Hong Cha steeped for 20 minutes ?

Here at Tea Trekker we have been experimenting with various steep times for several of our long leaf, China black teas (hong cha).

Of particular interest has been the wild and high-mountain-grown, older-variety leaf from Yunnan Province in southwest China.

We normally steep these teas twice, first for 4 minutes and then again for 4-5 minutes, depending on the size of the leaf and the amount of bud. We generally use this methodology also with the large leaf eastern China black teas, new Keemun Buds, and several other black teas such as Fenghuang Dan Cong Black and Yingde #9, as well.

Depending on the circumstances, we vary the steep times and the amount of leaf used. We always use a generous portion of leaf, as this ensures the hearty cup that we are seeking.

One recent afternoon in the store, Bob was steeping some JingMai Wild Arbor black tea, and was called away to answer a customer’s question. That leaf ended up steeping for almost 20 minutes before he had a chance to retrieve it.

He knew to taste it anyway, ‘just in case’, because the initial steeping water had been off-the-boil, as that is what he normally likes to use with Yunnan black teas. The steeped tea was absolutely delicious and very unusual – it had nuances of flavor that were shocking and there was not even a whisper of astringency or that over-steeped, ‘cooked’ flavor that a smaller-leaf tea would have exhibited if steeped that long.

He even decided to experiment with a second steeping (curiosity is critical in tea steeping!) and so used very hot water and a 5-minute steep and the resulting tea was quite drinkable, but light.

What was particularly noticeable in the long steep was the deep, woody, layered ‘forest’ flavor that is so unique to Yunnan teas, but doesn’t always show in a ‘regular’ cup steeped for a shorter time.

We use this experience to illustrate the necessity to ‘play with your tea’. We just never know what delightful experience we will have until this sort of ‘mistake’ happens.

Our 2015 Fresh Chinese Green Teas are Arriving

NEWS FLASH – WE WELCOME THE 2015 TEA SEASON The first of our 2015 fresh new Chinese green teas have arrived. What is here?

• Long Jing
• Longjing Dafo
• Gan Lu

Also just in…..2015 Winter Frost Tea from Nilgiri, India. This is the first time in nearly seven years that we have had Nilgiri teas.

Click here to see all of our 2015 teas that have arrived to date as well as a listing of other 2015 spring teas that will be arriving soon.

Seasonal teas are wonderful because they contain fresh, vibrant flavors of the new season in their tiny tea leaves. While many who sell tea ignore the notion of seasonal tea production, we feel that it is vital to understand and explore the changes that occur in the taste and flavors of tea from one season to another during the plucking year.

Many tea producers in China will say something like: ‘The tea is not good now.‘ What they mean is that the tea has entered a season in which the taste is less than delicious. This is a weather-driven, size-of-the-tea leaves issue and one that arises in the early summer when the tea leaves have grown too large on the bushes to make ‘good’ tea. One must wait for another season to have sweet, good tasting teas again.

All of China’s Famous Teas and other early spring green teas (such as the above mentioned teas and many more that Tea Trekker will be receiving), are made only in the spring season. Chinese black and oolong teas will begin spring production soon (or have just begun) and some of these teas will have a second plucking season in the autumn as well.

Want to learn more? Please refer to the seasonal tea dating and source information on  teatrekker.com that we list for our teas. And, we discuss seasonal dating in both of our tea books: The Story of Tea and The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook.

More new tea will be arriving this week – keep checking teatrekker.com for details and  announcements.

Min Hong Gong Fu Black Teas

Min Hong Gong fu teas are sweet, very stylish, slightly floral, slightly fruity, slightly malty, tippy black teas made in the eastern part of northern Fujian – north of the Min River, which is a geograpical divider between the teas from north and south Fujian.

These three teas are historic and important teas and are made in Fuan county, Fuding county and Zhenghe county, the same places where authentic Fujian white tea is made. In fact, some of these teas are made with the large leaf Da Bai cultivar that is used to make white tea, and also from a small leaf cultivar named Xiao Ye Zhong.

Min Hong teas were among the first black teas made in China, and Western tea drinkers would have known these teas (or a similar, earlier version) by the late 17th century. Other historic teas made in this area fell out of production in the 20th century, but these superb teas remain in manufacture today.

We are proud and excited to offer our tea enthusiast customers this special sampler of eastern China black teas that are not commonly seen in the US. All of these teas are of a high grade that contains a quantity of sweet tips – sip these black teas plain and you may find that no milk or sugar is needed.

The Tea Trekker Min Bei Sampler includes:

Bai Lin Gongfu

This slender, slightly twisted, tippy Fujian black tea is produced in the town of Hu Lin in Fuding County. Here, gongfu black teas are processed from the Fuding Da Bai cultivar, which is also used to produce the most famous bud-pluck white tea – Yin Zhen – which is made in some nearby villages.

This is a Chinese black tea for tea enthusiasts who enjoy the style of fruity Ceylon black teas. Bai Lin is light but distinctive and has a soft-flavor profile and underlying sweetness characteristic of many Chinese black teas.

Panyang Gongfu

Today, Panyang village primarily makes green tea. But fortunately for lovers of fine hong cha, a handful of tea companies still make Panyang gongfu.

This tea is among the finest manufactures of hong cha in China. Once made initially for export to the West,  these fully-oxidized teas are much in demand among knowledgeable Asian/Chinese tea drinkers.

Fine and thin, the well-twisted & rolled budsets of this tea are gloriously perfect in size and form. The tea is comprised of a significant amount of dark-golden tip, more so than what is found in most Panyangs. This gives the tea a bright aroma of tea and caramel, the trademark aroma of Panyang hong cha.

In the cup, the aroma continually changes and shows incredible complexity. Hints of the aroma of grilled meat, to plum sauce, to chocolate cake with a rich pear buttercream frosting are just a few of the ideas proposed by those who have tasted this exquisite tea.

The flavor is complex, with a pleasant astringency. Both chocolate and cocoa are found here, with cocoa being predominant, followed by raisin and mild chile. The overall flavor is rich and mouth-filling and the body is deep and satisfying.

Zhenghe Gongfu

Thin, straight and wiry, this traditional pluck has a well-balanced proportion of golden tip to budset. The budset and tip are each of an even size and color and the aroma of the dry leaf suggests both biscuit and nut. This is a rich, fragrant but mild black tea with a brilliant golden-amber color in the cup.

The aroma and flavor are complimentary, both offering smooth, soft and round characteristics and a suggestion of  wheat toast and caramel. The leaf has been carefully fired in the manufacture, and the liquor has a touch of ripe stone fruit in the taste.

NOTE:

What is gongfu tea? 

We are often asked about the meaning of gong fu tea as many know this term to refer to a skillful style of Chinese presenting, steeping, and serving tea.

Yes, but the term gongfu alone means ‘skillful’. So, gongfu or gongfu cha is used to distinguish certain high-quality Chinese hong cha (black tea) that are made with discipline and skill and excellent crafting.

Gongfu black tea represents the Chinese approach to premium-quality tea making which values the taste of the tea;  sweet, rich flavors in the cup; and a stylish appearance of the dried leaf. These qualities come from whole tea leaves that have been carefully crafted and fully oxidized.

These teas are not the same as China’s standard black teas that are exported in large quantities and often sold to companies who will add these teas to average quality proprietary blends. Such teas, for example, are sold simply as Fujian black or Hunan black tea without further place of origin attached.

So, gongfu does have two meanings and it can be a bit confusing. For instance, one can serve gongfu cha or congou tea gongfu-style and enjoy a skillful presentation of a skillfully made, delicious tea.

Hong Cha

Fall is underway. Cool days and nights make us wish for stronger tasting teas. Chinese hong cha is the perfect choice in this time of changing weather. Warm, rich, sweet, smooth, deliciously full in the mouth…Chinese hong cha has many styles and tastes to discover.Hong cha, known as red tea in China (for the amber/ red colored tea liquor in the cup) and black tea in the West (for the dark color of the dried tea leaf), was the final type of tea to be developed by Chinese tea makers in the latter half of the 17th century.

Hong cha are full-bodied and smooth in the cup – their flavors suggest chocolate, dark red fruits, woody aromatic spices such as cinnamon, caramel, malt, with the gentle aroma of ‘biscuit’ such as that of a petit beurre. Some types of hong cha feature a touch of delicate smoke, or a flinty, brisk characteristic known as ‘winey’.

Almost all have a sweet finish that leaves a pleasant aftertaste in the mouth.

Hong cha is made in several provinces of China

– Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Sichuan, and Yunnan –

This tea is generally comprised of large, somewhat thick and dark, brownish-black or grey-black, fragrant leaves, while the bud-only style has a glorious straight or slightly twisted or curled form, and tends to be golden in color due to the lack of pigmentation in the freshly-plucked bud or budset. However, all are fully oxidized and worthy of your attention.

We think that Chinese black teas are among the tastiest black teas made anywhere. They represent centuries of workmanship and the distinctions of terroir, and all are wonderful drunk plain, without milk or sugar. We have recently added several new Yunnan black teas to our already large collection of these wonderful teas.

2014 Korean Green Tea

New teas continue to arrive almost daily as the time has come for us to start receiving seasonal spring teas from Japan and Korea.

Yes… I just said KOREA…..as in SOUTH KOREA!

It as been 4 years since we first introduced these wonderful and unique green tea from Hadong County and the environ of Mt.Jiri, South Korea. For lovers of fine green teas, these teas are distinctively different from both Chinese and Japanese green teas. And, Hadong County tea is available in very limited quantities comparative to spring green teas from China and Japan and other tea producing regions of South Korea.

These are the same teas from the same producer ( 2014 crop ) at virtually the same prices as we sold these teas for in 2010 and 2011, the last two years when we featured these Korean green teas. While these teas are pricey ( they are pricey in South Korea, too) this is a great opportunity for our tea enthusiast customers to experience FRESH, FRESH, FRESH versions of these delicious teas at a fair price.

Read more here:  http://www.teatrekker.com/teas/other-countries/korea/green-tea

Additionally, we have also received the first of our 2014 Japanese green teas, along with some exciting new teas, one of which has been created just for Tea Trekker. We are unpacking these teas now and will feature them in a post and on the website in the next few days.

LIfe is good !