Two 2010 Long Jing teas

Sometimes I feel certain things are contagious, as Brandon over at Wrong fu Cha introduced this double brew method for Long Jing. And having learned a lot from Brandon over the years even meeting him in person once, this sounded so interesting I thought I should give it a try.

These two 2010 Long Jings are both Pre-ming and were provided as samples from Chinese Cha dao on ebay.

Special Grade:

From Chinese Tea

The leaves of the special grade are a bit larger and as such they emphasize the somewhat irregular shapes I heard were common this year due to abnormal weather conditions.

I must say this is quite unique, I have never had a Chinese green that was that smooth, yet so full of flavor. Perhaps its just the condition of my palate right now, but it was loaded with melon flavors, such as honey due, and cantaloupe. Coming from a pale green brew that looks more like I collected the due off of blades of grass.

What is rather interesting is in the third infusion it developed a bit of a sour taste, like that often found in a cherry.

1st grade:

From Chinese Tea

The first grade tea when prepared this way, has a much stronger apple, and malt taste. In fact it reminds me quite a bit of some Belgian style beers I have had. Most noticably in how sweet this tea comes across.

From Chinese Tea

Gamnong Matcha

It looks like matcha, smells like matcha, but is from Korea? Again I do not know nearly enough about korean tea to explain just about anything about this tea. Though I think we can be assured that this is a remenant in a foreign country back to the powdered tea days of China. In fact one thing I've learned from The Way of Tea and many other tea writings, is that at one point in time basically all the tea consumed was powdered, after being pressed into cakes somewhat like puerh.

But that being said I am sure this is a Korean "matcha" after tasting it, After having one Korean tea two days in a row trying to refine my brewing, I am starting to think Koreans have a different taste than both the Japanese and Chinese. Whereas it is easy to get certain flavor profiles from just about every single Japanese tea, and they cross bounderies between types of Japanese tea, Korean teas seem to have a unique flavor profile which words escape me. I want to say biting, but that is not quite right.

It is almost as if with the tea leaf they can easily bring out certain characteristics of toasted grains. But one thing is for sure, I would be scared to attempt to produce Koicha from this matcha, as it is almost too intense made at regular strength.

Hankook Organic Doo Mool Green tea

So I decided to make the leap into Korean tea's in part to go along with a Korean Tea book club sponsored by Mattcha that will be hosted on his blog. I figured I would be reading these books on Korean tea, I might as well try some of the tea that comes from the same country.

I have only had this tea from Hankook so far, and I did cave and order a korean tea set, while I a thrilled with everything I've gotten from them so far, I only wish they could post much better pictures of their products, as I was hesitant to order just about anything from them, though I know of know better place to get Korean tea.

The dry leaves have an almost nutty aroma, and look like a green twisted oolong, definitely processed in a completely different way than is normal for Chinese or Japanese teas.

The infusion is a beautiful color, and smells borderline grassy, nutty and grain like. It is odd how much this smells and tastes like a genmaicha, but it is also so incredibly creamy when brewing the initial infusions with lower temperature water.

This tea rather intrigues me but still completely baffles me. From the categories I know of Chinese and Japanese tea's, this tea seems to really fit into none of them especially neither called green. It seems to be a hybrid of Japanese and Chinese greens and Chinese Green oolongs.

A new Nation

provides a different taste

letting history unravel itself

in a cup of tea

just sip and listen,

admiring its beauty.

--Adam yusko

Essence of Tea 2010 Mansai

For those of you that happened to catch an earlier post on an Essence of Tea cake, I apologize. I always consider myself a supporter of Tea vendors, especially smaller tea vendors that really take the time to talk to their clientele. And the truth is I happened to get that cake because I asked specifically for it, but the owner David (Nada), is still not entirely sure if he is even going to be selling them due to their current condition. So him and I talked and I agreed I would pull the post currently, it was not a bad review, but it did little to inspire confidence as it was one of the first 2010 Essence of tea Reviews I've seen out on blogs.

But the current stance on that cake is that it is sick from processing, and we are eagerly waiting for it to recover.

Now onto the Mansai, it is from a region debated as to whether it belongs to China or Myanmar, and the leaves actually take quite a trek, which amounts in more broken leaves than you typically see from these types of cakes. But the compression was good, not to loose, but loose enough that you can work pieces free gently with your hands.

The first infusion shows what I thought I saw in the cake, either the long trip back to the village, or processing resulted int his tea being slightly more oxidized, the leaves still look fresh and green when brewed with just the slightest touches of reddish brown around some tips.

So while the brew is a touch more golden than the very picturesque yellow, the aroma sure is amazing, camphore and tobacco smoke, with a nice layer of fresh fruit behind that, but it is one of those aroma's that gives hope to the fact that this tea may just be very powerful.

It really does not disappoint if you are looking for power, I actually am using less leaves than I typically do and it is just as strong if not possibly stronger. The flavor is slightly spicy, and smoky, but it is a taste that I just want more and more and more. The finish is incredibly long, with a lasting bite, but everything in my mouth is feeling rather sweet just after drinking that first cup.

I was just checking his site, and he did post this cake for sale today, and I will stick to my usual way of trying this cake a few more times, but I might just order another to hold onto for a bit.

I will admit I have never tried a tobacco item in my life, but having had several cakes that people say has a strong influence of tobacco, I am thinking this cake might just have the strongest tobacco flavor I have ever encountered. And I haven't even sipped from the third infusion yet, and I am feeling a very strong effect from this tea. Wow!

Granted my teadrunken-ness might just be enhanced by my brand new Michael Coffee Cup complete with display stand, that I feel is the perfect size for puerh. I love new teaware!