Alishan Gift

My friend's parents recently returned from Taiwan and... lucky me... I scored some Alishan High Mountain Tea (阿里山高山茶) as a belated Christmas present!

The gift came in a red and gold bag with a beautiful crane and white flowers printed on it. The Chinese words on the bag claim this tea is: "Gold Ranking Collectable Tea" (黃金般的茶臻藏) and "Emperor Worthy Tea" (皇帝般的茶饗). The brand appears to be "金藏茶宴."

Lets see if the contents are truly "Emperor Worthy!"

The dry leaves look and smell amazing. They are large, loosely rolled, and possessing of fat long stems. My mouth begins to water.

This is an incredible tea in my opinion. The flavor transports me right back to Alishan. The tea soup is so fragrant with notes of orange zest, honeysuckle and cinnamon bark. The mouth-feel is thick with delightful syrupy and sparkly elements. The tea continued its greatness throughout 12 infusions and the aftertaste was clean, brisk and long-lasting. The spent leaves and thick soft stems radiate health and vitality. The tea left me feeling alert, creative and comfortable. Ahh. There can be no doubt I love good high mountain oolong. 謝謝 Janice and Mo!

Northwest White Tea & Herb Blend

Seattle based, PCC Natural Markets, Portland based The Jasmine Pearl, and Sakuma Brothers Farm recently teamed up to offer PCC customers unique herb and tea blends made entirely out of local ingredients. PCC broke this news to their members last month with an article called "taken with tea."

This morning, while browsing the bulk teas at PCC, I saw these new blends for sale and decided to purchase a small amount to review here on my tea blog. I went with the white tea based blend which also contains blackberry leaf, nettle, lemon balm and lavender.

 

The dry leaf smells like lavender with some sweet grass, and wood notes. I used a heaping teaspoon of dry leaf, 8 ounces of 180° F water, and a medium Finum basket to infuse this blend. The resulting liquor was orange and fragrant. 

I love supporting local food and herb producers and I've enjoyed my past encounters with Sakuma's unmixed tea but this blend is not for me. The tea feels healthy and restorative to drink but it is too sweet and I really do not like the lavender flavor.

As an enthusiastic drinker of pure tea, perhaps I was never the target demographic for this product. I would be much happier to just see unadulterated Sakuma Brother's tea leaves on sale at PCC. That said, I'm sure many folks will think this blend has a great flavor and hopefully these products are finding fans among PCC shoppers. The quality of the ingredients and the wonderful people behind their production and blending makes them a good way to "drink local."

A High Mountain Stroll

It's a beautiful morning in central Taiwan. 

Will you join me for a high mountain stroll?

早安小狗!

Alishan High Mountain Oolong farms off in the distance.

Here is a little roadside shrine...

...and across the street we find baby tea plants mulched with peanut shells.

Wow. What kind of plant is this?

That tree is awesome and a little creepy. 

It's starting to get late.
Lets head back to the homestay.

What a beautiful sunset tonight.

We're almost home.

Back just in time!

 

It's not too late for one more pot of tea.

The perfect end to a great day!

Dianhong Cupping

I recently cupped two Dianhong (滇紅) black teas that are currently available at Cinnabar's and my tea shop, Phoenix Tea. One is called Golden Dianhong and the other Dianhong Needles. Both of them were produced at the Fengqing (鳳慶) Tea factory, a nearly 75 year old operation, in Lincang (臨滄) region of Yunnan, China. These leaves were grown at an altitude of 6000 feet and are of the "big leaf" (da ye) (大葉) variety.

I have had many great solo sessions with these two teas in the past but I had never tried them together. My hope is to learn more about how they differ.

Needles = Top Left

Golden = Bottom Right

I steeped 2 grams of each tea in two identical ceramic tea cupping sets for 5 minutes. After decanting the tea soup it was very hard to tell them apart. They both had a lovely red color and sweet, alluring aroma. In this photo the Golden Dianhong is on the top and the Dianhong Needles is on the bottom.

I took my time sipping back and forth and came up with a few subtle differences. Golden is a little stronger, sweeter, and maltier while Needles is brisker. Needles has a tiny bit more smokiness and a complex "wild side" with note of pinewood, dried fruit, and nuts. Golden has a creamier, thicker mouth-feel. Both are very smooth, satisfying black teas with loads of wonderful dark chocolate flavors.

This cupping left me with a comfortable, happy tea-buzz and a major chocolate craving.

Māmaki

Māmaki is a small tree in the nettle family endemic to Hawaii. Native Hawaiians have used the plant's leaves and fruits as food and medicine for hundreds of years. The bark is also used to make cloth and rope.

For Christmas, my mother-in-law gave me a 0.55 ounce bag of dried māmaki leaves for use as a tisane. The recommended parameters printed on the package are: "Steep 1 teaspoon (1 - 2 leaves) in a cup of boiled water for 5 minutes, strain and resteep up to 3 times." I selected two large leaves and did just that.

The Packaging

The Product

The Liquor

This herb has a unique flavor. It is earthy, citrusy and grassy. I pick up notes of dandelions, rich black soil, bancha green tea, and metallic canned green beans. The aftertaste is where most of the citrus flavors linger. It almost reminded me of a somewhat earthy and musty Alishan high mountain oolong. Not bad.

Ba Bao Cha Year #5

Every year, around Christmas time, I "treat" myself to a gaiwan of Ba Bao Cha (八寶茶) (eight treasure tea) then I blog about it. This year's blend tasted like watered down ketchup mixed with Hawaiian punch and corn syrup. I could only take two small sips. See you next year Ba Bao!

Reno NV

Reno, Nevada was my home from age 9 to 19. During those years I neither loved nor hated the place. It was simply "where I live." From an early age I knew I'd end up living happily-ever-after in Seattle. Still, I'll always have thousands of good memories from my decade living in Reno and I'm glad my family still lives there.

During the last twelve years, I have returned to Reno once or twice every year. I feel like it is evolving into a cooler and more livable city with each year that passes. The nearby mountains, lakes and deserts have always been beautiful but the city itself has been catching up with more art, family activities, parks, and independent businesses.

I'm not sure what the tea scene in Reno is like. My sister and brother-in-law (who came to Taiwan with me in 2008) certainly know and enjoy good tea but I haven't met many other folks. Last week, while in Reno, my mother-in-law's husband told me about a Chinese import store called Dragon Spring that sells tea and teaware as well as Chinese gifts and martial arts supplies. I didn't have time to visit, but it sounded pretty cool so I'll try to stop in next time I'm in town.

I have good reason to be hopeful about the future of tea in Reno. Recently, Magpie Coffee Roasters, started a coffee and tea bar serving high quality drinks in the lobby of Reno's (SUPER FUN!) new Discovery Museum. I can vouch for the quality of their tea because they currently buy it from Cinnabar's and my own store, Phoenix Tea. 

Also, a new tea shop just opened up near downtown called Too Souls Tea Co. My daughter, sister, brother-in-law and I went for afternoon tea last Sunday and had a great experience. The tea list was heavy on scented teas and herbals but the glass mug of Dragon Well (龍井) green tea that I was served was brewed well. This small tea house was comfortable, unique and beautifully decorated. They also had a few delicious vegan muffins and other fresh healthy foods available.

If you live in Reno, or visit it often, please leave me a comment about the tea scene as you know it. I'd love to get some new recommendations for my next visit.

I'm happy to be home but I'm also proud to have some roots in "The Biggest Little City in the World."