James Norwood Pratt: A Respectful Stranger....

Hope one day I will have the fate and pleasure to meet.

http://www.chow.com/stories/10721

Credit: Documented by Meredith Arthur and Eric Slatkin
Original post from: www.chow.come

Hare's Fur and tea...

The Classic Jian tea bowl (temmoku) must be one of the most perfect fusions of glaze, form and body in the history of Chinese ceramics. If not the main inspiration for Korean and Japanese pottery.


This rare example is from the late Tang dynasty (618-907) to early Song (906-1279). Will see what it might do to the tea character....

.... Beautiful Water...

Carrying on my ongoing quest for better tea sets, water container is the first thing I want to target. For almost 2 weeks now, with the help of Michael of TTG and my wife, we have been tasting water most of the time....
Sounds boring? Perhaps this is the most critical element to have a nearly perfect cup of tea.

The final candidate for nesting our water is a early Qing dynasty (1644-1911) water container. We used Poland Spring water, which has a clean, sweet but mild hardness quality. After storing the water over night in this container, it has been sweetened, softened, smoothened and lightened.


We are also testing this lighter water with flowers to see if it will bring them LONGEVITY. Hopefully, we can finally have some tea soon....

Beautiful Things....

What will be an ideal set for tea? Of course the older the vessel the better... or is this a tea myth that's been brewing for a long time? Will this Ming dynasty (1368-1644) silver kettle turn regular poland spring water to morning dew?



Or is a Song dynasty (960–1279) Qingbai cup really going to bring out the brightness of the high notes?


Perhaps accompanying a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Yixing could be a sure win for brewing any teas? To find out the difference will be my ongoing mission.

Salute to MarshallN for dropping by last week, bringing his friend, himself and this beautiful Yixing!

New Understanding...

Over the years, I have been solely concentrating on drinking Chinese tea. Perhaps it is the myth of lengthy ceremony on other tea cultures? Maybe it is my laziness to learn different traditions and their complicated preparation.... or the blind intimidation of doing something not respectful to the host, which, of course, they will never tell what I did wrong.... That being said, there is nothing better than a good old Chinese style cup of tea: the honesty of do-whatever-suite-your-style kind of tea, until before my travel to Korea and Japan recently. I bet you all know how down to earth I was, drinking tea in the mountain. No rules, no extra fancy techniques required. Just pure focus of how the tea reacts with my body and how it makes me feel. Tasting the nutty gritty does not interest me anymore... Where my nectar orchid or my 15 year-aged citrus blossom are really do not do much anymore.... in other words, the surface is too shallow if it can not awaken.... Moreover, tea is not just to quench your thirst, and let people start a war on each others selection, but to relax and smooth ones mind.

My trip to Japan this time lead me not to the cosmopolitan, but to the country side, 2 hrs. south from Tokyo. Izu Peninsula was my destination. Staying at 2 different Onsens in the western and the eastern coast of the peninsula, I was immersed into the tradition of hundred-year-old ryokans.


The first welcome treat was Sencha and a steamed red bean-filled bun. I didn't really taste the tea, but the combination of the treat and the tea react with my body. The tea makes your body tranquil and settle down, sitting in the Noguchi styled tea room, feeling the present of the ocean and its breeze, you slowly find your center of peace. The whole time after I entered the place, I did not have a moment of rush or impatient. It's all the elements that the place zen you.


When I first encountered the tea sets in my ryokan room, I was over joy and started experimenting. The 2 sets consisted of a tea tray, tea pot, tea cups and coaster, tea towel, waste water deposit and of course tea, green and roasted. Heaven! Too busy to play around, I was pouring water everywhere until my butler showed me how it should be done: 2 tsp of tea and 5 mins brew gives nice and clean lively green liquor. It felt soothing to my throat, clean and refreshing to my body. It just tasted like it is really good for you.


Over the 5 day-trip, I had over 4 kinds of new Sencha harvested only weeks ago. The osmanthus tree, the bamboo forest, the camphor forest all surrounding the onsen. The tea brings your body to a warm comfortable level, listening to birds and ocean and at night the scents of the osmanthus flower gently relaxes the mind. From this experience, the taste of the tea is no longer a priority, but the sensation of the energy which it radiants out and let you appreciate the surrounding.


Before, I was always judging the tea. Trying to categorize them, challenging them and being authoritative on what I hope it should be.... How ignorant! I was missing the real meaning to tea enjoyment. If my DC is missing its rare orchid or is not from the highest mountain a tree could exist, I would think less of it. "This is not the top, where is my long finish... this seems short on the taste. It's not what I expected..." I also let my host understand that his second best tea will be too distant to satisfy me 100%. If I did carry on this path, I am sure one day I will be truly disappointed about myself and my collection....

A Quest for Han Dynasty tea....

...Yang-hsien tea was recognized as a rare tea since the first century A.D. in the Han dynasty. In the Book of Tea, Lu Yü distinguished the tea from Huchou as “superior” and that from Ch’angchou as “next” in order of quality, but in every case he considered Yang-hsien a fine tea “with a lovely fragrance.” in Huchou and Ch’angchou prefectures in Kiangsu, the tea was known by several names, including Ku-chu from the name of the mountain in Huchou where the tea was grown. The tea was also called “purple sprout” after the dark russet color of its new leaves. Tea came in the form of small wafers and cakes. The freshly picked leaves were steamed, ground into paste, and dried in moulds of different shapes: rounds, squares, and rectangles. It was recorded that in the T’ang a monk offered “a beautiful tea” to the Prefect of Ch’angchou, Li Hsi-yün, who sent it as tribute from Yang-hsien district to the throne. The tea was much admired by the emperor who ordered that Huchou be established as an imperial estate. Crown properties were administered by the Household Commissioner for Estates, a palace office staffed by high ranking eunuchs who ensured the annual shipment of Yang-hsien and other tribute teas to the throne. There were numerous imperial estates in the south that produced tea for the throne; at his discretion, the emperor distributed the cakes as gifts to the imperial family, the aristocracy, and meritorious officials.

Yang-hsien was among the most symbolic tributes of the year, and its arrival at the palace was anxiously awaited. Fresh and tender, the “pearly tea” appeared early, coaxed to sprout by gentle winds off the lake, the season nurturing “buds of golden yellow." The tea was, therefore, the harbinger of spring, for “the one hundred plants dare not bloom” until the emperor had the first taste of Yang-hsien tea....

Published on Chadao: Lu T’ung and the “Song of Tea”: The Taoist Origins of the Seven Bowls [Part 2 of 2] by STEVEN D. OWYOUNG
http://chadao.blogspot.com/2008/04/lu-tung-and-song-of-tea-taoist-origins_23.html WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2008

The above entry on Chadao.blogspot.com was my main motivation for this Korea tea adventure.

Earlier, I came across a wonderful inspiration from Mattcha's blog in late February regarding Ddok-Cha. Thanks to my wife's help — she translated it as DDOK=Mochi=Rice Cake / tea. This "Korean puerh" or to me "Korean Lui An," somehow touches me deeply. Perhaps this might be a glimpse of Traditional Chinese tea which was lost many Centuries ago....

http://mattchasblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/what-fuck-is-ddok-cha.html FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2008

The trend of modern days tea drinking had altered the tradition, (The Chinese tea tradition) if I may. Tea vendors try to reinvent new styles of tea every season to keep their customers on their toes, then tea farmers follow this trends to gain quick profit.

Like puerh, for example: 30 years ago, puerh really did not taste like what it does today. Mixing with lower grade, tasting greener, faster production methods, all in all the tradition will be lost 2 generations from now. On the positive ends, this might become another phenomenon like Taiwanese oolong in the 50's. The massive worldwide demands drove Taiwanese oolong production to exhaustion after WWII. Luckily, the big profit margin and the more educated producers had the right mind to improve plants and production methods. Using new technology and green awareness, new Oolong varietal had then blossomed in the 70's. More resistance to climate, environment and frequent harvesting seasons, Taiwanese oolong had became a style all by itself. And now, everyone's flocking to search for the Taiwanese oolong produced in traditional way.... The Aged high refine roasting style.

It took Taiwanese market 40 years to regain the essence of its tradition. Will it take puerh/phoenix/anix/wuyi another 40 years to "Recover"?

I am always a fan of the mysterious Lui An. Unfortunately, the tradition and technique of making such tea and its habitat had been lost for 30 years. That's why Ddok Cha really excited me. Based on Chadao blog regarding Yang-hsien cha, will this be the long-lost tea of the ancient world? A Korean parallel to Chinese Han dynasty tribute tea or even the grand-daddy of Lui An! This pure naive speculation had been brewing in me since February....

As a conclusion on the Korea trip, I am very surprised to understand the lost of Korean tradition in tea because of modernization, which mirrored the Chinese, if not more radical....



At the end, I was lucky enough to find what I had targeted for, although searching for a Ddok cha older than 15-20 yrs. is nearly impossible. I discovered many dedicated farmers testing and experimenting the "Re" making of the origin of Korean tea.


Above picture shows Ddok cha mould from 500 years ago. And the river that nurtures the 1200 years old Korean tea tree which was planted by Lord Daeryeom in 828 at Hwagae Valley, near Ssanggye Temple.

Finally....

These guys put their act together! Great Launch and Good Luck:

http://www.theteagallery.com/

Hadong Wild Tea Plantation, May '08

Great Memories from this mountain, tea heaven. Drinking Cliff Tea maocha freshly picked the day before, using high mountain spring water for brewing, and eating mountain veggies and river fish.... What more can I ask for?

New York City tea gathering 2008

As long as I can recall, this is the forth year of our annual tea gathering at The Tea Galley, NYC. So nice to see old tea friends and share tea adventures from the past years, chatting and catching up from each other.



As their usual generous nature, Michael and Winnie once again provided an amazing brew to us. The original Red Labels from the 50's, first time opening for 'The' occasion : ) Yummm..... tasting story-board will follow.



Based on Mr. Tang Puerh Cha book, there are 2 types of early Red Label from the 50's, and they were 5 to 10 yrs. apart.
The main difference between these 2 are the Cha Chi. Earlier one is more gentle and the later (which we tasted) is more aggressive...


We all got hit Hard by the very first sip. Mike P and Lew closed their eyes to enjoyed the roller coaster ride. Meanwhile, my nose and forehead area was feeling the Chi pressure elevating immediately from the first cup. Stoned to the point where I can not really focus. Seeing blurry and couldn't calculate distance. It was very powerful. Aged Mandarin's peel, dried plum, orchid aroma, amber, camphor, talc and granny face powder.... Everything I like was in it : )

Korean Monk Wild Tea continue...

The living of Tea Master "Cloud Rock" is very basic. Clean water running from the mountain stream, persimmon tree, mulberry tree growing as shade to cool and shelter the main compound. Situated near the foot of the mountain, the house rested next to rock and stone caves. Smaller caves are for storage and Kimchi jars piled around them. There is electricity, but the stoves are still the traditional wood-burning cast iron style. I really can feel the connection between nature and human, or maybe this is the way it always should be? A balance, or harmony to coexist, maybe a respect or humble as we are just a small part of this equation...

Anyhow, I just want to share with you the Point A to B, from his house to his plantation. The two is divided by a river running from the top of Jiri Mountain range. Learning from previous trips in Yunnan, Anxi, Phoenix and Wuyi mountains, getting a truck is essential. 5 minutes from his house, we suddenly made a sharp turn down to the river. I pulsed a bit and he just gave me a signal to a shallow water passing by. Stepping on the gas panel, I just rolled with the flow. "This is cool!" I exclaimed... " This is what I am talking about!" no one made a sound. "This is child play compared to Yiwu mountain" I mumbled to myself.
Climbing back to a narrow path, we started going up the hill....


There were wild Strawberries everywhere, the monk calls it something with "dragon berry (?)" The plantation has a South-view, although the view is not as breath taking as the Handong plantation we did stay the other night, or the San Chi is not as noticeable. The peacefulness is quite obvious. There are a lot of cypress trees growing around, he mentioned these trees only grow on well drain cliff based soil. That is music to my ears, Yan Cha in Korea? Who will expect!

Returning back to his house in the late afternoon, he started brewing his 40% fermented tea. "Tastes like Oriental beauty!" I then asked if he has experience on this Taiwanese treasure before, and he is kind of not certain. Luckily, I did my homework and swiftly presented him with a top grade OB as a faith offering. He was more than surprised for this gift, I do humbly hope that he can learn much from this small sample of mine and eventually his tea can take on a all new dimension.

Later, I also brew some of our wedding puerh for him. I did learn so much from his wisdom of making tea, he did suggested if the moacha from the puerh could have absorbed an hour of the sun energy, this will be a more livelier brew. That will be a important note for me from now on: All tea plants need sun energy to survive, so will the process of making it.


I think there is a huge potential to this traditional fermented Korean tea. Taste like a cross between oolong (OB) and first flush Darjeeling, very beautiful and inviting. I will be aging this tea in a Korean pot at my archive to see its improvement.

Korean Monk Wild Tea

Traditional Korean tea farmers usually have a very strong view on drawing a line between Nok Cha = Green Tea, and Jak Sul Cha = Korean Bird's tongue tea. Specially to this tea making monk I have my faith and luck to become friend with. He has been making tea since he was 9 years old in one of the Jiri San temples. Growing up in the temple since 5, he was surrounded by a newly built Korea Nation and the broken tradition of ancient tea culture. Every time I mentioned Green Tea, he shakes his head in protest.... "Green tea is from Japan, and the process is much different... Korean tea is a different varietal, and we should not associate the two together. The history between this both Nation is very grey...."


It took us 45 mins to travel to his home from Hadong, along a very beautiful river, famous for small hairy crab and river trout (which both serve raw).

10 years ago, he did managed to purchase a small plot of land in the out skirt of Hadong with 30-40 years old tea trees growing in the wild. Last year, he also found a traditional farm house on the slope of his plantation.
We spent the whole day learning and seeing his property, trying to understand his way of making wild korean tea. "I only make 2 kinds of tea, The fresh tea and the 40% fermented tea" he said. "Besides that, I also collect Herbal medicine from this area."

My friend which accompanied me had 6 bottles of Soju the other night, since he never had "Korean Vodka" before, and he is a first timer in Korea. With much arrogant he thought it is as easy as beer.... until he was literally throwing up blood that morning. The monk saw his face and wiped up a tonic using some herbs sitting in a kimchi jar, then pulled out a sharp object and bleed my friend from his right thumb.... blood spilled and tonic consumed, he then finally got some color back on his face. Miracle!


His way of growing tea is very zen, you can see there is not much tending to the farm and surrounding. Wild plants growing all around and quails making nests between tea trees. "Tea is a natural gift, so we should provide them with the most natural environment...." he continues, " People get greedy, and the tea will lose its taste."
Although he only harvests once a year, his tea is quite a commodity in Seoul. Many people try to secure his product by the lot, but few succeeded.


Will have a detail tasting note of the monk wild tea, with friends at the tea galley next week.

A Gift but don't know what it is.....

I am not a big fan of DY factory, but this one do smell ok.... What is a 8592? Very confusing label: 80's good product award / traditional method / traditional formula. Cooked, Raw or half and half? Anyone, please.... tasting notes will follow.

Tea and Sake...

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fg20080530d1.html

Funny how sake and tea drinking is both effected by the market/profit demand... But I still think, the older the better : )

New friends from Tokyo

Cups from Edo 1603-1868 (Blue&White) and Meiji 1868-1912(colored) period. These are original sake cups, but will it be great for Tea? As long as they don't crack from drinking hot tea, I will invite them to my tea table.

Paradise in Southern region of Korea

700m Hadong, Jiri San, KyungSangNamdo. Clear mountain stream, Rock based soil, high and cool altitude, the environment is a heaven for growing tea. May is the high season of harvesting this "Bird's tongue" original Korean tea, and processing them to be JakSulCha; A proper term of Korean "green" tea. Since the term "green tea" is a direct translation of Japanese tea, and the process is different, traditional Korean tea farmers address their tea as Bird's tongue = Jak Sul tea.

An honorable retirement.

After 5 years of service, and many many great photos and memories. My army of tea pots salute to their beloved camera.
Finally, my new toy had arrived. No more "point and shot" but SLR! Hopefully the picture quality will improve?!...

Blind tasting....

Blind tasting tea is always a lovely idea. I can always let my imagination run wild, testing you taste level and learning from a wide range of speculation. So far, Mr. M (MarshalN) is on top of my list.

The careful planning and the skill of drama shown in the arrangement of these samples were artfully executed. I am not sure how deep his knowledge is to all his samples – meaning the understanding of what exactly the grade, storage condition and age these samples are. But I do believe he is fully aware of the effects of these tea. A job well done!

I received 4 samples a couple of weeks ago, numbered by 1 to 4. After a week of tasting with various tea heads from the Tea gallery, or still continuing the last sample. Here are the results:

Number 1: Hey, this is not oolong! This long and SX like 10 yrs +- leaves may perhaps be Luk An? After 4 cups of it, Michael and I were very puzzled. He then pulled out a 1976 Lui An for a comparison. Overall initial character is sweet and amber-like with a bite to it, the liquor appears to be a little cloudy. The ending notes both presented with a beet-like taste and wheat-like favor. Is there a storage problem? Too much circulation when aging or been air-out too long? Is LA popular in Taiwan? Specially the full grown (big leaf) version.... hmmmm. http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/2008/01/70s-loose-green-liu.html

Number 2: Classic fired Min Nan Oolong. Judging on the de-stemmed leaves, this could be TGY grown in Anix and brought to Taiwan. or Taiwan TGY but using traditional Anix method to process? Good solid classical Kung-Fu, but only last a quick satisfing 4 cups of it. I guess the roasting skill is more enjoyable then the grade. Well aged also! Overall taste is sweet, mid-roasted TGY. Sticky/dry mouth, numbing to lips with talc-like rose fragrance and clean finish.

Number 3: Here is Mr. M's skillful arrangement level (in my opinion). This tea is a filler! The cleanser of the course. The sour sorbet that balances back your palate from the starter and the appiteizer. A not so well aged Oolong from Taiwan? The first cup of this promising fragrance light/mixed up/re-roasted/aged/Taiwanese/leftover Oolong didn't deliver on its taste. Tricky but clever steps.

Number 4: This is the MAC! I would say 35+ years? (Michael predicts 50 yrs.) Long leaves Min Na Tea. Could be a Taiwanese cultivar? But have Cliff tea structure to it. Both Michael were convinced that this is a type of puerh in the beginning! Well, tricked again by Mr.M. and Really Good Drama, I have to say. The dark liquor was mellow in the first 5 brews, enjoyable with very very good Chi.

Then the ride began, after the 6th brew. The floral unleashed with an well aged puerh taste! Talc/grandma's face powder overwhelming the palette. Well stored tea, no sour or fire taste at all. Great throat effects. We stopped on the 12th brew last friday and been brewing one overnight steeping until this friday. The end result is Korean red chili powder the kind that you make kimchi with! No joke.... Michael from the Tea gallery has not given up this tasting yet, we'll see if we can break the record of 4 week-long brewing. We'll continue...

The third week of tasting #4, ending with sweet floral notes. The body of the tea is still holding: Mild pepper, earthy and spicy. I hope Michael from the Tea galley can help me with more details. Not done yet.

A Beautiful Tea!

The more I drink tea, the more I don't know about it.... I felt like a kindergardener over this weekend tasting a Taiwanese tea. The range of grades not just puzzling, but at the very less, amazing. This is a generous gift from a Taiwanese Sculptor. His knowledge of fine tea/tea-wares elevated me to a whole new level. The first time I had a competition grade Oriental beauty, was 7 years ago in Taipei. The mere difference of what I known of OB and what the taste of that cup, troubled and angered me. "What the crap OB have I been drinking for all these year!"


Oriental Beauty suppose to be a summer harvest. But this specimen show only tender shoot. All fresh shoots, no teenage of adult leaf at all! How delicate this harvest must be! Picking only shoots in the summer time and processing with extra afford. My mind can only speculate with wonder.

The taste is pure honey plum, muscat, Champaign, perfume. Long lasting sweeting in the back of the throat. Round and full but soft mouth feel. The brew started from light to dark and light again. All in all, more then 12 cups of spectacular color changes. Beautiful Beauty!

Smoke for thoughts....

Overwhelmed and under stress with work, consumed my well-being for the past whole month. Although the cloud of intense deadlines and on-going projects still hover over me at this point. At the end of the day, I will replace this cloud of stress with my cloud of pure smoke joy. I had find nick of time thru breaks to exam my love of smoke paring with tea. Recently, my choice of a non habanos is this Puro Robusto limited edition 07 from Davidoff. Smokers raved it one of the best closest choice cigar you can get to a fine Cuban. Of Course, I am up for it. If I can even find a close resembling in the US to the Real Thing!

A mere 688 miles parted this two Country, but the different in soil, sees, climate and terrain was a world apart. The aging character is also very different. The Puro Robusto use a blinder of 1992 vintage leaves with fillers from different areas: San Vicente Ligero, Piloto Seco, Piloto Ligero and Olor Seco. Released last year 2007 September, only 12000 was made. All this effort is to produce something similar to the real Cuban. At the end... still a world of difference.




I did pared it with a range of tea. From 8 yrs. roasted Taiwanese oolong to a 03 Tuo, Yiwu young, 15 yrs. yiwu and highly roasted 15 yrs. TGY. I find it best with the Menghai 2005 Anniversary 2kg Limited Beeng. Why? I think is because of the use of blinding for both tea and smoke. The lack of complexity of the smoke could be balanced by the complex favor of the MH blends. The tea can give what's the smoke is missing: The floral and qi from the tea, exchanging the leather and earthy of the smoke. The spice of the smoke complementing the youth and energy of this young tea....etc

My thoughts on bending somehow relates to: 1. Hiding a floss. 2. Stabilize a product, and 3. Maintaining quality and enhancing the notes. This "Cuban want-to-be" Dominican do archive the basic level of a good Habanos: The fine oily aging of the wrapper, the smooth rich robust taste which produce a fine snow ash structure, and the aroma of an aged finest tobacco matching the body of the taste. But what its leaking is the aging complex characteristic.... The smoke overall is nice but with a mono, simple dimension. No evolution in its 2 or 3 stages. I had experience fine Cubans which can give 5 to 7 stages of character changes. Sounds familiar? I always draw parallel with tea and smoke. There are so many aspect which they both share: Plant quality, environment which they are grown, harvesting, pre-processing, skill of aging, skill of making into a final product, storage, aging, and the skill of consuming.

No matter how hard you age a fine non-habano, it will never archive the long maturity of a fine Cuban. Many Habanos are not even ready until a 10-15 yrs. first aging period: http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/2006/05/some-great-aging-process.html. It will be interesting to age fine young habano side by side with a young yiwu cake. All in all, some tea are in the same level when they are young. But once they put to the test of time, many do fade. Can we afford to paid the price with time, discovering in the future, what been aging in our storage are too common? I think I will have a more relaxing state of mind, after the next few weeks....

Drinking good tea and using good pots.

It was with great pleasure to had this tea again! Michael and amount good tea friends gathered to celebrated my birthday last Friday. The oldest living puerh tea tree at 3753 yrs old. Last tasted: http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/2006/05/3740-plus-years-old-tree.html



Mike and Winnie was kind enough to break-out 16g of this "Most-expensive-cake in the world" (for it's age worth), as a treat for my special occasion (29th Feb.). The experience was more then I can comprehend. The Qi hit us all at the first sip, and we were seeing blur....

Even we push it using 16g/300ml water. The taste was still mild, but deep. Never a moment of intrusive, maybe this is what good tea is all about? Calm, dynamic is from the after notes, mistaken as stolid if one do not know/experience the truth, delicate layers and puzzling/challenging to the mind....


While we were having a good time, one of the teapot expert brought the news of Famous Zi Sha Master, Rong Jiang, Passed Away.
I had a moment of silence, because her blue lily frog pot was the first teapot which deeply connect, and inspirated me to the love and quest for fine yixing.

http://www.jiangrongart.com/images/pot/112.jpg

http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/2006/05/from-yellow-dragon-mountain-mine.html

I guess it might be the same to both good tea and treasure pot. At the beginning, when I was not equip/experience to explain or understand tea drinking. There is always an nonverbal excitement when I came across good tea/pot, until you keep searching for the meaning. Over time, you will finally knows how to fully enjoy both, with good friends.