Red Circle Tea

Oolong processing is above all a labor of love. When harvesting begins, everything else stops. I once spoke to a couple of young lovers whose families were tea farmers; they told me they had to postpone their wedding by two weeks because the harvest started early that year.  Tea harvesting first, marriage second.

Now, let me preface this short blog entry by saying that there have been and will continue to be books, annals, tomes even written about oolong processing, and what I would like to do here is give you just a taste of what it involves, looks like, smells like and means to the tea industry.

The oolong processing I have witnessed and learned about has been of both Taiwanese and Chinese oolongs. I have studied Taiwanese Baochong tea processing and Dong Ding high mountain oolong processing. And I was also on Phoenix mountain in China, and learned about Dan Chong processing as well as traditional charcoal style roasting of Ti Kuan Yin tea.  Today, I will detail Taiwanese Baochong tea processing, probably because I just have more pictures to share of this processing.  Then later I will continue with other processing styles. I think charcoal roasting is probably my favorite kind of processing, but let’s begin here for now.

Baochong tea is grown best at between 500-800 meters. High altitude and misty mornings help develop the chlorophyll in the leaves, and terracing helps the farmer get to the tea, fertilize and pick the leaves. The soil can sometimes be clay like, and here is a picture of the soil where our Baochong tea was grown.

Baochong tea leaves are preferably picked by hand. However they can be harvested CTC (cut, tear, cut). This harvesting is with a hand held lawnmower-type machine. It has what can best be described as a butterfly catcher on the back of it to catch the leaves as they are cut. Here are two photos detailing handpicking and CTC harvesting. See the difference?

When the tea is picked by hand , it’s picked by women who are usually over 45.  I have even seen women as old as 98 picking tea. They harvest tea not because they have to, their families take care of them. They do it because they enjoy doing it, have little else to do to entertain themselves in a farming community, and are highly respected, and still valuable to the industry and to their communities.  So they join in. All the Taiwanese tea pickers I have encountered are highly skilled and very fast at what they do, and thus are given quite a bit of respect. They are picked up in their village in the morning, and taken over to the tea farm, where they are provided breakfast, tea (of course), they do their daily tea picking, offered lunch and given a lift home. Baochong tea pickers carry their basket of tea leaves to the end of each row on the terrace and deposit it there, they do not carry a heavy load from one row to  the next. Unlike work on big industrial farms, these tea pickers are not subject to carrying heavy loads for hours at a time.

Weather conditions play a large role in tea processing too. Taiwanese Baochong tea processing is guided by help from the farmer’s almanac. When the almanac indicates processing season has arrived and the window of those precious few days to pick oolong is here, the farmer carefully studies the soil, the length of the tea’s leaves as they grow day by day, the subtle differences in the afternoon lifting of the fog, all these play into the decision of when exactly to pick.  A day early, and an astounding difference in quality can be seen, either for the better or worse. Last year’s Baochong Red Circle carried was far better than this year’s tea from the same farmer. Picked one day early, the leaves looked identical to last years, but the brew was weak, straw-like and dry in the throat. Thus, we went to different farmers to try their teas (see our post from 5 Generations on Wenshan) . When we finally found the taste we were looking for, we asked, did you pick early? No, replied the farmer, I picked this tea on the same day as I did last year.  A gamble can pay off, or not, depending largely on Mother Nature, and a farmer’s attention to detail. Happily, we had chosen a new tea for our menu that surpassed last years crop and was also a competition winning tea - lucky us!

Processing begins after picking when the leaves are withered. Again, depending on the weather, they could be withered in direct sunlight, under shade, on the hot tarmac of the roadside, or indoors. The farmer will know how withering the tea will compliment the early or late picking and just how this will affect the rest of the processing as well as final outcome of an individual batch of tea. Here is a covered area where tea is withered.

Then the tea is racked and awaits the “green killing” machine. This machine is like a large tumble dryer that “sets” the tea’s oxidation level, and it’s the reason why green teas don’t turn brown or black with time, because they’re “set”.

Next, Baochong tea is put in a tumbler.  This tumbler lightly bruises the tea leaves, bringing out more of the leaf’s juice, aiding in oxidation. It also bruises the leaves in a style that gives a classic “golden halo” to the leaf, and if done properly is a sign of good processing technique.

Then the Baochong is twisted.  Baochong literally means “wrapped kind” because it is wrapped like this (picture)  not rolled like this (picture).

The rolling and re-rolling and fluffing and more rolling can be repeated up to two dozen times to achieve the desired shape. This is where time, patience and an expert hand have a great chance to express themselves, resulting in an acceptable cup of tea or a cup of tea worthy of acclaim. This is also the tiring part where a farmer might not sleep for one or two nights, depending on how the harvest is going.

Lastly, the tea is baked insert (picture) and thus, Mao Cha or Raw Tea is achieved. When toasted 10-15%  the tea is at it’s finished state.

This is the point at which Baochong tea destined for export tea is blended for a specific flavor profile, packaged in bulk and shipped off. But higher grades, those that are single estate harvested, are submitted to the Wenshan Baochong competition for comparison and scrutiny, and ultimately to select a Baochong that is to be the gold standard of the 5 criteria judges use to ascertain what a truly good tea is: dry aroma, wet aroma, color, taste, and leaf size.

Check out our 3rd Place Competition Winning Baochong. It was processed on the farm you see here and crafted by an expert hand. … luckily for you, it’s also on sale!

Two weeks ago in San Francisco I noticed something odd, my neighbors camellia was budding.  What’s going on? What is this poor plant doing?  Reacting to the unseasonably warm spell we felt at the end of October, the camellia was blossoming again as if it were spring.  A pleasant and uplifting sight to see flowers, but it felt strange and somehow wrong, out of place.

On China’s Xi Ping this was a year like no other in living memory.  28 degrees and wearing T-shirts in October?  It was too warm.  Village elders asked one another if they remembered such a year when the osmanthus flowers blossomed so late?  No, none could remember; how strange that such a regular and seasonal flower would bloom two months late, something must be changing they agreed. It is.  Sometimes spotty and never predictable, warming trends across our planet are slowly but distinctly changing not only the growing season, but even the soil conditions of all agricultural products even tea.

So, we waited, waited for the inevitable cool spell that finally came to Xi Ping, finally pushing the tea plant into growing mode and bringing out the best qualities of a superb oolong. And it was worth the wait.  We finally have our best selling Golden Heart fall 2008 crop from Xi Ping here again!

Here is what it tastes like: The first thing you notice about this years tea is it’s toastiness. A deep roasty smell to the freshly washed leaves conjures the smell of roasting chestnuts that hangs in the chilly air and tempts you with a dream of resting comfortably at the fireside. This Golden Heart begins with that roastiness but impressively mellows in the mouth to a well balanced and flavorful oolong. It is surprisingly diverse in flavor, notes of sugar cane, juicy candied lemon and jackfruit harmonize almost inexplicably with a fresh-roasted taste. And it finishes with a resonating and lingering throat and mouth feel that is not overpowering, but absolutely complete.

Our tea was roasted over the weekend of the 25th and 26th of October and is still “settling”. The roastiness mellows out over the first two weeks and settles into a taste that will charm you for months to come.

As far as roasting goes, there are generally two kinds of roasting for oolong Ting Heung and Sook Heung.  Ting Heung is a light roast usually around 20 or 30%.  Sook Heung is tea roasted 50% or more. Sometimes this is referred to as a Hong Kong Style of roasting. (For example, our Monkey Picked TKY is a Hong  Kong Style roast, so darkly roasted that it has a cool mouthfeel and a menthol back bite.) I find most of the Guangzhou and Anxi styles of oolong tea for the American market to be roasted Ting Heung style. You’ve probably had that lighter, floral, gently sweet thin liquid with no depth.  Many have notes of Lilly or sweet citrus only and they are completely lacking in wei gam, (a lingering throat and mouth feel) that to me is intoxicating.

Well roasted oolongs are toasted just right to bring out the best qualities of the leaf, they have just enough toastiness to please, but do not have a burnt or scorched taste to the tea.

We also have a small quantity of a 20 year Old-Tree Anxi oolong that was roasted by the farmer himself in a  Sook Heung style (over 50% roasted) that is a blend of oolong varietals a majority of which are lovingly hand picked leaves, a rare treat. It is a private collection tea that will not be for sale on line and only available at our tea tasting.

So come join us at Modern Tea Restaurant at 602 Hayes Street at the corner of Hayes and Laguna (across the street from Supen Kuchen and Bar Jules) from 12-4 on Saturday the 15th of November. Come to taste our new Golden Heart, enjoy a flight of teas and choose some great holiday treats for yourself or loved ones. We will have the Old-Tree Ti Kuan Yin available and have some good deals on our Dragonwell and Baochong teas too!

See you there!

Sina and Carnie

Fall is here and it’s oolong season. This means from China comes a whole new crop of rich roasty toasted TKY and Wu Yi teas, and maybe a surprise or two. This year as in years past you’ve probably already seen many retailers and other sellers already advertising oolong and this year’s fall harvest, while we’ve been quiet. But, behind the scenes, we’ve been waiting.  Why wait?  This fall was unusually warm, and the early harvests of oolong were undrinkable. Large, flavorless leaves. Prices stagnated at best or even fell, and no one was buying except brokers who had already committed to large purchases. This years best oolong is worth waiting for. That’s why next month we will be hosting our tea tasting at Mina Dresden Gallery and premiering our new fall oolongs. Stay tuned for early reports and tasting notes next week, and more details about the date and time of our next event.

Sina and Carnie

For this Slow Food event we chose to feature two, possibly three teas. We brought our Red Heart Oolong, one of my favorites, and a crowd pleaser. We wanted to introduce people who love oolong to another great oolong from this years harvest. And, we wanted to open the eyes and palates of people who had not yet had good oolong to this great tea. Unfortunately, the mineral content in the tea did not take to the mineral content in the water, and when we tried the first brew of our tea is was almost unrecognizably … well uninteresting. What tea is this? Where is the characteristic warmth? The lovable top note of red rose? All gone. Thin and uninteresting, a day-when-you-don’t-care-what-you-drink oolong had appeared in it’s place.

This is all to say that sometimes you don’t know what kind of water will be available and how it will affect your tea.  What characteristics will it bring out and what will it hide? Too mineraly and the flavor will front load, leaving you with fewer steepings and strange tasting tea. Not enough minerals and you’ll have flat, boring tea. Ideally, tea at it’s best is steeped with water that has a mineral profile as close to the mineral profile of the earth and water used in the tea growing region.  This way, the mineral content in the water used to brew the tea will compliment and highlight the mineral content in the dry leaf of the plant.  Two more factors come in to play. First, regionality / nationality of the tea drinker and availability of water source. What if you live in Wisconsin, but your tea is from China? What if you live in Brazil, but your tea is from Taiwan?  If you are using tap water, then ultimately, you choose the water you prefer.  Maybe you add bamboo charcoal to soften your water and balance negative ions.  Then, this will make the tea you like to drink, and that is good tea.  Second, what bottled water choices are available to you and which are appropriate to the tea you’re drinking? If you live in Japan, and drink Pi water would you use that for a Fuding White? If you live in France and drink Evian water, would you use that on a Wu Yi Rock tea?  Lastly, when you travel, what water sources are available to you and how can you maximize your tea drinking experience abroad. I want to encourage you to taste more water around you. Pay attention to the water at the restaurant you eat at, water from your neighbors house, bottled waters from around the world and water from (safe) foreign drinking sources.

So what did we wind up serving at the Slow Food Nation Expo? After feeling a little deflated and now conscious of our water source we tried our Special Reserve Keemun top grade from Yellow Mountain in Anhui Province. There is only one grade of this tea that is higher than this one, it is the tribute grade. Reserved for the Emperor or government officials, given to the temples or used in gifts and for bribes, it is almost never for sale and the price is astronomical. After that tea, this is the top grade of keemun available for sale. The leaves are tiny and wiry, needle thin and even, and soft tiny gold buds punctuate the uniform dark look. We brewed it and ta-da! Juicy fruit, rich winey-ness, and a light smokey finish. Best of all, there it was on the lid of the gaiwan: blackberry. Happily, we set about organizing a tea station for preparing Keemun.

Then, we brought out our just-in-case tea.  Our Puerh Brick Half cooked (also referred to as a mixed brick) from 2006. This is a great half-fermented tea from Yunnan province. Originally picked and pressed into cakes when the leaves are green, puerh is meant to age over time, the leaves turn brown and the taste deepens and mellows. In the late 70’s and early 80’s the population of Hong Kong wanted more aged puerh. Thus, they developed the method of “cooking” or fermenting puerh artificially and re-creating that “aged” taste. They taught this technique to the puerh factories and the practice has come to dominate puerh production, so much so that when offering a puerh to a tea drinker often the first question is: is it raw or cooked?  Generally, cooked over a period of time, this brick is cooked for half that time, offering a mixed appearance of leaves that fermented fully and leaves that did not ferment.  Because of this, this is a great tea to enjoy today, or, to age over time. It is also a fantastic introduction to puerh, it’s complexities, it’s appealing earthy taste and unique status in the tea world.

When Alice Cravens of Modern Tea restaurant in Hayes valley announced that she was going to be the Tea Curator at the Slow Food Nation Taste Pavilion and asked us to be a part of it I had no idea how lucky we really were. I had a better sense of just how lucky when we walked in to the taste hall Friday morning for set up.

Pulling into the Fort Mason Center in the Marina district at the north end of San Francisco and finding parking near the water with a stunning view was breathtaking in itself, but then we entered the hall to this scene: busy little fork lifts were beeping everywhere, hammers were pounding and voices unhindered by furniture, walls or carpet were echoing off the concrete floor and down the length of the building.  A long hall at the end of the Fort Mason piers, the taste hall is it’s own pier and is hidden behind all the other buildings and even behind Herbst Pavilion. When you walk in, it’s like a long large warehouse, but  beautifully decorated with a modern-farm-eco-sustainable-hip twist. Long orange banners hang from the ceiling and proclaim “Pickles” or “Coffee”.

The tea section is surrounded by white gauzy material that creates small intimate spaces with tables and seating for 8 people.  A tea facilitator who specializes in Japanese tea, Taiwanese tea, Chinese tea or just tea history offers you a 15 minute look into the different teas that they are presenting.  The Japanese ladies who were presenting Matcha tea for traditional preparation were in the most beautiful kimonos!

With water that is heavy with minerals,  Carnie and I were glad we chose our Puerh Brick(Mixed) Half Cooked 2006 and our Keemun Special Reserve Grade 2008. They stood up quite well, but still steeped very quickly, and were front loaded with taste, leaving the remaining steepings less flavorful. While normally I can get a good 12-15 steepings from the keemun, even with doubling the quantity of tea used, I was only getting 8 good steepings. Even so, it was nice to introduce many people to puerh and give them their first taste of what good “English Breakfast” tea should taste like… sweet, bright, juicy, winey, a hint of smoke and that delectable blackberry note that won my heart and convinced me say yes to this tea on our buying trip.

What else is at the Slow Food Nation Taste Pavilion? Tea, yes, but there is chocolate, honey, spirits, wine, charcuterie, fish and so much more. I have only had a brief chance to look around but I learned quite a lot about absinthe yesterday, and tasted goat milk ice cream for the first time, and had a convincingly good sweet U.S.-cured prosciutto!  Pictures and more stories to come, so stay tuned!

Yesterday evening, while the sun still shone, 15 people gathered with anticipation at Modern Tea Restaurant in Hayes Valley, San Francisco. They were there for the premier of our new spring teas: Rare Pre-Qing Ming Dragonwell from Lion’s Peak in West Lake, China; and 3rd Prize Competition winning Baochong from Wen mountain near Pinglin, Taiwan. This was the first chance to taste these spring teas, tell our stories and   Below is a copy of the handout each guest received at the tasting. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who came.

Rare Pre-Qing Ming Dragonwell from famous Lion’s Peak

In the misty mountains outside of Hangzhzou City in northern China, there is a famous tea growing area called West Lake. High altitudes, sweet clean air, and precious, well balanced mineral content in the soil all contribute to some of the most famous tea on earth: Dragonwell. On this mountain, there are several peaks, which all have names, and corresponding reputations for the tea they give.

The lowest peak is Mei Ja Wu. Its tea is green and attractive, but it has the lowest altitude. The next peak is Wan Tai. The next highest peak is Fu Pao. The fourth and most famous peak is Lion’s Peak (Shi Feng), and its tea is considered the crème de la crème by connoisseurs. The tea from this mountain peak was traditionally reserved for the Emperor.

On the first weekend of April was the celebration of the Ancestors. Food, gifts, and paper clothes are offered in tribute. This is also an important time for tea picking. There are only about 10 days before this date that tea can be picked if the conditions are right, and some years that time frame is even shorter. If conditions are right, the tea is ready, and the farmer knows his crops, picking of the best grade of tea: Pre-Qing Ming can begin.

The tea from Lion’s Peak is not the most attractive of all the teas because it does not fit the standard for judging a tea on its appearance. But it is the best tasting, and therefore the most sought after of Dragonwell teas. This Dragonwell has all the classic flavors and in addition, it was expertly processed and triple sifted to ensure only the full leaves remain. Expert farming and processing lead to the best possible flavor profile. Accessibility – someone you trust who is willing to sell it to you is the last key. Then, finally, you have an opportunity to experience the sweetness, the bright top notes, the chestnutty depth and the silky texture worthy of the title “Rare Pre-Qing Ming Dragonwell”. Not only is it a pleasure to drink, to share with friends, it is a privilege to use this tea as a benchmark to build your taste-memory in order to better appreciate future harvests of Dragonwell.

Rare Competition-Winning Baochong from Pinglin Wen Shan

Up the winding roads of Pinglin on verdant Wen mountain in northern Taiwan grow the most unique of Taiwan’s teas: Baochong. “Wrapped Kind” (Baochong) is called a “blue” tea by the Chinese, and the Taiwanese insist it is a green. In the West, because of its processing and in particular it’s oxidation time (longer than green but not brown like oolong), it is classified as an oolong.

Baochong is the staple of northern Taiwan tea farming and twice a year there is a competition to see who has the best spring and the best fall Baochong. In speaking with the competition judges, we learned there are 5 major criteria, all equally considered in choosing a winner. Dry leaf aroma, wet leaf aroma, aroma of the beverage, color of the beverage, and finally the most subjective criteria of all: taste. This tea exhibits some of the best qualities of Baochong. It’s nearly stemless leaves are perfectly twisted, and still retain the outer leaf edge for varietal identification. There is a golden halo discernable around the leaves, denoting expert processing. The flavor never goes sour or bitter, even when oversteeped.

This tea took 15 hours to process by hand and this years’ window for picking was shorter than usual. With high notes of lily, gardenia, orange flower blossom and sweet pop corn and a complimentary depth, this is a fantastic tea. It was chosen only after tasting 12 other teas of similar grade from different vendors.

Sina & Carnie

Red Circle Tea

After a long and wonderful and difficult and delightful and sometimes slightly disastrous trip, we are heading out. We have been incredibly lucky to have great teachers and gracious hosts. It really touched my heart to hear the last question asked of us where ever we went was: when are you coming back? As soon as we can.

Tea tastings for Red Circle Tea are scheduled at Modern Tea and Mina Dresden Gallery. Please see our New Events pages for details. We’d love to see you there, show you pictures, and tell you more stories.

Thank you,

Sina and Carnie

In the Ti Kuan Yin world, there are basically two varietals, Golden Heart, and Red Heart. They are so named because of the color of the bud when the plant is growing, one is red, the other is more golden. There are also legends about TKY, because it is considered the mother of all Oolongs.

One story goes like this: Once upon a time, a young man called Wong See Yeung went to the South Sun Book School. In order to advance himself, he applied for a job as a government official. To attain the position, he would have to pass a test. He wanted to bring with him to the test a tea to represent him and his hometown. Luckily, he managed to pass along a sample of his tea and it fell into the hands of the king. Upon seeing and tasting the tea, the king proclaimed it heavy as iron (because it was pressed into a ball shape) and as beautiful as Kuan Yin. Later, Wong See Yeun learned he had passed his test. Upon hearing his good news, he brought a gift of tea in tribute to the king. The king asked him: what is this tea called? Wong said he didn’t know, but he thought the king had done the tea justice by reflecting wisely that the tea was heavy as iron, and as beautiful as Kuan Yin, would the king be offended if he called it Ti Kuan Yin? And thus, the name was given.

This spring, the Red Heart TKY we tasted was like no other oolong I have had. Toasty and roasted, but not overly dark, with rich bready notes, this tea has a warm and comforting feel to it. This year’s tea is not tightly rolled, and that means after the first two brews the tea flavor completely opens up, giving a big aroma and a bright taste. Notes of honey linger and there is no mistaking the soft and heady air of a red rose on a hot summer day that lingers. This will be a tea I will enjoy for this season, and if I guess correctly, a bench mark for Red Heart tea I look forward to tasting in years to come.

Taiwan was hot yesterday. Very hot, until about 2 pm, when the clouds rolled over and the sky opened up with a crack. This looks like a typhoon, I said, never having seen this quantity of rain come from the sky at this pace. No, just summer rain, said my host. We arrived in Pingling, a small village community on Wenshan mountain, famous for Taiwan’s signature tea: Baochong. We visited three tea farmers at their shops, learning from each. The first tea farmer we visited talked to us about this year’s growing season: It was colder this winter, he explained, and then it warmed, the tea grew faster. We had heard this had a seriously negative effect on white teas from China, but apparently, it was beneficial for baochong. We also talked about altitude. Many teas on Wenshan are grown between 300-800 meters. Higher than 800, and you begin to lose the fragrance, he said. Later when we were driving up the mountain to visit another tea farm, we saw proof of this. High peaks were lush with trees, palms, and vegetation of all kinds except for tea. This year, the top grade of tea offered to us had gentle notes of aromatic orange flower blossom, but an astringent finish that overpowered it.

The next farmer we visited was the man we bought our baochong from last year. He was quite happy to see us, and we were glad to have the chance to meet up with him again. Last year, we chose two baochong teas from him, a premium grade and a competition grade. This year, he explained, he harvested from new plants. He planted them last spring. He picked in the winter to prime the plant for a better spring harvest, and this spring was the fruit of his labor. This year was tricky, he explained, because the window of time he had to pick was shorter. According to the Taiwanese Farmers Almanac, there is usually a window of about 7-10 days in which a farmer begins to pay close attention to the sunrise, the time of morning at which the fog lifts, and the intensity of the heat for that day. I was told by one farmer that if he has to cover his feet at night, it will be to cold to consider picking the next day, if it is warm enough to leave his feet uncovered, the plants will be ready for picking starting the next day. Within this window is the right time to harvest. Each farmer chooses a specific day according to the weather, intuition, and expertise. This year, he told us he picked one day earlier than last year. This year’s baochong premium was just as good as last year. Strong, bright, notes of lilly and cucumber with a perfect calcium finish. But we were looking for competition grade. His competition grade was not so good. Astringent and too bright, top notes of grass and hay, and an astringency that left my mouth dry made it hard to break the news to him, that this year we would not be able to say yes to his tea.

The next farmer we visited had been featured in magazines and on TV and frankly, all that commercial attention had kept me from visiting him before. We stopped in anyways, just to see what all the fuss was about. We found a warm and welcoming person who was a 5th generation farmer. He remembers when he was little that his father asked him to take 29 days off from elementary school to help with the harvest, and felt even at his young age that farming was a waste of time, and would keep him from getting a better job later in life. Later, he was educated in Taipei, and went into the army for 2 years. When he returned he worked at a computer component factory for a little while until his father fell ill. He returned to Pingling to care for his father, resuming the farming life once again. As the only son, his father asked him to take over the farming business, and he agreed. As an educated man he dedicated himself to perfecting the craft of tea farming and tea processing and as a result,he has won 5 of the last 9 competitions in Pingling. We asked him about how he tends his soil, how he cares for his tea gardens, and he offered us a book with dozens of chapters, each written by farmers telling their own stories of coming into the tea business, and how the believe they can best care for their land.

We also had a chance to taste tea with him. We asked for top grade teas, and in true tradition we were offered tourist grade tea instead. Tea for those unfamiliar with the nuances and beauty baochong has to offer. Interestingly, it had a lovely aroma and nice top notes of citrus,but an astringency to the finish . We asked for a higher grade, and were offered a better tea. a lilly aroma and and juicy notes of a lemon drop candy (not sour) , a better thickness to the tea and yet still that dry finish. One more, we asked, one higher grade. He explained the price, that this was not a tea he had a large quantity of, and if we were interested in it, it could not be a “commercial” tea, but a connoisseurs tea. With a perfect thickness to it and the best top notes of any tea of it’s grade we had tasted, the barest hint of astringency and a depth that lingered even when the tea cooled, this was the tea we had been looking for. This was the best of the 12 teas we had tried from three different and highly skilled tea producers in this region and we were proud to purchase it. This tea he explained is also one of this year’s competition winners. It took third place at the Pingling Tea Competition. On our way out, he expressed his feelings about how people come to try his teas all the time. You, he said, you came to taste my tea and you took it seriously. Thank you. He dedicated his life to his tea farm and to his family’s business and he was glad to have guests who taste the difference in his tea, and recognise his life’s work.

In the 1940’s the Fut Loi puerh factory was begun in Yunnan. It would later become one of the worlds leaders in puerh production and the most respected factory known as Menghai. With a distinctive taste that would set them apart from other producers they embarked on what would be a long and famous venture.

Menghai is unique among puerh producers. Tea is 99% water, and water plays an integral role in puerh production. From the amount of water the trees received during a growing season, to the amount of water present in the leaves at the time of picking, to the water used to make the tea- all these are critical factors in the result of what you actually taste. With puerh, there is one more factor. During tea processing, “cooked” puerh is sprayed with water and covered for 40 or 80 days (depending on the length of time the producer wants to put in to making the tea) then steamed or pressed into cakes. Green “unfermented” puerh, is steamed and pressed into cakes. But what water do you use to wet the leaves, or steam them with? Menghai has their own well. This is an incredibly important factor in the quality of their tea, because water is the “mirror” of tea: it reflects it’s true qualities, for better or worse, and when you have a water source with the same mineral contentas the tea leaves, you highlight the best qualities of that tea, offering it the best possible taste. This is why the famous saying goes: Dragonwell green tea is best made with water from the actual well at Fu Pao Cheun. This is also why people have tried to reproduce Menghai’s famous recipes and failed. They do not have access to the same water source.

Produced in 1955 (a very good year for puerh) this tea cake was stored in Yunnan for ten years, and was then transferred to Hong Kong for the next 30 years. This says a lot about it’s primarily “wet” (humid) style storage taste. In 1995, when the owner realised the impending and very real possibility that the Chinese government could confiscate his collection for the benefit of the people (the 1997 handover of HK to China) he decided to sell most of his collection to the highest bidder. Our teacher had the fortune to purchase one cake he has kept whole. A friend purchased another and shared 1/2 of that cake with him.

Traditionally puerh is enjoyed in 7g portions. For today’s event, we were treated to 20g of Red Label, lovingly kept inside a pewter bottle, inside a purple velvet lined mahogany box. The dry leaves were passed around for examination, and it was noted that there is almost no fragrance left at all. Not at this stage, said Shi Fu, no more aroma. We let the leaves breathe for about an hour while we learned more about this tea, it’s producer, and red up on previous collector’s tasting notes. It was interesting to read that connoisseurs of this tea who have enjoyed it over the years remarked on an orchid aroma that was present when the dry tea still gave off a fragrance.

The tea house was buzzing with excitement and anticipation. People who casually stopped by immediately took a seat and were obviously not going anywhere anytime soon. Others took out their cell phones and began texting friends about their luck and offered invitations. This was an open and free festivity, but certainly not an every day occasion.

After everyone was assembled and the dry leaves were passed around, and enough conversation was had to make everyone sufficiently excited to taste this incredible tea, the steeping began.

Usually, tea is rinsed, then you enjoy the first steeping. With an aged puerh like this, every leaf counts, every steeping counts. When tea tea is rinsed, even that is enjoyed. The rinse was almost jet black. It had an air of dry roasted nuttiness, deep wood, and that “old” taste, like the smell of old wood. The tea was incredibly thick. It was served in thimble sized cups, but even that amount of tea had plenty of flavor to coat the mouth, tongue and throat. The first steeping was rich but brighter, the mineral quality was blooming now: iron, copper, eucalyptus, camphor and mahogany notes all came out. The second steeping was even more concentrated flavor and a gentle sourness hovered like a single note from a trumpet in a quiet morning on the roof of my mouth, but all that depth still shone through. We went through about 14 steepings before the color began to change significantly, and turned to a soft red-tea color. Later we would examine the leaves and be surprised at how red they were, we were expecting something much darker. No, Shi Fu said, the leaves of the old uncooked teas are more mineral rich. The soil was better then.

25 steepings later, we were all feeling relaxed. Normally puerh gives you energy and can even bring on profuse sweating. Not this tea. Very, very good puerh (very old puerh) can put you into a deep state of relaxation.

Today, Red Label is not for sale. No one will sell it to you. Everyone who has it is waiting for the price to continue going up so they can make the most profit out of it. The last known price paid was USD 25,000.00 for one 350 g cake. To find a tea this rare, and to find someone willing to share it so openly was humbling.