Wojciech Bońkowski
Master of Wine

Don’t drink puer tea…

…too young! Why ageing really makes sense.

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In Portugal (5): Tea in the Douro

Enjoying tea in location… in wine country.

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Tea and food: the umami issue

Third installment of my tea and food matching sessions. Italian red mullet fish roe (bottarga) provides a challenge with its huge intensity of umami taste. Will any tea survive this?

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Guest tea

Went to a friends’ house today. We’ve had cakes and Saracco’s 2009 Moscato d’Asti, and tea. I brewed my 2008 Otowa Karigane (it’s going stale now, but people enjoyed it nonetheless; a tricky tea to brew in a large pot, though) and 2008 Teamasters’ Oriental Beauty. The hosts also offered their own tea, and this is where the surprise came. They’ve been to China for business in November and brought back a pressed bing [cake] of puer tea, and a gaiwan with assorted cups. 
Well, it might not sound so romantic but I’ve never seen a bing of tea in Poland before. Even tea aficionados in Poland focus exclusively on black and green tea, and ‘puer’ here denotes a rock-bottom commercial loose-leaf ‘slimming tea’. So it was quite some fun to play an away game of brewing puer in someone else’s equipment. 
The tea turned out to be a fermented [shu] tea from CNNP: the ubiquitous Yellow Mark, most likely the latest vintage on sale (2005?). Fairly ordinary tea, though well-made with a reasonable leaf grade, and tolerant in brewing. Being unfamiliar with it (and drinking almost no shu at all) I’ve dosed a bit too high, and several 10-second infusions came out dark and concentrated but not too bitter or earthy; a good sign. Bonuses came in the form of the hosts’ porcelain kettle (first time I’ve used one; it actually yields a nicely sweet water) and some good exercise at pouring six cups from a 140-ml gaiwan (at home, it’s two or three). We learn every day. 
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1990 Fuhai Wild Tuo

Abundant snowfall on Warsaw on 26th March. How to survive? Fermented tea (shu puerh) gives a helping hand. And this 1990 vintage (yes that’s a 19-year-old tea) is excellent.

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