2006 Mengku ripe mini cake

This is a Mengku Ripe mini cake (140gms).  Produced by Mengku Tea Co (very well known),  I personally rate this cake as one of my favorite 2006 ripe pu erh.  Newcomers to pu erh will enjoy the earthy toasty aroma and taste while the experienced ripe pu erh drinkers will find this tea extremely smooth with a distinctly pleasant aftertaste.  

This ripe cake is inexpensive costing me about US$6 (air freight inclusive).  I had already drunk through 2 cakes and have a couple more cakes left in my pu erh stash.  I tend to drink my ripe pu erh on the stronger side and I usually add more tea leaves when I brew a ripe tea.  Its something like 8/10 gms for a 180 ml pot.  Use boiling water every time for better results.  I could get about 10 drinkable brews after discarding the 1st two infusions (pour them over my teapot).  When I had my 1st taste of this tea,  it made me mumbled a "wow".  The taste was toasty and woody....very nice feel...... and before I knew it, I had drank the whole cup.  I also observed that there were also hardly any tea stems in the cake.....just small tea leaves (click 2nd/3rd pix).

This cake is value for money in terms of quality and price.  Its available for sale on the internet.  Yunnan Sourcing described  this tea as "This is a classic ripe mini cake from the Mengku Rongshi tea factory of Lin Cang.  These cakes are made from 2005 fermented Lincang large-leaf varietal tea.  The flavor smooth with a sweet after-taste."  Awazon gave this tea a 4.5 star rating (out of 5).   This tea was also an award winner in a tea contest.

The Book of Tea

“The Book of Tea” printed by Flammarion is made up of 3 essays about tea; “Tea gardens” by Alain Stella, “Time for tea” by Gilles Brochard and “The taste of tea” by Catherine Donzal.

“Tea Garden” deals with the various tea plantations of the world, from India, China, Japan, Ceylon and other countries. He explains and compares the tea and tea harvest between the countries and the beautiful pictures (please click the pix to read the text) help the reader visualize the essay.

“Time for tea” examines how the various teas round the world are prepared and drunk.  The author asserts  “Each day, over one and a half billion cups of tea are consumed on the planet”.  The pictures accompanying these essays are poignant and breathtaking.

“The taste of tea” explores the charms of drinking tea.  An excerpt – “The tea leaf itself bears the traits of the soil in which it was grown.  Each harvest has its own special quality, whether cultivated on the plains, in the mountains, on Himalayan slopes in springtime or in Ceylon during a hot summer.  Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.  The names of the various regions alone conjures up distant lands, and the names of the gardens are even more evocative.” 

The last section of the book lists all the famous tea rooms of the world; name of tearoom, address, tel, website and a tiny write-up on these rooms.

 I found the book to be an interesting read.  Good pictures did helped me visualized the authors’ thoughts.  An excellent read.

A tea shop in Singapore

This is D'ART Station, a tea shop found in Singapore.  Aptly located in the heart of Chinatown, access to the tea shop now is made easier with a 5 minute walk from the subway station (we locals call it the MRT).  This shop is owned by a Mr Lee and run efficiently by his assistant Miss Chong.  Address - 63 Temple Street.  Mr Lee had also opened another outlet a few streets away at 65 Pagoda Street.

I enjoy visiting this tea shop as the atmosphere there is very friendly and the people there are willing to share their tea knowledge with me.  Miss Chong had made very good recommendations of some of their pu erh and I have not been disappointed with my tea purchases there.

As seen in the pictures (please click on the pix for enlarged views), this tea shop is very well stocked with everything tea.  The shop is now having a 50% sale on their teapots (not the expensive ones though).   I find that the range of tea on sale is impressive and the tea accessories varied enough to make a tea collector (myself included) spend considerable time and money at this shop.  Talking about money, the shop do not have any electronic payment facility and all sales are in cash.

The back of the shop is where you get to try a sample of a tea.  Regular tea customers normally gather around this table exchanging stories and showing off their recent tea / teapot purchase.  I was privileged that during my latest visit, an elderly gentleman came in and showed his latest purchase; a very old liu-ann tea....and its just the liu-ann tea stems.  A pot of this tea was made and I was offered a cup.  The taste was very rich with a  herbly fragrance and a very strong sweaty cha qi soon hit me.  I found the tea buzz too strong for me but apparently the rest of the tea drinkers there enjoyed this cha qi.  

The last pix is that of a raw pu erh.  This is the last production of the Menghai puerh in a CNNP wrapper.  I was given a small sample to take home.  The tea was really mellow, super tasty and smooth bringing a smile to my face when I sipped this tea.  Fairly pricey for this particular cake, I am thinking whether to buy this cake.....most probably.   

2006 Haiwan raw remote mountain old tree pu erh

This is a 2006 Haiwan raw pu erh cake.  The label on the wrapper describes the tea leaves were harvested from old pu erh trees in the remote mountains of Yunnan.  This cake is quite popular as Haiwan has produced these cakes since 2005.  I have seen these cakes for sale in Hong Kong and are quite popular with the drinkers there.  The 2009 version of this cake is also now available when I checked on the internet.

I had purchased the 2006 version and I found the compression of the cake tight.  I had accidentally knocked the cake on its side which explains a small dent in the cake (1st/ 4th pix).  I had to pry the cake open with my swiss army knife. The scent from the cake is nice with a hint of lemon.

I had opened the cake up in late June 2009 and I have drank through 3/4 of this cake.  These are my findings:

I had broken up the cake and store the pu erh in a cylindrical cardboard tea box (those you find in commercial tea shops selling loose teas).  My first brews of this tea, especially in the starting infusions,make me felt that the tea was very smoky.  My daughter who walked past asked for a cup as the smoky scent reminded her of a bbq (campfire) in an open field.    I concurred with her on the scent and I tried to find out the origin of the smoky scent (where the tea leaves absorbed the smoke).  It is possible that burning wood was used for fueling the woks used to dry the tea leaves in an enclosed environment.   As a result, when batches of tea are being "fried dry", the tea leaves inadvertently  absorbed this  wood smoke during the drying process.  A reader suggested  "The smoky smell will stick to the surface because it probably comes from people smoking tobacco around the teas when they are in warehouses".  I have tea / smoking friends and they concluded that the smoke from this cake is not likely to be tobacco smoke.  WHEW!.....what a relief.  I believe that  smoking tobacco near the tea or tea production may impact the tea leaves with the tobacco smoke.......  likewise storing your tea in a smoke and odour free room will ensure your tea to be free from any unpleasant smells. 

The taste of the tea is very pleasant.  It is smooth and very drinkable. A brew will make more than 12 good drinkable infusions.  Tea leaves seem larger.  Slightly bitter with a sweet finish.  The tea has mild citrus flavor and leaves a slight tingly sensation to the tongue.  I felt a nice warm mild buzz after going through few infusions and it passes after a few minutes .  This is the cha qi of tea, something like the effect you get from the caffine from drinking coffee.  The cha qi from this tea is really pleasant.

This interesting fact from reviewing this tea is that the tea changes over 2 months as it is stored in the tea container.  The smokiness of the tea dissipates and the tea feels mellower and sweeter in the aftertaste.  I am lucky that I stay in a hot and humid climate in Singapore.  A tea shop owner  in Singapore told me that the tea "oxidize" when we open up a tea cake and store it for a couple of months.   My new tea friend (a tea master actually), Eric from Penang, Malaysia explains "airing your Pu for a month or two before you consume it is a very good practice. It allows your pu to absorb more moisture and  you will find that your tea broth is smoother and less abusive to your tongue".

Overall impressions of the tea is very good.  A value for money pu erh in terms of weight, quality and price.  I got mine for around $25 (inclusive of air freight). A "must buy again" tea.

Tea : aromas and flavors around the world

“Tea : aromas and flavors around the world” is written by Lydia Gautier published by chronicle books.   This is a big book and is beautifully lavished with photos all related to tea.

 This tea book concentrates on the evolution of tea; its taste through the centuries.  The book delves on the history of tea and its practices and customs associated with tea consumption.  Other chapters include the alchemy of tea; the processing methods of the different tea and a interesting write up on the aromatization of tea.  Later chapters deal with tea tasting, subtle affinities of tea, recipes for cooking with tea and an address book on all the tea merchants and tea rooms of the world.  Cick the pix for  enlarged views.

 I have included 2 excerpts from this book which are very informative:

“The effects of tea on the assimilation of iron – It is often said that tea prevents the successful absorption of iron, and for this reason pregnant women are advised against drinking it.  During digestion certain polyphenols do in fact remain undigested by the organism and form complexes with iron ions (that is to say, they absorb them).  As a result the iron available to pass into the blood during digestion is heavily reduced.  However, once it has passed into the blood there is no further interaction with the polyphenols, which are digested and also pass in to the blood.  It is therefore simply a matter of consuming sources of iron separately from drinking tea or of waiting some time after meals before drinking tea”. 

“Milk – The custom of adding milk to tea appears to have been introduced by the British to reduce the bitterness of certain poor-quality imported teas, and to date from the nineteenth century.  In chemical terms, the proteins in the milk form a complex with certain tannins in tea that are responsible for its pungency and bitterness, thus making the tea seem smoother and sweeter.  When making tea in this way, the milk should be poured into the cup first and the hot tea added; the tea will cool on contact with the milk as it is poured.  If, on the other hand, the milk is added to the hot tea. The proteins in the milk are denatured by the heat and then unable to produced the desired smoothness.”

 My comments on the milk article above is that so far in Asia where I reside and all the places I have visited (Americas and Europe), all the people I know and saw pour their milk to their tea (when the tea is drunk with milk).  Nonetheless, this book is very well researched and the pictures therein are outstanding.   A recommended read.  

Mooncakes and Chinese Tea

Mooncakes are eaten by the Chinese during the mid autumn period of the chinese calender.  The story below will try help explain the story behind these cakes.

 During the Yuan dynasty (A.D.1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. The people were unhappy with the occupation by foreign rulers.   The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Baked into each moon cake was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government. What followed was the establishment of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644). Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend.

Mooncakes are no bigger than a size of a man’s clenched fist.  It is usually filled with lotus seed paste or red bean paste.  These fillings are sweetened.  For the more expensive cakes, salted hardboiled duck yolks are found within the cakes (see pix).  The cost of each cake is about US$4-5, An order usually comes in a box of 4 moon cakes.  Nowadays, to cater to the younger market, mooncakes now come in a myriad of fillings ranging from ice-cream, yogurt, cheesecake and even chocolate fillings. 

Traditionally mooncakes are eaten with chinese tea.  My uncle love his mooncakes to complement tie guan yin.  I fully agree with him on his choice, even though I think pu erh (both raw and ripe) and oolongs will also be good choices with mooncakes.  The mid autumn festival this year falls on 3 Oct 2009.  Nuff’ said …..  time to eat the mooncakes.  

Ripe Pu erh - an aging perspective

Ripe pu erh tea is tea that underwent fermentation (usually about 6 weeks) during the processing of this tea.  The purpose of the fermentation is to make ripe pu erh tea to have similar taste / flavor as aged raw pu erh tea.  This means that your raw pu erh, which you and I are keeping and storing, will mature in 15/20 years to a flavor similar to that of ripe pu erh.

 According to a few tea shops and tea drinkers,  I was advised that ripe pu erh is to be drunk after 2 years from the production of the tea.  This time period will remove the mild scent of the fermentation (known as “wodui” in chinese).  Raw pu erh, given under similar advisement, was also to be drunk after 3 years, to remove the sharpness of the tea.

Pu erh teamaster, Chan Kam Pong from Hong Kong in his tea blog (http://www.cloudsteacollection.com/html/weblog/weblog_e.html), gave a tea review (9 nov 2008) of a 1990s purple sky ripe tea cake.  Here is a short excerpt:

 “The Purple Sky Ripe Tea Cake had a thick, mellow and sweet tea broth. It had extra smooth texture and finish. It was really a solid tea broth as one could feel it easily. Since it has been aging for more than 15 years, there was not much obvious earthy ripe tea smell left. During appreciation, one might not feel that it was actually a ripe tea cake. To a certain extent, the taste was somehow close to the "aged raw tea". Certainly, there was still differences in the tea broth between the aged raw Puerh and the aged ripe Puerh. Even though the aged ripe tea was so mellow that it was close to the aged raw Puerh, the ripe tea broth was too smooth without much vividness and aftertaste ("Huigan") when comparing with the aged raw tea cakes………All in all, if The Purple Ripe Tea Cake was judged by ripe tea criteria, its performance was extra-ordinary and fantastic as it had extra fine mellowness, sweetness, smoothness and texture.”

 I have read comments in tea forums as well as from my readers of this blog that aged ripe pu erh tea(10 years old) is really good.  My thoughts on this matter is that when you store ripe pu erh, this tea will continue to ferment naturally over time.   Aged raw pu erh will however, still be the gold standard for pu erh tea as the time and effort involved in storage of the raw pu erh (15-20 years) is considerable compared to ripe pu erh.  I enjoy both ripe and raw pu erh.  However,  I  drink more from my ripe tea collection as my raw pu erh tea lot is less than 10 years old.

Pix shows a 2008 ripe menghai.  This is a new recipe from menghai where aged maocha is blended with the new leaves to produce this cake.