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.  

Ethnic Minority Tea in China

“The Art of Tea in China” is written by Guo Danying and Wang Jianrong.  This book examines the importance and tradition of tea in China.  Lavishly illustrated with pictures and photos, this interesting book deals with the various Chinese tea, brewing techniques, teaware and tea customs.  The second pix shows the pan frying process of longjing tea by hand.  The 3^rd pix show photos related to making Tujia pounded tea and Dai bamboo tea.  I found the chapter on ethnic minorities’ tea making fascinating and have highlighted the different tea customs below as follows.

Tibetan Buttered tea

Boil crushed brick / tuo tea in kettle.  Pour the boiled tea in pot and mix it with butter, sesame powder, peanut kernels, melon seed kernels, pine nut kernels and salt.   Keep stirring with a wooden stick till completely blended.  Pour the brew in the kettle and heat for a few minutes. Taste is slightly salty, oily and robust flavored.

 

Mongolian Milk Tea

Boil crushed brick tea in pot or kettle.  After the liquid turn reddish brown (about 10 min), add sheep or cow milk and some salt and boil for a few minutes.  Stir brew well and the result is a hot hearty flavored drink.  The Mongolians usually prepare milk tea early in the morning and keep warming it up over a small fire all day.

 

Tujia pounded tea (lei cha)

The beverage is made by boiling raw tea leaves, raw ginger and raw rice together in water, it is also called san sheng cha (literally three raw tea).  To make pounded tea, first put tealeaves into mortar along with seasonings such as soybeans, green beans, peanuts, sugar and sesame.  Pound  to paste and add cold water and mix it.  ( the author did not mention to boil this tea but I suspect boiling is required for this tea).

 

Dai Bamboo tube tea

Called Naduo in dai language, bamboo tube tea is offered to guests of the Dai people living in Yunnan province, south west China.  Fresh tender tea leaves are placed in xiang zhu bamboo (fragrant bamboo) and roasted over a charcoal fire.  When the leaves shrink, a wooden stick is poked into the tube to press the leaves tight and new leaves are put in.  This process is repeated till bamboo tube is full.  When roasting is finished, the tube is split open and the tea leaves are retrieved.

 

Bai Three-course tea

1st course of tea offered are made from green tea leaves that have been roasted in an earthen pot.  This tea, with robust flavour, taste a bit bitter.  2^nd course of tea offered is tea brewed with sugar and milk, a sweet tea. 3^rd course of tea offered honey, walnut kernels,, sliced ginger and Chinese prickly ash seeds are added (I think like cinnamon), giving the tea a complicated and pungent aftertaste.  The carefully arranged sequence of teas offered (from bitter to sweet to meaningful aftertaste) is a symbolic meaning of respect to their guest of the Bai people.

 

Jino cold tea

The Jino people use their puerh tea produce by making cold tea using fresh tender leaves and also eat the tea leaves as food.  1^st, rub the newly picked tea leaves between the hands and put the crushed tea leaves in a bowl.  Add pulverized orange tea leaves (I suggest orange peel as alternative), pepper, salt and garlic.  Add water, stir and wait for 15 min before tasting.  The brew is cool, salty and spicy. ( we can put our tea in our fridge for a really cold tea though)

 

Lahu Baked tea

Called “la zha duo”, bake newly picked tea leaves over a fire until they turn brown. Then, placed in teapot and pour boiling water.  Lahu people also used this baked tea as medicine.  (stimulate appetite)

Pu erh news

China Daily (17 Jun 2009) :Tempest over tea: What is the true Puer?
By Shen Jingting (China Daily)

Among all types of Chinese tea, Puer may be an acquired taste that might not suit all consumers - but recently it has become the most controversial.

Two years ago certain types of the fermented tea were selling for more than their weight in gold. But as with so many sectors and commodities, the speculative bubble collapsed at the end of last year and the market has since lost 85 percent of its value.

But behind the now-sluggish market is a hot debate on what exactly can be called "Puer tea", with its two major producers - Yunnan and Guangdong provinces - battling it out.

At the root of the conflict is a national standard for a "product with geographical indications - Puer tea," which was approved by General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on August 5 last year.

The standard, which took effect on December 1, 2008, says that only tea produced in Yunnan's 639 towns in 11 prefectures and cities, including Pu'er and Dali, can be called Puer tea.

It also stipulates the tea can only be made from a large leaf variety of the plant growing in the defined area that is then processed using a specified technology.

According to the standard, except for those 639 towns, other locations such as Guangdong, cannot call its tea "Puer" any more. The standard also prohibits Puer tea with no geographical indications from sale after June 30 this year.

Guangdong province, the other big producer of so-called Puer tea, will then be stripped of the right to process and sell tea that carries the name.

'Lose their rice bowl'
"The time has almost run out, dozens of tea factories will die and many workers are likely to lose their rice bowl," said Zhang Liming, secretary general of Guangdong Tea Procession Association.

"Rice planted in northeastern provinces can be called rice. What about rice planted in southern parts of China? Do they change it into another name?" Zhang asked.

An academic paper by professor Ding Junzhi from South China Agricultural University says that in fact Guangdong was one of the earliest places to process Puer tea.

"In the Qing Dynasty, when Guangzhou was opened to the outside world as a port, various types of tea were sold there," he wrote. "Because Yunnan is so far from Guangzhou, tea transported on horseback had to endure a long journey and changes in climate. Its quality and taste were transformed by the time it arrived, but merchants found it quite popular among consumers."

Ding noted that "by the 1950s, Guangdong had already developed a post-fermenting technology to speed up the process of ripening Puer tea".

"Guangdong is an important production region for Puer tea, and the processing method of ripened Puer was invented in Guangdong," an unnamed tea trader in Guangdong was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

"Now only that produced in Yunnan can be called Puer tea. It is obvious (local) protectionism," he said.

"We have sent complaints to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, but there is no reply yet," Zhang said. "We believe the central government will consider our difficulties."

Zhang said her organization has asked the China Tea Marketing Association to act as a coordinator, while several local authorities such as the Economic & Trade Commission of Guangdong Province and Guangdong Customs have also offered help.

Tea delegation

Wu Xiduan, secretary general of the China Tea Marketing Association, admitted that his association is acting as a coordinator between the two provinces. "Guangdong may send a delegation to Yunnan to discuss it," he said.

"Protection of geographical products is a popular practice in many countries," said Yang Shanxi, director of the Yunan Tea Industry Office, noting the new standard is designed to "effectively protect" the industry and ensure that consumers are drinking authentic Puer tea.

When Puer tea prices skyrocketed to unexpected levels two years ago, tea farms geared up to produce large amounts. Tea leaves from Yunnan were mostly used for Puer tea processing, resulting in sharp decreases in production of Yunnan black tea and some types of green tea.

Though not suited for making Puer, tea leaves from Fujian, Sichuan, or from neighboring Vietnam and Myanmar, were made into "Puer tea". In 2005, the Yunnan Tea Business Association even publicly accused Guangdong of selling too much counterfeit Puer tea.

"A 'geographical indication' is the symbol of where the product originated and it is also a symbol of quality," Xinhua quoted Yang as saying. "It is not only used for Puer tea and was not invented by Yunnan."

China's "Protection Agreement for Products with Geographical Indications" adopted on July 15, 2005 included hundreds of products lists the Pinggu big peach, Longjing tea, the Shaanxi apple and the Guanxi honey pomelo, which now enjoy protection to avoid counterfeits.

Longjing tea, the most famous Chinese green tea, was listed as a geographically indicated product by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in 2001. Only tea produced in Xihu, Qiantang and Yuezhou of Zhejiang province can be called Longjing.

Export potential

Some observers note that Longjing has been claimed by Zhejiang and now Puer by Yunnan, but no other province posed a strong challenge to Zhejiang, while Guangdong reacted fiercely over Puer tea.

Guangdong has its reasons - it is the biggest Puer tea market on the mainland and has a strong capacity to process the specialized tea. According to Guangdong Tea Profession Association statistics, Guangdong can produce 5,000 tons of Puer tea each year that is mostly exported to Hong Kong, Malaysia and Japan. Only a small fraction of its Puer tea is traded on the mainland.

"Guangdong's Puer tea is popular in Hong Kong and Macao. We have seen constant demand since the 1950s when Guangdong started its Puer tea business," Zhang said. "But most of our tea is sold to neighboring regions and Southeast Asian countries. We need to explore other huge markets around the world, rather than arguing on which tea can be called 'Puer'."

To ensure compliance with the new standard, "only customs has Puer tea's code, and without the code, you cannot export to the outside market", said a man surnamed Pan with the Guangdong Tea Imports and Exports Co, Ltd in a telephone interview. "If our tea cannot be called Puer tea, what name will we use for customs declaration?"

"We would like to cooperate with Yunnan," Zhang said. "There is no conflict between us as the two places can grow together. Otherwise, we will lose international market share."

According to customs statistics, China exported 4,341 tons of Puer tea last year, down 29 percent from a year earlier. Total revenue from Puer tea exports declined by 14.5 percent to $36.8 million, but at the same time exports of black tea and Oolong increased and green tea, China's dominant export tea, continues to have robust overseas demand.

"We face fierce competition in the world's market. Countries like Sri Lanka have also started to produce Puer tea," Zhang added. "To expand worldwide, we should provide consumers with various Puer tea flavors if they like. Yunnan's Puer is good. Guangdong's is good, too. You can see now many customers are accustomed to Guangdong's flavor."

Liang Minqiang, general manager of Guangdong Tea Imports and Exports Co, Ltd, said his company will be greatly affected. "This is so illogical. We don't know what to do next as we still want to produce Puer tea. I think we should fight to the very end."

Boiling Point

I purchased this book "The way of tea" while I was in Hong Kong last year.  Written by Lam Kam Cheun, this book is a general book on chinese tea.  The book mainly deals with tea history, types of tea and tea making with a chapter on healing teas.  The book has beautiful illustrations and pictures and makes worthwhile reading for the avid tea drinker.

One of the articles in the book deals with the optimal temperature of water to make tea.  The author describes the 3 ways of distinguishing the water temperature; namely Shieng Pien (by sound), Chi Pien (by watching the steam) and Hsing Pien (looking at the bubbles).

Click on the 2nd pix to have a enlarged view of the different bubbles of boiling water.  In the 1st level of boiling water, the bubbles are called crab eye bubbles, 2nd level - fish eye bubbles, and the 3rd level - old man bubble.   Fish eye bubbles is the right temperature for most teas (pu erh, oolong, tky, red tea).  Other teas like green and floral teas require slightly cooler water leave fish eye water to cool for 1-2 min).  The writer explained that the 1st level (crab eye) is called yin yang water and "is never used for anything in cooking as yin yang water is said to be unhealthy."  The writer also commented that "at the third level, the water bubbles like mad.  This is called old man water or white hair water and is not used for making tea."

Well next time when you boil water, look at the water bubbles closely....not too close or else...steamed eye.