A whole day of my February trip to Taiwan was spent in some tea plantations near Taipei: Mu-Zha for Tie Guan Yin and Pin Lin for Bao Zhong and Bi Lou Chun(green teas). When I got to Pin Lin in the afternoon, it was raining. I only had chances to take some pictures in Mu Zha:

The owner of the Mu Zha plantation, Mr. Zhang (90% of the people living in Mu Zha have family name of Zhang!), has a very easy and carefree attitude – it also reflects in the least-interruption way of his care for his plantation. We probably spent more time chatting the three ducks and peanuts and kids than about Tie Guan Yin

I tried the winter-harvested bao zhong in Pin Lin, very good. But I will wait to get their Spring harvest some time in March. The unusually cold weather in this Winter should predict excellent quality in the coming Spring harvest.

Guang

It’s almost magical that a teashop can survive for 4 years (almost!) without ever giving official brewing guide on any of the tea offering! We of coz has made brewing suggestions through emails with customers, but an “official” one hasn’t appeared on Hou De.

If we want to give it, we want to give the brewing suggestion in as much detail as we can. Yesterday the 2008 Spring Li-Shan “Da Yu Ling” oolong and an awarded Shan-Li-Shi oolong arrived together. I am going to use the opportunity of tasting the 08 Da Yu Ling to also show our brewing suggestion for Taiwan’s high-mountain oolongs.

The dry leaves: The first step to a proper brewing experience is to understand the dry leaves as much as you can. Is it hand-harvested or machine-harvested? Is it roasted? What’s the roast degree? Is it aged? How old? Is it oxidized? What degree? How dry are the leaves? How tight are the leaf pellets, etc.

These are the information you should be provided when making purchases. At least in Hou De we do. You can generally tell by looking at the dry leaves to see if they are hand-harvested or machine-harvested. Sometimes “competition” oolongs may look like machine-harvested because of the additional de-steming step by hands.

Hand-harvested oolongs usually tend to have their aroma and taste “waky up” slower than machines-harvested ones, because of the more complete leaf system and tighter structure. The later is usually a result of a more “juicy” leaves that bind together better. So when you face a hand-harvested oolong, especially high quality ones like Li-Shan, A-Li-Shan or Shan-Lin-Shi oolongs, be ready to have a less aromatic first brewing or increase the first steeping by 5 to 10 seconds. Machine-harvested oolongs are more straightforward, but have less brewing durability than hand-harvested ones.

If the oolong is roasted, oxidized or aged, it may need a longer steeping time, and better with a higher water temperature throughout the brewings. The more roasted degree / older / more oxidized, the longer the first steeping and water temperature should be.

Also, check the dryness of the leaf pellets. Hold one pellet between fingers and crush it. A properly dried and fresh high-mountain oolong leaves should be crushed easily. If not, either the drying step during processing was not done properly, or the leaves have absorbed moisture due to storage. In this case, we will need to refreshen the leaves by a roaster/mini dryer, or contact your vendor.

Amount of leaves/Steeping time: For the pellet-shaped Taiwan oolongs, putting in 1/4 of the total depth of your teapot is generally a good start. For more “gong-fu” purists, 1/3 usually works.

Water temperature for high-mountain oolongs, I usually use ~205 deg F (slightly less than boiling). First-steeping is 30 seconds, the 2nd , 3rd and the 4th steepings are all 20 seconds. After that, increase 10 seconds to every following steeping.

If you put in 1/3 of leaves, first-steeping is 25 second, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th steepings are all 15 seconds. After that, increase 10 seconds to every following steeping.

A colder water temperature should match with a slightly longer steeping time, and vice versa.

If you are not familiar with such tiny-teapot and quick-steeping way, I strongly encourage you to try it. Instead of getting one big mug of tea, you unveil the complexity and quality of the precious oolong, layer after layer, in each individual steeping. It’s exciting to see how the aroma and taste profile change from one cup to another, and to test how many steepings this oolong can last!

Air-tight lid by water-seal: Because of the quick-steeping nature, a small-sized (100~200cc) teapot becomes very convenient. One tip to achieve a better aroma is to create an air-tight condition around the rim of lid/top opening by water-seal. You can do this by slightly overflow the water when pouring. When you close the lid, the water seals the rim and makes sure the aroma stay inside the pot.

If you are like Mr. Lin Kean Siew who likes to use a bigger teapot (> 300cc), you can create the water seal by pouring hot water over the teapot after you close the lid. A key to use a larger teapot is to pre-warm the body by rinsing with hot water before putting in dry leaves.

End of brewing: At the end of brewing, you will see the tea leaves expand to fully occupy the content of the teapot. It’s common for a good quality High-Mountain oolong to give you more than 8 wonderful steepings, and maybe 10 or more. You can play with the unfurled leaves: putting them in you hand, and using your fingers to feel the softness, thickness and flexibility of the leaves. Look carefully to confirm the information you initially had: harvesting method, roasting / oxidation degree, freshness / age, etc. You will be able to fine tune your brewing parameters next time you enjoy the same oolong.

Especially if you use an yixing teapot, you should clean the teapot inside out thoroughly by rinsing with hot water and leave it on a shelf to dry naturally. Some people suggest not to clean the yixing teapot so as to get faster seasoning effect. I don’t like the idea. I prefer a clean, albeit a bit slower, and lasting seasoning effect.

Lastly, I want to emphasize that this suggestion is just a starting point to begin your adventure. You may find a 195deg F water with a slightly longer steeping time works better, or you may find plus/minus 5 seconds steeping from this suggestion produce better cups. You need to try and adventure yourself.

Please let us know if this format of brewing suggestion is effective. Any idea as what to change/how to improve. I will post brewing suggestion for other types of teas like Wuyi, dancong and pu-erhs shortly.

Guang

After almost a year’s search and preparation, we are very excited to starting offering our select Feng Huang Dan Cong!

FengHuang DanCong gets its name from the major production area in the Wu Dong mountain plantations, Feng Huang county, Guang Dong. As a generic name, it actually covers at least three production area: Wu Dong of Feng Huang, Lin Tou of Pin Xi, and Da-Zhi mountain of Shi-Gu-Pin village. Because of the difference in microclimate and cultivars in those neighboring plantations, they are have their own unique focus and characters.

Its naming is as complex as the system of Wuyi yen cha, but mostly uses its more focused fragrance as the name. So, when we mention “Mi Lan (Honey Orchid)” dancong, it is not only the tea’s product name but also its cultivar name. Cultivars were naturally originated from sexual propagation (seeds) of parent tea trees, but later was selected and propagated by asexual ways such as cuttings, much like yen cha.

Dancongs share some similar characters as Wuyi yen cha, but there are definitely distinct differences. From its shape, you can rightly guess dancongs, like bao zhong, inherited Wuyi yen cha’s tradition and skills. They are all oxidized to at least 25% to 35%, and undergo lengthy wood roasting process that is quite labor-intensive. But in general the oxidation and roasting degree for dancongs are lighter than yen cha.

The quality of dancongs is majorly determined by the growing conditions (especially elevations), tea tree’s age and surely the producer’s skill. The whole WuDong or LinTou plantation area cover elevation from 450m to more than 1200m height. In general, old bushes produce better dancongs quality as their roots are deeper in the soils and absorb more complete range of nutrients and minerals.

Brewing dancongs is a lot of fun, especially with our select premium dancongs that all have beautiful and complete leaves and the aroma and taste are superbly clean, focused and refined. You will be surprised by the strength and the durability of them: I would recommend using a slightly cooler water temperature (~195 to 200F) than for yen cha, and keep the steeping time less than 45 seconds.

We are glad to offer at least four different dancongs for our dear customers: Mi Lan (Lin Tou dancong), Ba Xian (Wu Dong), Lan Xian (Orchid Fragrance), and unique Huang Jing (Golden). In a near future, a precious 15-year aged dancong will arrive!

Guang

After almost a year’s search and preparation, we are very excited to starting offering our select Feng Huang Dan Cong!

FengHuang DanCong gets its name from the major production area in the Wu Dong mountain plantations, Feng Huang county, Guang Dong. As a generic name, it actually covers at least three production area: Wu Dong of Feng Huang, Lin Tou of Pin Xi, and Da-Zhi mountain of Shi-Gu-Pin village. Because of the difference in microclimate and cultivars in those neighboring plantations, they are have their own unique focus and characters.

Its naming is as complex as the system of Wuyi yen cha, but mostly uses its more focused fragrance as the name. So, when we mention “Mi Lan (Honey Orchid)” dancong, it is not only the tea’s product name but also its cultivar name. Cultivars were naturally originated from sexual propagation (seeds) of parent tea trees, but later was selected and propagated by asexual ways such as cuttings, much like yen cha.

Dancongs share some similar characters as Wuyi yen cha, but there are definitely distinct differences. From its shape, you can rightly guess dancongs, like bao zhong, inherited Wuyi yen cha’s tradition and skills. They are all oxidized to at least 25% to 35%, and undergo lengthy wood roasting process that is quite labor-intensive. But in general the oxidation and roasting degree for dancongs are lighter than yen cha.

The quality of dancongs is majorly determined by the growing conditions (especially elevations), tea tree’s age and surely the producer’s skill. The whole WuDong or LinTou plantation area cover elevation from 450m to more than 1200m height. In general, old bushes produce better dancongs quality as their roots are deeper in the soils and absorb more complete range of nutrients and minerals.

Brewing dancongs is a lot of fun, especially with our select premium dancongs that all have beautiful and complete leaves and the aroma and taste are superbly clean, focused and refined. You will be surprised by the strength and the durability of them: I would recommend using a slightly cooler water temperature (~195 to 200F) than for yen cha, and keep the steeping time less than 45 seconds.

We are glad to offer at least four different dancongs for our dear customers: Mi Lan (Lin Tou dancong), Ba Xian (Wu Dong), Lan Xian (Orchid Fragrance), and unique Huang Jing (Golden). In a near future, a precious 15-year aged dancong will arrive!

Guang

There is no doubt that the Tie Guan Yin cultivar and its processing skills were brought to Taiwan from southern Fujian, China in late Qing dynasty. However, when you look at how its processing skills and its market has been evolved on both sides, you would be surprised by how different they are.

One of the most prominent characters of the “Tie Guan Yin” cultivar is the exuberant and intense fragrance of the leaves after the oxidation step during processing. Few cultivars can compete with Tie Guan Yin on its fragrance at this stage. Interestingly, while this unique character becomes an advantage in its development in China with Anxi as the center, it is regarded as a potential, if not a disadvantage, in its development in Taiwan. How could such an intense fragrance become a disadvantage? And what are the reasons behind the divergence in its fate?

Taiwan’s processing skills of Tie Guan Yin largely preserve the old tradition of southern Fujian. Tie Guan Yin’s intense fragrance is considered as overly exaggerating and less refined. And the fact is, without proper post-processing and roasting, Tie Guan Yin can be harsh to the stomach. I have heard people praising the fragrance of Anxi Tie Gian Yin but at the same complaining the uncomfortable feeling in their stomach after drinking it.

In China’s current tea market, “Nan Cha Bei Zhou” – meaning southern’s tea leaves, and northern’s tea fashion – is becoming the prevailing trend. Not only Anxi’s Tie Guan Yin, but Fo Shou (Budda’s Hand) of Yun Chun, Fujian also moves away from the traditional heavy wood-roasting style to the light-oxidation, light-roasting fashion.

The expression of yun by Taiwan’s Tie Guan Yin is really exceptional. The aroma is rich and vibrant, concentrated, ripely fruity, and enhanced by the solid roasting “fired” feeling. This is a tea that can be not only enjoyed now, but also great for aging for several years (may need re-roasting after to reduce humidity) to enhance mellowness. You can enjoy it day and night without the worry of having a stomach.

Which one is better? The exuberantly fragrant Anxi TGY or the superbly mellow Taiwan TGY? I am sure both have their die-hard followers. But isn’t it a blessing to be able to look through Taiwan’s Tie Guan Yin to find what the old wisdom was and how it is still living?

Guang

There is no doubt that the Tie Guan Yin cultivar and its processing skills were brought to Taiwan from southern Fujian, China in late Qing dynasty. However, when you look at how its processing skills and its market has been evolved on both sides, you would be surprised by how different they are.

One of the most prominent characters of the “Tie Guan Yin” cultivar is the exuberant and intense fragrance of the leaves after the oxidation step during processing. Few cultivars can compete with Tie Guan Yin on its fragrance at this stage. Interestingly, while this unique character becomes an advantage in its development in China with Anxi as the center, it is regarded as a potential, if not a disadvantage, in its development in Taiwan. How could such an intense fragrance become a disadvantage? And what are the reasons behind the divergence in its fate?

Taiwan’s processing skills of Tie Guan Yin largely preserve the old tradition of southern Fujian. Tie Guan Yin’s intense fragrance is considered as overly exaggerating and less refined. And the fact is, without proper post-processing and roasting, Tie Guan Yin can be harsh to the stomach. I have heard people praising the fragrance of Anxi Tie Gian Yin but at the same complaining the uncomfortable feeling in their stomach after drinking it.

In China’s current tea market, “Nan Cha Bei Zhou” – meaning southern’s tea leaves, and northern’s tea fashion – is becoming the prevailing trend. Not only Anxi’s Tie Guan Yin, but Fo Shou (Budda’s Hand) of Yun Chun, Fujian also moves away from the traditional heavy wood-roasting style to the light-oxidation, light-roasting fashion.

The expression of yun by Taiwan’s Tie Guan Yin is really exceptional. The aroma is rich and vibrant, concentrated, ripely fruity, and enhanced by the solid roasting “fired” feeling. This is a tea that can be not only enjoyed now, but also great for aging for several years (may need re-roasting after to reduce humidity) to enhance mellowness. You can enjoy it day and night without the worry of having a stomach.

Which one is better? The exuberantly fragrant Anxi TGY or the superbly mellow Taiwan TGY? I am sure both have their die-hard followers. But isn’t it a blessing to be able to look through Taiwan’s Tie Guan Yin to find what the old wisdom was and how it is still living?

Guang

In Part I, we tried to demystify Da Hong Pao and gave our tribute to the person whose courage and passion prevented one of the most precious tradition in Chinese tea culture from extinction.

This reminds us the fundamental difference that separate wuyi (in fact, all oolongs) from pu-erhs. For pu-erhs, more precisely for traditional pu-erhs, the “cultivar” has never been a core concern regarding their quality or characters. When tea trees grow wildly, including those in long-abandoned “semi-wild” kinds, they propagate sexually by seeds. Each child plant from the seed bears some characters from the father, and some from the mother.

But for Wuyi, “cultivar” is vitally important. Vast amount of effort in yen-cha’s heritage have been spent on finding and identifying the most promising tea plants from the wild. Yes, originally those plants were also from seeds. But once the plant’s quality and character were proved to be very worthy, it was propagated asexually by cuttings or layerings.

So you may have heard people saying “this is the XX generation of Da Hong Pao”… the saying is meaningless at all. By asexually propagated, the seedlings are identical to the mother plant.

However, the prevailing opinion on the market about “Da Hong Pao”, as reflected by the interview of Hong Kong’s famous tea entrepreneur Mr. Huang Jing-Zhi (Pu-erh Tepot Magazine, No. 19, page 48~54), is that “nowadays, it’s ok to call all premium quality wuyi yen cha as Da Hong Pao”. … hummm ??? If that is true, Mr. Yao might a well spend his spare time on the rice farm reading Chairman Mao’s red book, instead of worrying about those dying whatever tea trees!

I am very glad to know the gentleman who is listed as one of the Heritage Inheritor. Few of China’s tea producer is so willing to spend hours on the phone with a buyer who purchases only several pounds of his teas. I have met too many people who initially was very courteous to me, and once we moved on to business and he realized my order was in the unit of pounds not tons, I was like on the “do not call” list forever!

We are offering two of his 07 Spring yen cha, Rou Gui and Da Hong Pao. Both were done 100% by hands, not using any machine step. And both are 100% as what their name say, no blending. Enjoy!

Guang

Wuyi yen cha is a very tricky tea, and a very worthy one to explore. Even with the same tea, a slight change in water quality or temperature, using a different teapot or just a different tea cup, can result in a quite different taste/aroma, maybe better, maybe worse. But the reward when you make a nice cup of yen cha is totally bewitching.

Da Hong Pao, we all know it. Most of us have tried it. Some of you may have even visited the Tian Xin Yen cliff with the three big red letters “DA HONG PAO” carved on the wall and six “original” Da Hong Pao tea trees standing high and above. So, what if, I mean, if, the six super-protected and pampered tea trees could be not the original Da Hong Pao at all?

The story has to be started with the yen cha Maestro, Mr. Yao Yue-Ming (1931 ~ 2007). I received a book from a person who was elected as one of the twelve “Wuyi Yen Cha Da Hong Pao Heritage Inheritors” by Wuyi Shan City. The book was put together by Yao’s wife Mrs. Jing Tie-feng as a collection of thesis and articles by Mr. Yao.

On page 202 to 203, the book details Mr. Yao’s effort to rescue and identify Da Hong Pao since early 50s. According to Yao, Tien Xing Yen’s “Da Hong Pao” carving was done in 1927 under the request of monks to the local government,

in fear of the real Da Hong Pao trees would be randomly plucked and destroyed by tourists, so they carved Da Hong Pao on a higher cliff against other kind of tea trees. They are in fact “Chi Dan”, by no means the Da Hong Pao.

Yao started to search for the genuine Da Hong Pao since 50s. According to early research, the real Da Hong Pao could be in one of the three locations: (1) Bei Dou Feng (Feng means “peak”), and two sample cuttings were collected here naming Bei Dou #1 and Bei Dou #2, (2) Hou Yian Feng, (3) Tien Xin Yen (at a different location). In 50s, his team collected samples from the three locations. All samples were lost during early stage of the Cultural Revolution, and he was forced to leave his tea research lab. In early 60s, he, then was assigned to be a rice farmer, re-visited the three places. The trees were all nearly dying. He tried to saved some cuttings from the tea trees of the three locations, and grew them secretly at his spare time on the rice farm.

In the same growing environment, he found the tea trees from the cuttings turn out to have the same characters. He named those survived tea trees, following his teacher’s early work in 40s, as Bei Dou #1. From those tea trees more cuttings were propagated and the tradition of Da Hong Pao thus luckily saved by one man’s courage and passion.

There are many “legends” around Da Hong Pao, and most are superstitious or simply exaggerating. The continuing effort by the monks’ request in 1927 to Yao’s courageously effort to identify and rescue the yen cha’s heritage is truly what we can call – a legend.

Guang

Those who carefully followed our “arrival” notice may remember we announced the arrival of a 70’s Bao Zhong in June/2007. But nothing was offered at that time.

This 70’s MuZha Bao Zhong was acquired from Mr. Chen of San Ho Tang (Xi-Zhi Hao) in 2006. He obtained this precious aged oolong from a long-time customers who used this oolong to exchange Mr. Chen’s aged pu-erhs. When I heard the existence of this aged oolong, I immediately asked Mr. Chen to send me a sample, and so he did.

The sample impressed me as something really unique, almost hard to describe its aroma/taste. Lots of mellowness and superbly smooth, a bit of vanilla scent blended with chinese medicine-like (reminded me of 70’s Guang Yun Gong) aroma. But there was a touch of ethereal refreshing feeling that made it distinct from aged pu-erhs. Sometimes it reminded me of of the crispiness of Liu An basket tea and its melon-like fragrance. Oh, I want it!

But there was a touch of “wet” feeling that bothered me. The wetness in it loosened the structure. It is a common problem for aged oolongs.

I put a little tea on the mini roaster, and very soon I could feel the humidity being driven out with the hot air. So this was the reason we did not offer it after the announcement. This diamond was masked by some “dirt” that need to be removed before its beauty can really shine.

After confirming with Mr. Chen and his friend regarding the storage history of this bao zhong, I was ready to give it a “hot air bath”. I used the larger roaster to treat just 2lb of it. Using 60~80 degree setting on the roaster and turned over the tea every 30 mins, this roasting job took me a whole good Saturday to finish. The next day I tried the tea and was very happy with how clean and more “focused” it turned out. So I did the same roasting to the other 2lb of it.

The complexity of this Bao Zhong is amazing. You can find images of aged pu-erh (oh yes, it was sold as “Hun Yin San Cha (loose pu-erh)” before in Taiwan ) in it, and you can find images of yen cha in it, too. It reminds me of many different teas, but in combination it is so unique on its own. Really worth a trying!

Guang

August was a crazy month for pu-erhs! Now that the 98 Meng Hai cakes were all gone, it’s time that we calm down and look at some premium Oolongs Hou De can offer

In Spetember, we introduce two totally unique oolongs from Taiwan’s eastern Tai-Tung counry: one is the “Si Cha” oolong, and the other is the Fo Shou. You can go to Si Cha oolong’s link to look at more info about this tea. As for Fo Shou, sorry I drank too much that I have only 200g left. Irene was complaining, Are you going to offer this tea or not?

This Fo Shou, from above 1500m high-mountain Costal Mountain range of Tai-Tung, is quite different from the Fo Shou I had before. Not only the leaves are HUGE like pu-erhs, but the taste has an interestingly complex mineral components in it. I really like the “heaviness” in both of them, such inviting and quenching!

In this month, for every order of the 1oz Si Cha oolong we will include a small 10g sample of Tai-Tung Fo Shou (until supply last!).

Guang