Oriental Beauty (Bai Hao)

Bragger's Tea, Dong Fang Mei Ren, Bai Hao---Oriental Beauty. This is a tea with a rich, and entertaining, back story that I will not be talking about in this blog. The wise bloggers, Teamasters and Marshaln, have posted about Oriental Beauty with in depth writings far better than I could peck out on this blog. I will include links at the bottom of the page for those who are interested.



Oriental Beauty oolong cake.

With that out of the way, lets talk about the star of the blog today: Mountain Tea's(again, I know...) Oriental Beauty Oolong Cake! I was drawn to this tea due to Mountain Tea's unique way of offering the cha. It's pressed into a 'cake' form which is usually, from what I've seen, a popular form to offer Puerh cha due to the ease of storage and aging. That brings up the question, is this oolong made for aging?

Not wanting to wait a few decades, I decided to dive right into this cake with an open pallet. As you can see in the picture to the left, the pressed tea presents itself with beautiful earthy colors. Although the tea has darker leaves this is due to the high oxidation (60%), not the roast(0%). Due to how this tea is made, having bugs nibble on the tea leaves, there aren't any chemicals used in the growing process making it an organic offering. The tea is pressed into 3.8oz cakes and comes wrapped in paper just like puerh beengs. Mountain Tea is charging $22/cake making this tea ~$5.79 an ounce. Not the cheapest but certainly not the most expensive cha I've seen.

Cake packaging with yixing and cup 

I tried this tea in a few different brewing vessels to see which emphasized the notes of the tea. When brewed in a yixing pot, the oriental beauty was slightly muted giving the liquor a flat balanced taste. I preferred my porcelain houhin's brew over the yixing due to porcelain's ability to give more of the high notes and allow each note to "pop" a little more.


First infusion.

Third infusion

On to the tasting notes! As I do with all my tea, I weighed out 5g of dry leaf and added it to my houhin. Using off boiling water I started the infusions. After a quick rinse, the first infusion gives a light honey colored liquid that is inviting to drink. The flavor is in its infancy, possibly hinting at a nectary fruit to develop in later infusions. The flavor Bai Hao cha gives is hard for my mind to describe. Its reminiscent of puerh without the old leather boot and tobacco notes but is nothing like raw puerh. Its very hard to pin point... The second infusion's liquor was very different from the first. It's starting to lend itself towards a roasted tea, yet the roast is 0%. Can high oxidation give such a rich liquor? Must be.  The flavor opens up in this infusion; as most teas tend to do. I'm getting a strong apricot/rock fruit transforming into a nectar-like honey with a touch of spice. It's a little overwhelming to be honest. My tea to water ratio is fine but its teetering on being over brewed. I use a timer so I know this tea was brewed correctly... I'm starting to think that these leaves are in for a long session. The third infusion is similar to the second but is easing up slightly on intensity. I'm not tasting any new flavors, but the flavors are starting to swirl together a little more making it an exciting cup. The next infusion is exactly where I want my tea to be with flavor. The liquor is orange-yellow and the flavor is that of apricot on the sip and a semi sweet honey flavor with a dash of spice that lingers . From the 1st to the 4th infusion the flavor mellowed out dramatically into a very pleasing cup of tea.

Over the next hour or so I kept infusing the leaves with off boiling water, raising the steeping times when appropriate, to get a liquor as pleasing as the last. I lost count after 10 steeps with this tea but I would guesstimate that I had at least 12-15 infusions! These leaves have a wonder Qi and treated me nice as I sat immersed in a film. This tea would be a nice addition to anyone's tea collection or current drinking rotation. If you can get past the bull headed first few infusions, when brewing gong fu, you will be greatly rewarded with a long lasting fruity, nectary, shyly sweet tea that will aid in relaxing the body and mind.


More information about Oriental Beauty tea:

http://teamasters.blogspot.com/2007/02/study-of-oriental-beauty.html

http://www.marshaln.com/2014/04/the-original-oriental-beauty/

Spitfire Pottery

Earlier this year I joined a tea forum called Teachat.com. On TeaChat, they have an artisan section filled with potters who make some of the most beautiful pottery I have ever seen. While looking through the pages of art, I stumbled onto Spitfire Pottery which is ran by Bill. I contacted Bill and asked him if he could make a special order for me. He happily obliged. 

I asked for a very small kyusu(about 3-4 fluid ounce) with matching 1oz cups and a tea caddy all in teal. The blues Bill can get in his pottery is simply stunning. Take a look below at his art and my new brewing vessel! If you would like to contact Bill, check out his Etsy shop. https://www.etsy.com/shop/splitfirepottery

2013 NATC LiShan Winter Oolong

Hello! Today I'm going to be talking about a new tea I have been excited to get in the mail; Mountaintea.com's 1st Place winner of the 2013 North American Tea Competition(NATC) green oolong category: LiShan Winter Oolong!(Cheers)

Now with this much anticipation of a tea, or anything really, I tend to try not to get too excited so I'm not let down if its all hype. Fortunately for this tea the "hype"(if you call putting a NATC emblem on the sites image hype) was pretty on par with what I read on the NATC's website. The LiShan received a score of 90 putting it into the 'Outstanding: a distinctive tea with brilliant style' category. Well, lets not take their word for it, time to crack open the bag!



First steep after rinse!

After opening the bag and smelling the dry tightly rolled green balls, I wasn't really smelling anything that was blowing my mind. It had a faint floral smell but not really much of a smell at all really. I attributed this to lack of acclimation of the tea. After letting the tea sit for an hour or so the real scent of the tea came out! An orchid floral note mixed with orange blossom dances with fresh green oolong and permeates from the bag begging me to fill a pot and experience its brothy offering.

LiShan is a growing region in Taiwan 2000+ meters above sea level. This high elevation growing is well suited for tea due to its consistent cool temperatures. This tea exhibits all the initial characteristics of a high quality tea and all that was left was to put some in a pot and brew.





Steeping 3 or 4.

 

After adding 8-10g of Lishan to my vessel I poured off boiling water on the leaves for a quick "wake up". The smell of orchid and orange blossom takes the stage. When tasting the first steep, I get the obvious floral notes but I'm also getting a citrus note. Its either orange or lemon. I may be also getting a slight hint of jasmine in there too. I'm also getting hints of creme and vegatables from time to time. The broth is lightly colored with a smooth mouth feel. Its quite nice. This is one of the only teas, albeit flavored teas, that I have tasted fruit notes. In the later infusions, this tea keeps up well. I was getting a full flavor brew for 5-6 infusions tapering off into a flowery water. Because I don't have tons of expirence with floral teas I can only compare this to the Four Seasons of Spring I posted about a few weeks ago. While the FSoS was good; the LiShan kicks its ass in delicacy. FSoS is a flower bomb while the LiShan is a flower falling slowly to the ground. The Lishan also stands out in complexity compared to the FSoS. The citrus and individual floral notes really make you sit and focus on the cha. It demands you to listen to what it has to offer, relaxing you all the while.

Leaves in a yixing!

 

 

Note: When trying the LiShan I brewed it in a porcelain houhin and a yixing pot. I preferred the porcelain houhin's brew over the yixing because I felt the yixing muted some of the more complex notes I was getting out of the houhin.

Coming up!

I just got some new teas in to review so expect to see some new posts in the next week or two. I will be trying a LiShan Oolong, Mountain Oolong, and a Jasmine Tea I picked up from my local Asian market. Ive been getting more and more interested in what is commercially available in Asia and seeking out what the tea "baseline" should be. Ive been keeping an eye out for Sea Dyke, Wuyi Star, Golden Snail, and a few other large Asian companies. So, with that out in the open, keep checking back for reviews of any tea I can get my hands on!

 

-C

 

 

High Elevation Green Tea (or not...)

Today I'm going to be taking a look at yet again another tea from Mountain Tea. (I swear I don't work for them!) This time I'm looking at their High Elevation Green Tea located in the clearance section. If I am remembering correctly, I think I tagged this onto an order due to the price; A modest $5 for 2.8oz of tea. Not a bad price at all for a tea from Taiwan.

They state on their site that this tea's origin is Nantou, Taiwan, which is where a lot of their other high mountian oolong offerings come from. I suspect they have a farm in Nantou who is making several types of tea for MT. This tea in particular comes from the Qing Xin bush which is notorious for producing teas that yeald buttery flavors, a velvety mouthfeel, and strong floral notes.



Image from Mountain Tea

First off, let me start out by showing what the picture on Mountain Tea is. It depicts a very GREEN natural looking tea. It seems to not have a great deal of processing which is a nice thing to see when looking for tea. The picture below is how the tea looked out of the package. It resembles a loose puerh or possibly a wuyi oolong far more than a fresh green tea the sites picture indicates.



How tea looks out of package

As you can imagine, after opening the package I was pretty confused. Expecting a fresh green tea, the roasted(?) leaves are usually something I do not enjoy. I love the fresh flavor of green oolongs and green teas and I tend to think roasted teas taste like an old leather boot. For instance, puerh teas are very popular among most tea drinkers; while I can appreciate the work put into the tea and even smile after a sip, I don't enjoy the complex earthy flavors roasted/aged teas tend to give; they taste, well, old.



2nd or 3rd infusion

Being a little let down on the purchase, I poured the bag into a container and sat it aside for another time and the time is now! I decided to use my yixing pot for this tea. I'm hoping the pot pairs well with the tea's roast to bring out some subtle notes. I started off by adding 6g of the dried leaf to the pot and pouring in off boiling water for a quick 10 second rinse. I know a lot of people tend to rinse roasted teas to get any debris from the roasting process off of the leaves and to "wake up" the leaves. After the rinse, the first steeping is a deep reddish/violet/brown color. Its very intriguing as Ive never had a tea with a purple hue but upon inspection, it could be the lighting in this room. The taste of this tea was a little shocking at first. I'm getting notes of soy beans or edamame beans on the front with a heavy mineral flavor coming in the back. There is also a little bit of floral dancing around in there too. This mineral flavor becomes more pronounced as you progress in infusions. From what I know about teas, this sounds like a wuyi tea due to the mineral flavor but due to not having experienced a wuyi oolong, I cant comment on the similarities or differences. The body of this cha is very nice. It reminds me of a thin honey in the way it coats your tongue. In the later infusions you get hints of green tea that pop in from time to time in between the soy bean and mineral notes.  

They also boast on MT that this tea is very forgiving in the brewing process. They say that this tea will not become bitter no matter how long you brew it. I did forget that I had water in my pot for a good 5 minutes and normally I would discard the infusion but I decided to try it out. It wasn't bitter but it was stronger than I would like to enjoy my infusions. All in all, I was initially let down on the appearance of this tea but in the end it turned out to be enjoyable to drink. I may be more will to try roasted teas now that I have enjoyed this roasted cha. Maybe ill pick up some wuyi in the future!

-C

***After contacting Mountian Tea about this tea, they seem to think I was sent the wrong bag of tea. This bag would be their Puerh cha... No wonder it was so hard to pick out the tasting notes.***



Is there honey still for tea?

Heritage Honey Oolong

Hello! Today I'm going to be talking about another tea from MountainTea.com: Heritage Honey Oolong. This tea is grown in Nantou, Taiwan at an altitude of 1300m above sea level; classifying it as an Ali Shan Oolong. Mountain Tea doesn't have any information about the roast or oxidation of HHO but my guess is that the roast is 0% or very very little while the oxidation is probably around 40% or more. What brought me to this conclusion is all in the cup; the liquor is a deep honey color after a quick rinse which usually indicates a roast or high oxidation. From tasting the broth, I cant taste any noticeable roast flavors. The tightly rolled balls are green so I can only assume the deep rich amber liquor the cha is producing is from oxidation which I would also assume is where the name comes from. (a lot of assumption there, I know)

Ive been enjoying this tea for some time now to offset the expense of some of the high quality teas Ive been purchasing. Mountain Tea is offering this tea at a very low price of $10/5oz. You're not going to find a better deal for a classic, one dimensional, straight forward oolong.  They have notes of peach, citrus, and sugarcane listed on MT's site but sadly I couldn't detect any of those notes. That doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed this tea though. Due to its price, I tend to use this tea as my "all day" tea, meaning, when I want to drink some tea but I don't have the time to focus on the qi or its life. I can drink this tea without much distraction from its flavor and effects.

First  Steeping.

For sake of having steep by steep information, I used 8-10g in my 4oz houhin. Starting off, I did a quick 10-15 second rinse with off boiling water. The smell of earth and tea rise from the vessel to greet me with a welcoming aroma. I may be able to pick out some fruit notes by smelling the leaves but only slightly. The first steep was for 15-20 seconds and produced a yellow tinged liquid. The second steeping is where this tea's name comes from; deep honey(amber) liquor with a 30 second infusion. The flavor I get from this tea is that of a decent oolong without much excitement. I'm not getting any bitterness or astringency, unless you steep way too long, which my pallet is thankful for. I feel a nice warming effect after a few more steeps of the same broth as the first, its nice and calming. I'm enjoying this cha's modest offering more and more at night, sort of like a tea night cap. Its relaxing qi puts me at a great place to get into bed and sleep.

Second steeping.

Go rest high on that mountain

Hello! Today I'm going to be talking about my absolute favorite tea that I have tried, Organic High Mountain Oolong(OHMO) from Mountaintea.com! OHMO is the first oolong that really made me say "WOW" and turned my love for tea up to 11!  If you have tried lots of teas, then this tea may not be as mind blowing for you as it was for me but I'm sure many of you, if there is anyone there (hello..ello...ello?), have had that "ah-ha" moment when trying a new tea and can appreciate the process.

To start off, I want to talk about how I received this tea. I had ordered my first tea order from Mountain Tea and was waiting for it to come in the mail. Luckily they are in the US so shipping time isn't that bad compared to overseas purchases. Originally I had ordered Milk Oolong and an Oriental Beauty Cake. On the day my package was being delivered, I received an email from Mountain Tea telling me that I should contact them about my order. After work I gave them a call expecting the worst. I spoke with a woman who was friendly and she let me know, embarrassingly, that there was a mix up with my order and another customers order. She continued to express how sorry she was and said that my correct order was already packaged and sent out. As someone who rarely has problems with ordering online, it didn't upset me much due to the customer service I was receiving. I then asked her what I should do with the tea I would be receiving. She told me to keep it and enjoy; And enjoy I did!

This was from the end of my bag. Please excuse the fannings!

The Organic High Mountian Oolong is actually grown in Vietnam by cultivar QingXin making it not as "traditional" as a oolong grown in Taiwan. When opening the package, a complex scent of fresh tea and spice wafted up to my nose, instantly making me excited. When inspecting the tea, the 3-5mm tightly rolled balls are green with hay looking stems. The tea looks fairly clean and without any noticeable debris or dust.(except for the bottom of the bag)

First or second steeping!

When I originally tried this tea it was in my yixing pot which produced great results, but for this session I am using my houhin style gaiwan for ease of use and convenience. I put 8-10g of OHMO in and poured in some freshly brewed water to commence the gong-fu style brewing. After a quick 5-10 second rinse, the smell of spice(possibly cinnamon or nutmeg) and tea is much stronger and is making me salivate. Moving on, The first steep gives a typical light yellow liquor which is typical of an oolong with 20% oxidation and no roast. The taste is very pleasant and takes me to a setting of a fire on a cold winter night. The rich spice flavor is dancing across my pallet morphing into a clean sweet nectar. The next infusion brings a deeper flavor profile out of the leaf which is giving me its full potential. Notes of flowers, honey, and slightly, umami emerge playfully dancing with the spice on my pallet to create a wide eyed grin only an "AH-HA" moment can produce. I continued to enjoy this tea until it was completely exhausted which happened around infusion 7 or 8. I love the qi this gives me and the flavor is by far my favorite of the oolongs I have tried. At the price point of 2oz/$10, 5oz/$20, and 10.5oz/$38, this cha certainly is a bargain for what you get out of it. I plan to make another purchase very, very soon.


Sip slowly,
-C


Tea setup: 4 fl oz houhin, 8-10g of leaf(two teaspoons full), boiling water.
Steeps:
1-Rinse
2-Spice--sweet after thought
3-Spice, flowers, honey. slight umami
4-Lighter notes than steeping #3 umami is gone?
5-Even lighter but still enjoyable!
6-8- Still a slight flavor.

I tend to take the leaves to the edge with this tea. I love this tea!