Adagio Roots - Pi Lo Chun

Here in Seattle, I often see a bumper sticker that simply states "No Farms, No Food." It's so true and you can easily replace "Food" with "Tea."

Many people need to reestablish connections with the producers of their food and drink and this is one reason why the Association of Tea Bloggers is presenting a blog carnival to highlight Adagio's Roots campaign. The goal of this campaign is to celebrate the tea farmers that produce Adagio's tea.

Ten years ago, when I started selling loose leaf tea, not many companies were doing this. Old school tea sellers were woefully secretive and proprietary about their tea sources. Thankfully, the tea world is now better connected and better educated. Modern tea lovers demand a tea industry that is open, honest and friendly about where their teas are coming from. I believe that tea sellers should freely provide as much information about any tea they are selling as the customer wishes to know.

One tea that I now know the source of is Adagio's Pi Lo Chun (aka Bì Luó Chūn) (aka 碧螺春) (aka green snail spring).

This tea was produced by Huang Jian Lin in Jiangsu, China. I've even seen a photo of the man wearing camouflage pants and swinging a wicked looking stick.

(Photo courtesy of Adagio Tea Co.)

The man makes a fine tea. The dry leaf is very beautiful and has a sweet, nutty aroma. The flavor is brothy and satisfying. I'd say this bi luo chun is a little bit bolder than many of the other pricier bi lou chun teas I have tasted in the past. Huang's is also a bit more floral in my opinion.

Kudos to Adagio (and all the other worthy tea vendors out there) for introducing us to the makers of their teas and kudos to all the consumers, like myself, who care about this sort of thing!

You can find links to all the other ATB members who are participating in this blog carnival here:

Gongfu Girl

LeafJoy

Notes on Tea

The Tea Enthusiasts's Scrapbook

Tea For Today

Tea Pages

That Pour Girl

Walker Tea Review

Teaspoons and Petals

Korean Lotus Root Infusion

My new friend Jason C. (president of the Penn State Tea Institute) recently returned from another one of his Asian tea treks. While he was in Korea I emailed him about my desire for some "primo Korean green tea." Jason didn't find any worthy specimens so instead I was so generously treated to a small can of dried lotus root tea!

The lotus is a beautiful and useful edible plant. It carries deep symbolic meanings for Buddhists. I've eaten lotus root before and found it to be quite delicious but for some reason I'd never thought about infusing it as a herbal tea. As it turns out lotus root tea is a very popular beverage the world over. The folks at Eden Foods state that lotus root tea is a macrobiotic staple and "long valued for its contribution to respiratory health."

I steeped about 8 slices of lotus root in ~8 ounces of boiling hot water for 5 minutes. The resulting cup had a pleasing amber color. The aroma was roasty, earthy and savory and it reminded me somewhat of french fries. The flavor in the mouth was a lovely surprise. It had a sweet, nutty, oolong-like flavor that I found slightly floral and very satisfying. I'm excited to have discovered this exotic infusion.

Carrot(s)

Watermelon Radish

Ginger

"The Root"

I have recently heard about an interesting, although somewhat uncommon, tea brewing technique. The technique is called "the root" and refers to the practice of leaving a little bit of tea (usually less than an ounce) in the chahai* after each infusion. This remaining tea will end up mixing with all of the following infusions.

J-tea's 1992 Wuyi Oolong (武夷烏龍)
& "the root" left in the glass chahai.

Some people may do this already without even thinking about it, while others like myself have always thought it best to not mix infusions. Each infusion is special and should be tasted in its purest form, not mixed with all the previous infusions... right? Well, at least that's what I thought before I started experimenting with "the root."

Mixing a new infusion with "the root."

Believers claim that "the root" acts as a solid foundation for each infusion, which they say can add character and depth to one's tea. I have found this to sometimes be true for me, especially while drinking aged puer and aged oolong.

Any perceived advantages or disadvantages to "the root" are debatable and, like taste itself, entirely subjective. I will never claim that there is only one correct way to do anything. Experienced tea brewers accept that every tea is different and will behave differently each time it is brewed. Sometimes I'll feel like using "the root" and other times I'll avoid mixing infusions. That said, I would really love to hear from any other tea brewers out there regarding your own experiences using "the root."

* Chahai (tea ocean) (茶海) is the name I use for a tea pitcher. These pitchers are also sometimes called "decanters" or "fairness cups".