUuvzjynPObG1ztnq9WtGkb92_xBUzP0p7I/s320/IMG_7714.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></b><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">If you are a tea drinker, you would have drank black tea on many occasions. Really. Those regular tea bags you buy from the supermarkets and as well as the ones you drink at the office pantry are made with black tea. The tea would most probably come from Sri Lanka, India, Kenya or from China. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">These black tea bags has comforted many tea drinkers round the world and many drinkers add milk and sugar to their tea to make it a tasty beverage. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Black tea from Anhua, China has a long traditional history. Many serious Chinese tea drinkers would know that such tea are famous and the tea were normally compressed into long tea 'logs' which weigh more than 30kg. Such logs are bought by the public and proudly displayed in their homes for many years before they are cut up and drunk. The taste and aroma of old tea 'logs' are renowned for their sweet herbal taste, like a herbal soup that black tea connoisseurs enjoy.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Anhua Liyuanlong Tea Co Ltd (LYL) was founded by Mr Wu Jian Li. Mr Wu, in my opinion, was very passionate in the production of black tea. Not only does the tea factory produced tea logs, My Wu was forward looking in introducing black tea with a more scientific and scientific processing standard. He converted many tea farms in his region to go organic and had obtained organic certification for these farms. Most of his teas are now very popular with the Chinese black tea drinkers.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">My Wu celebrated his 60th birthday in 2018 and produced a limited edition tea log for this auspicious occasion. This LYL 60 tea log is a smaller 2.175kg. Compression is moderate and the tea can be easily broken up for container storage. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I like this tea. The taste and aroma is unique. There is smoke, a tasty spicy mouthfeel (pepper and ginger) and a long sweet aftertaste. If you are a pu erh tea drinker, you might mistake it for an old aged pu erh. There is actually some resemblence to an old camphor-like raw pu erh cake. This tea is a very nice find and I will put it in my online store next month and share this special tea adventure with you. </span></b><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></b></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-31385555951570018262024-01-01T11:09:00.001+08:002024-01-01T11:09:21.357+08:002007 Jing Mei Tang Lan Tie Pu erh<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_L39IKFyluZPq1p38kmQgbyrhJRYO9qVIX7nsH8HQipP397-aICax8MW-fxLBGTlUDk06Y8h2LoFiNyOI1QlYHeX30jhXNtHr4KwOXmeNT8MQqk6qmQrKXlsuyHvdaZGpFiqBWVTjAyBWWzfbpAH0HqJPDPOr9N_nA3JLHUNRzq2uUzy02xIlHYgibc/s640/IMG_7585-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_L39IKFyluZPq1p38kmQgbyrhJRYO9qVIX7nsH8HQipP397-aICax8MW-fxLBGTlUDk06Y8h2LoFiNyOI1QlYHeX30jhXNtHr4KwOXmeNT8MQqk6qmQrKXlsuyHvdaZGpFiqBWVTjAyBWWzfbpAH0HqJPDPOr9N_nA3JLHUNRzq2uUzy02xIlHYgibc/s320/IMG_7585-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnO9Qnv-XS8gSDIA15EsGdCDC_lTs4hyphenhyphen-d1C_1XRjaoCDxzDY2oAKNa515lTJXK-Z0319MxuTm_s8dYop4pUcd6vNdXPPADFC4uyUnvFD8xTZiuClTmhq6yJL1D0EqXVFVKF8jgfou1AK8dXKK5GuhbAjOzraBjoPJAel6ZU5r1qqsZbsBO6UJFiAM3mY/s640/IMG_7586.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnO9Qnv-XS8gSDIA15EsGdCDC_lTs4hyphenhyphen-d1C_1XRjaoCDxzDY2oAKNa515lTJXK-Z0319MxuTm_s8dYop4pUcd6vNdXPPADFC4uyUnvFD8xTZiuClTmhq6yJL1D0EqXVFVKF8jgfou1AK8dXKK5GuhbAjOzraBjoPJAel6ZU5r1qqsZbsBO6UJFiAM3mY/s320/IMG_7586.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This is a Jing Mei Tang pu erh cake. Produced in 2007, this tea cake is based on an old pu erh tea blend recipe call Lan Tie. If I am not wrong, this is an interpretation of the blue mark pu erh that was sold in the late 90s. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Jing Mei Tang had engaged Changtai tea factory to produced this tea. Moreover Jing Mei Tang had also arranged to have a bulk of this tea stored in </span></b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Malaysia. This Lan Tie cake is from this Malaysian storage. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>With almost 17 years of Malaysia storage, this tea has mellowed well. This tea is strong with a complexity of bitterness, oak wood and a tinge of fresh bread crust. I liked the high oiliness in the tea. Here, I refer to the mouthwatering and smooth finish. Hardly any sweetness but the tea was pleasantly slightly intoxicating. I would not recommend this tea to a pu erh newbie. This tea is strong.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>But I digress, many readers and tea friends had been asking what happened to my online store. Well.....I am redoing a new store front. Apparently, many of the 'widgets' used in my present online store had became obsolete. I have to redo the store. It should be operationally ready in a month's time. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Happy New Year 2024. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-49353343697216287042023-12-02T09:27:00.001+08:002023-12-02T09:27:24.398+08:00Tea Of The Year 2023<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdLZJHRm9dBBWQ1FwrRXLqfsqy-b_XrMPZgh7hO1r6bNOr2SuXW6lSN8Euc_DPvPHfAEI_uo5cIRMtbQ_nW3zBIR4yUwqd4lN1ct41v3DbWFeC711xc-9NdLi_AY2LX00l6IGbSF5th9MROCO-NWVgnKXuFqa_5oOg1p01nFOljjxM09QS4pW9zgmbOcU/s640/IMG_7278.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdLZJHRm9dBBWQ1FwrRXLqfsqy-b_XrMPZgh7hO1r6bNOr2SuXW6lSN8Euc_DPvPHfAEI_uo5cIRMtbQ_nW3zBIR4yUwqd4lN1ct41v3DbWFeC711xc-9NdLi_AY2LX00l6IGbSF5th9MROCO-NWVgnKXuFqa_5oOg1p01nFOljjxM09QS4pW9zgmbOcU/s320/IMG_7278.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW29g3wq6RCEo5HY7c1_ApVZ8NO8ALMHrMxDPyblkduqjVClZ-TT4Il9x6tswk1hutpocmhIopgjUpocLkMBRaz1SYT3SGNTO_QPO-UN06iCyEvwDgU6K3hqxT9GwVNHqm_6Eum4xIIt4E0nzkqHwTZMtc_r5jUe_ETM7SAjvBAOKTj8cpTI0xoe9_JxA/s640/IMG_7259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW29g3wq6RCEo5HY7c1_ApVZ8NO8ALMHrMxDPyblkduqjVClZ-TT4Il9x6tswk1hutpocmhIopgjUpocLkMBRaz1SYT3SGNTO_QPO-UN06iCyEvwDgU6K3hqxT9GwVNHqm_6Eum4xIIt4E0nzkqHwTZMtc_r5jUe_ETM7SAjvBAOKTj8cpTI0xoe9_JxA/s320/IMG_7259.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I had written about tea for many years and I had not had a 'tea of the year' entry since I started. It would be fun to end this year with such a post. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>The tea, in my opinion, has to be good; have some age and for its price levels not break an arm and a leg to acquire such a tea. These are simple parameters. Finding such a tea from an obscure tea factory would be an extra bonus as well. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I present to you the tea; 2005 Shuang Xiong raw pu erh cake. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>This is a Yongde Shuang Xiong tea factory production. I could not find much information on the internet about this factory and it is possible that this factory had closed its operations. Yongde region is now well known for its pu erh tea harvested from nearby Bing Dao and Da Shue San (big snow mountain). These tea regions were not well known 20 years ago but now these pu erh tea are now commanding high prices in the Chinese tea markets.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>This tea brews strong. The color of the tea and tea leaves when brewed was dark rusty amber. Initial aroma was like being in an old book or antique shop. The woody aroma and taste was like a whisky or wine that had the oaky aftertaste. The tea is smooth and rounded. Mouthwatering and having a salivating sensation in the aftertaste. The almost 20 years of clean Malaysia storage was good. There is good mellowness and roundness in the tea. A strong complex tea and yet there is a soft and gentle side to the tea. Whenever I brew this tea, the tea session is short; finishing 6-8 infusions within a short time. Addictive. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-56424485656514371382023-11-17T09:56:00.001+08:002023-11-17T09:56:04.633+08:00Japanese Gaiwan Variations<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCSWdeAOPUZSnio_sLIzC3xOnok6ZuO6SxEKHTs7QizI8UYWXS3BENX8y44Axw-Sricl3zgmyKbz7R4BaCC-W-E1-zoFV22pWzyiUXx54vAUdGyXS0-4Txy8380RfS_kV7K_itye77ndfKthi5Tpq26hN-02F4mJQvzWZzkPqhUY8iphHx-e_HyznBqLY/s640/IMG_7138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCSWdeAOPUZSnio_sLIzC3xOnok6ZuO6SxEKHTs7QizI8UYWXS3BENX8y44Axw-Sricl3zgmyKbz7R4BaCC-W-E1-zoFV22pWzyiUXx54vAUdGyXS0-4Txy8380RfS_kV7K_itye77ndfKthi5Tpq26hN-02F4mJQvzWZzkPqhUY8iphHx-e_HyznBqLY/s320/IMG_7138.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzPqNRPsKFhihVtGJrQwYQjl66jwDpmtkZdY_2znd_2ubx9UILwhiVZvgifTgNzg7hQj3rqPv12526pCVco8Eed_0jqVj4vckzLcZ9HmqfO8hUyUAmEkCHrvn83_0ydN9AzrwBPxL0q60f03_L4y0vT_TutgxKp-XXf25WBf-Vt8Qyg1DssQGXg8oFc8/s640/IMG_7139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzPqNRPsKFhihVtGJrQwYQjl66jwDpmtkZdY_2znd_2ubx9UILwhiVZvgifTgNzg7hQj3rqPv12526pCVco8Eed_0jqVj4vckzLcZ9HmqfO8hUyUAmEkCHrvn83_0ydN9AzrwBPxL0q60f03_L4y0vT_TutgxKp-XXf25WBf-Vt8Qyg1DssQGXg8oFc8/s320/IMG_7139.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">When it comes to brewing Chinese tea, one would normally use a teapot or gaiwan (the one in </span></b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>white in pix). Add tea leaves and hot water into the gaiwan, hold up the gaiwan and tilt the cover a bit and proceed to dispense the tea. Tilting the gaiwan cover a bit will prevent the tea leaves from being poured out so you can continue to make further infusions of tea. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Japanese also use a teapot and a variation of the gaiwan to brew their tea. There are 2 major variations; shiboridashi (bottom left) and the Hohin(right). The Shibo has no strainer but has grooves incorporated in the design. You need not tilt the cover to dispense the tea. This is less risky than the gaiwan, in my opinion as it might reduce any accidental slips or spillage of the tea. The Hohin is a spouted gaiwan with a built in strainer. This vessal is also easy to use. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I enjoy using Japanese tea ware. They are more elaborated in terms of design and material. My Japanese tea ware collection are vintage pieces so I am more careful and deliberate in my tea brewing when I used them. Fun to use. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-31757469715233849362023-11-02T16:06:00.001+08:002023-11-02T16:06:06.609+08:002007 Changtai Ripe Pu erh Cake<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivPvLGVXINxMF0KasbEh7XadOC3INELpmH94qrTLd40bNyyYjQan5xiIo9Gbzx_I5XdZDdgFFSJ_PEipplPkUVWdEvjCPHqgENJTiZdhprnRdjSFhjVh8U1_v9fo7_tIpNzAgzv9iNO_LfDFxVtD_CpVH6LRj7Zr36aBSYHnN3nECfeWvFH-HqNM2DJUo/s640/IMG_7152.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivPvLGVXINxMF0KasbEh7XadOC3INELpmH94qrTLd40bNyyYjQan5xiIo9Gbzx_I5XdZDdgFFSJ_PEipplPkUVWdEvjCPHqgENJTiZdhprnRdjSFhjVh8U1_v9fo7_tIpNzAgzv9iNO_LfDFxVtD_CpVH6LRj7Zr36aBSYHnN3nECfeWvFH-HqNM2DJUo/s320/IMG_7152.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1S9wcx7wN2v41lyessZSKVZ4DlekOubb5VrqLcTZ3ljACHK3TV_oH3K92CIyNrfIKUMm8eIofaZHR9U4ybxsbnQtOFy9aaEaIPUBOeDN-qgL7egiaU_e-0OMN69NREryrleB5S8EOaaYf04pA_8lc6nBjul70fQ1EdVdkEe8Iw64w53utmfYk3k8al50/s640/IMG_7151.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1S9wcx7wN2v41lyessZSKVZ4DlekOubb5VrqLcTZ3ljACHK3TV_oH3K92CIyNrfIKUMm8eIofaZHR9U4ybxsbnQtOFy9aaEaIPUBOeDN-qgL7egiaU_e-0OMN69NREryrleB5S8EOaaYf04pA_8lc6nBjul70fQ1EdVdkEe8Iw64w53utmfYk3k8al50/s320/IMG_7151.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /><br />This is Changtai tea factory ripe tea cake. Produced in 2007, this cake was a special order made for a Taiwanese tea shop called Jing Mei Tang.<br /><br />Changtai tea factory does special orders for their oversea clients. I am aware beside Jing Mei Tang, Chang Tai also made cakes for Cloud Tea House, a Hong Kong setup owned by the famous tea writer Chan Kam Pong. Changtai had also produced cakes for a Malaysian tea shop as well.<br /><br />Jing Mei Tang had stored a portion of their Changtai tea to age in Malaysia (for 12-15 years) before moving back the tea back to Taiwan a few years ago. My Jing Mei Tang collection is from this Malaysian storage and I am very pleased with their storage results. <br /><br />It was also an opportune time to refill my ripe tea caddy. This cake is called 'yi wei' (translated as one flavour or aroma). This tea, when brewed is complex, with a mix of fresh bread and leather. This unusual aromatic combination somehow worked very well together and is quite addictive. Already more than 16 years of storage under its belt, this tea is smooth, mellow and sweet. I found that adding an extra gram when I brewed this tea was even better, amplifying both taste and aroma of the tea. </span></b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b> </b></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold;"> </span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-68291056443898145402023-10-20T15:02:00.001+08:002023-10-20T15:02:05.307+08:00Old Sea Dyke Oolong<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1vFcQ7eBDRDSWRoh_kvpDIW9N0PApLh4GGsPA0LjIWO7geSBrysl7wnnMuVFW-MIYge1fh_BbPPTkYImidWOE7VI-y5JGqK1gbT9fLxAx1i9bM81E_OS9CqN2HDVhF0JnJYL_Ond42nXLraJFwd0Zm2vHOWz4PhUAhIAu_apq8rMVsixFhtrhRQD2mI/s640/IMG_7129.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1vFcQ7eBDRDSWRoh_kvpDIW9N0PApLh4GGsPA0LjIWO7geSBrysl7wnnMuVFW-MIYge1fh_BbPPTkYImidWOE7VI-y5JGqK1gbT9fLxAx1i9bM81E_OS9CqN2HDVhF0JnJYL_Ond42nXLraJFwd0Zm2vHOWz4PhUAhIAu_apq8rMVsixFhtrhRQD2mI/s320/IMG_7129.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgueoLqaR8bN2ILqmBe9sdQ_KTZmlPZ77E51HdRIWZxkEjjDeXFd1RBR9qr4TZF4497t5bCnld_BfaysAC2gzvw_LVtC5C6RfLEa2woVsJ5EBYVbwHDqM9nb-aXUpYHOlEDnEbOqS1Q-lgptANTkjLj4or-gXpq2PfTfLz6w0q6qkem8LV6mYDyJn5H2FI/s640/IMG_7130.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgueoLqaR8bN2ILqmBe9sdQ_KTZmlPZ77E51HdRIWZxkEjjDeXFd1RBR9qr4TZF4497t5bCnld_BfaysAC2gzvw_LVtC5C6RfLEa2woVsJ5EBYVbwHDqM9nb-aXUpYHOlEDnEbOqS1Q-lgptANTkjLj4or-gXpq2PfTfLz6w0q6qkem8LV6mYDyJn5H2FI/s320/IMG_7130.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I like Sea Dyke oolong. Sea Dyke tea factory is located in Xiamen, China. where most of China's oolong are produced. Sea Dyke tea factory has been around for more than 60 years and today they continue to produce a wide assortment of oolong.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> Most of my tea are already more than 12 years old. With storage, these oolong had aged to a smooth, mellow and sweet tea with a lingering smoky aftertaste. Sea Dyke oolong are not top shelf tea. Many oolong tea enthusiasts think Sea Dyke as a cheap tea (yes agreed) and are low in quality in terms of taste and aroma. I have fooled many enthusiasts and oolong 'experts' when I brew up my old Sea Dyke during a tea session. They would not believe that this oolong was much better than they had thought. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Let me elaborate. My Sea Dyke collection are mainly Lao Chong Shui Hsien, Da Hong Pao and Tie Kuan Yin. I would rate the tea as 7 points out of 10. A tea buddy recently gave me a tin of expensive oolong; 50g at $80. This tea was very nice and I would rate it about 7.2 points, higher than my Sea Dyke collection. Price wise, this is 4-5 times higher than my tea. The tea is, however not 4-5 times better in taste and aroma but only a small incremental improvement. I have heard of even higher prices for higher quality oolong. Perhaps it is time to make a trip to Xiamen. Meanwhile, I am brewing a packet of Sea Dyke tie kuan yin. Noticed the exterior parts of the tea tin had already discoloured. More important is the tea. Yummy. </span></b></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-42009636461103989822023-10-07T10:25:00.001+08:002023-10-07T10:25:39.305+08:00A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far, Far Away.....<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaJHfk5-faGwb-8iUoZ4iPE-4lhl-e760V3l8KG-FPfYhou2SVlwt9ZmshaGXpCQjGHj1JZnsBPKOSusO6cgUkk6eRLwymvReqcJy9UcC4T35ghyphenhyphenJU40K0elzjKFwkbrXgvRvKv741sFVuPEc_TPPaZbG4e-5ZNLFle8QxULBIzc9qD4Hhf4EWgyYIxv8/s640/IMG_7096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaJHfk5-faGwb-8iUoZ4iPE-4lhl-e760V3l8KG-FPfYhou2SVlwt9ZmshaGXpCQjGHj1JZnsBPKOSusO6cgUkk6eRLwymvReqcJy9UcC4T35ghyphenhyphenJU40K0elzjKFwkbrXgvRvKv741sFVuPEc_TPPaZbG4e-5ZNLFle8QxULBIzc9qD4Hhf4EWgyYIxv8/s320/IMG_7096.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXN0Q6jY10SaVsVm480r8oj_X9FOR5t2Cele8pUyQOJcLe8ydx60khXS7Wt_2KVQTEvYwf07dN7jktIIVtrsF76KC9EhgA0avQsLYGSwQ2lnCL6cT3t9oQBhy_DYhgHLJZVW5TYO3hc8rZoK99jry9DYqVtdcrttoMXGkI05EfGsVZ7rln2_WEVHWLrc/s640/IMG_7092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXN0Q6jY10SaVsVm480r8oj_X9FOR5t2Cele8pUyQOJcLe8ydx60khXS7Wt_2KVQTEvYwf07dN7jktIIVtrsF76KC9EhgA0avQsLYGSwQ2lnCL6cT3t9oQBhy_DYhgHLJZVW5TYO3hc8rZoK99jry9DYqVtdcrttoMXGkI05EfGsVZ7rln2_WEVHWLrc/s320/IMG_7092.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..........</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Actually, not that long ago. About 12-15 years ago, when you step into a tea shop looking to buy pu erh, you will be told by the sales staff that if you are buying new raw pu, you will have to store it away for a few years before brewing the tea. Consuming the pu erh immediately would be astringent, bitter and difficult to drink. Storing the tea for a few years would make the tea more palatable as the tea would have mellowed out a little. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>This 2011 Lao Man Er tea factory pu erh cake is one such tea. Made from a blend of banzhang, bulang and nannuo old trees, the 'force' is strong with this tea. I could feel the qi and starting getting sweaty from the 2nd infusion. There is nothing sweet about this tea. A woody aroma with bitter medicinal herbs dominate the flavour. It is slightly mellow and not astringent. Mouthwatering with a nice long aftertaste. Good for 10-12 strong infusions. Quite addictive. A strong tea. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Today, many new pu erh tea sold in shops are 'ready' and 'can drink now'. The pu erh processing is different now. Maybe it's the timing of the 'kill green' (frying), or the manual drying of the tea in ovens instead of sun drying. I am old fashion and prefer the traditional style of pu erh. My entire collection is from the traditional type. The tea would easily last me a lifetime. I am thirsty. Time for tea. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-90341216327990524622023-09-23T11:27:00.001+08:002023-09-23T11:27:14.467+08:002018 Taetea Brothers Ripe Pu erh 100g<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu7d6fRuAT3sr7gpggSZggMy2dJl0ybdxbLccc0pew0nyk_lB22jgNEBxn5qk514BYGp46n0y474EmAgVJKpxwT6kzmnkssKnE61BzDzJdezdWFbcv2eGsAbe8vuR-Dx0fGEnfOXVsIyu9qEHDQOwrX7z6u_yy1rLw3Wegsv5PFVLDyeylJyZAwsFeqIU/s640/IMG_7003.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu7d6fRuAT3sr7gpggSZggMy2dJl0ybdxbLccc0pew0nyk_lB22jgNEBxn5qk514BYGp46n0y474EmAgVJKpxwT6kzmnkssKnE61BzDzJdezdWFbcv2eGsAbe8vuR-Dx0fGEnfOXVsIyu9qEHDQOwrX7z6u_yy1rLw3Wegsv5PFVLDyeylJyZAwsFeqIU/s320/IMG_7003.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dGTZSAVqdk_fWBXJ3N3hM5Q-8BAA-RGxE5Aak8fxNjbLH2ud4xiykxI3_Hof25RY5GVJLivehFZXx6MaHgNVKsiBg0NVZ1RxrqPlcav2qI8TCHyOEQbg82C5Jp6oCP72-xmA6t9eGcQFFVeUDeHlsdzuabBta6AGOgS7r0BbFl6sl8iWnRxW6rI4rCo/s640/IMG_7004.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dGTZSAVqdk_fWBXJ3N3hM5Q-8BAA-RGxE5Aak8fxNjbLH2ud4xiykxI3_Hof25RY5GVJLivehFZXx6MaHgNVKsiBg0NVZ1RxrqPlcav2qI8TCHyOEQbg82C5Jp6oCP72-xmA6t9eGcQFFVeUDeHlsdzuabBta6AGOgS7r0BbFl6sl8iWnRxW6rI4rCo/s320/IMG_7004.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3lkkWO7yDaL19kVfd-x_tZgvEBqrrTh_LJ4XEhUXxALjnLYg5Ih983BjHmG_7ogjYgUitB31N-sN9DdbNvCYeXt0B9Eic4i1QQsvqdNWJDhOBatGiWDTbWlEMGhnABUuOra6GHIz_08cp-VFzYvFKjfqQFmEHTE39zpfXovlKG1qjUJHYsZxn6iTCBY/s640/IMG_7011.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV3lkkWO7yDaL19kVfd-x_tZgvEBqrrTh_LJ4XEhUXxALjnLYg5Ih983BjHmG_7ogjYgUitB31N-sN9DdbNvCYeXt0B9Eic4i1QQsvqdNWJDhOBatGiWDTbWlEMGhnABUuOra6GHIz_08cp-VFzYvFKjfqQFmEHTE39zpfXovlKG1qjUJHYsZxn6iTCBY/s320/IMG_7011.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>This is a Taetea (aka Dayi) special edition Shou (ripe) pu erh cake that was produced in 2018. Packaged and sold in 100g brick, this tea is nicely boxed and is called 'brothers together'. The Penang tea shop translated this tea as 'Being with you through the wind' which I felt was a little inaccurate. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>More importantly is the tea itself. This tea brews strong and I recommend you use less tea leaves than usual for this brew. This tea is aromatic when brewed. I detected toasted sweet breads as well as the signature Dayi aroma. There is hardly any sweetness in the aftertaste. There is also a fermentation scent in this tea even though this 'brothers' tea is already 5 years old. Perhaps this tea would be better if it was stored away for another few more years. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Overall, this tea is decent; strong and able to brew up to a dozen good infusions. The tea in the teacup (see pix) is in its 10th infusion. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-2022890474328749522023-09-09T12:20:00.001+08:002023-09-09T12:20:04.041+08:00Xiang Mu Hai Chien Liang Cha<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAEwtIvHHyk8ETJ2b1O0a7KcMc4Jj8Hf26of1WjxICB7JhetSNVrD7TyU1Op7S2xUYe5X7py8rAbuD8arTGWVZfORWDj-fhM-Fo2F-zwOh0cwmcRVX-am3SGQnFWWCJkCZbt2JURc_kg7xWh3SkIo6c0JXxx85pZjZQCfuilE_xlJr4ljuXR0OmDv-fbI/s640/IMG_6987.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAEwtIvHHyk8ETJ2b1O0a7KcMc4Jj8Hf26of1WjxICB7JhetSNVrD7TyU1Op7S2xUYe5X7py8rAbuD8arTGWVZfORWDj-fhM-Fo2F-zwOh0cwmcRVX-am3SGQnFWWCJkCZbt2JURc_kg7xWh3SkIo6c0JXxx85pZjZQCfuilE_xlJr4ljuXR0OmDv-fbI/s320/IMG_6987.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Sek53mNc4M76ZfXSyyBWZvQjwJvSElnvSYv1muwhguCgCUlxK8qf4okKGL86K7JhIFFddQh-Ws5kTB0F_lOWg8Iwcs8HViNfrmfeUQwFvRYFHHiXvZSiK7h0IAyG48VSBIl9IQyDGM7hg0vg-S-gTTH8lSmQfsH-9SpzIFhYgd_Y6_eYRv48H8WOBg4/s640/IMG_6990.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Sek53mNc4M76ZfXSyyBWZvQjwJvSElnvSYv1muwhguCgCUlxK8qf4okKGL86K7JhIFFddQh-Ws5kTB0F_lOWg8Iwcs8HViNfrmfeUQwFvRYFHHiXvZSiK7h0IAyG48VSBIl9IQyDGM7hg0vg-S-gTTH8lSmQfsH-9SpzIFhYgd_Y6_eYRv48H8WOBg4/s320/IMG_6990.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>This is Xiang Mu Hai tea factory's Chien Liang cha. This is a black tea. Black tea produced in Henan, China were traditionally compressed in to 'log' like sizes, wrapped in bamboo, stored in a cloth bag before they are sold to the public. Such log sizes can vary in weight from 1 kg to more than 30 kg. These logs are kept in shops or homes standing proudly while they age away. From what I gathered from black tea drinkers, these tea are normally allowed to age for more than 10 years before these logs are cut to smaller slices. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>What Xiang Mu Hai tea factory did was to produce these logs and proceeded to cut them to slices before these slices are individually packed and sold to the retail market. </b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This Chien Liang cha is the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">factory's premium product called Fu Yong Chien Liang chan literally from Fu Yong (hibiscus) mountain. Sold as a 600g slice, this tea is very aromatic with a floral fragrance that lived up to the floral name of this tea. Noticed there is some 'jin hua' (golden flowers) in the tea leaves. The compression of this tea slice is light. I noted there are more leaves than stems in this tea. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This Chien Liang cha is produced yearly and I have the 2020 version. When I brewed up this tea, the perfumed fragrance is enhanced by a lightly sweet aftertaste. Good for 6-8 infusions. A delicious tea session. </span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></b></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-70521474186951988642023-08-19T12:44:00.001+08:002023-08-19T12:44:04.204+08:00Plastic Bag Liu Bao<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs80Xcf3sZRRi5cS6OIoHSfEsjP6q1FT9kmyEDfgaldB4ahfnytezuYEyNY6RKVAECXhKNpQufLA0rUbOKlextgIask02lKiMNUVDuuMVlnkP6KBDNWp4rRoQSiKUJJZt8hq7BJbP4AzM2VTgxDpVrBp3d01sLwumyMm7W_NJ-tyCo4XtiYRR0_OPIUs4/s640/IMG_6849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs80Xcf3sZRRi5cS6OIoHSfEsjP6q1FT9kmyEDfgaldB4ahfnytezuYEyNY6RKVAECXhKNpQufLA0rUbOKlextgIask02lKiMNUVDuuMVlnkP6KBDNWp4rRoQSiKUJJZt8hq7BJbP4AzM2VTgxDpVrBp3d01sLwumyMm7W_NJ-tyCo4XtiYRR0_OPIUs4/s320/IMG_6849.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUWpqK9EpMM3s-Nn-JVIV5vhp8Pti_0x0iKzgkhZzzOkhwTSxgs-6Y0ZqHaRLT-S0WUtnsHvnVQwMlQKYMiAvfze0t4LMas0Pmkgb3ZR_8rv9Qjl5mGBLK0H9amnCVclIpyYuFCdHSxyUvlExwbzlVErcNLTSYlDVKS1vrIYNpO_WhfLJzv0_mmoEVVc/s640/IMG_6850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUWpqK9EpMM3s-Nn-JVIV5vhp8Pti_0x0iKzgkhZzzOkhwTSxgs-6Y0ZqHaRLT-S0WUtnsHvnVQwMlQKYMiAvfze0t4LMas0Pmkgb3ZR_8rv9Qjl5mGBLK0H9amnCVclIpyYuFCdHSxyUvlExwbzlVErcNLTSYlDVKS1vrIYNpO_WhfLJzv0_mmoEVVc/s320/IMG_6850.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I had seen this liu bao tea for sale in a tea shop and at a tea expo in Malaysia a few years ago. I was intrigued. I had never seen tea sold in plastic bags at retail level. Yes, I had observed wholesale oolong tea (10-20kg) that are packed in a large plastic bag before the tea is further packed in a carton box. However, such oolong at tea shops would be 'nicely repackaged' either in fancy foil packets or placed in a pretty tin or box. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>As you can see from the plastic bag, this 1 kg liu bao was packed using the '4 gold coins' brand of liu bao. This brand is a highly regarded by serious liu bao tea drinkers, There is also a line (last line) that seem to suggest this was a commemorative production for a Chinese bank (Chang Tong bank), perhaps for a promotion gift. There was no information who had packed the tea and who the actual distributor was. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Back to this tea. I was told there were 2 (2005, 2007) productions of this tea. There is no date on the bag to tell which year the tea was packed for sale. Both places where I had saw this tea claimed they had the 2005 version for sale. The first 2005 version was perceived as more expensive as it was deemed like the '1st edition' production. When I pressed further for more information, the shop claimed he had gotten the tea from a tea collector in Malaysia. Likewise, the stall at the tea expo told me he had gotten his supply from another tea collector as well. Both sellers were unable to show proof or documentation that their plastic bag liu bao was a 2005 production. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>In addition, one tea drinker told me he believed the tea was originally packed in Hong Kong. </b></span><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I was even more curious. I contacted my tea shop buddies in Hong Kong to find out more about this tea. It was a </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">surprise that they informed me there was no such tea produced in Hong Kong and banks in Hong Kong do not give away tea in plastic bags. Another old tea drinker buddy believed that this tea was packed in Malaysia and only sold locally there. No one seem to know who had actually produced this plastic bag liu bao. </span></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">I had sampled the tea and it tasted about a mid age tea. It is quite a decent tea. I have no experience whether it is a 4 gold coins tea. I will continue to find out more on this mystery. I had bought few bags of this tea and will put them in my online store so my readers can taste and experience this mysterious plastic bag liu bao tea. </span></span></b></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-60803708608675694672023-08-09T13:52:00.001+08:002023-08-09T13:52:08.074+08:00My Online Store - Time To Revamp<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmmf7NDk2M6i7Lk6qHNce1BnfoNV6dMk6uT-91O_Kayo2sU_FhbClRRM4GfkC4RaHM0wxZgKigZ_PIxGzDPOE3EIcSV9fWVY68f-TqvUDldNLYbf5k22CT-C0iE9yahIGP1hd5DaMt6KfthYldLhu8UWszXPZPUTtaZ62Ce-1bh3TVQylgcJcChJibpB8/s640/IMG_6818.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmmf7NDk2M6i7Lk6qHNce1BnfoNV6dMk6uT-91O_Kayo2sU_FhbClRRM4GfkC4RaHM0wxZgKigZ_PIxGzDPOE3EIcSV9fWVY68f-TqvUDldNLYbf5k22CT-C0iE9yahIGP1hd5DaMt6KfthYldLhu8UWszXPZPUTtaZ62Ce-1bh3TVQylgcJcChJibpB8/s320/IMG_6818.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I am suppose to reopen my online store when I had returned from my USA trip last month. I will </span></b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>need a little bit more time. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I want to tinker with my product offerings. Let me elaborate. You would agree that the prices of tea had gone up significantly, especially after the 3 years of covid. Many goods and services, beside tea, had seen their prices gone up. My regular local chicken rice or beef noddle meals had increased by more than 25% and I find that my overall monthly expenses had gone up. I can imagine as a Chinese tea drinker as myself, ordering and buying tea can burn a little hole in your wallet. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>This is what I plan to do in my online store. I will like to give my buyers a more exciting, informative and hopefully a happy and inexpensive experience in my store. I am thinking of offering tea that you can compare say within a brand, or a vintage year or comparing tea being store in different regions ( Malaysia, Hong Kong or Guangzhou storage). You need not buy entire cakes of pu erh but I will offer you an economic option of purchasing in say 50g or 100g. This meant say you want to try a 2009 Dayi 7542 and a 2009 Dayi 8582, I will be selling as a set of 50g of each tea. Like wise you can also try selection of old pu erh storage from Hong Kong vs Malaysia in 50g packs. This would allow you to appreciate the many varieties of pu erh as well as the results of storage from different regions. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>We can also have a tasting discussion online where we can have a live chat or even a group video face to face discussion where we can exchange our views or even disagree whether there is a sweet aftertaste in the tea.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I hope this inclusion of 'study' tea packs will provide you a wider appreciation of the Chinese tea without hurting yuur wallet.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>So stay tune while I tinker and consider the tea that I will offer as 'study 'packs. If you have suggestions what you like to see in my store, let me know. Thank you. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-41690034943618798832023-07-30T15:19:00.003+08:002023-07-30T15:27:39.534+08:00Tea Exchange <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ZVCWN5c4FjWGESGdocmGsDYNrhyi5iyT8_hAOdfcA6D0beULgKiN3Jc5LYz5_LXe-LFOWVZM14VoKfS9aqhHLTCfcYwsvbaXfsOeLd0J4Gev1prRX3UBmfWnmCgbMwbrSk_B4jVQ5LBu6SnMBSLZc8aJkusiRNuVlbeXzfnT2hJvUn7kDGTtPS6MgK4/s640/IMG_6805.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ZVCWN5c4FjWGESGdocmGsDYNrhyi5iyT8_hAOdfcA6D0beULgKiN3Jc5LYz5_LXe-LFOWVZM14VoKfS9aqhHLTCfcYwsvbaXfsOeLd0J4Gev1prRX3UBmfWnmCgbMwbrSk_B4jVQ5LBu6SnMBSLZc8aJkusiRNuVlbeXzfnT2hJvUn7kDGTtPS6MgK4/s320/IMG_6805.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I had been talking about tea exchange in my posts and one reader asked how he can exchange tea with me. </span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>A tea exchange with me is simple. When both of us get to meet .......we would exchange a tea or tea ware with each other. You can tell me what you would like from me; whether it's a pu erh, oolong, liu bao or other tea you like. It may also be a teapot or teacup....provided I have extras. In return, you can give me a tea or tea ware in exchange. I hope that we can experience and appreciate the different tea storage conditions of our collections. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>This exchange can take place in Singapore. if you are local or visiting Singapore, let me know and we can not only have a tea exchange but have a meal together as well. Same when I am overseas, we can meet, have a meal and a tea exchange as well. I had met and made many new tea buddies this way. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>We can also meet up overseas when we 'happen' to be at the same place at the same time. I am hoping to travel to Malaysia, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and possibly Seoul later this year. Tea exchange anyone? </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-28048097329841908752023-07-12T10:38:00.002+08:002023-07-12T10:38:05.498+08:002013 BaiShaXi Black Tea Brick<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-1ULoBJCe4yvEHNh_b7KOSQPLt1mQ9EDc4-4RjXzfhKe6iNE9JuirTSwl7Gh4mjqA5tC-CF4b3uSkhkg_Uf1QlCNeg3sr4ZOyaHAYXB4daP49uiIdQVzNrhf1xQlvzPy-ceoFhDMlSe07p5g25KHP3pAwCFSyHcASaEZ421iO9JCj8hSuLLozj183ec/s640/IMG_6474.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-1ULoBJCe4yvEHNh_b7KOSQPLt1mQ9EDc4-4RjXzfhKe6iNE9JuirTSwl7Gh4mjqA5tC-CF4b3uSkhkg_Uf1QlCNeg3sr4ZOyaHAYXB4daP49uiIdQVzNrhf1xQlvzPy-ceoFhDMlSe07p5g25KHP3pAwCFSyHcASaEZ421iO9JCj8hSuLLozj183ec/s320/IMG_6474.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJl7PzW0lmoCHtvg-4EfeaMAcAXUGDO0I6Gjs5aAfDdzlQOOQQV-NaLf9L3Q9MDoPryEXPYb30vvVmvYGyAZx2Jr7nAgL6cqi6BpF_H463coEGtvhVhCVZWd4VcaTfyy_4362VSSI21Scs4rhv9pNmSR8dRPCHDVs7WixVFjF7Q832ITrHycWtVosVwo/s640/IMG_6475.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJl7PzW0lmoCHtvg-4EfeaMAcAXUGDO0I6Gjs5aAfDdzlQOOQQV-NaLf9L3Q9MDoPryEXPYb30vvVmvYGyAZx2Jr7nAgL6cqi6BpF_H463coEGtvhVhCVZWd4VcaTfyy_4362VSSI21Scs4rhv9pNmSR8dRPCHDVs7WixVFjF7Q832ITrHycWtVosVwo/s320/IMG_6475.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPZgqymwxzZVso3TfRiwqioUoBtrVCY0vzkPqnFrGT3mhU1GaV8FHfdUGFaCbDDKvrNTP7FrztC9tn5GhTym5qIV84vBjWwCkBS7YEhHQJ9CBxVp6W0daEcl9ZQAvODLWpSRS1tq_JyuDYUq5XIG5j3rbZwLR0KE9CxqTV-EYhhGacZONye7AZeQCj7L4/s640/IMG_6476.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPZgqymwxzZVso3TfRiwqioUoBtrVCY0vzkPqnFrGT3mhU1GaV8FHfdUGFaCbDDKvrNTP7FrztC9tn5GhTym5qIV84vBjWwCkBS7YEhHQJ9CBxVp6W0daEcl9ZQAvODLWpSRS1tq_JyuDYUq5XIG5j3rbZwLR0KE9CxqTV-EYhhGacZONye7AZeQCj7L4/s320/IMG_6476.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I have added black tea into my tea drinking </span></b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>repertoire. I now brew black tea at least once a week. The pix above is a 2013 black tea brick produced under by the Baishaxi tea factory. This factory primarily produced black tea and is like the 'Dayi' brand of pu erh. </b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>What is black tea? It is actually a popular tea that is enjoyed all of the world. Really. Those teabags you see sold in supermarkets are black tea. Many of this black tea is produced in China, India, Africa and Sri Lanka. Yes, the teabag you jiggle in your mug (sometimes milk and sugar is added) came from these major producers. The aroma and flavours of the tea from these teabags are 'blended' that the tea would taste the same in taste and aroma today, next month and even a year from now. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>This black tea brick is more in a raw form in that nothing has been blended into the tea. Moreover long term storage of this Chinese black tea, which is highly desirable, make this tea an aromatic and delightful drink. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>This 2013 black tea had undergone fermentation during the production process.....something like shou pu erh. However the taste and aroma is different. While shou pu erh is more earthly or has toasty bread aromatics, black tea is more like a Chinese herbal medical tea concoction with a light sweet aftertaste. I had mentioned a tea buddy in Penang, Malaysia who brewed 7g of black tea into 500ml water and slow simmer the tea over a charcoal stove. You can imagine the intensity of the taste and aroma of the tea. I will try this setup soon, but meanwhile I brew my black tea in a teapot and and let it infuse for a couple of minutes per infusion. Good for 2-3 infusions. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-52785606071767343932023-06-02T11:44:00.001+08:002023-06-02T11:44:05.782+08:00Malaysia Pu erh Tea Club 10th Anniversary Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVNkVzJR3X9Ttu-irzS_0V8EIEpvskGHTuJFJ8zxAIhJGhAm2VvVzB91AKGYSpbu2V66XdIqjghyWTRjrEwF100UoZrVuxIKRSCrdwyv-uy6hCwXPpjh7XSd7JttAotmAY2Va8xEmhmcEo-sMacDkeNGvAySx6Qh2fSonu6nRJvyjjEgzGB0WmvJz/s640/IMG_6468.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVNkVzJR3X9Ttu-irzS_0V8EIEpvskGHTuJFJ8zxAIhJGhAm2VvVzB91AKGYSpbu2V66XdIqjghyWTRjrEwF100UoZrVuxIKRSCrdwyv-uy6hCwXPpjh7XSd7JttAotmAY2Va8xEmhmcEo-sMacDkeNGvAySx6Qh2fSonu6nRJvyjjEgzGB0WmvJz/s320/IMG_6468.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH-AH5n3Prq_pfxqNJUdBmyQg4Cy17eNtkZfrsvOBlVyshyte0GxLwGhk03rJdfiO_N9rOnwh99eI83dIsrlpWQRxhGlQ3M3S2lysvrAQi2Nx1wCkOszsiq7Cc6hQWezE5WWcCEPUPTTLZwbAvbhPxxzysI8rVlaoWGVwiFSAw1W02mNnbb9RdbsDc/s640/IMG_6467.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH-AH5n3Prq_pfxqNJUdBmyQg4Cy17eNtkZfrsvOBlVyshyte0GxLwGhk03rJdfiO_N9rOnwh99eI83dIsrlpWQRxhGlQ3M3S2lysvrAQi2Nx1wCkOszsiq7Cc6hQWezE5WWcCEPUPTTLZwbAvbhPxxzysI8rVlaoWGVwiFSAw1W02mNnbb9RdbsDc/s320/IMG_6467.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGhF4CDtBOaWAwSBzi1OXhdYQ_Ba7SP8c1kAHlnB1ZkidrZWYv4TR8kPEEnQXxCDiN7QenIiK3o9IFh9cUMz_BEavH8PQnddJsB_ANbiA4lzUD95ZwZFXKcJlqs8a5_0LUoqpUuifU9srbLGxE3rCQr3yT5QYf810neullM7cFisgxjVUiuOXwUxva/s640/IMG_6469.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGhF4CDtBOaWAwSBzi1OXhdYQ_Ba7SP8c1kAHlnB1ZkidrZWYv4TR8kPEEnQXxCDiN7QenIiK3o9IFh9cUMz_BEavH8PQnddJsB_ANbiA4lzUD95ZwZFXKcJlqs8a5_0LUoqpUuifU9srbLGxE3rCQr3yT5QYf810neullM7cFisgxjVUiuOXwUxva/s320/IMG_6469.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">How do you commemorate a pu erh tea club 10th anniversary? Duh...obviously with producing a puerh cake. Yes, this was what they did. This is the 2014 10th anniversary raw pu erh cake. This tea were from the Lincang area and the cake was pressed iron cake style. The pressing is different from the traditional Xiaguan iron cakes in that this cake is smooth on both sides unlike the Xiaguan version which is spiky on one side of the cake. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I decided to open a cake and brewed up a session of this tea. There were many </span></b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>things Iike about this tea. This tea brews strong. There is a long lightly sweet aftertaste. A wispy smoky camphor aroma makes this tea a delightful drink. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I will take about 50g of this tea for my USA trip (</b></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Portland, Chicago and Seattle). If you like to have a tea exchange with me, please let me know and I will look forward to meet you. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>It is a pity that many new pu erh cakes produced are so much different now. Many newer pu erh tea are more floral 'green tea' taste. I am happy to have enough of the old style pu erh in my collection to last me a long time. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-74795160270817630572023-05-16T13:39:00.001+08:002023-05-16T13:39:05.684+08:00Questions About Dark Tea<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXXPgVciG6AD2b9u5K8VcSReVJpvYVCRDjkuBPuFPbhjqlfRriU9rc9kqiR0a2TIgPDqy5YIs5fQus3PqVHfn6JDj-SFvrjhvTcsC-HuYf-Hcfr2ZroWlHP118khX22q-KoS6RwZ-TOvodkKl5zC3N4ka8WS7OOGB4vcMer_yuvvAkXMIPfdK7xBbT/s640/IMG_6414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXXPgVciG6AD2b9u5K8VcSReVJpvYVCRDjkuBPuFPbhjqlfRriU9rc9kqiR0a2TIgPDqy5YIs5fQus3PqVHfn6JDj-SFvrjhvTcsC-HuYf-Hcfr2ZroWlHP118khX22q-KoS6RwZ-TOvodkKl5zC3N4ka8WS7OOGB4vcMer_yuvvAkXMIPfdK7xBbT/s320/IMG_6414.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9LGIpqoSRXFZja1xcvyVFg1c6a69hzrS9omIbs6NBG6SG_Xt3imhohhw_huReL7_wNAyglZ2vqJN6dA_4o1perRWlT4IyG9-4dffDjgtTRtk2zoc3rbX4T4qSZ-x_lj1ysWjGyiVszgkeR5Een6fniYoe8d5XLvrqwjCxw_IdNqRtL7qLAdYbCJ0/s640/IMG_6402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9LGIpqoSRXFZja1xcvyVFg1c6a69hzrS9omIbs6NBG6SG_Xt3imhohhw_huReL7_wNAyglZ2vqJN6dA_4o1perRWlT4IyG9-4dffDjgtTRtk2zoc3rbX4T4qSZ-x_lj1ysWjGyiVszgkeR5Een6fniYoe8d5XLvrqwjCxw_IdNqRtL7qLAdYbCJ0/s320/IMG_6402.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br />I had posted an entry about dark tea last week and Peter, a reader posed the following question -<br /><br />"I've been to Penang and seen that these giant bricks are very popular with older tea drinkers. Is it because they are so cheap? There are tea shops that seem to only sell these teas."</span></b><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">He was referring to those very heavy (about 1.5kg) bricks that you see in the 2nd pix</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Here is my response:</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">1. Yes, Peter you are right about black tea is generally cheaper than say oolong or pu erh tea. Gram for gram, those black tea bricks whether the small (1st pix) or larger bricks (2nd pix) are cheaper than pu erh tea. </span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">2. One reason is that there is a much larger pu erh (or oolong) tea drinking community than the black tea drinker groups. There is also a very large group of pu erh collectors that buy to store for investment. It is actual commodity trading except this time its pu erh tea. It is interesting to know that many limited and high end pu erh factory productions for the past 10 years are often sold out at product launch. These tea are never drank but are bought and sold like trophies. As far as I know, these black tea bricks are mainly purchased for drinking. Yes, there are collectors that aged these black tea bricks to sell but these resold black tea are usually bought up to be </span></b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>consumed. </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>3. Black tea includes other fermented tea that include liu bao and ripe or shou pu erh. Older versions of these tea can be quite expensive now. </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Who knows. Black tea bricks may be the new investment tea in the next few years. </b></span></div>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-33711907575773679092023-05-10T17:00:00.001+08:002023-05-10T17:00:08.753+08:00A Crash Course On Black Tea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsy1kyW8sOEwnVJycGmwgasOfrj4rtLwDKwvX3FOQkj-yUwPlAWmZcONn707BDYfT-D063nLrDSOu7oxq_QuQdXVZw1pLtPKIfyPYMIrzzLGfEB4JLHygc_FH1MWgHwVRcy9uGYrcSVpyXMSp43pF4OV1Xsc7qzMge6TcL9TAf9rDIriPWWWhy2ZSp/s640/IMG_6402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsy1kyW8sOEwnVJycGmwgasOfrj4rtLwDKwvX3FOQkj-yUwPlAWmZcONn707BDYfT-D063nLrDSOu7oxq_QuQdXVZw1pLtPKIfyPYMIrzzLGfEB4JLHygc_FH1MWgHwVRcy9uGYrcSVpyXMSp43pF4OV1Xsc7qzMge6TcL9TAf9rDIriPWWWhy2ZSp/s320/IMG_6402.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpTCexflDCs-ZCWNvk5KmalTw7RZTqEw1XMDrZtWRVwCHx2whBCVsoLm2YYopYuUVTzGcEER1NXGpsx8K8-la_Yn5IORXXH5hCFN72qiRhHShtPecg-2qUe_yxGcYQls3gB_Rjk1o8kipMBux3SpphEbGAS0UgIDvKImWu_UjbXfSN4Gx7Z47TogzC/s640/IMG_6403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpTCexflDCs-ZCWNvk5KmalTw7RZTqEw1XMDrZtWRVwCHx2whBCVsoLm2YYopYuUVTzGcEER1NXGpsx8K8-la_Yn5IORXXH5hCFN72qiRhHShtPecg-2qUe_yxGcYQls3gB_Rjk1o8kipMBux3SpphEbGAS0UgIDvKImWu_UjbXfSN4Gx7Z47TogzC/s320/IMG_6403.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I was in Penang, Malaysia last week. I was at the food fair and there was an area in the food expo devoted to Chinese tea. There were not many tea booths there. A little </span></b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>disappointed but the fabulous local Penang food made my stay there very enjoyable.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I was fortunate to meet a hardcore black tea drinker and I learnt many things from this new tea buddy. Here are the things I learnt about black tea. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>1. The local tea community here in Malaysia called Black tea as dark tea than black tea. Dark tea is considered Chinese tea that had undergone deliberate fermentation during tea processing before the tea is sold. Hence, according to my tea buddy, tea like ripe/shou pu erh, liu bao, Si Chuan Tibetan tea, AnHua gold flower tea and the famous BaiShaXi famous black tea bricks are all regarded as dark tea. It appeared to me the dark tea categorisation of fermented tea is quite broad.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>2, I was told dark tea in Malaysia are brewed 2 ways. The first is kung fu cha style.....add tea leaves in a tea pot and brew as you would would with other Chinese tea like oolong or pu erh. The 2nd way is to boil the tea. I was told to brew 8g of tea with 500ml of water. Boil the tea at a slow simmer for 5-10 minutes and the tea is ready to drink. This is similar to Chinese herbal brew where you add 3 bowls of water to a bag of herbs and boil till about 2 bowls of herbal tea is left. The dark tea will be extremely aromatic and strong and the taste is more complex. I cannot wait to try this boiling method. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>3. I was told that dark tea needs a minimum of 5 years of storage before the tea is ready to drink. I was taken to a Chinese tea shop in Penang and bought some tea to start my dark tea adventures. The 2 bricks in the 1st pix are at left a 2015 Baishaxi 1.6kg black tea brick, The yellow box is a year 2000 Si Chuan Tibetan 1,7kg brick. The 2nd pix showed a 2019 gold flower Anhua tea. This tea has gold flower mold introduced to the tea during processing. The white wrapper is a 500g slice 2021 Chian Liang Cha. This is an actual slice from a 30kg tea log. I also managed to get a 2kg bag of black tea stems. I was told boiling these stems would give off a very strong Chinese herbal medicinal taste. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I look forward to start my dark tea adventures. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-34570055819959406152023-04-28T16:30:00.001+08:002023-04-28T16:30:11.710+08:002021 Xiaguan Raw Tuo<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7V011Z_n8Pzo94jsMklnWyMhsZZEZ01XdEaXneZ84btU_Yl2n3TvOCYCzjY1iuJ6MbldQez6R5UdhBBlyOY-YYwMkvWxFU11_T5eL24h3_7EtzdXaVWdFCvZhOVZIxxmrD7MeEXqnnXeswRixE-ULzp4XRXb6wiuQ_NfnmGgwmd3HffcWIzXw-uB1/s640/IMG_6335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7V011Z_n8Pzo94jsMklnWyMhsZZEZ01XdEaXneZ84btU_Yl2n3TvOCYCzjY1iuJ6MbldQez6R5UdhBBlyOY-YYwMkvWxFU11_T5eL24h3_7EtzdXaVWdFCvZhOVZIxxmrD7MeEXqnnXeswRixE-ULzp4XRXb6wiuQ_NfnmGgwmd3HffcWIzXw-uB1/s320/IMG_6335.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBt0Saq-6HshBufGiGD_l2RU17uMKwBapkUGKS15_HtdOZ73Sz5_uonvlL_cLpIjn2XmqPyI3x929-63TBf80gwUA1IwWF2F0O9sac7OAwPdd3jNwTMIaNpR0_jRoD7HPq68Lc-ge3Nnw-RzEiWuG6t24H8AsHN75lysy8lbqlbS6wBOveYx3TT55G/s640/IMG_6336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBt0Saq-6HshBufGiGD_l2RU17uMKwBapkUGKS15_HtdOZ73Sz5_uonvlL_cLpIjn2XmqPyI3x929-63TBf80gwUA1IwWF2F0O9sac7OAwPdd3jNwTMIaNpR0_jRoD7HPq68Lc-ge3Nnw-RzEiWuG6t24H8AsHN75lysy8lbqlbS6wBOveYx3TT55G/s320/IMG_6336.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibm8fH6GOQG7Aif6EZqm0D3PF3yJvelcXL6-V59NmXxTl0d7LXWpgDffuC21SvVsM8Dw02AMrtGzAx726u0eVHaHO5cyr0z3sK3hQrr2Q8O9ssyfeZ7gjO-lAb_ydqZJKQqcGGiHZpj1Lze76Yr7x5h-mjxMGK2pG6C17myXwxhKLbOv2fa4Fuom0y/s640/IMG_6337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibm8fH6GOQG7Aif6EZqm0D3PF3yJvelcXL6-V59NmXxTl0d7LXWpgDffuC21SvVsM8Dw02AMrtGzAx726u0eVHaHO5cyr0z3sK3hQrr2Q8O9ssyfeZ7gjO-lAb_ydqZJKQqcGGiHZpj1Lze76Yr7x5h-mjxMGK2pG6C17myXwxhKLbOv2fa4Fuom0y/s320/IMG_6337.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">A new local tea buddy recently contacted me telling me that he wanted to buy some tea to age at home. He was thinking about buying Xiaguan and wanted to buy a carton of tuo to store at home. He asked me what I thought about the new Xiaguan raw tuos</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">It so happened I had bought a pack of 2021 tuo. This is the '</span></b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>te tuo'. The name, I conclude is a shortened name version of their popular 'te ji' tuo. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>As you can see. the packaging had changed. The 'palace and lake' illustration was gone......all words now. The tuo wrapper is a white wrapper. These visual changes are not important to me. The tea itself is more important. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Here are my observations and thoughts</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>1. The smoke level of this tea is low. Really low. I could detect a very faint smoke in the 1st two infusions before the smoke fades away. The early versions I own (pre 2007) was more smoky. I remembered when I had opened my first te ji tuo (2007 version), the strong smoke caught me by surprise. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>2. The floral aroma and lightly sweet aftertaste is pleasant. The tea brews reasonably strong. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>3. This tea will age but the results of aging will be very much different from that of the earlier productions of te ji tuo due the very light smokiness in the production. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>4. I would advise my new tea buddy that there is no need to buy a carton of this tea to store away......but instead buy a variety of Xiaguan tea or even other brands (4-5 choices) to fill a carton instead. In 10-15 years time, your box will have a good variety of aged tea to drink and enjoy. That's my 2 cents worth. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-63596225280986539592023-04-15T11:47:00.001+08:002023-04-15T11:47:00.165+08:00Brewing Tea Overseas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYn6Bv5W1Zn9pCwLIpHMY3khvn5hA8nS_b7amlIlFhYJHIjo3VWSgjIjAuicwpsd-igmPgqglxMimxbriScjEkRXsL8IgBeMyxzyaxM5mTRWgGRgmHqsExnuwmfTBFpxa7GqfvFU-qlaOhdCUqnvOFF72sJfTOeszaGe95GIQaSh2YxAohXtGTXsmK/s640/IMG_6322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYn6Bv5W1Zn9pCwLIpHMY3khvn5hA8nS_b7amlIlFhYJHIjo3VWSgjIjAuicwpsd-igmPgqglxMimxbriScjEkRXsL8IgBeMyxzyaxM5mTRWgGRgmHqsExnuwmfTBFpxa7GqfvFU-qlaOhdCUqnvOFF72sJfTOeszaGe95GIQaSh2YxAohXtGTXsmK/s320/IMG_6322.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I had just returned from a long overseas trip from Europe. Here are some of my observations and adjustments I did for my tea brewing sessions while I was abroad. </span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>1. Water</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I could drink water straight from the tap in those countries while I was in Europe. Tap water would taste different from different states or countries but it is an economic and convenient option than bottled water. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>The main issue is boiling water. Many hotels 'upgrade' their room hot water by providing coffee machines (with coffee capsules). These fancy equipment is nice and the coffee actually tasted good. However, if you use the hot water to brew tea, there is a faint coffee aroma in the hot water and this makes Chinese tea brewing unsuitable. And....there were 2 European hotels during my trip where there were no kettles or coffee machines in the rooms and I had to go to a common pantry to get hot water. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Anyway, I think an ideal solution is to bring along a travel kettle. There are many inexpensive travel kettles; smaller than 1 litre and with dual voltage selection where you can bring this kettle to different countries with different voltage requirements. Don't forget a multipurpose wall plug as well. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>2. Tea</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>The tea I took for my travel had hibernating issues. Some of the tea tasted flat or subdued before the tea recovered again (about 1-2 weeks). I cannot explain but serious overseas tea drinkers had advised to drink their tea, ordered from overseas, one week after arrival, to allow the tea to rest. I had brought along raw, ripe pu erh and some oolong for this trip and found my raw pu erh 'hibernated' during the air flight but woke up 1 week later. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>3. Tea Ware</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I had used a small porcelain teapot and 2 teacups during my tea. It was adequate for my use. The teapot was about 150ml and I normally had 4 infusions of tea at one tea session. As I did not bring along a tea tray or tea waste bowl, I, on most occasions, do not rinse out the tea but drank from the very 1st brew. It was more a matter of convenience. Most Chinese tea we buy now are generally clean and there is no health risk not to rinse the tea. I was told by a tea buddy friend that unrinsed tea had the most caffeine but I cannot verify this fact. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Anyway, these are my 2 cents of how to brew better Chinese tea overseas. I believed there are better ways and would appreciate if my tea readers would share how they brew their tea when on a trip.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I will be visiting the USA (</b></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>Seattle, Portland and Chicago in June) for about 3 weeks and look forward to more tea adventures again. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-75738694888607754632023-03-18T03:33:00.001+08:002023-03-18T03:33:04.919+08:002011 Tea Urchin Ding Jia Zhai<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMaHYVrVdPgoINeZFzcR6peB4A_QSKmjpY6s8KpLCPfVPUEKUglHp19VAQOfG-P7fk4vySgy4Rl-ZXhfn2Ssw-AXsbsJjMEKGRVdiKcBxT8i4-4TEwetggGfs1cPJaEdYPeqPNTskYEbP9bPnG06OY4DKCyvVxK-XOQLYFG91wqvn1PgO0ZFqbPzC-/s640/IMG_4852.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMaHYVrVdPgoINeZFzcR6peB4A_QSKmjpY6s8KpLCPfVPUEKUglHp19VAQOfG-P7fk4vySgy4Rl-ZXhfn2Ssw-AXsbsJjMEKGRVdiKcBxT8i4-4TEwetggGfs1cPJaEdYPeqPNTskYEbP9bPnG06OY4DKCyvVxK-XOQLYFG91wqvn1PgO0ZFqbPzC-/s320/IMG_4852.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs5ykuKRl17pms2SIcn2z280BE1pYxC8OhFLHdf6_DTh00X_zT49G2V4NOUHOKmGE3yAaR9VW6P4_ed9CZmS8n09qgE67_k_4f1eqntWMipneKfNSQNTjwlh2M0KRvk-06AQtmaNuZdEjOiT_58eK8ceEuQa-iwrTNaXfaCyUSqOmub7Skth4zb1xn/s640/IMG_4853.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs5ykuKRl17pms2SIcn2z280BE1pYxC8OhFLHdf6_DTh00X_zT49G2V4NOUHOKmGE3yAaR9VW6P4_ed9CZmS8n09qgE67_k_4f1eqntWMipneKfNSQNTjwlh2M0KRvk-06AQtmaNuZdEjOiT_58eK8ceEuQa-iwrTNaXfaCyUSqOmub7Skth4zb1xn/s320/IMG_4853.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This tea cake is produced by Tea Urchin, a tea business setup In Shanghai. This business is owned by a couple Eugene and Belle. Eugene was from Australia before he settled down in Shanghai where he married Belle.</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I had written about them way back in 2012. This couple were quite hardcore when they set up the the </span></b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>business in 2004. They made frequent trips to Yunnan to source for their own tea. They visited the smaller tea families and farms and try to find and offer to their customers the rare and lesser known pu erh tea. I believed they have a few kids now and the recent pandemic had prevented them from visiting Yunnan to personally source the tea.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>This cake is the 2011 Ding Jia Zhai. This tea is primarily from the Yiwu region. I had stored this cake for almost 10 years and had now broken up the cake and put the pieces in a tea caddy. This tea is aromatic; wood and hay aroma. This tea is extremely mouthwatering. I would not serve this tea to new tea drinkers. There is hardly any sweetness in the aftertaste. No sweetness or fruitiness. This tea is slightly herbal bitter with a strong qi. I felt sweaty after the tea session. This is the type of tea when you want it to be strong without any fuss. I like. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-85959210407527647472023-03-01T05:30:00.001+08:002023-03-01T05:30:00.179+08:00Late 90s CNNP 7581 Ripe Brick<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOjEAfcoKEXDKA3h5N2Jlr8xKHgGHvYAaJROEPvYes3t2KpR_DalBopOY2Q3vFa-BvN04kBoek20lUzRE8bfGIWK_W8knNztDf5GqDpNZzliyCBM0-2sSbgEsvP9ouu4mddsQiRLrZEPDd4ZDqw5HK83v09NEh-6Z9VTR9kxM9LcfH1KkToGjBdcP5/s640/IMG_4986.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOjEAfcoKEXDKA3h5N2Jlr8xKHgGHvYAaJROEPvYes3t2KpR_DalBopOY2Q3vFa-BvN04kBoek20lUzRE8bfGIWK_W8knNztDf5GqDpNZzliyCBM0-2sSbgEsvP9ouu4mddsQiRLrZEPDd4ZDqw5HK83v09NEh-6Z9VTR9kxM9LcfH1KkToGjBdcP5/s320/IMG_4986.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigiQpebl1IYyO5KR7EW0sZrtclDkgVeXFd9qfz7diO66-aoe91GFUHBuEqmvr05lwnomaSNJYgb6vr4KX6THMbpC01uJnxAUwnJ4wc7_UEklSvMW1Mz5af8k39CeiWLscIBl4I4UriaRtxH8XqCVyidC-94jB-m_vqPon3pZVo7cmoSjTfJ9GzF-Tu/s640/IMG_4987.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigiQpebl1IYyO5KR7EW0sZrtclDkgVeXFd9qfz7diO66-aoe91GFUHBuEqmvr05lwnomaSNJYgb6vr4KX6THMbpC01uJnxAUwnJ4wc7_UEklSvMW1Mz5af8k39CeiWLscIBl4I4UriaRtxH8XqCVyidC-94jB-m_vqPon3pZVo7cmoSjTfJ9GzF-Tu/s320/IMG_4987.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2Q51m1e9l_WM-34pHJp7gf7eLnNuFQLajG3yd39ULSzCVfoioRS6c2qLviPvOHP5JAw3cYvpHrcKygi696e89IfvIujlddGnKyiHt3SpIyw6Pt38jl63uTmYu4rr0mFou3j8hk7NuF7ie0LbJHPxx79CXUbSfKiT4H-IwR7iwScgk5h_i2S1MSL5/s640/IMG_4988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2Q51m1e9l_WM-34pHJp7gf7eLnNuFQLajG3yd39ULSzCVfoioRS6c2qLviPvOHP5JAw3cYvpHrcKygi696e89IfvIujlddGnKyiHt3SpIyw6Pt38jl63uTmYu4rr0mFou3j8hk7NuF7ie0LbJHPxx79CXUbSfKiT4H-IwR7iwScgk5h_i2S1MSL5/s320/IMG_4988.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></b><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This is a late 90s CNNP 7581 ripe brick. I had acquired a carton of this tea during one my early visits to Guangzhou. I was introduced to a Chinese tea drinking group and I had later got to purchased this tea from a retired CNNP tea manager in that group. It was from him, Mr Chen that I started learning about pu erh tea and storing pu erh tea as a hobby. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This tea survived my trip to Europe. Unlike my raw pu erh tea, this 7581 did not "hibernate' during the journey here. The taste and aroma was good exhibiting old earthly notes of old books and leather. This tea is a workhorse brewing up more than a dozen good infusions in a tea session. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">This only thing I found challenging was brewing tea in this cold wintry weather. The tea cools very fast. I like to drink my tea reasonably hot, but </span></b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>over here in Paris, the tea cools down and was luke warm after 10 min. I had to finish my tea quickly in between infusions. I wonder whether Chinese tea drinkers, in winter, drink their tea quickly in between infusions. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-91984591649985455242023-02-14T17:09:00.003+08:002023-02-14T17:09:46.439+08:00The Case Of The Hibernating Pu erh <p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-91hGtRNIQNf6yes7GA2yAy2vS1oDRM8qm_FcavML26tqTnPs3OTL3vU1JroTiRq8faF7RTyGIxhElZWQmC-BFA7Ugu55cdLikagEDeWLKYFAGX1Be5XGgHBItqUAaVPH_IEXjnr2GZcCShDTRWCnt_HlDJrG3PrC47garvQ35kslRFHmDCANqeHD/s640/IMG_5017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-91hGtRNIQNf6yes7GA2yAy2vS1oDRM8qm_FcavML26tqTnPs3OTL3vU1JroTiRq8faF7RTyGIxhElZWQmC-BFA7Ugu55cdLikagEDeWLKYFAGX1Be5XGgHBItqUAaVPH_IEXjnr2GZcCShDTRWCnt_HlDJrG3PrC47garvQ35kslRFHmDCANqeHD/s320/IMG_5017.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8QeQgAqA0F-21cRQEssB72CEkIX2SsFraT-iNVjg1Mkz_o98sTNWJxLvwQJd_GgWApRcCpstW1Hd9PxCgqGy3tWUq3951KCa8Z52Jw3kSnrxcLPgoIFwBkKuHf-w7M0eaJSrrlVCigFrxXGZ01Gjwm7-ACxtCi4lZdybZTUYIVXcA0dzEXrQkdmOu/s640/IMG_5018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8QeQgAqA0F-21cRQEssB72CEkIX2SsFraT-iNVjg1Mkz_o98sTNWJxLvwQJd_GgWApRcCpstW1Hd9PxCgqGy3tWUq3951KCa8Z52Jw3kSnrxcLPgoIFwBkKuHf-w7M0eaJSrrlVCigFrxXGZ01Gjwm7-ACxtCi4lZdybZTUYIVXcA0dzEXrQkdmOu/s320/IMG_5018.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUHyPVedg5S4SFVUGuvifduwljSAFEyDHWp0WvVp4xnSNI7U9txvaP0fyVoB3slubh9g8KsaI9EGqlrXgxIRelmZ64cdalX4fYTZNBwA8cQmSGbQMQO7qbjW7FR_qMOBcDxtG0G-_Zdw30JSL3YE8lLBOHxxMiUbQUfy5l2x7r0P7t3i4Z6pAkv0t/s640/IMG_5171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUHyPVedg5S4SFVUGuvifduwljSAFEyDHWp0WvVp4xnSNI7U9txvaP0fyVoB3slubh9g8KsaI9EGqlrXgxIRelmZ64cdalX4fYTZNBwA8cQmSGbQMQO7qbjW7FR_qMOBcDxtG0G-_Zdw30JSL3YE8lLBOHxxMiUbQUfy5l2x7r0P7t3i4Z6pAkv0t/s320/IMG_5171.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> </span></b><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">It is winter in Paris and I am brewing and drinking Chinese tea. I had, in my previous blog entry, decided on the tea I had selected for my overseas adventure. One reader asked "no xiaguan? ". Yes, I managed to packed some 2006 Yue Shang Raw tuo. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I had brewed this tea a couple of days before my trip. I enjoyed this tea a lot and I was eager to brew this tea when I arrived in Paris. </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The tea tasted different. It tasted less vibrant and aromatic. I tried a longer </span></b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>infusion time but the results was not any better. I thought it may be due to the water. I tried a ripe 7581 pu erh tea the next day and the tea tasted alright. I concluded that this tea went into hibernation during the air flight and needed time to 'adjust' to the new climate. This phenomena was highlighted by many tea experts (residing in USA) who had ordered tea from overseas and tried the tea when the order had arrived. Cwyn renown for her 'death by tea' blog recommend to rest the tea for a couple of weeks before you brew the tea. This allow the tea to adjust to the new climate. It is like awaking the tea or Xin-cha in Chinese. The tea will taste better after a couple of weeks. I cannot explain this awaking phenomena but my many overseas friends has 'sworn' to rest their newly ordered tea for a couple of weeks before brewing the tea. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I am going to let this tea rest and drink my other tea stash. As a reward of my clever sleuthing, I had rewarded myself with buying a Sherlock Holmes novel, printed in 1893, from the famous Abbey Bookshop in Paris. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4661249909570434867.post-17495238438913001372023-01-21T15:03:00.001+08:002023-01-21T15:03:10.809+08:00Happy Chinese New Year<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZpn8778xqg3dvk_ASfcr_xpMtKX5NOHE23H3hR2szsSUnerZyf23T4xt1xNTriVXmezuev9KspqFWTlReCMLceLYRXgYvKAWC7Zt2IdTZkR7Dei5kh4uio-R-EYRD8TQSwlM4Sj9cmsQgAfog-ZX1HCNd4CBGxi7Z_zHHPPVXyCK7C03m3t9nQmp/s640/IMG_5022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZpn8778xqg3dvk_ASfcr_xpMtKX5NOHE23H3hR2szsSUnerZyf23T4xt1xNTriVXmezuev9KspqFWTlReCMLceLYRXgYvKAWC7Zt2IdTZkR7Dei5kh4uio-R-EYRD8TQSwlM4Sj9cmsQgAfog-ZX1HCNd4CBGxi7Z_zHHPPVXyCK7C03m3t9nQmp/s320/IMG_5022.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Happy Chinese New Year. 2023 is the year of the rabbit. and falls on 22nd January. My essential checklist include Mandarin oranges, red packets of money to give to parents and kids, lots of </span></b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>snacks and of course Chinese tea.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>One last reminder - I will be closing my online store for about 6 months as I will travelling a fair bit. Europe in next 2 months and USA in summer. Hopefully Malaysia and Hong Kong in between. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>I wish all my friends and readers a Happy Chinese New Year. Live long and prosper. </b></span></p>wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02559674803593116554noreply@blogger.com0