Golden Peacock Shu Puer Cake

A tea lover named Richard recently returned from China with a tong (筒) (or possibly more) of these shu puer tea cakes. Nearly two weeks ago he sent me a generous half-cake sample to evaluate. 謝謝 Richard!

The cakes are labeled Menghai seven sons cake tea (勐海七子餅茶) across the top and Li Ming Xing Huo Tea Factory (黎明星火茶厂) across the bottom. In the middle is a painting of two lovely peacocks and a sign that says Golden Peacock First Class Cake (金孔雀一級餅). The wrapper is stamped with a May 2007 production date. I also found these cakes here on Tao Bao.

The dry leaf has a pretty appearance, mixing rusty-red and golden-brown flecks with dark brown leaves. It has a woody, nutty aroma.

I've had a few sessions with this tea now and I like it quite a bit. It is easy to pour dark and smooth. There was a little bit of an acidic finish on some infusions but most were sweet and milky. It's not terribly complex but it goes the distance and it doesn't have any unforgivable faults in my opinion. Later infusions, when the tea soup starts to lighten up in color, are wonderfully sweet and even display fruit and honey notes that remind me of ripe plums. When the liquor got cold in my cup it yielded some great vanilla bean notes too.

Richard reported "a highly caffeinated" sensation after drinking this cake but my sessions with it have left me feeling relaxed (almost sleepy), mellow, and thoughtful. That is my most common physical reaction after drinking a large amount of decent shu puer.

White Peony Cupping Experiment

A couple days ago I conducted a new cupping experiment with a high quality White Peony (aka Bai Mudan) (白牡丹). I thought it might be interesting to stagger the water temperature and the steeping time three ways and taste the resulting infusions.

For this cupping, I used six identical 8 ounce glass mugs. After the cups were cleaned and warmed I placed 2 grams of White Peony dry leaf into three of the cups.

The first cup was brewed for 2 minutes with 200° F water,
the second cup was brewed for 4 minutes with 180° F water,
and the third cup was brewed for 6 minutes with 160° F water.

After they steeped for the correct number of minutes the tea soup was immediately decanted into an empty mug.

200° (left) - 180° (middle) - 16o° (right)

As you can see, the liquor had a very similar color for each cup. They all smelled nice too but 200° had a little less fragrance than the other two.

I sipped each cup carefully going back and forth between them while making notes.

16o° for 6 minutes was easily my favorite. It had the cleanest mouth-feel, a pleasant sparkly sensation in the throat and aroma notes of champagne and fragrant wood.

Predictably, 180° for 4 minutes was squarely in the middle. This cup of tea was a bit heavier and earthier than 160° with some similar flavor notes but also notes of grass and sand.

200° for 2 minutes tasted "cooked" and had a harsh finish. The usual nice fragrance of White Peony was present but in the mouth it was muddy and elusive.

After sipping the 200°, when I switched back to the 160°, the 160° really popped out with a sweet, clean, happy flavor. And of course, going the other way made the 200° taste even worse.

Another point in favor of the cooler water was the look of the leaves after the first infusion. The 200° were limp and dull looking. They did not steep well at all for their second infusion. The 180° and the 160° both still had little bits of dry white fuzzy buds shielded by the top leaf. These cups produced good second infusions.

160° right after the first infusion (left). The white fuzzy bud is still mostly dry.
180° (in the middle) has a little fuzz left.
200° on the right is spent and the bud is cooked to a pale green.

*Like all my casual cupping experiments these results don't really mean anything in the larger scheme of things. This same experiment could have totally different results depending on any number of variables. Even so, it reinforced my long-standing personal belief that most white teas prefer a longer, cooler infusion.

Happy 20th Wedding Anniversary Don & Sandy...

...whoever you are, wherever you are, and assuming you're still married!

Sakuma Brother's Washington State Oolong

The Sakuma Brothers farm in Skagit County, Washington State has been growing tasty berries for over 85 years. I first heard about their tea growing experiments about 6 years ago when a coworker at the Teacup purchased a small bag of their white tea at a farm stand. At this time, the idea of growing tea plants in Western Washington was entirely new to me and I was excited to taste the tea. My impression of that tea was poor. It looked and smelled pretty good but the flavor was lack-luster and tasted strongly of raspberries.

Until just 2 days ago, I had not tasted any other tea from the Sakuma Brothers farm but I still tried to keep their operation on my tea-dar. I met Richard Sakuma at World Tea Expo and I could tell that he is a true tea lover and eager to grow and process high quality tea. A year or two later, I heard that Sakuma's tea making skills were getting much better thanks to practice, study and joining a Taiwan tea tour with Floating Leaves. Last week my desire to taste their tea again got the better of me and I ordered a bag of their current Oolong offering.

The dry leaves are brown and green with flecks of silver. They have a mild aroma that reminds me of fresh hot soy milk.

The tea pours a sunny yellow liquor with a fragrance of oranges and hay.

The mouth-feel is light and fleeting with a sparkly texture and the flavor is very nice. It most certainly has berry notes but they are subtle. For me it tasted like a weak, floral, jade oolong brewed with a chunk of tart, unripe strawberry and possibly a leaf or two of rosemary. It is unlike any other tea I've ever had but I would call it complex, interesting and enjoyable. It doesn't have much of an aftertaste (which is, of course, preferable to a bad aftertaste). I would have to say that for the very new world of Washington State tea, this is the best one I've sampled so far. I find that to be very exciting and encouraging!

See you at Northwest Tea Festival

The Northwest Tea Festival is coming up soon and once again Phoenix Tea will have a booth! This year, I'll be presenting a Tea 101 lecture on Sunday and I'm also leading a couple of sessions in the tasting booths. I really hope to see you there!

Time
October 6th - 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
October 7th - 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Location
Fisher Pavilion at the Seattle Center

Website
http://www.nwteafestival.com/

My Favorite Tea - ATB Blog Carnival

During an average week selling tea, I will be asked: "What is your favorite tea?" at least twice. Usually, I will answer that my favorite tea bounces around depending on my mood. Because I drink a huge variety of tea, this is pretty much the truth. But these teas are rarely consistent from season to season so it is impossible for me to pick a true "favorite." The best I can do is explain this to my clients and tell them more about whatever tea I'm currently the most excited about.

That being said, there is one tea that holds a special place in my heart, and it may surprise you to know that it is not an oolong or a puer tea. It is a humble and elegant Chinese green tea called Yang Xian Mao Feng (陽羡毛峰), and although I love any good tea, I am ready to announce Y.X.M.F.’s status as my "favorite tea."

The dry leaf:

Yang Xian (陽羡) is an ancient name for the Yixing (宜興) region of Jiangsu Provence (江蘇省) but this particular tea was grown in neighboring Zhejiang Provence (浙江省). Mao Feng (毛峰) translates to "hair tip" and generally refers to teas with a long twisted leaf shape.

My local friend and mentor Mr. Chen oversees the production and marketing of this organic green tea. I have been enamored of his teas for over ten years now.

A beautiful cup of green tea:

This is my favorite tea because of its healthy and pure taste. I never get tired of Y.X.M.F.’s crisp, nutty, and not-too-sweet flavor. I love it when it's farm fresh, and I love it when it's two years old. I love it when it's brewed strong and when it's brewed weak. I'd even drink it in a box with a fox. It's the tea I reach for when I want a cozy, comfortable and consistent pot of tea. It is my tea "soul food," and I drink it very often.

The spent leaves:

Do you have a favorite tea? I ask because I'm one of the electors for the up and coming "Tea Blogger's Choice Awards." I'm excited to make my nominations but I welcome my readers to comment this post with any suggestions for teas and vendors they think I should vote for.

This post is my contribution to today's Tea Blog Carnival as presented by the Association of Tea Bloggers. Our theme for this carnival is "What is your favorite tea?" You can find links to all of the other participating posts below:

Walker Tea Review
Notes on Tea
Joy's Teaspoon
The Devotea
Sip Tip
Tea Happiness
Tea for Me Please
The Cup that Cheers
Scandalous Tea
Gongfu Girl

Korean Ttok-cha

I can honestly say I'd never heard of Ttok-cha* before about one month ago. That was when my well-traveled and highly knowledgeable tea friend Eric Glass, who had recently attended a demonstration on this interesting Korean brew at the Penn State Tea Institute, told Cinnabar and me of his plan to bring a piece to Phoenix Tea and prepare it for us correctly. Although I didn't really know what to expect, I was very excited.

When, at last, the day arrived, I was treated to the following display of olive-pit-charcoal pyrotechnics!

Snap, Crack, Pop and Burn!

After we had our glowing olive-pit coals resting in Cinnabar's brazier, one lucky piece of ttok-cha was carefully roasted for about 10 minutes until it developed a reddish brown color and softened slightly.

While the ttok-cha was being roasted, a glass kettle of spring water was brought to a boil. When it was deemed ready, the ttok-cha was placed in water and kept at a gentle simmer. Eric had planted the "three and a half hour steep time of excellence" seed in my mind. I had complete faith that something magical would happen when this benchmark was reached.

The tea liquor surprised me by turning dark red fairly quickly. We tasted it a couple times at random intervals and these early sips were pleasant enough, but we all knew that they would be nothing when compared to what was soon to come.

The waiting turned out to be easy. Thanks to an unexpected visit from an excitable local newsman and some top notch Da Hong Pao oolong served up by Becky Li we had plenty to occupy our minds.

Unfortunately, Becky and her friend William had to depart at the 3 hour mark. We toasted her visit with some 3 hour ttok-cha. It was great... but it needed something... you guessed it... it needed to steep for about 30 more minutes.

At last, the magic hour arrived! 12,600 seconds after we submerged the ttok-cha, Cinnabar poured the steaming hot, amber colored tea. Shu Shu and I gazed on in wonder and anticipation.

Ahhh. I truly loved it. It is a rich, rosy, fruity, toasty, luscious, complex and fragrant cup of tea. It felt thick and syrupy in my mouth. It made me feel relaxed and comfortable.

Interestingly, after it had simmered for another hour or so, it started losing flavor quickly in my opinion and by the following day it had lost most of its flavor. Even with many hours of steeping behind it, the little tea cake remained intact. It reminded me of a flower, it bloomed beautifully, and then it faded away but it was worth every second.

*It's pronounced something like "doke-cha." Tteok-cha, ddok-cha, and ddeok-cha are a few other fun ways to spell it. Check out this Cha Dao blog post for a better understanding of this old style of Korean tea.