Archive for March, 2008

Austin Tea Gathering – Part 1, Formosa Art Teahouse

By Guang, 31 March, 2008, 4 Comments

Spring is a great time to visit the Hill Country of Texas! Not only the weather is very mild with crispy air, but the state flower – Bluebonnet – is in full blossom. The flowers turn the wide open grassy lands into huge lushly blue carpets, sporadically decorated with other wild flowers of orange, yellow and pink.

We planned a small tea gathering party with some of our tea friends/customers in a lovely teahouse, the Formosa Art Teahouse in Pflugerville (a bit north of Austin), at the evening of March 29th.

It was my first visit to Riva’s teahouse. Honestly, it was quite surprising to find such an unique and stylish, connoisseurs-oriented yet super friendly teahouse in a small Texas town that is just slightly better than middle-of-no-where! I can imagine such a teahouse in Seattle, LA, Boston, etc., but Pflugerville (I did not even know how to pronounce the name of the town)!

Once entering the teahouse and meeting the owner, Riva, who was also from Taiwan, you would immediately know the purpose of the little place: it’s the expression of her love of teas, it’s the gallery of her artistic creations, it’s her playground – or more precisely, the playground she built for her customers, friends and herself. A super warm and easy-going lady, and I was surprised to know that she also coached a little boy soccer team without knowing how to play soccer! Way to go!

We started the evening with a jar of my Private Reserve roasted aged chin-shin oolong. The tea was acquired in 03, only two jars, and was told it is 10-years old already. I used it as a material to study roasting and storing aged oolongs. I chose a tall zhu gan zhi teapot (you can see it in the first picture) to serve this aged oolong.

The second tea we tried was the mid-90’s aged Feng Huang Dancong. This time, because of the long leaves of the dancong, I used a wide-opening Gu Tung Ni (antique copper clay) teapot (the one in the first picture with clay-piling decoration). After the dancong, Riva served us some wonderful snacks; very Taiwanese style, and I was surprised to find fried dumplings, Cha Shu Bao (HK style) and bamboo wrapped Zhong Zhi!

The third tea we had was the 08 Spring Shan-Lin-Shi “Tsao Ling” Oolong, using a chin-shui ni teapot of Zhou Quei-Zheng. And we concluded the night with the 07 Winter Mei-Shan “Shui Xian”, again in the zhu gan zhi teapot.

The gathering was planned originally from 7pm~9pm. But when Riva and I finally said goodbye, it was 12:30AM already! Talking about time management :twisted: You would easily lose track of time in such a fun, comfortable and intimate place!

Hope everyone had a good night (and was able to sleep after). I look forward to seeing y’all again very soon!

Formosa Art Teahouse
200 E. Pecan St. Ste. 5
Pflugerville, TX 78660
Tel: (512) 989-8678

Guang :)

The Art of Tea, #4 Printed

By Guang, 31 March, 2008, 1 Comment

After long long delay and wait, the #4 issue is finally printed in Taiwan! I have asked the publisher to send me the picture of the front cover and provide us with one complete article in pdf or graphical format. Will post them as soon as I receive.

Guang :)

Xi-Zhi Hao 2007 Spring “Din Jin Nu Er” Mini Beeng Arrived

By Guang, 16 March, 2008, 2 Comments

Xi-Zhi Hao “Din Jin Nu Er” 200g mini beeng has arrived with two other 250g cakes!

All three mini cakes are Xi-Zhi Hao’s 07 limited-production offerings. Less then 500 pieces of Din Ji Nu Er beeng were made, and for other two about 10 jian (840 pieces) were produced. We are offering pre-arrival sale of these three fine cakes, so please make sure to check them out!

“Din Jin Nu Er” 200g

“Yi Wu Cha Hwang” 250g

“Xue Shan Chuen Lu” 250g

Guang

Xi-Zhi Hao 2007 Spring “Din Jin Nu Er” Mini Beeng Arrived

By Guang, 16 March, 2008, No Comment

Xi-Zhi Hao “Din Jin Nu Er” 200g mini beeng has arrived with two other 250g cakes!

All three mini cakes are Xi-Zhi Hao’s 07 limited-production offerings. Less then 500 pieces of Din Ji Nu Er beeng were made, and for other two about 10 jian (840 pieces) were produced. We are offering pre-arrival sale of these three fine cakes, so please make sure to check them out!

“Din Jin Nu Er” 200g

“Yi Wu Cha Hwang” 250g

“Xue Shan Chuen Lu” 250g

Guang

Introduce Hou De Select “FengHuang DanCong”

By Guang, 12 March, 2008, 2 Comments

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 :)

Introduce Hou De Select “FengHuang DanCong”

By Guang, 12 March, 2008, No Comment

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 :)

See us at 2008 World Tea Expo, May 30

By Guang, 12 March, 2008, 4 Comments

I am very excited to announce that I will be presentign a Pu-erh speech at the Core Conference Program of this year’s World Tea Expo. The topic is “The Profound World of Pu-erh”, and the details are here.

Click here for the presentation’s details

It’s an one-hour speech, starting 9:45am. If you will visit the Expo in Las Vegas, I sincerely invite you to join the presentation. Please call me or email me to see how we can meet together during the Expo!

Guang :)