2012 Tea Urchin Miles' Birthday Blend Puerh

This sample comes by the way of Eric of discipleoftheleafblog. It is from a cake from Tea Urchin, a tribute to the owner's son. Interestingly it is a blend composed of 80% Gua Feng Zhai and 20% secret?!?.

The dry leaves smell of a soft foresty creamy odour there is a soft creamy cherry sweetness in them which clouds the distance.

The first infusion is prepared and presents with a brackish, empty-watery forest note which slowly transforms into a cherry-plum sweetness. This taste again moves to a cotton-candy like taste. The profile is very simple with no rooting taste grounding the profile. The mouthfeel is very thin and coats the mouth.

The second infusion arrives as slightly sweet, watery, brackish-forest notes. These tastes slowly evolve into somewhat sweet Tutti-fruity notes then swell into creamy tastes on the tongue. The profile still remains thin, almost watery.

The third infusion looses a lot of the dirty forest tastes and presents with a very light foresty note that has a swell of sweetness behind it. This sweet taste evolves into a soft fruity taste then over a light foresty base. The taste is a touch thin but moves simply and nicely through the taste profile.  The qi of this tea is very calming on the mind, and exerts a relaxing feeling.

The fourth infusion is more watery, foresty, simple, very slight sweetness. There are some indistinct fruity notes which mix with forest notes. These tastes slowly move towards a light simple fruit taste with some very light creaminess.

Fifth more harmonized notes of forest and sweetness. Overall light flavour but simple and smooth. Mouthfeel soft and thin but coats the mouth. Turns to slightly more sweetness on breath.

The following infusions get progressively more watery, brackish, and bitter. There are charms of light floral fruits which appear and reappear. These high notes are somewhat more noticeable in these late infusions as they share space with bitter/ watery tastes.

See Jakub (T) tasting notes here.

Peace

Aged Korean Tea: 2006 "ZeDa Tea" Wild Jiri Mountain Balhyocha‏

If you were at all intrigued by the sampling of the 2009 Kim Jong Yeol (Butea) aged and re-roasted balhyocha from Pedro at O5tea, you may also find this post interesting. Once again it offers an interesting perspective on aging balhyocha. What is interesting about this tea is that it was picked from the same area, produced with the same methods, and by the same people that produced the 2011 and 2012 "ZeDa" brand balhyocha that is sold by Sam of Good Green Tea.

The 2011 post states:

"Sam acquired it from a small farm from Sancheong, Jiri Mountain, and that is was completely wild tea. He claimed that Mr. Hong has over 50 years experience making tea and that he makes it all by hand with only the help of his wife. Mr. Hong makes only Hwang cha (balhyocha) with his tea leaves and only produces 15 Kg per year (he keeps 5 KG of this tea). The production of this tea is all natural and even includes air drying the leaves on big heated boulders during night time instead of the standard ondol heated floors which are commonly used to produce balhyocha."

Although one did try many 2006 balhyocha back in 2006, this is the oldest aged sample of balhyocha one has yet to try. 2006 was an excellent year for Korean tea and produced a great harvest. With that said, this should be an epic tasting...

The dry leaf looks much the same as the 2011/2012 but smells of old musky smells. It carries a deep aged odour of sweet black cherry in the distance mixed with a very slight deep forest note. These leaves are stuffed in to a warmed pot.

The first infusion is prepared with hotter water than what one would normally use for a balhyocha, a short rest in the cooling bowl. This first pot is light, juicy, watered-down fruity-pear taste. This initial taste disappears among the faintest date-woody-raisin tastes before disappearing on the breath. The mouthfeel is flat and watery- it supplies a light coating to the mid-deep throat. Clearly hotter water is still required.

The second pot is filled with water that is quickly transferred from the cooling bowl. The taste opens with creamy, spicy, thick, malted-apricot notes with hints of bitter coco and tobacco underneath It is these tastes of coco and tobacco which are last to disappear on the breath. Seconds later a thin woody-forest note skirts underneath The mouthfeel is thin and taught, expansive in the mid- and upper- throat.

Third pot comes with more pronounced woody-forest tastes which were just underling in the last infusion. They now mix evenly with the spicy-malted-apricot notes. There is a depth to all these tastes. The creaminess and thickness of last infusion is less here. There slightly more coarseness and dryness mixed in now. The throat feel is substantial now especially in the deep-mid throat. The sensation is that of a cool opening feeling there. The qi of this tea is very soft, ones face softens and a subtle warm tingling sensation is felt throughout the body. Minutes later a woody taste is left in the mouth.

The fourth and fifth infusions are much the same as the third. The tea is just starting to become more watery now. There is a light, slightly malty-juicy-wood monotone flavour now dominating the profile. A lingering sweet malty-apricot taste lingers minutes later. Qi is strong now on the mind but almost unnoticeable on the body. The qi accumulates lightly in the chest making it feel light.

The sixth, seventh, and eighth infusions are becoming more simple. It is a barely spicy, malty wood taste with a deep woody edge. As the infusions become more watery now they develop and thin-watery, sweet, malty, vague fruitiness, with raisin tones. Some tangy wood notes linger in the breath minutes later. The taste has a simple purity to it.

These leaves are put to some overnight infusions which pull out a malty-sweet, juicy-apricot fruit taste with a thin barely noticeable woody bottom. The thin coating of fruit is long in the mouth. The second overnight infusion is a watered down version of these tastes.

Compare the above notes to the fresh 2011 and 2012 harvest if you wish.

Thank you Sam for this interesting opportunity.  Sam is now taking orders for the 2013 ZeDa Balhyocha from Mr. Hong, in seven years you never know...

Peace

2013 Longview Estate FTGFOP 1- EX 7‏ First Flush Darjeeling Tea

Longview Estate is situated at a relatively lower altitude in Darjeeling. The relatively moderate temperatures allow for a slightly earlier harvest time compared to estates at higher altitudes. As a general rule the quality of these teas cannot compete with that of the higher altitudes but they have been know to surprise See three short but nice posts on Longview Estate here.

This sample comes from Lochan Tea (surprise). Let us inspect the leaves as the lid of the kettle shakes in the distance...



Dry leaves smell of subtle sweet fresh dates with edges of fresh grape and florals balancing out the odour.







The first pot delivers medium notes of forest and yams and some perfumey, slightly heavy florals. It has a long distinctly floral-candy sweet aftertaste which lingers on the breath. The mouthfeel is light and leaves a viscus feeling in the mouth.





The second pot delivers a gummy, almost rubbery, but distinctly strong perfumey floral taste. The heavy perfume of flowers lingers for a while in the aftertaste with edges of sweet candy-like edges. The mouthfeel is soft and viscus and is mainly located in the mouth and tongue. The qi is uplifting and calms the mind nicely.





The third infusion tastes of Thrills gum, a grapey-soapy-floral taste of light, sugary, candy like subtle sweetness. The taste is monotone but enjoyable and creeps into the aftertaste.



The fourth offers a bland watery grapey initial taste with still substantial grapey-candy-like sweet aftertaste which lingers minutes later.



Peace

2013 Margaret's Hope FTGFOP 1 1st Flush Darjeeling Tea‏

This tea comes as another gifted sample from Lochan Tea. Like the Giddapahar SFTGFOP 1CH SPL and the Goomtee SFTGFOP 1 EX 2, this tea is also available from Tea Trekker.

This is The brightly coloured dry leaves give off bright sweet-lime high notes with a soft high piercing quality to them.

These leaves are steeped up and the inital taste is of strong, sweet, sugary high notes. There are pure mango tastes in there as well. The taste is light pure and vibrant. The mouthfeel is slick and makes the mouth salivate. The fruity notes stretch into the breath. Saliva pools in the mid throat.

The second steeping brings out more middle foresty-chalky notes that meld with muted mango fruity notes that appear more on the breath in the aftertaste. This tea has a nice harmonious tone to it.

The third pot is a creamy, smooth, very fruity-mango taste with creamy hits of nuts underneath. The creamy furity taste is very long and lingers on the breath even minutes later. There are faint floral notes that linger in the mix as well. The qi of this tea is just as smooth, undulating like a wave throughout the body.

Peace

The First 2013 Korean Teas Are Now Available

It has been a cooler winter than average which has been the trend in Korea over the past decade. As a result the Saejak harvest is now underway. Most dealers here in the West don't start getting their Korean teas until after the saejak and then jungjak is picked. English speaking dealers on the ground in Korea however can start offering them immediately. Gabe from the Jiri Mountain Tea Shop has done just that.

The Jiri Mountain Tea Shop was the very first online tea shop to sell the 2013 harvest starting last week. The tea in question is a completely traditionally made first pick ujeon tea from one of the most traditional tea picking areas of Jiri mountain- land on the banks of the Seomjin river. The tea is produced by Lee Deok-Ju whose family has been producing traditional tea from the same area for 40 years.

The Jiri Mountain Tea Shop web site also offers a sample pack of 2013 Jirisan "Wild Korean Rock Tea". It is likely an balhyocha produced in a way similar as this traditionally made tea.

One has just updated the List of English Online Korean Tea Vendors and Their Korean Teas. Watch in the coming weeks as new 2013 teas make their way to these sites.

Peace

Aged Korean Tea: A Reroasted Four Years Aged Kim Jong Yeol Balhyocha

The concept of aging Korean tea is a new one, even 8 years ago, you would be hard pressed to find a Korean tea shop owner or drinker that had even tasted aged Korean tea. Back then a few tea masters that one respected both said that ddokcha can and should be aged. Conversely they also claimed to have never tried a balhyocha (Korean yellow tea) that had improved tremendously with age. They had claimed that often people store balhyocha in oongi wear and some claim that balhyocha stored and aged in this way does, in fact, improve with age. Years ago one had stock piled many boxes of Jukro Uricha to age but, after aging experiments with 2 years old and 3 years old boxes. One had come to the same conclusion as those wise teamasters, it tastes much better consumed fresh within the first year or two. The high price of Jukro balhyocha (uricha) simply made it not worth the risk of storing and the boxes were easily consumed.


Enter Pedro of O5Tea. In 2009, Pedro acquired a large amount of Kim Jong Yeol's (Butea) balhyocha and sold it under the now defunct Dao Tea label. In many great conversations and tea meetings with Pedro that followed he decided not to order the 2010 balhyocha and instead sell off the leftover from 2009. If you ordered any balhyocha from Pedro in 2010 you, in fact, received balhyocha from the 2009 harvest year. This was done as the teamasters he consulted with recommended that balhyocha was certainly just as good if not better when left to age for a year. Many producers don't even release their balhyocha until a few years pass (see the comments in these posts on Jukro Balhyocha and Ssangkye Chun-Go-Hyang).


It just happens that Pedro had recently found a bunch of leftover 2009 Kim Jong Yeol (Butea) balhyocha. Walking though the door of this O5Tea shop in Vancouver a few months ago the air was filled with the scent of slow roasted balhyocha. That same balhyocha first sampled at the Victoria Tea Festival three years ago was in a frying pan on top a conduction heater set to very low heat and had been roasting for a hour or so. One picked up a bag of that tea and had let it mellow over the last few months. With the pot of water boiling... let us prepare some of this tea...

The leaves smell of distinct piercing dark chocolate they have a slight edge of buttery odours and faint woods under the distinctly chocolate smell.

The first infusion delivers a muted, very light, peach taste with slight creamy-soapy finish. There is even a slight spicy cinnamon edge to the taste. The mouthfeel is watery, very very light. Hotter water is needed to push this tea harder than a fresh balhyocha.

The second infusion is prepared with much hotter water and delivers a mellow, very soft fruity banana peach taste with almost unnoticeable suggestions of chocolate. The tea has a thin mouthfeel with saliva pooling somewhat in the back of the throat. The taste profile is simple, soft, and light. The qi is very relaxing-tranquil in the body. It is noticed especially in the head, softening it.

The third infusion gives the mouth malty, smooth, barely woody, mainly indistinct fruity taste. This light malty-fruit taste is terribly simple but nice. A woody note spans the taste profile.

The fourth infusion is a watery, flat-juicy-dry faint fruit taste. The mouthfeel is thin but coats the entire mouth, even the mid throat where the feeling is slightly dry. A gummy-raisin very faint aftertaste is found a few minutes after swallow.

Infusion number five is much the same simple profile as above now a bit more dry and woody. It slightly scratches the throat now. This tea delivers a very mellow qi. There is an almost licorice-wood finish minutes later on the breath.

The next handful of infusions deliver soft, fruity monotone wood and indistinct peachy-fruity taste. The thin all-coating mouthfeel becomes more dry. There is a lingering peachy aftertaste in the mouth minutes later. With each infusion, more flavour is lost until it becomes barely flavoured water.

It is put to an overnight infusion which gives off a tangy, flat wood taste.

Compare the above notes to the notes of the fresh 2009 balhyocha or to other tea bloggers notes on this fresh tea.

Peace

2013 Badamtam SFTGFOP 1 1st Flush Darjeeling Tea

Badamtam Estate is located in Darjeeling's West Area. It is the source of this sample gifted by Lochan Tea...


The dry leaves smell of musky, rich, pungent, foresty-deep fruity scents. There is a slight coco note that lingers in the many low notes of these leaves.

The first pot is steeped up and an initial tastes of soft, gentle, watery, creamy vague, maybe pear or papaya, fruits linger softly in the mouth. These tastes slowly evolve into soft creamy, smooth deep forest and slight coco tastes. The mouthfeel is smooth here too. It has a very quite roundness about it in the mouth and is mainly felt on the tongue.

The second infusion has an initial taste is once again very smooth and quiet with some creamy fruity notes that meld with a soft creamy bitterness. The notes of these tea are deep but harmonious, showing no high note range but rather a continuous, very simple, deeper fruity measure of taste. The mouthfeel has become more coarse in the mouth and tugs at the mid-throat, drying it slightly. An aftertaste develops of slightly bitter, wood and coco.

The third infusion is now intermixed with almost creamy foresty-coco bitter notes with the arrival of simple fruity notes later in the profile. The fruity notes are flat and intermingle with a wood taste.

Peace