Your day in tea
Revisiting this tiaosha teapot after many months with a 2019 dancong. I’ve used it for yancha and it was great except that I don’t drink much yancha. It seems to be especially nice for dancong. Overall texture is improved compared to antique zhuni or F1 zini. One reveals too many flaws and the other contributes it’s own. The structure is impeccable when paired with this tiaosha pumpkin pot.
The tea itself is from West China Tea, purchased and rested since 2019. This batch has a huge amount of pectin. Drops of tea become suspended momentarily above the liquor before being absorbed into the whole. A wee bit of animal scent lingers at the roof of my mouth, suggesting that the bushes are old. It’s very nice.
This pairs well together.
The tea itself is from West China Tea, purchased and rested since 2019. This batch has a huge amount of pectin. Drops of tea become suspended momentarily above the liquor before being absorbed into the whole. A wee bit of animal scent lingers at the roof of my mouth, suggesting that the bushes are old. It’s very nice.
This pairs well together.
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It's a lovely pot! Old zini, much underrated in my view...Baisao wrote: ↑Wed Mar 23, 2022 7:01 pmRevisiting this tiaosha teapot after many months with a 2019 dancong. I’ve used it for yancha and it was great except that I don’t drink much yancha. It seems to be especially nice for dancong. Overall texture is improved compared to antique zhuni or F1 zini. One reveals too many flaws and the other contributes it’s own. The structure is impeccable when paired with this tiaosha pumpkin pot.
The tea itself is from West China Tea, purchased and rested since 2019. This batch has a huge amount of pectin. Drops of tea become suspended momentarily above the liquor before being absorbed into the whole. A wee bit of animal scent lingers at the roof of my mouth, suggesting that the bushes are old. It’s very nice.
This pairs well together.
It’s one of them. A thicker than usual body is a more common sign of increased pectin. Both are common among winter harvest teas but I wouldn’t rule out other seasons though I’ve never had a summer tea with a thick body like this. Because of the strong association with winter I believe cooler temperatures contribute to higher pectin.
Had a sample pack of this fuka and just started my day with it. Liked firing scent and flowery-fruity bouquet. FWIW, the other Yamakai I've tried, the futsumushi from Sakuma (also via TdJ, also May 2021), is not as flowery, nor as roasty, but the smokiness is somehow easier to separate and more complex. Interestingly, this smokiness seems distinct from the firing level/scent. Not sure if it's more a feature of the cultivar or the process.swordofmytriumph wrote: ↑Tue Mar 22, 2022 4:55 amDrinking my way through a sencha I got on Thes du Japon, from Yame, Yabe yamakai cultivar. I'm really enjoying how dynamic the flavor is, every time I drink it, I taste something I didn't taste before. I think part of that is me for sure, and I'm definitely having an off day (woke up with a stuffy nose), but somehow it only brings out even more. I noticed fruity notes yesterday, then today my nose was stuffed up but that only brought the front all the umami notes that were overshadowed yesterday when my nose was working properly. A great tea to be enjoyed no matter what kind of tea day your sniffer is having! So many times I feel sad to drink some of my favorites on a day when I'm not my best, but I don't feel that with this one!
Tonight, I'm having a tea that I've had many times before, but this time, in a different teapot (different size, different shape, slightly different clay).
It's a decent yancha which I had many times last year, and it kept me quite happy back then. I played with lower and higher leaf-to-water ratios, I brewed it quickly and I brewed it strong, sometimes I crushed-up the leaves to fit 10g or even 12g into an 80mL teapot, sometimes I just threw a small handful of leaves into a big pot in the 'OCTO-style' of yancha brewing... I must have gone through about a kilo of it over several months, mostly during lockdown, and I thought that I knew it pretty well.
It was always nice, easy, forgiving, never disappointing, never particularly amazing. It was dependable, hence why I picked it as the first tea to use with this new pot.
But today, it feels like a completely different tea - such a strong and long-lasting aftertaste, more elegant, the roast is better-integrated, the fruits are more complex and 'perfumed'... And I'm sure it's not just the pot - the tea has gotten older, I've gotten more experienced, the weather has changed...
I guess that we just keep learning each time that we make tea.
Andrew
It's a decent yancha which I had many times last year, and it kept me quite happy back then. I played with lower and higher leaf-to-water ratios, I brewed it quickly and I brewed it strong, sometimes I crushed-up the leaves to fit 10g or even 12g into an 80mL teapot, sometimes I just threw a small handful of leaves into a big pot in the 'OCTO-style' of yancha brewing... I must have gone through about a kilo of it over several months, mostly during lockdown, and I thought that I knew it pretty well.
It was always nice, easy, forgiving, never disappointing, never particularly amazing. It was dependable, hence why I picked it as the first tea to use with this new pot.
But today, it feels like a completely different tea - such a strong and long-lasting aftertaste, more elegant, the roast is better-integrated, the fruits are more complex and 'perfumed'... And I'm sure it's not just the pot - the tea has gotten older, I've gotten more experienced, the weather has changed...
I guess that we just keep learning each time that we make tea.
Andrew
Baozhong first thing in the morning :
Having tea early in the morning you can feel the tea warming your stomach, chest, arms and fingers. I'm much more observant in the morning as I am not stressful or angry.. I'll be angry later for sure but lets enjoy this wonderful moment right now. Drinking tea before having any heavy meal you can notice all the wonderful effects it has on you. Ahh.. if I could bottle this feeling now I wouldn't be so miserable later
Having tea early in the morning you can feel the tea warming your stomach, chest, arms and fingers. I'm much more observant in the morning as I am not stressful or angry.. I'll be angry later for sure but lets enjoy this wonderful moment right now. Drinking tea before having any heavy meal you can notice all the wonderful effects it has on you. Ahh.. if I could bottle this feeling now I wouldn't be so miserable later
Another sencha morning with tea from Obubu's latest tea club shipment. Today's is their 'Earth' sencha....fresh and bright and lovely
Enjoying this while I contemplate the tea reserves and the one depleted style that needs some restocking. This is a newly difficult task because I have discovered multiple lovely sources and will somehow have to narrow it down to just one for a new order, because one doesn't want to overstock the delicate teas that do not keep so well....and I've got plenty of the puerh, other fermented teas, traditional roast oolongs, etc, that do keep. The office tea group has grown again, particularly due to a larger common workroom for clinic that means more people sharing the tea on those days--the very large thermos is getting abundant opportunities for use.
Meanwhile, more sencha, and a fine report from Obubu of a very good spring harvest, while I contemplate the next steps. Mmm.
Enjoying this while I contemplate the tea reserves and the one depleted style that needs some restocking. This is a newly difficult task because I have discovered multiple lovely sources and will somehow have to narrow it down to just one for a new order, because one doesn't want to overstock the delicate teas that do not keep so well....and I've got plenty of the puerh, other fermented teas, traditional roast oolongs, etc, that do keep. The office tea group has grown again, particularly due to a larger common workroom for clinic that means more people sharing the tea on those days--the very large thermos is getting abundant opportunities for use.
Meanwhile, more sencha, and a fine report from Obubu of a very good spring harvest, while I contemplate the next steps. Mmm.
Majorly running on low tea-wise here on east coast, having been away from home for so many months. Put in a group order with Thunderbolt for mostly white first flush Darjeeling, but that could take many weeks/months to arrive, so was pleased to see that @Tillerman still has some remaining oolong on his site, before Spring 2022 arrives; Lishan, Cuifeng, Muzha, and Bao Zhong. Since I’ve been away from my collection pretty much for the past year, I’ve been limited to a rotation of just two kyusu - one antique porcelain, one Hokujo stoneware that I pair with medium/high roasted DD. With so many lightly roasted oolong, and just few high roasted ones, it will be a challenge to mostly limit myself to one porcelain kyusu. I guess I’ll just do the 4/5th overnight steeps in small lidded glass jars that I can then refrigerate. Missing the aesthetic pleasure of handling and seeing my collection that has a nice variety.
Started the day with Tillerman’s winter ‘21 Lishan. Rich, viscous, silky smooth, thick and aromatic. Nice. Thank you
Shipping was super fast (and free), just a few days, cross country.
Started the day with Tillerman’s winter ‘21 Lishan. Rich, viscous, silky smooth, thick and aromatic. Nice. Thank you
Shipping was super fast (and free), just a few days, cross country.
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Maybe it is a good challenge: a time to compare teas that all prepared in the same teaware which can show you how much (which includes how little) difference there is in how tea tastes between favorite pairings of teaware w/ teas to the taste of the teas prepared in glazed porcelain.
I prepare teas mostly in a porcelain bowl while enjoying looking at teapots that are closer to being special; &, a lot of sessions I drink from a glass while looking at pretty handmade cups & saucers. (Thus keeping tasting & seeing separate while enjoying them simultaneously.)
I recently wrote that I have come to believe that a lot of teas become better some months after they came to market. I think last Winter's oolong is at its peak now. (As smooth & flavorful as they could be.)
While at the East Coast, if coming to Boston, you know you are welcome for a session.