July 27, 2005

• *waves big flag saying "Alnedra!"*
• I was in some fancy shopping arcade uptown when they were having a demonstration of what I learn here is called 'pan firing' in a big rotating copper wok affair. Tea connoisseurship (!?) is back big-time on the Mainland now, though still yet to find any teahouses that beat the ones out in the tea gardens in the hills above Taibei. Shame really, as Beijing's teahouse culture was very famous and inspired Lao She's seminal play, which is now often only known to visitors by this tourist trap
• still yet to find any teahouses that beat the ones out in the tea gardens in the hills above Taibei. Abiezer Coppe, I seethe with jealousy.
• They were special Zanshin! Ah, I was young then and careless! Get a girl on the back of your unlicensed scooter, pooter out to the hills and while away a romantic sunset sipping fresh tea you brewed and served traditional style yourself in a private pagoda, seeing what you could get away with without getting a slap as the smog cloud over the city was set ablaze in the rays of the sinking sun. /misty-eyed crumbling old sod
• sound less like "careless" and more like "single-focused".
• Nostalgia's all very well, but wot about the tea?
• Sorry, Wolof. A bit groggy today. In China, you might want to check out Hangzhou, especially around the XiHu (Westlake) area. They are famous for their Long Jing tea, the reputably best spring in the world (Hu Pao) and their teahouses. The Chaozhou province (my ancestral province) and Fujian are also pretty famous for tea, although they're darker and more robust than the delicate wulongs you find in Taiwan. You may also encounter rather lovely teas in Yunnan, ranging from light wulongs to the dark, dark Pu'ers, which is the only tea i know of that gets better with age. I've tried eighty-year old Pu'er before, and it tasted like fine red wine without the liver-taste of alcohol. I recall an anecdote about how black tea came about. The Russians imported tea overland by camel across the Gobi desert; by the time the tea got there, it got smoked black by the desert sun. To make it palatable again, sugar and milk were added. In Tibet, tea is drunk as a savoury beverage, with yak butter and salt. In Mongolia, the butter is slightly fermented. (No linkies, apologies. At work right now.)
• Sorry for the derail bees, but those memories are sweeter than even a cup of me ma's old mash If you remember the mountain shout-out from a while back, well on the way to Dartsedo (Kangding to your han person) we passed through Ya'an which was once a gathering spot for the tea caravans that headed up into Tibet to trade (nice sideline in opium too back in the day, but I've had my derail for this thread). Here's a bit about the trade on a Mainland Chinese site on Tibetan tea culture brought to you by the in-no-way-biased folks at the China Tibet Information Center. I'm supposed to be a vegan, but I tend to bend that a bit when offered Tibetan tea, as refusal would be too rude even for an oik like me. Best is when you get given tsampa (roasted barley flour), put it in the tea bowl and use your fingers to roll it up into yummy ever-so-fat-rich balls of dough for scoffing. The tea's very rich and usually slalty and seems often to be a bit much for even regular dairy imbibers, but I find it hearty fare after a day hacking about the hills at altitude. Gets your fingernails clean too! I was also well advised never to finish off a last bowl once you've had enough as your host will feel obliged to keep your bowl topped up, which I've found to be usually the case. It's not always the super heavy butter tea though, you get a thinner black tea brew as well.
• AC: thanks for sharing. I have a trip to Cheng Du and Beijing planned in 2007. I look forward to accumulating my own bittersweet memories. I can't say that Tibetan sounds like my cuppa, but having never tried yak-butter, I'll keep an open mind. Alnedra: I love the Taiwanese wu longs. I'm currently drinking a Spring harvest Ali Shan that is a sublime mix of sweet floral and astringent grass. I sampled a Li Shan that was amazingly complex but way out of my price range. I've never had 80yr pu'ehr. I've tasted 40yr that sang with clarity, and I have a nice 25yr at home. If you are ever in San Francisco, I'll have to introduce you to some of my favorite tea shops.
• Zanshin: I'll definitely take you up on that (^_^) The Li Shan teas are exquisite. Not as good for repeated brewings but still fantastic. And yes, very expensive. The last one I bought for a friend cost me about USD45 for 75 grams. The most expensive tea I have ever bought was a Tie Kuanyin, from Taiwan. The entire plantation harvests less than 50 kilos of the tea per year. It cost me about USD145 for 100 grams.
• Given a choice, Abiezer, I avoid Tibetan tea, for I've never managed to acquire a taste for butter -- especially rancid Yak butter -- in tea. When monks visit here, they make tea with lightly salted local butter, but one group boiled momos, Tibetan dumplings, in it, too. And I notice they usually prefer to drink chai, a taste they've presumably acquired in the monasteries south of the Himalayas. Relish Chinese teas, especially the smoky ones!
• I'm woefully ignorant about Chinese teas considering (more of a coffee addict). I usually buy a fairly bog standard Tie Guanyin from the local tea shop, which is a Wulong isn't it Alnedra? I do appreciate it when served properly though. Quite a few friends of mine make it in the way described in Zanshin's link. They say that the wee thin cups let you drink it much hotter which gives the full benefit of the flavour, and that seems true. The Korean restaurants here often serve that tea made with added roasted barley which is very nice, even when it's washed really thin by many a refill. Another aside: here everyone is keen to play up the healthful benefits of green tea, but one of my literary heroes William Hazlitt is supposed to have died from stomach cancer due to excessive consumption of the same. I suspect the English are in the wrong on this one.
• Yeah, Tie Guanyin is one of those teas that are very popular because even the cheap ones are quite all right, with the distinct flavour that defines Tie Guanyin. Can't really say what it is, but like the Taiwan Gaoshan (High Mountain) tea, I can tell a Tie Guanyin right away when I drink it. But there are really "posh" Tie Guanyin teas in the market, although you'd have to go to specialised tea shops to get them. To get full flavour from Chinese teas, always make sure that you warm your pot and cups beforehand. That ensures the tea doesn't fall in temperature too much and the flavour is retained. The smaller the pot, the better the flavour. Green tea is very beneficial, due to polyphenals and also a high level of antioxidants (plus it's the most nutritious of all teas - especially if you count white tea as a subset of green tea). However, all teas release the carcinogen tannin if steeped for too long. I've had customers tell me they steep the tea for hours or even overnight to get the maximum "benefit" from it. Abiezer, I'm wondering if that is what happened to Hazlitt (pure conjecture on my part). It doesn't work like that, people. If the tea's been steeping for longer than half an hour, throw the tea away. You might want to try the tea leaves again, but make sure you throw the tea out. Also, very very important that you don't drink tea on an empty stomach, or if you have a stomach upset for any reason. Tea is slightly corrosive, and will damage your stomach lining.
• My tea-fu is weak, but I've recently been turned on to Le Palais des Thes in Beverly Hills. It's pricey, but some of the concoctions they've come up with are amazing. There's a green tea with figs in it that could stand alone as dessert.
• I have to agree that smaller pots yield a better brew. However, I am curious: How do you keep your water at optimal temperature for the refills? I have often ruined a brew by using to hot or too cold water. Powder tea is nice in this respect, since boiling water is just about right, but the 60-70 optimal for loose leaf I find hard to hit. Should I get used to the idea of using a thermometer?
• That is 60-70 Degree Celsius.
• You can go a bit higher than that, maybe up to almost 80 C for China teas (rule of thumb: the darker the leaf, the higher the temperature it can take. Not always true, but good enough for most teas). Thermometers are good. There are special long ones which work well for measuring water temperatures. There are also kettles which not only boil water, but also can maintain water at an optimum temperature. Always add more water to water that's already boiled when re-heating, to replenish the air that was lost. (My google-fu fails me. I know where to get those special kettles in Singapore, but have no idea how to find them online)
• I'm stepping away from this thread now. Sorry for all the blathering.
• Come back Alnedra! And bring some tea with you! (Seriously - between this and the sandwich thread I'm starving!)
• no kidding . . *grumble* /stomach
• Just wanted to update this thread with some cool tea links that I've recently discovered. Tea Masters Puerh, A Westerner's Quest Tea Posur
• Teabirds. Nothing but pictures of cute girls at tea. *shrug* Whom am I to argue? Quite nice, really. *supresses animalistic urges*
• Uh. Oh. And his other blogs are, ah, quite interesting, too. But... who can prove that's tea they're sipping? For all we know, those cups could be filled with tequila.
• *extends pinkie Would you care for a refreshing spot of tea-quila, my dear?
• Lemon, sugar, milk or worm?