oolong Archives - Page 4 of 5 - Wojciech BońkowskiWojciech Bońkowski

Beautiful tea

Oriental Beauty (a.k.a. Baihao) is one of the most renowned tea ‘appellations’. And it’s also one of the world’s strangest teas. With its unique production method and its distinctive bouquet, it is among teas roughly what oxidative dry sherry – amontillado and oloroso – is in the domain of wine.

You’ll find an extensive introduction to Oriental Beauty here. To summarise, it’s a lowland, summer, partly-oxidised (oolong) tea from northern Taiwan. More often than not produced from the Dapa varietal, its uniqueness lies in how it’s grown: in summer, local insects called tea jassids are encouraged to feed on the leaves; their bites initiate a process of oxidation within the leaves that later translates into a distinctive, spicy bouquet. Oriental Beauty is a tea with high oxidation (>50%, in which it differs from lighter oolongs from Central Taiwan and comes close to black tea) but little or no roast.

My duo of Oriental Beauties comes from Teamasters and comprises the 2008 Hsin Chu Oriental Beauty (hereafter ‘2008 OB’) and the 2008 Hsin Chu Oriental Beauty ‘Top’ (see vendor notes here). The latter is a limited selection that includes jassid-bitten leaves exclusively. The difference in price is huge: 33€ / 100g for the straight OB and no less than 100€ / 100g (sold in 25g packages) for the ‘Top’. This latter price is more a factor of rarity and prestige than actual ‘objective’ value. (Please note Teamasters are now offering the 2009 version of both teas).

The dry leaves of both versions are distinctive and beautiful. OB’s other Chinese name is wusicha, ‘the tea of five colours’, and you’ll see this unmistakeable mix of black, dark brown, beige, and tippy white hues on the photo:

The 2008 Top seems to have somewhat smaller leaves, impeccably sorted, and perhaps with fewer brownish ‘flakes’, but the aspect is similar. The dry leaf aroma of the 2008 OB is very distinctive and preannounces the flavour of the cup. Very spicy, with hints of tree bark, Chinese medicine, oriental mushrooms, and minor dry fruits, it’s quite unlike any other tea. The 2008 Top shows a slightly more fruity (dried fruits) bouquet and the impression of lighter, less earthy spiciness is reinforced as the leaves are put in a warmed cup.

2008 Hsin Chu Oriental Beauty: brewing no. 1 (45 seconds) and 6 (2 minutes).

As you can see from the photo above the colour of the infused 2008 OB is not particularly dark. With that spicy, mushroomey, cinnamonny aroma again, we are lured to a palate of lovely balance and presence. Laden with spice and dried fruits in a crisp, light framework, this tea shows an amazing sweet huigan aftertaste and a stunning sense of refreshment. It’s not particularly deep or intense but has a remarkable cleanliness and authenticity about it. I’m also impressed by the durability. I rarely go beyond 5–6 brewings with an oolong tea but here, 10 are easily possible, with the later ones taking minutes of steeping and still yielding the same medium-bodied, intensely perfumed result.

The 2008 Top shows a subtle but evident variation to the straight 2008 OB. It seems a little more oxidative, and less formulaic in its spicy, fruity bouquet. Whereas on the nose the register seemed lighter and fruitier, on the palate we have a more structured, tannic, almost austere tea. Intensity, breadth and length are also superior. These are milimetric differences but the step up from the 2008 OB is obvious. Is it worth the extra 70€? I guess not, but that’s not the point. Teamasters’ Stéphane Erler wanted to shows the highest grade of Oriental Beauty that can be obtained, and he’s there.

2008 Hsin Chu Oriental Beauty ‘Top’: spent leaves after 10 infusions.

The best part of Oriental Beauty, for me, is looking at the wet leaf. (I find myself increasingly examining spent leaves of my teas: there’s a lot of information to be gathered). Here we have some of the most immaculately processed leaves I have encountered. It’s a classic maofeng grade (two leaves and a bud), and the leaves are small, perfectly shaped, and undamaged. They are uniformly brown in colour due to their high oxidation but look as fresh and vigorous as if they were freshly picked; there is absolutely nothing ‘spent’ or ‘expired’ about them.

2008 Hsin Chu Oriental Beauty: spent leaves after 10 infusions.

In tea as in wine quality, the saying goes, is never an accident but always the result of intelligent effort. There has been a lot of intelligent effort put in the harvesting and production of this tea. What is purely a technical quality – proper handling of tea leaves – becomes an aesthetic one. This tea embodies perfection. It is distinctive, pure, deep, intense and rewarding. My favourite tea.

Tea and chocolate

An exercise matching tea and chocolate. Can this work at all? Isn’t chocolate too powerful to have with tea? I try some artisanal chocolate pralines with green, oolong, black and puer tea.

Tea on the move

How to brew decent tea while travelling? Without access to infinite tea supply from your own tea cabinet and 25 brewing utensils. The answers are: keep it simple; carry your own tea; choose a tea that will perform well in less-than-perfect circumstances.

2008 Fenghuang Winter Hungshui

I feel a little strange after my recent Japanese green tea overdose (see this link for a list of related posts). When perceiving the ‘outside world’ with our senses, we all benefit from temporary specialisation. If you drink one Chablis amidst a diet of California Zinfandels, chances are you won’t like it or appreciate it. If, however, you travel to Chablis to taste the local wines for a week, you become much more aware of the nuances that differentiate the various Chablis. The same goes for music. If you’re due to write an essay on the operas of Wagner, you’d better do a bit of listening before that. It’s good to have that individual style well ‘in your ear’.

But there’s another aspect to that. Overdo that Wagner listening, and all his operas will seem like one repetitive ramble. After two weeks of drinking only Japanese shincha three or four times a day, I didn’t feel like having more, and all those notes of green fruit and mild astringency on the palate really didn’t make much difference. So it’s good to switch to something different after a while. Yet the first sips of that ‘different’ tea (wine, food, music) always seem strange. Everything’s out of sync. The mouthfeel is not what it’s supposed to be. Even a tea’s colour can seem anomalous.

This 2008 Winter Fenghuang Hungshui oolong is a sample courtesy of Stéphane Erler of Tea Masters (merci!). In many ways it’s the perfect antidote to a Japanese overdose, yet it took me two sessions to really acknowledge its quality and personality to the full.

The Tea Masters website has a comprehensive description of this tea. Tea vendors’ websites and product descriptions can dangerously degenerate into repetitive marketing ramble but Tea Masters are (in my opinion) a notable exception. Their tasting notes are universally well-written and to the point.

Hungshui is a traditional term for a high mountain rolled oolong from Central Taiwan, produced with ‘traditional’ roast (i.e., higher than most modern Taiwanese mountain oolongs). As all tea terms it is approximate: with this specific 2008 Fenghuang, it is at most a medium roast, lower than I remember from Tea Masters’ 2008 Spring Dongding produced from exactly the same area. But (typically for a winter harvest) the fruity and flowery aromas of this tea are also quite subdued, making this medium roast a sensible choice: it doesn’t overpower the natural expression but is present throughout in the profile. You see it clearly in the xiangbei [‘aroma cup’] where there is a very interesting progression: starting with fumé, toasted-woody smells through cereals, then chocolate and caramel, going back to woodsy, herby, toasted, baked-bready scents. Hmm, interesting… I spend a few minutes smelling the aroma cup alone.

Infusions no. 1 (45 seconds, left) and 2 (25 seconds, right).

Brewed in: gaiwan

Dosage: 2.5g / 120ml

Tasting notes:

45s: Leaves are slow to open and the first infusion is a pale apricot-mauve in colour. This has retained some good fruit underneath the roast, with a subdued but fascinating retronasal perfume mixing red fruits (raspberries?) with almonds, almost like a Dancong. Length is good, though this brew is obviously rather light – if you’d like a proper gongfu brewing session I recommend dosing more like 5–6g (though see below). Texturally an interesting combination of butter and toasted grain. A noble, satisfying tea.

25s: Deeper colour and a bit more intensity but the whole register is unchanged. This tea seems like a great pearl-white canvas on which only time will paint a colourful picture. A bit more butter and less toast now; a touch less fruity too. Now this is tasting very mountain oolong-like, with restraint and noblesse: whispers not utterances of texture and flavour.

40s: A deeper apricotty-beige colour (finally). Aroma still centered on roast. However more sweetness on the long huigan finish. Losing some of it grainey personality in favour of a more intense (if still shy) fruit.

This tea is a masterpiece of roast if there ever was one. It’s roasted to the millisecond and millidegree of temperature. At no moment does it show that bitterish astringency of excessive roast, nor the shallow buttery vagueness of insufficient one. The natural tea leaf flavours are perfectly combined with the delicate roasted notes. Stéphane mentions this tea was roasted by an old master, now retired, and it really shows: it’s a study in effortless, self-effacing craftsmanship.

Be warned: it’s a really delicate, low-key tea. Even following Stéphane’s advice (which I found very sound: this tea has little to gain from a tough-headed gongfu progression) of infusing little leaf for long times, the intensity is never very high, and it’s all about nuances. But what nuances! I’m now healed from the Japanese overdose, and for 32€ / 100g, I’ll be sure to order more to see how this tea can age.

These leaves are very slow to open…

1976 Baozhong

1 year = 1 minute?

After my entry on the gargantuan anniversary wine tasting it’s time to report on the tea that was served. I’m sure all tea lovers know the headache: how do you serve tea to a party of 10? Unless people are interested in seeing a proper tea session (not here), it’s practical to make a single large pot of tea.

But in my case, the tea had to be special. With so many old wine vintages being poured, I wanted a tea with several decades on it. Old puer was best avoided, though, as the taste could be challenging to some diners. So I went for this 1976 Baozhong from Tea Masters (see description here; the tea is out of stock at the moment, although Stéphane says it might be available again in the autumn).

I tasted this tea several times upon arrival in November 2008, with the usual gongfu procedure of high dosage (4–5g / 150ml) and short infusions, both in porcelain gaiwan and yixing pots. While an obviously good tea, it left be a bit underwhelmed. The leaves are of a very good grade and quality (there’s very little breakage) as you can see on the photo above. This tea has been roasted to a medium-high degree (likely several times) with obvious skill: the roasted notes are well integrated into the whole. But the aromas are unremarkable, dominated by prunes and roast, and somewhat short-lived in the aroma cup. On the palate, it’s balanced and rather smooth but offers little complexity. In subsequent infusions there’s a pleasurable firmness on the finish from the roast, but not a lot of mid-palate presence and the flavours are again rather vague. It’s a comfortable but rather absent-minded tea and my notes say ‘forgettable’.

Last week’s anniversary dinner was an eye-opener for this Baozhong, after circumstances forced me to change my brewing style. To accommodate so many people, I had to choose a really large pot. My choice went for this glass pot which contains roughly a liter:

It’s the equivalent of what is called ‘glass brewing’ or ‘bowl brewing’ (see discussions here, here, and a variation here). You use, in proportion, very little leaf (I used 8g for a liter of water! I often put as much puer into a 120ml clay pot) but very long infusion times. You get only one brew that will obviously be lighter in body than a gongfu infusion, but not necessarily in flavour: the long infusion concentrates the extraction and you get a kind of summary of your tea, instead of fractioning its aromas into a progression in time (as you do in gongfu when a series of different-tasting infusions follow one another).
The surprise with this Baozhong was how much time was needed to get the best results. 10 minutes was really too little! It’s best after around 20. And I got similar results with a much smaller glass pot (150 ml – then only using 1g of leaf). After such a long steeping, we get a lovely ruby-brown colour and a delightfully rich aroma. Roast is now very much in the background, as the lighter, fruitier aromas have developed: dried prunes, candied cherries, dried apricots, dark honey, a hint of bitter chocolate. Taste-wise, there is a bit of the tannic dryness I observed in gongfucha, but the texture is totally different: there is a lot more sweetness from the dried red fruit notes, and overtones of Christmas spices.
Looking at the wet leaves, it’s no surprise this tea is so good. The roast has been really virtuosic as many leaves are still dark green in colour (have a closer look at the twisted leaf to the far right of the photo below). And for their age, they are really impressively intact. On top of it, it’s a really inexpensive tea for its age (40€ / 100g). Dear Stéphane, I truly hope you can source some more!

2009 Lushan Jinxuan

Tea with milk??

I have just received this package of samples from Stéphane Erler of Tea Masters (thank you!). The opportunity to taste some new teas is always exciting; this one even more so, as the package includes some rare old puer and oolong (more one these soon), and my first taste of this new season’s tea.

This 2009 Lushan Jinxuan is an interesting variation on Taiwan’s classic high altitude rolled green oolong. The variation lies in the varietal: jinxuan. Most of the renowned gaoshan (high-mountain) oolongs are made from the traditional qingxin tea cultivar. However, due to the latter’s low yield and disease resistance, a number of new cultivars have been developed over the recent decades. These are so rarely featured in a tea’s name or descriptor that tea drinkers remain mostly unfamiliar with them, and jinxuan, sijichun or cuiyu can only dream of enjoying the recognisability of syrah, merlot or tempranillo.

Jinxuan (a.k.a. as Taiwan No. 12) is one such variety of tea tree, and apart from good productivity it is known for its creamy or milk-like aroma. This is as much a blessing as a curse, as many unscrupulous producers of lower-end oolong simply boost this subtle natural aroma with artificial flavouring. The result, sold as ‘Milk Oolong’, can be so utterly repulsive I have pretty much lost any confidence in jinxuan altogether. I thank Stéphane all the more, therefore, for having sent this very enjoyable sample.

Brewed: competition style (2g / 100ml / 5 minutes)
Leaf: These tea pellets look just like any gaoshan but are really rather large: I reached the required 2g with just 12 leaves (see photo at the bottom of post). These leaves are also quite thin, resulting in a fair bit of bruising and other damage. Colour is a consistent dark green. A pleasant leafy smell to the wet leaves, like walking in a garden after a spring or early summer rain.

Tasting notes:
Infusion colour is rather light. A fine scent, vegetal, leafy, mildly sweet perhaps, with the ‘milky’ association really kept more allusive than upfront (what a relief after the low-end, artificially-flavoured examples). A comfortable mouthfeel for this classic-styled tea that in fact reminded me of continental Chinese teas such as Tiekuanyin or Maoxie. Limited sweetness, this hints at boiled vegetables on the reasonably long finish which is enlivened by some dryness. I don’t get any milk notes here.

Another session in gaiwan (4g / 120ml) showed a slightly more pronounced dairy aroma reminiscent of clotted cream perhaps. There is also a distinctive florality that is different from the lily & orchid register of qingxin: this is less exotic, leafier, perhaps tulip-like. With short gongfu-style brewings (30s, 40s etc.) the register and intensity are quite pale, though, and Stéphane is right in his description that this should ideally be infused for longer times.

All in all this an enjoyable tea with a very subtle, unobtrusive ‘milky’ aroma. But it also shows why the jinxuan variety doesn’t have the pedigree of qingxin: this tea just lacks the structure, depth and finesse of the latter.

2g of leaf after 5 minutes of infusion.

2008 Spring Luanze

A springtime delight

High mountain (gaoshan) oolong from Central Taiwan is one of the world’s best teas, and Shan Lin Shi is one of the most famous appellations (origins) here. No wonder, therefore, that leading Taiwan tea internet specialist Tea Masters are offering no less than a dozen varieties from each vintage including six from Shan Lin Shi alone, at the time of writing.

As the spring is here and I am waiting to place an order for 2009 oolongs, I am slowly finishing my sample of the 2008 Shan Lin Shi Spring Luanze. As most of the top gaoshan oolongs, this is made from the qingxin tea cultivar, also known as luanze (and identified as such on the Tea Masters catalogue). There will be experts around to explain it fully but the reason why qingxin is preferred to other tea cultivars (such as jianxuan or the most widespread sijichun) is the inimitable buttery mouthfeel it gives, along with good ageing potential for the more roasted types.

See here for background about this tea, which was picked on 30th April 2008 at 1650 meters of altitude and underwent no roast; the oxidation is also rather low, giving a tea that’s close to a green in aroma and lightness, but showing a bit more substance and sturdiness than most green teas.

Price: 28 € / 100g (and worth every penny)
Brewed in: gaiwan
Dosage: 4 g / 120ml
Leaf: Appearance is the usual tightly rolled green leaf with a bit of stem attached. Dry leaf aroma is clean and very pleasant, reminiscent of the leaves and petals of first spring flowers (tulips perhaps).

Brewing #1 (30 seconds).

Tasting notes:
30s: The aroma is surprising for a gaoshan in being only vaguely floral, and quite vegetal-leafy. Flavour is again less floral than many teas of this style: mild, soft, light, with only a bit of dryness on end. As it cools down there is quite an inviting velvety texture and an understated, clean, satisfying vegetal taste.
30s: Seems denser in texture and flavour, with some grainy, mealy notes adding to the vegetality.
30s: Now a little lighter, no floweriness at all, and some grip on the finish. In fact this is going along the lines of brewing #2 in showing a touch of roast perhaps (?? Tea Masters are indicating there is none): against many featherlight and unsubstantial renditions of Shan Lin Shi, this tea has guts, and has in fact survived the 360 days of ageing more than well. Altogether a highly satisfying version of its appellation. Stay tuned for tasting notes of other SLS types offered by Tea Masters.

2008 Dancong Milan AAA

A pretty orchid

Following yesterday’s post, here’a another Dancong from Jing Tea: the 2008 Dancong Milan AAA. Milan = Honey Orchid. A colloquial name apparently, since honey orchid doesn’t seem to be used outside the tea world. Milan Dancongs are usually among the lightest, most floral types as opposed to the darker-coloured, spicy Huangzhi styles.

Brewed in: zisha teapot
Dosage: 2.5g / 120ml
Dry leaf: rather smallish, straight and twisted. Considerably darker in colour than the AAA Yulan from Jing reviewed yesterday. Lovely aroma of orange spice and roasted almonds.

Infusion #1.

Tasting notes:
30s: Aroma cup is unexceptional I must say, pleasantly scented but much less distinctive and intense than the dry leaf. A good depth of orange-amber colour, surprising at this low dosage: apparently a highish oxidation and some roast for this DC (opposite to yesterday’s Yulan). Aroma shows a bit of almond and orange but is a bit generic ‘tea’-like, although the DC character is recognisable. A pleasantly balanced tea, good concentration and intensity, with the aromatic pizzazz blended into a more complete experience. No bitterness, good length, dominated by sweet fruit. Really quite good.
30s: As above, slightly less aromatic as often, but a characterful tea.
3m: Despite the lengthy brewing time this is really unbitter, confirming the excellent balance of this tea. Expressive, typical, utterly satisfying, this is a brilliantly made DC for a decent price ($32 / 100g).

2008 Dancong Yulan AAA

Dancong goes green

I have been drinking quite a bit of Dancong tea recently. This family of oolong tea from the southernmost Chinese province of Guangdong (Canton), also known by the name of Phoenix tea, can boast some of the most incredible bouquets in the world of tea. Indeed, the many tea subvarieties and tea tree cultivars in the area are classified according to the natural aroma they mimic. So we have Magnolia, Orange Blossom, Grapefruit Blossom, Almond etc.

This tea-producing area is also renowned for the large amount of old wild trees still in use (the top teas are allegedly 100% old growth, and some even advertised as ‘single bush’; Dancong originally means just that); as a drawback, prices for the top grades are very high, often pushing $100 / 100g in the West.
This is only a very brief introduction to Dancong; for more info, see here.

Here I look at the 2008 Dancong Yulan AAA purchased from Jing Tea. At $29 per 100g, it can be said to be reasonably priced for an ambitious Dancong. Yulan means magnolia, so we know what aroma to look for. With Huangzhi (‘Orange Blossom’), this is the most popular variety of Dancong.

Brewed in: gaiwan
Dosage: 3.5g / 120ml
Dry leaf: Long and rather straight leaves that are surprisingly green. Usually Dancong is a medium oolong, meaning a moderate (~50%) oxidation. Here, there clearly is less. The aroma is extraordinarily flowery, with a mixture of orange blossom, lilac, and lilies perhaps.
Tasting notes:
30s: A clear, saturated yellow colour. Intense aroma is consistent with the dry leaves, narcotically flowery. Palate also has a flower petal bittersweetness, and an almost buttery texture with no aromatic other elements such as fruits or spices. Elegant, smooth, with good presence on palate and a longish finish. Rather elegant for a DC, this reminds me of Baozhong with its extravagant flowery crest over a rather slim body.
1m (overbrewed): Colour deepens into a yellow+. Interestingly this has not become bitter, but there is a flowery dustiness at the back of the throat.
45s: Now lighter in flavour and a little neutral, as if suffering from the previous, excessive infusion.
1m: Back to shape now. As often with Dancong, the initial top floral notes are gone, but what remains is a solid medium-bodied architecture and a streak of solid, invigorating, elegantly bitterish flavour akin to grated orange or grapefruit zest.

Overall, this is one of the more interesting teas I have tasted lately. It is unlike the majority of Dancongs, with their medium oxidation, medium roast, and a firm bitterish tannic support. This one is lighter, airier, very aromatic, but not weak or slim; green tea it is not. And fairly priced – unlike many Dancongs these days. I really, really like this tea in its style.

Two lesser-known teas from Anxi

Tie Guan Yin challengers

Tie Guan Yin, from the Anxi district in China’s eastern province of Fujian, is one of the classic Chinese teas. But Fujian’s distinctive style of green (very lightly oxidised), rolled-leaf oolong can be produced with tea cultivars other than tie guan yin. Here I look at two such teas.

Huang Jin Gui
Merchant: Jing Tea
Brewed in: gaiwan
Dosage: 3.5g / 50ml
Dry leaf: Typical Anxi rolled leaf, although a little smaller in size than e.g. TGY. Pleasant grassy, floral scent.

Tasting notes:
20s: This appears a little overbrewed, showing in a concentrated yellow-green colour, and some tannic astringency on the palate. Aroma is Anxi-floral with a bit more grassiness and grapefruit peel pungency than a typical TGY. An assertive tea, fullish on the palate while keeping the green drive of the nose. Good tea here, but I would double the amount of water for this amount of leaf.
20s with 130ml water: Colour more into greenish. Floral but a little subdued (some leaf burn?). Palate less astringent, assertive, full-flavoured. Good quality here.
30s: Strangely weaker and flatter now, without the expressive force of the above brewings. Good vegetal length. Subsequent brewings are gradually losing intensity, but overall pleasurable.
Definitely a re-purchase at this price ($9 / 100g).

Competition Grade Se Zhong–Mao Xie
Merchant: Jing Tea
Brewed in: gaiwan
Dosage: 4g/120ml
Dry leaf: A typical Anxi rolled leaf. Aroma is also typical: grassy, vegetal, but also highly floral and exotic-fruity. Nice.

Tasting notes:
25s: Lid aroma is again very floral (pink and white lilies came to mind). Idem but slightly less precise in cup. An elegant, fruity-floral tea, this seems less structured than the typical TGY.
30s: Lid aroma now more vegetal, less floral. Despite being less structured than many Anxi oolongs this is an assertive tea with very good ‘palate presence’.
40s: Much as brewing #2, good length, good personality, this has all to please. The open leaves seem thinner and less serrated than a TGY, and are almond-shaped; clearly this is another varietal:

60s: Similar to above, floral and fresh but palate a little fading now. Overall expression is still quite good.
60s: A delightful brewing, mild but flavourful.
3m: Still a vestige of the high-pitched flowery aroma and enough flavour on palate to be interesting. Which is not bad patience for a rolled oolong IME.
Overall this is firmly Anxi in style but a little less structured and sweeter than a TGY. Excellent tea. And at $12 per 100g, it is also brilliant value.