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.
