Wojciech Bońkowski
Master of Wine

Tea bonanza

Posted on 25 June 2009

42 teas in one day

By pure coincidence (well, a polite way to thank Polish Mail for holding packages for two weeks for ‘customs inspection’) I’ve received no less than four shipments of tea today. Now this is real embarras de richesse! My Japanese 2009s are here (tins on the photo above are from Marukyu-Koyamaen and there’s another box from O-Cha; I must praise the latter’s service as they’ve replaced an order that went missing, free of charge on EMS) and I’ll dedicate a series of future posts of various shinchas and gyokuros from these two vendors.

New season teas also include a dozen Darjeelings from Lochan; these are actually free samples that are being sent out on a promotional scheme where you only need to pay for (very efficient) shipping. I really draw your attention to this offer (currently available for both first and second flushes) as it allows for very interesting comparison between various single estates teas including the famous ones of Margaret’s Hope, Castleton, Jungpana etc. More on these teas on this blog soon.

By contrast I’ve also ordered a box of various aged puer samples from Nadacha (and some excitingly affordably yixing clay jars):


I’ve started the exploration with a black tea from Nada:

The 2009 Fengqing Wai Shi Li is a high-grade spring flush from the Fengqing Tea Factory (and more specifically their Dianhong brand) who are classic producer of both black tea and (more recently) puer. It’s fairly inexpensive at £6 / 100g, and I also very much like Nada’s wabi-sabi packaging:


Brewed in: gaiwan
Dosage: 3g/140ml
Dry leaf: Rather small leaves with a degree of golden tips but overall colour is darkish. Aroma is typically Yunnan and very hongcha: earthy, herby, rather unfruity, not terribly complex or deep; perhaps a bit of smokiness. No increase in intensity as the leaf is warmed.

Tasting notes:
45s: The profile of this brew is best described as ‘traditional’. It has a subdued aroma dominated by earth and smoke, with no fruit frills. The nose might be unremarkable but the flavoury is very good, with medium body and a less oblivious oxidation than I expected from the nose. Hardly a lot of complexity or poise but this is good for the price. I might have been just lucky with the brewing parameters as this is showing a perfect balance of tannins and body. Really quite traditional: rather solid and oxidised, less fruity than many modern examples of black Yunnan but more consistent and solid.

Brewing #1 (45 seconds).
2m: Lighter than brewing #1 even with the prolonged time, exposing a somewhat naked finish but the profile is more or less maintained. I won’t brew it a third time though.

Overall this is satisfying tea for the price. Another good buy from Nada! This also makes me curious about the other 2009 Fengqing black that he’s offering.