Tasting a Thai oolong tea: Jing Shuan

A well known importer of tea honored me with a series of samples including a Thai oolong: Jing Shuan.

As you can see from the photo, it has a nice green color with rolled leafs that include the first three leaves. The dry scent is lightly grassy with a predominant hint of dried fruits.  

For the preparation a made a simple choice in a prestigious location. A 1700 century hall is important enough so I chose to set a minimal chaxi in fusion style using a combination of European objects (silver tray, tea container in fine China and towels in embroidered veil) and Eastern (Yixing kensui and dark teapot, cup in white Chinese porcelain and Japanese steel saucer). It's inevitable the presence of flowers, particularly orchids, that can give atmosphere to any setting.  

The infusion looks pale yellow, medium clear. The texture on the palate is rather thin and the aroma is very light and flowery. Wet leaves have a consistent aroma of flowers and tomato. 

It's a tea without a marked aromas and flavors. Surely it is too bland to be counted among the precious teas. It will not be a tea that I'll buy in the next future.  

Pink Chaxi

It will be that this spring continues to be gray and rainy, it will be that my mood is combined with the time or it will be that I wanted to inaugurate a  Japanese Tengui that was given to me some time ago, the fact is that I organized the Chaxi for the lesson in a somewhat 'unusual pairing with a very romantic pink and white dressing.

A tengui is a simple piece of cotton cloth painted with Japanese traditional designs that can be used in various ways: as dry cloth,  as placemat, as a curtain ...

And it's necessary to pay attention to washing a tengui because the colors are not fixed with industrial techniques and may fade or bleed.

The design of this tengui is a classic spring: flowers of sakura (cherry flowers) and bunnies (which are considered good luck in Japan).

The tools used take up the theme of cherry blossoms in the cups and in the pitcher and they are all fine Chinese porcelain except  saucer dessert that is a gift from Japan.

For tea it seemed appropriate to use a "White Snow Buds," a good quality white tea buds,  full of great taste,  delicate, sweet and fruity soon.

For  sweet I paired a little meringue decorated with pink sugar sprinkles.

My new cups with little fishes

This Chaxi was organized to celebrate the arrival of my new Chinese porcelain tea cups with design of fish. Cups are quite simple but of a great impact and for this I chose a simple pairing him to return to white cups themselves.

I chose a rolled low-medium roasting oolong tea similar than Tie Kwan Yin. It 's a gift that was brought to me from a trip and are not able to tell you exactly what kind of tea would be.

The cups are quite large and are of the beautiful porcelain of Jing de Zhen. The design of the fish (both internal and external) is in blue and red color and is done in a way that once filled the cup, the fish seem to swim.

I accompanied this tea with small Japanese sweets (black sesame mochi stuffed with azuki jam) served in the classic lacquered Japanese meimeizara saucers with a new fork just come from Japan and ... I'm really in love of it!

Nuove tazze con pesciolini

Questo chaxi è stato organizzato per festeggiare l'arrivo delle mie nuove tazzine da te di porcellana cinese con disegno di pesci. Sono tazze abbastanza semplici ma di grande impatto e per questo ho scelto un abbinamento semplice che riprendesse il bianco delle tazze stesse.

Ho scelto un tè oolong arrotolato come un Tie Kwan Yin di medio-bassa arrostitura. E' un regalo che mi è stato portato da un viaggio e non sono in grado di dirvi con esattezza che tipo di tè sia.

Le tazze sono abbastanza grandi e sono delle stupende porcellane della Jing de Zhen. Il disegno dei pesci (sia interno che esterno) è in colore blu e rosso ed è fatto in maniera che, una volta riempita la tazza, i pesciolini sembrino nuotare.

Ho accompagnato questo tè con dei piccoli dolcetti giapponesi (mochi al sesamo nero ripieni di marmellata di azuki) serviti nei classici piattini laccati giapponesi meimeizara con una nuova forchettina appena arrivatami dal Giappone e di cui sono follemente innamorata!

Long absence (English version)

It 's been a long time since I wrote the last post on this blog and a little I regret it. My activities of the tea ceremony, demonstrations and teaching are not, thankfully, stopped, but due to some very important commitments I had less time and I could not update the blog regularly. I apologize to all readers, but I'm here to give good news: now I have less commitments and yet I can devote to publish blog posts for both loyal readers and for both students that in the interval between classes here find out a great help for their study.

We are already in the spring and all the pictures and ideas that I had put aside during the winter would not be more appropriate to be published now (tea ceremony requires a strong connection with nature and therefore also with the season). I will therefore confine myself to say hello and to publish an overview of photos of the past months to give you more welcome on this blog waiting for the next post which will be published very shortly.

Sweet Zenzai (sweet soup of azuki with mochi and salted pickels)

Kaiseki meal (modern version at table)

Gong fu cha tea set

Rolled Oolong tea

Bamboo Tea

Lunga assenza

E' passato molto tempo dall'ultimo post su questo blog e un po' me ne rammarico. La mia attività di cerimonia del tè, dimostrazioni e insegnamento non si è, per fortuna, interrotta, ma a causa di alcuni impegni molto importanti ho avuto meno tempo e non ho potuto aggiornare regolarmente il blog. Me ne scuso con tutti i lettori, ma sono qui a dare una buona notizia: adesso ho meno impegni e posso dedicarmi a pubblicare ancora post sul blog sia per i lettori affezionati sia per gli allievi che nell'intervallo tra una lezione e l'altra trovavano qui un valido aiuto per il loro studio.

Siamo già alla primavera e tutte le foto e le idee che avevo messo da parte durante l'inverno non sarebbero più appropriate da pubblicare adesso (la cerimonia del tè impone un forte legame con la natura e quindi anche con la stagionalità). Mi limito quindi a salutarvi e pubblicare una panoramica di foto dei mesi trascorsi per darvi ancora il benvenuto su questo blog in attesa del prossimo post che verrà pubblicato tra brevissimo tempo.

Dolce Zenzai (zuppa dolce di fagioli azuki con mochi e verdure fermentate sotto sale)

Pasto Kaiseki (variante moderna a tavola)

Gong fu cha set

Rolled Oolong tea

Bamboo Tea

Star of Bulang 2007 (English Version)

It's a long time since I updated this blog, but a little the end of the lessons of tea ceremony and a little my work, I momentarily neglect my great love for this wonderful drink. Two days ago, thanks to the bad weather, I decided to open a new cake of puerh tea. I really wanted a sheng, but my last trusty cake of Menghai 7532 was finish so I went in my pumidor to look for something and I decided finally to try "Star of Bulang" Guoyan 701 of the 2007 vintage. Came to me in 2008 (very young), I storage until now in my pumidor, so in a moderate heat and medium / dry humidity (65% on average). Despite the degree of humidity is not one of the best, the cake has maintained intact its fragrance.

This cake is composed entirely of material from Bulang spring, but only partially from wild trees. It has a medium compression, with a medium-bodied flavor, but a long finish. The aftertaste is sweet and clean and you can also define overall a great tasting cake. The liquid is pale gold. It has excellent quality / price ratio. So I would say that it is a good buy for those who want to drink now and for those who want to age for future consumption.

Tea tasting - 1990 Grand Yellow Label puerh tea

To celebrate the spring coming I have wanted drink a puerh that I bought 3 years ago: a late 1990 Grand Yellow Label puerh tea. In the last three years I storage it in a medium dry storage (about 55/60% of humidity - 20C° temperature) but before this puerh has a very humid storage (I don't, I'm not sure, but I think 85/90% of humidity).
This is only the second time that I taste a real old puerh (the first time a 1960 humid storage!) and I'm not sure if I really like it.
The first 1960 puerh tasting was really a shock! I payed for it a little treasure but I thinked it smelled of mold. I thinked for the age...
Now, with this more young tea, I have hoped to find a special taste but .... nothing! The same smell of mold...
I have spoke with other puerh taster and they have told me that it's quite normal. Normal?!
Personally now I'm sure that I don't like that smell and taste of humid storage old puerh, I prefer a lot a medium storage (like mine) and a medium age (like 10 years) raw puerh tea.

I arrange for this tea an outdoor chaxi with a little modern chinese chabako (comprehensive of a little tea tray) and a my alcool burner. I have used the little adorable Yixing teapot that I use for aged puerh teas and I have inaugurated new with porcelain set of tea pitcher and cups with plum blossoms. It's very nice the contrast that create with the red liquor.

My Valentine's Tea (English Version)

I spent my Valentine's Day with a delicate "blossom tea"
(tea leaves deftly sewn around an aromatic flower).
I did it slowly "bloom" in a small Chinese teapot in thin glass.
The flower was the kind of "Variety of colors" and had a delicate flavor of
jasmine.
The tray under the pot was hand made by me.
Nothing beats a good cup of tea and some romantic roses of my garden.
Happy Valentine's Day to all!