Spring 2014, Dong Ding(凍頂) High Mountain Heritage Oolong Tea

Today, the light refreshing medium roasting of Taiwan High Mountain tea(高山茶) Alishan, Lishan etc are the trademark when one discuss teas of Taiwan but not many know that Dong Ding(凍頂) Olongor loosely translated frozen peak was the crème de la crème back in the 70s & 80s.

How will high mountain Dong Ding(1100m) processed at a higher-oxidized as tradition requires to make a Heritage Dong Ding flares :)

To be continued..

Colours of Tea @ LATENT SPACES

I heard about Colours of Tea organised by Pekoe & Imp through Ladyteamel's blog. Today session is located at LATENT SPACES, Har Par Villa. With the many new friends, it was a great session tasting and giving each our views on the various types of tea with the help of our facilitator Hong Yuan and master brewer, Jaq. Green, White, Yellow, Oolongs,Red & Black Tea we tried them all!! Most importantly It was really fun and enriching meeting peers of similar interests.

Of all the teas we tried I felt i really enjoyed Junshan Yinzhen(君山银针), Yellow Tea the most something I haven't tried and most willing to explore. About 5% oxidation, the Yellow tea or golden needles sports a bold green grassy favour yet mellowly delicate sweetness It's like a mixture of Green tea with Lighter oolongs perhaps with a slight astringency that gives you an excellent Cha Qi.

Scheduled for 1.5hours but dragged on for almost 2.5hours shows how passionate we were!!

 Pekoe & Imp's Facebook page of the event!

    Yellow Tea brew in a Low Profile Yellow Duan Ni Pot ^_^

If you are keen to learn more or make new friend while enjoying a  good  cup of tea, you can join Pekoe & Imp for their tea events :)

Mid-Autumn Festival 2014

The highlight of this year's Mid-Autumn Festival from the previous years is the addition of pu erh enjoyed with the yummy Singapore Airline’s maiden traditional lotus egg mooncakes.

I’m very much a Oolong person but pairing of those light oolong with moon cakes just didn't seem to match. Heavier roasted yan cha seem to also lack that oomph to go with these lovely moon cakes. 

A couple weeks back, I brought some mooncakes to Tei’s place.We decided to pair it with his newly purchased 郎河 2010(Lang he) 熟(cooked) pu erh. I will review this on a later date. Prior to this I have only drank Pu Erh a handful of times. But boy does the earthly rich smooth pu erh is compliments the sweet floral moon cakes. Hence, i decided to immense myself into the new world of pu erh.

I bought a cake of cooked  pu erh, Yi Zhan Chun "一盏醇"  2012 literally means "a cup of rich, smooth & mellow tea" and the rest is history.  So while i enjoy that with my family i was also fixing my little sister's faulty iPod home button. Yes, an iPod classic in year 2014 haha..

Oh pardon the funky coloured photos taken with my iPhone.

Visiting 無為草堂 (WuWei Teahouse,Taichung)

I recalled before heading to Taichung, Taiwan, I googled for famous landmarks in the city.Blogs after blogs, 無為草堂 popped up. A 8min Taxi ride from my hotel, I had to visit this place! You'll find in most blogs the whimsical side of 無為草堂 in the daytime but unfortunately I can afford only time off in the evening. But hey, it looks great even in the evenings! 

Traditional looking shop front with a short passageway inside, this teahouse stands out quite distinctively amidst the modern landscape of Taichung. Welcoming you in is the friendly and pretty Ms Wang( I shall grab a photo of her when I visit the teahouse again). It's my 2nd visit and Ms Wang recognising me, offered a complementary sponge cake to go with tea ^_^ Thanks!!!

With regards to photos, because I'm on a business trip,  let's make do with my trusty iPhone.

En route the rooms, I passed many large Koi pond. Sadly, it was too dark for a decent photo.  The rooms are Japanese styled with beautiful artworks lining up on the walls, the temperature is regulated at around 26 degrees C. Just perfect and comfy. 

For dinner, I chose one of their house favourites; Hakka duck, pickles, green bean soup, sweet melon fruits  and delicious 珍珠糙米(Taiwanese unpolished pearl rice). The food was really awesome. All food in Taiwan is nice to be honest :)  I shall try some of their other set meals the next time!!

You can read about my review of Alishan Oolong from Wu wei Tea house here

Spring 2014, Dan Cong: Mi Lan Xiang(蜜兰香)

Directly translate as Honey Orchid Fragrance from the word Mi Lan Xiang (蜜兰香) is popular for its rich honey aroma and orchid fragrance from which it derived its name from. It is classified under the Phoenix Dan Cong(单枞)) family found in Chao Zhou, China.

Now Dan Cong(单枞) is a really interesting type of tea. If you catch the steeping timing just right and you be rewarded with the wonderful aroma and diabetic sweetness favour . Let it steep short it's bland. Too long the bitterness is overpowering. Hence, time and temperature are of essence.

REVIEW 

Tea Source: 2014 Spring Mi Lan Xiang (non-pariel)

Water source: Hyflux Filtered Tap 

Water Temperature: 90deg 

Tea Leaves rinsed prior to first steep 

First Steep with quick infusion of  7-10 seconds the honey like sweetness, lychee favoured, orchid lingering aroma will surely grab your attention.

Subsequent infusions as the leaves unfold, yields consistent favours. The sweetness is so intense, it taste like flowery nectar. Honey is an understatement when compared. This sensation of lingering orchid aroma combined with nectar works from your mouth, down your throat then stomach is the most awesome Cha Qi feel that makes you go ahhh...

So often with Dan Cong, when over steep, it gets really bitter But NOT the same way with this amazing Mi Lan Xiang. It's said, good tea when push to it's limit still is able to maintains and suppress the extreme level of bitterness and character. 

In fact if you are adventurous and brew it longer than you should. You be in for a treat. Yes, there will be some bitterness BUT it doesn't yield any sort of overwhelming medicine like bitterness instead, the mild bitterness is surprisingly very pleasant on the palate and quickly disappears overpowered by a sweet honey like aftertaste. 

Like the old Chinese saying of 先苦后甜, which translates, after much bitterness comes sweetness. This actually brings the complexity of this tea to another level from most.

CONCLUSION

I have tried various Mi Lan Xiang from various vendors but they have never excite my taste buds with such multi dimensional effect of the synergy between aroma and taste. This batch from JKteashop  is probably one of my favourite teas. Non-Pariel indeed!!!

In short, it's easy on the palate slicing through the different layers of honey foral sweetness and that ooomph aroma. If you need an introduction to Chinese tea, i will recommend this Mi Lan Xiang as the best tea to start with!

Spring 2014, Da Hong Pao (大红袍)

Da Hong Pao (大红袍) literally: “Big Red Robe” is a premium, prestigious variety of the Wu Yi Yan Cha. Legend has it, the emperor of Ming Dynasty sent great red robes to clothe the four bushes from which that tea originated after his mother was cured of an illness by a certain tea. Three of these original bushes, growing on a rock on Mount Wuyi still survive today. Due to its high quality, Da Hong Pao tea is usually reserved for honoured guests in China only unreached by us mortals. highly expensive, Da Hong Pao can sell for up to US$1Million/kilogram. 

Prior to this tasting, Both Tei and I felt Pek Sin Choon’s Royal grade Rougui was the best Wuyi we ever tasted. Complex both in it’s taste  and aroma, Rocky mineral mixed exotic fruits like lychee favour lingering in your mouth leaving a sweet aftertaste.

Today, finally we are trying the revered Da Hong Pao. My friend Tei managed to get hold of a 15 grams sample from JKteashop. Our expectations are high with all the raving how good this is. We just had to have a taste of it. Will this be our next favourite? 

REVIEW

Tea Source: Jkteashop 2014 zhengyan Da Hong Pao

Water source: Hyflux Filtered Tap

Water Temperature: 90-95deg

Tea Leaves rinsed prior to first influsion

1st infusion: Wow, Malty chocolate with fruity undertones. Feels like the combination of Tie Lou Han and Rougui.   

2nd infusion: Malty with a slight dark Chocolate aroma and taste. This follows by a rocky mineral aftertaste. The mineral resembles that of Pek Sin Choon’s Royal grade Rougui’s Rocky favour.  

3rd infusion: 3 distinct layers can be tasted in sequence. First malty chocaolate like not overpowering but just nice. This followed by the solid mineral taste and finally finishing off with a fruity citrus aftertaste that lingers in your mouth even after all that golden liquid is gone.  

4th infusion: Surprisingly the malty chocolate taste is now more mild and can be felt in the undertones. The dominate favour is the strong rocky mineral taste hits you straight with a fruity citrus aftertaste. 

5th infusion: The strong rocky mineral taste is maintained followed with mixture of mild chocolate & citrus aftertaste.  

6th infusion: Corner stone where the malty chocolate favour makes way for the fruity melting pot of lychees and exotic fruits after which you can experience the with a strong mineral aftertaste. 

7th infusion: Same sweet fruity experience without the rocky mineral aftertaste.

CONCLUSION

There are two concepts on Da Hong Pao; One is pure Da Hong Pao tea directly from Qidan tea variety, which is very limited in output every year; another is commodity blended Da Hong Pao(using Shuixian, Qilan, Beidou,Huangguanyin, Rougui and other variety to blend the tea) to make its aroma and taste similar to pure Da Hong Pao or better than pure Da Hong Pao. 

Da Hong Pao summaries all the characters of the famous wuyi yan cha. If they say durian is the king of fruits, Da Hong Pao is the king of Wuyi Ya Cha!!!

Spring 2014, Shui Jin Gui(水金龟)

Shui Jin Gui (水金龟) literally means Golden MarineTurtle is one of the four famous bushes of Wuyi, a Si Da Ming Cong. Tei purchased 50grams hence, we decided to have a quick sample. 

Visually, the tea leaves looks brighter shade of green when steeped than most other Wuyi Oolong teas.

REVIEW 

Tea Source: Jkteashop 2014 Spring Shui Jin Gui 
Water source: Hyflux Filtered Tap 
Water Temperature: 90-95deg 
Tea Leaves rinsed prior to first steep 

Initial brew yields a citrus mixture of oranges and grapes with mildly sweet caramel undertones with an earthy base. Subsequent brews consistently contains a strong Rocky mineral earthy base with slightly citrus(orange grape like) after taste.The final brew (6th) the Rocky mineral heavy taste makes way for a slight caramel taste. 

CONCLUSION

Both exhibits strong rocky mineral base notes but personally, I prefer the fruity and smoothness of Shui Xian as compared to the citrus caramel undertones of the Shui Jin Gui. I felt, Shui Xian gave me a more overall complete comforting feel. Tei says is something that he likes to drink for variety. 

Final notes, this is no doubt a solid wuyi yan cha with very strong and consistent rocky mineral taste every brew till the last infusion(8th) but It all boils down to the matter of individual taste and preferences when comparing it’s undertones and aftertaste.