茶姑娘的故事

2004 磨盤山香竹

On Spring Break and finally got a hold of my Hou De order. First up is this bamboo cooked pu from 2004.

This shu doesn’t have any of that overpowering bitterness or astringency of my previous sheng hits. However, I haven’t been able to get a hold of a yixing teapot for pu since I decided to spring for a chawan instead (should be arriving in a few weeks). As a result, I suspect I’m missing out on a lot of the finer points of this tea and have decided put it away until I save up for the proper brewing wares. That means the 2007 Xi Zhi Hao Dragon and Phoenix sample will have to wait too, which is unfortunate since the prices of XZH cakes are speculated to go up as a very popular inflation hedge in the Mainland. Bet it’s pretty good tea too.

Pu in a rice bowl. :D

I’m on about my 6th infusion and the tea hasn’t lost its body at all. Good stuff. 

As a side note, I’m also beginning to suspect that the water in my house is kind of off. Every time I come back home from college and drink some water from the tap in the kitchen, it tastes slightly bitter. I should have brought my Brita water filter back with me. :(

90s Blue Dingxing

Relief! This actually tastes and smells like pu’er as I remember it. But I think it might still be a little too young because I did briefly note a hint of a fishy undertone in the first infusion similar to what I’ve experienced with the other samples. Comrades who’ve reviewed this tea also claim that it’s actually a 2001 tea falsely advertised as a 90s. Anyway, I’ve learned my lesson: don’t buy pu’er that’s less than 10 years old because I can’t stand to drink it nor have the patience or live in the right climate to be aging this stuff.

It must be noted that I changed my brewing technique quite a bit from the past two days. Instead of using a clay teapot of questionable origin, I brewed it in a  small bowl because

1. I didn’t want to use pu’er in my specially designated oolong teapot
2. I don’t have a gaiwan at my disposal
3. Been having really bad luck with the clay teapot as my previous posts suggest.

So how did I do it then? I put a good amount of leaves in a small bowl, covered it with a rice bowl to retain heat. I waited around 15 seconds and transferred the tea from the small bowl to the bigger rice bowl. It actually worked pretty well or at least produced better pu’er than what I’ve been drinking previously.

The first infusion went down nice and silky smooth. It was slightly bitter but I probably brewed it a little too long.

By the second infusion the fishiness seemed to have dissipated. However, I can’t seem to tease out any other flavors. This is either due to my emergency brewing methods or the possibility that my tastebuds are just really insensitive. Who knows?

No bitterness in the third infusion, as I’ve eased up on the brewing time. There’s definitely that signature pu’er flavor there, a certain earthy, woodiness. My tummy is warming up. Joy. :D

Of course, as luck would have it, Puerh Shop is already sold out of this stuff! Good grief. Maybe pu’er and I just aren’t meant to be?

I think I’ll eventually end up purchasing a gaiwan. Although pu’er is better brewed in a teapot, a good gaiwan is a lot cheaper and easier to come by than a quality yixing. I don’t really feel comfortable buying expensive tea ware online. Now that I’ve done some research and have a better idea of what yixing should look and sound like, I’ll probably wait till the next time I’m back in China to go shopping for one. Plus, the weather is warming up already and I can probably go back to my greens and oolongs soon.

2008 Chunyunxiang Spring Aromatic

This stuff smells quite similar to last night’s pu’er except not as chocolatey and more like something from the kitchen cabinet. 

First infusion is bitter. :( Maybe there’s something wrong with my taste buds? Maybe I scorched my tongue too many time gorging on 火鍋  and my mom’s boiling hot chicken noodle soup? At least the color of the liquor is darker and more tea-like than last night’s. There’s an ashy aftertaste. :( Why am I subjugating myself to this? I should have bought some sencha instead. Oh, remorse. 

Second infusion. This stuff is not getting any better!

Third infusion. I’m beginning to think pu’er is a hobby best left to the men. Where did that beautiful, rich, dark taste of my memories go? 

Fourth infusion. Perhaps I really want this to work out all right, but the tea is starting to smell slightly more floral and round.

I really don’t have the heart to keep going. I prefer inhaling to drinking this stuff.

What if I were to blend this sample with the 2007 Mengku? Heck, they might age better together.

2007 Mengku Bingdao Arbor Maochao

A Daoist monk, a deer, and a crane walk into a bar…

When I first opened the bag and sniffed the leaves, I was hit by a rich dark chocolately aroma.

First infusion (10 sec?) was kind of bitter and then turned smooth. Reminded me a bit of merlot. Bad, cheap merlot, but merlot nonetheless.

Second infusion (20 sec?). I don’t really time my brews, so I think I may have over done it because it’s really super bitter. There’s such a distinct fragrance about this tea that I can’t compare it too anything. I hope I can remember it so I can compare to the other samples. But so far, not feeling any strong qi yet.

Third infusion. Have to conclude this is not my thing. Too bad I bought a 50g bag of it. Weak qi. Bitter. And smells a little fishy.

Fourth infusion. It just tastes super bitter and weak to me. I’m going to keep going because supposedly, pu’er doesn’t get really good till like the 8th or 9th infusion. But looking at this stuff so far, I don’t think it’ll last that long.

Fifth infusion. I brewed it for a full minute and it’s still the same color and taste. At least my body temperature is warming up and I’m starting to feel a lil teadrunk. And now a slight headache is coming on. I quit.

The spent leaves are nice and pretty but what an unsatisfying tea they produced. NEXT!

Haven’t got into the habit yet and already drowning in it

I don’t know what possessed me but I decided to order a few more pu’er samples today from Puerh Shop.

2007 Mengku Bingdao Arbor Maocha (50g)
2008 Chunyunxiang Spring Aromatic Pu-erh Tea Cake Sampler
2009 Genxiang Old Cha Pu-erh Tea Cake Sampler
90s Blue Dingxing Pu-erh Tea Cake Sampler

Within a week or two I should have in my possession more than six varieties of pu’er, more than I’ve ever had in my entire life. I’m feeling a little nervous now. Maybe I’ve jumped the gun getting on the pu’er bandwagon. I don’t know if I can drink that much pu’er even if they’re tiny little samples. But since quite a few of them are raw, I guess I’ll just find some place to stick ‘em and see if I can get them to age all right.

Hopes and dreams and fears

I’ve been aggravating for awhile over whether I should purchase some pu’er or matcha, because quite frankly those herbal teas just aren’t cutting it. Today my craving for pu’er and economization finally won. You see I already have a yixing teapot waiting at home uninitiated, but no chawan nor all the other accessories required to prepare and store matcha. But that’s all fine because I think pu’er would really be much better for me during the winter season! As much as I love my greens, they cool my body too much right now.

The search for decent tasting, affordable pu’er has been a long one. I ended up purchasing 4 oz. of 2004 Muo Pan Shan “Xian Zhu (Fragrant Bamboo)” and a sample of 2007 Spring Xi-Zhi Hao “Dragon & Phoenix” from Hou De. I had the order sent to my house and not my dorm. Hopefully it’ll get there by next weekend so I can go home, retrieve my tea and tea ware, and get some laundry done!

白毫银针

Silver needle is classified as a white tea. I’ve been drinking this stuff since last summer when my cousin supplied me with a canister before I left Shanghai. My stash is just about depleted so I decided it was high time this companion of mine was memorialized.

My dear friend,

Your leaves are so long, slender, delicate

with an aroma so clear like light.

I’m sorry for all those mornings when I was in a hurry to rush to class

and steeped you in just finished boiling water,

when I know you required steeping at less than 90 degrees Celsius.

I’m sorry I scalded your leaves,

and made you taste bitter when you could have been so sweet.

I hope someday we may meet again

and I may rectify my sins against you.

Love always,

茶姑娘

I grew very fond of drinking this stuff (grandpa style, unceremoniously) because it has a very gentle qi, a warmth that spread slowly through my limbs until it culminated at my center and purified my stomach. And of course, made me feel very drowsy at the end.

Puripan ~ Peach White

I have to admit, I was looking forward to trying the peach white the most. Unfortunately, the flavor and the aroma were hugely disappointing. It tastes and smells like….bubblegum? The blend is composed of “Organic White Tea Leaves, Natural Peach Flavor, Organic Osthmanthus Flowers, Natural Essential Oils of Orange and Tangerine, Organic Jasmine Flowers.” Maybe I’m just not used to such a copious melange of citrus and random herbs. But I do know the leaves weren’t the best quality, poorly rolled and some broken. But most of all I realized how weak the qi was compared to the higher quality Chinese teas I’m used to drinking.

And that pretty much ends my review of Puripan teas. I really wanted to try their Hydrangea but it’s a so much more expensive compared to what I’ve tried so far. Considering the general quality of their teas —I give it a B— I think I’ll look for some other sources.

The next time I need a peach tea fix, I’ll just go to the coffee shop on campus. Somehow, they have this really amazing green tea and peach blend. Very surprising.

FEBRUARY 12 ~ I tried brewing this tea again and have to deem it beyond redemption. I’ve never had to throw away tea before, but tea has never made me feel nauseated before either. First time for everything, I guess. I think the lesson I can take away from this is never buy any tea that lists essential oils in its ingredients. Real scented tea is made with the real stuff! After this I think I’ll have to drop Puripan to a C overall. and a total F for the peach white.

Puripan ~ 뽕잎차

I gave the mulberry leaf tea a try today. I was happy to find that it brewed a lot quicker than the persimmon leaf tea, although it didn’t have as sweet of a scent or taste. I can’t really describe the flavor of the tea, maybe a general woodiness. I’ve never eaten the berry itself so I can’t make a comparison on that either. Really nothing spectacular but a good alternative when I want something light for the palate and warm for the tummy.

I must warn you, mulberry leaves are a diuretic and consuming them will improve bowel movement. Be prepared to make extra trips to the bathroom whiling drinking this stuff. Apparently there are also a lot of other health benefits associated with mulberry and persimmon leaf tea. I would list them, except it’s easy enough to Google it and read the propaganda there. :p

Puripan ~ 감잎차

My order of Puripan teas came in today: Persimmon Leaf, Mulberry, and Peach White.  As a side note, I usually stick to traditional Chinese teas like Wulong and Pu’er but had to branch out because I can’t handle the caffeine side effects — warm drowsiness for the first hour and hazy half-awareness for the next 5 hours — and I really wanted to try some Korean tea, which usually favors the use of herbs and fruits as opposed to, I suppose one could argue, real tea.

I decided to taste the persimmon leaf first because I really like the smell of the fruit and was delighted to find that the leaves retained the scent beautifully. However, I was initially disappointed when I opened the bag and found the leaves were not whole, but cut into strips instead. This was off putting because a tea’s grade is partly determined by the condition of its leaves. I also enjoy seeing the leaves unfurl during brewing. But since this isn’t camellia sinensis we’re talking about, I guess the rules don’t apply.The tea itself is smooth and mildly sweet tasting. It effortlessly eased the furrow between my eyebrows accumulated from straining over Econometrics homework for two hours.

For the first infusion, I applied roughly one teaspoon of leaves to 8 oz. of water as prescribed by the packaging. The flavor wasn’t too intense but had enough depth. The second infusion didn’t produce much flavor. I have to conclude that persimmon leaves aren’t made for multiple infusions or just have a high leaf to water ratio. Experiment. Experiment. Experiment.

While drinking herbal teas, I recommend taking it slow and really savoring the sweet, earthy aromas!

Puripan Tea Garden sources its teas from Korea and distributes them from California. I would say this was a reasonably satisfying first foray into Korean tea. I feel very tempted to purchase a traditional Korean tea set now…

P.S. ~ All I have at my disposal is my phone camera and a really badly lit college dorm room so I won’t post photos right now. But someday I will share with you my collection of teas and tea ware because that is the reason why I started this blog after all!