2008 Menghai ripe pu erh "hong yun" cake 100g

 This 100g ripe cake is from the Menghai brand.  The cake comes in a paper wrapper (2nd pix)) and then housed in a paper box (1st pix).  You can also buy them in a 5 box pack where you can get 5 pieces in a bigger box.  This tea, as I write this blog, is easily available especially on the internet.  It is also inexpensive about us$6 per piece, freight inclusive (I had bought 5 pieces).

The description on the box claims that this is a high quality selected tea with a good and prolong aftertaste.  Yunnan sourcing (which sells tea on the internet) describes this tea as "This is the one of the highest grade premium ripe teas released by Menghai tea factory for the year 2008!  It is also the first release of this mini iron cake which is called "Red Rhyme" (Hong Yun 红韵）.    This collectable mini tea cake is composed of grade 3 and higher leaves, all smaller leaf fermented material with plenty of flavor to give up when brewed".

Observations - tea is well packed with a paper wrapper and housed in a box. This, for the tea collector,makes storage of the tea a breeze.  The tea cake is tightly compressed and I had to use my large swiss army knife to split the cake in half.  I could then break the cake, by hand, into 12 pieces for storage.   I could make 10 infusions (after discarding the 1st 2 infusions) for drinking.  Tea is not bitter with a  pleasant characteristic ripe pu erh fragrance.  I find the taste of the tea nicer, when the tea had cooled down to room temperature.  Well the tea brews well, and you must keep your 1st few infusions of the tea short....about 5-10 seconds (your preference).  It is a tasty tea but  my thoughts on this tea are that because this is a new tea (manufactured oct '08), the potential of this tea may /would be better after a few years of storage.

One advantage of buying this tea, well for me because its  a small cake(100g), and the size allows me to finish the cake in about 12 brews and I can move on  to try other cakes.  I have allocated 4 ripe pu erh containers in my tea cupboard. and I will only opened another ripe pu erh when one of the containers are empty.  At this moment, my 4 ripe pu erh I am drinking are, 07' haiwan lao cha tou, '07 loose royal pu erh I had purchased during my latest visit to Kunming, '02 cnnp, and this '08 menghai.  

One other strong advantage of buying this tea on the internet is  to fill your tea order in terms of weight, to the nearest kg.  You must remember that the postage on your order of tea is based on weight. Example -when you have made an order of tea and it weights 1.7kg,  you can add a couple of these pieces of this tea, or any other tea to make your order's weight within 2 kg, without incurring additional postage charges.

Would I buy this tea again?  to drink now - no because this quality tea has potential to be better after a few years of proper ageing  .  But for storage and filling up the weight for a tea order - this presently inexpensive 100g menghai tea - yes.

Straits Chinese Porcelain teacups

Straits Chinese porcelain is an overglazed enameled porcelain, made in Jingdezhen China from 1900s to 1960s , for the exclusive use of the Straits Chinese community (aka peranakans) found in Malaysia and Singapore. 

 

Common characteristics of this porcelain include peonies and phoenixes.  You may also see insects, and on the borders of most straits chinese porcelain, auspicious chinese symbols.  These porcelain comes in a myriad of colors from white, green, yellow, pink, coral reds and even blue.

 

The pictures attached are straits chinese teacups.  These teacups are used for weddings or birthdays.  In the 1^st pix, this elaborate teacup comes in a beautiful combination of color and design.  You will observe a phoenix in flight amidst poeny flowers.  Notice the border patterns on the exterior rim of the cup. This very rare teacup, which I had the opportunity to purchased as one pair, is so elaborate that the interior of the teacup is also decorated.  The 2^nd pix shows the interior of the teacup decorated with the flowers of the 4 seasons.  The 3^rd pix is another teacup with a stylized phoenix in flight on a pink background.  Some of these teacups come with a lid (gaiwan style – see pix of my blog 27 jan ’09)

 

The lasts 2 pictures are illustrations from 2 books namely, “Peranakan Chinese porcelain” by Kee Ming Yuet and “Straits Chinese porcelain” by Ho Wing Meng. 

Tea may reduce stroke risk

Drinking green or oolong tea consistently is linked to a significantly lower risk of Ischaemic stroke due to reduced blood flow to the brain.

Ischaemic stroke occurs when oxygen-delivering arteries in the brain become partially or completely blocked reducing the blood flow to the brain. Previous research has suggested that tea or its components might reduce high blood pressure and other risk factors.

To ascertain the relationship between drinking tea and risk of ischaemic stroke, researchers studied the tea drinking habits of 838 Chinese men and women, aged around 70 years. Information on frequency and duration of tea drinking, quantity of dried tea leaves, and types of tea consumed, together with habitual diet and lifestyle characteristics, was obtained from participants using a questionnaire.

Of all, 374 participants had a medically confirmed ischaemic stroke, and 464 (the "control" group) had no history of cardiovascular disease or medical conditions that raised their risk of stroke. The stroke group had a higher occurrence of elevated blood pressure, diabetes and smoking. The control group reported higher fruit and vegetable intake and a longer duration of tea drinking. 

The researchers also took into account gender, body mass, level of education, lifelong physical activity, smoking, alcohol intake, the presence of high blood pressure, cholesterol level, diabetes, and diet.

Those who reported drinking at least one cup of tea per week for more than 30 years had a 60 percent lower risk of ischaemic stroke. Those who drank more than 2 cups of tea daily had about a 40 percent lower risk of such strokes. The risks were even lower in those who drank green or oolong tea, a traditional Chinese tea. Those who drank green or oolong tea had 72 and 79 percent lower risk for ischaemic stroke, respectively. Using more tea leaves was associated with a 73 percent reduced risk of stroke.

The above findings are consistent with previous research from Japan that drinking tea cuts stroke risk. However, further investigations are needed to ascertain whether tea consumption can enhance survival of stroke patients.

 

Article from ndtv.com 28 Jul ‘09

Pu erh Humour

My friend who had returned from Beijing, gave me a gift of tea.  It was pu erh.  It was  loose raw pu erh which came packed in a modern airtight foil packaging.  It was the English translations that provided the humour.  (click 2nd pix for enlarged view)

The storage instructions for the tea was "Defend the tide and defend the strange smell".  

Wow, we puerh tea drinkers should be knighted as we have the additional tasks of being soldiers to defend the tide and smell.......well actually, the actual translations should be store the tea away from moisture and odours.  

Many Chinese in China do not yet have a good grasp of the English language (but the standard of English is improving).  As a result,  some direct translations may caused confusion and humour to the reader.  Likewise, we may be the subject of ridicule when we attempt to directly translate English to chinese.  You don't believe me....try translating "joystick" to chinese.  

To the Puerh tea drinker, please defend the tide and smell, but seriously.....all tea leaves must be properly stored, especially from moisture and odours. (more on storage of tea in my later blogs)

Longjing Tea

Longjing tea, a green tea, is a very famous tea and is primarily grown in Hangzhou/ suzhou districts.  These leaves are handpicked and then pan fried by hand.  Longjing translates to "dragon well" is considered a high premium tea in China and is highly regarded by green tea drinkers throughout the world.

Good quality longjing tea is very expensive.  I had just purchased  a Hangzhou tea factory 600g pack for US$160 (april 2009 harvest).  This I was told was about 2^nd/3^rd grade  as higher grades were not allowed for sale.  A pinchful of tea (about 15-20 leaves) can make  a 200ml cup of tea.  Good for 3 infusions, 2^nd infusion tastes the best. (do not use boiling water, let boiling water cool for a minute before pouring).  I find the taste refreshing and light with a hint of flowers, with a sweet aftertaste.   The tea does put a smile on my face after I had finished a cup.  I was told the leaves after brewing are edible and some locals in China even use these leaves when making an egg omelette. 

 In the book “Chinese Tea” by Liu Tong, the author retells a story about longjing tea : “When Emperor Qianlong went to the south, he went to the West Lake district to have a drink of the longjing tea.  Seeing the skillfulness of the tea picking girls, he couldn’t help getting interested and started learning to pick.  Just then, some attendants hurried along to announce that the Queen mother was ill.  Carelessly putting the newly picked leaves in his sleeves, Qianlong returned to Beijing.  The Queen mother had nothing serious, just a little indigestion, plus missing her son.  She noticed that gusts of fragrance came out of Qianlong and asked why.  Only then did the emperor remember the leaves in his sleeve.  He took them out and made tea with them.  The tea was sweet, strong and tasteful, curing the mother’s ailment at once.  Qianlong was so pleased he gave orders that the 18 tea trees in front of longjing temple be named “royal tea”……because the leaves that Qianlong took back to Beijing was pressed flat in his sleeve, the later leaves were all made into that shape.”

 The author suggested using a clear tall glass to make this tea.  When pouring the water into the glass he suggest, while pouring to raise and lower the pot three times (this method is called Phoenix nods 3 times).  This is to ensure the leaves have thorough contact with the water and at the same time shows the respect for both the guest and tea ceremony. 

 Overall conclusion I have on this tea is that even though the tea sounds expensive for a 600g bag…. the number of brews may make it actually quite reasonable in terms of price per brew.  This is a high quality green tea which I have enjoyed.  The taste is uniquely refreshing and making the tea also gives me visual enjoyment; watching the leaves float and then sink. The aftertaste is very pleasant with a lingering fresh floral scent.   For the new tea drinker to this tea…..please try out the tea (to make sure you like the tea) or purchase tea samples before you commit to a high price tea purchase.  

2007 Haiwan Lao Cha Tou

This is  2007 Haiwan production.  Weighs 500g and comes  packaged in a paper box.

Lao cha tou is considered a ripe pu erh tea.  Ripe pu erh tea that has completed fermentation are put in a blower to sort out the sizes and grade of the tea.  The remaining tea found after the "blower' process are those tea leaves that have clumped up to be to heavy to be sorted.  This clumps of tea are fermented ripe tea on the outside with some tea leaves inside the lumps having different states of fermentation.

Yunnan Sourcing describes this tea as "Cha Tou is a type of compressed nugget that is the by product of fermenting Pu-erh tea. At the end of the 40+ day fermentation process (where the Pu-erh tea is fermented unto itself), the tea is fed into a wind-blowing sorter that sorts the tea according to its size (grade). The cha tou is found near the bottom of the pile of Pu-erh and is formed as a result of heat and relatively high compression.  "Lao Cha Tou" translates roughly to: old tea nugget. Haiwan tea factory used 1, 2 and 3 year old "cha tou" and compressed them into a brick. ."

I have found the  500gm brick to be large 25 x 12.5 cm (8 x 5 inches).  The compression is medium and the entire brick can be broken  down by hand into pieces for storage.  The tea leaves are fragrant and the aroma from brewing the tea is very pleasant (hint of cereal and nut), no bitterness with a creamy sweet aftertaste.  I found that I could, after discarding the 1st two infusions for washing the tea, make more than 12 infusions  (I use about 8-10 gm in a 200 ml pot).  I make 6 cups in the morning and another 6 (discarding the 7th infusion) in the evening.    I usually give up by the 12th infusion as it is too much tea for me.  I would recommend this tea to a pu erh beginner or those who have a preference for ripe pu erh tea.  I would rate this tea as excellent and provides good value for money (if you count the number of cups of tea you get from this brick).  

joke of the day;

How long does it take to ship tea from China by slow boat?
Oolong Time!

Green Tea Oil

This green tea oil (Camellia Sinensis) is made in Japan (marketed by Unicity, an American company).  This 80 ml oil is housed in a green bottle. The information I gleaned from the box -  Made from "green tea base powder through a globally patented manufacturing process, combining jojoba oil, squalene from olive oil and natural vitamin E".  Catechin  is a type of tannin found in tea leaves.  It is known for its anti oxidant, anti bacteria, fat burning and odour eliminating properties……Green tea oil can be used head to toe and is suitable for the entire family".

 

Anyone reading this…..I am developing my pu-erh oil.  You will have a choice of ripe or raw.  Drinkable.