Welcome spring – welcome new spring tea !
Our fresh 2016 new teas are being sent from the tea fields as soon as they are made. As each tea arrives we add it to the Tea Trekker website where it will appear in the appropriate listing for its type of tea (green, black, etc) and also in the seasonal teas listing for 2016. We expect the spring green teas to continue arriving thru the month of April.
Happy, sweet tea drinking!
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.
Two years ago when I was in Japan on a tea buying trip, I had a series of meetings with several different tea companies to assess their respective teas for a possible purchase. Most of the meetings went well, with translators present to help both sides talk about details of purchasing the tea. I met some interesting men and women that day and tasted both good and lackluster tea.
Every meeting was set up to last 20 minutes and they followed the same course. Introductions via a translator, a presentation by the tea folks, questions by me, and then a taste of one or two teas that they had brought with them for me to consider.
One particular gentleman and his nephew really did not have any tea that I was interested in. This became clear after about 4 minutes into the scheduled 20 minute meeting. As we all just sat there looking across the table at one another without much to say, the Uncle finally looked at me and said in halting English…..”Tom Brady”.
He followed that with two thumbs up and a big smile. I realized that he understood that I was from Massachusetts, so I responded with “Red Sox”. That got an even more enthusiastic thumbs up and a big, big smile from his nephew. We went back and forth like this with the “Celtics” and the “Bruins” until we ran out of this “conversation.”
The Uncle was beginning over again with another “Tom Brady” thumbs up, so I had an idea how to pad out the remaining time. I grabbed the lap top that I had brought with me, and I put the name Gisele Bundchen (Tom Brady’s wife) into the search. I knew that she was beautiful and exotic-looking and might just be the ice-breaker that we desperately needed to add another dimension to this conversation.
It only took me a few seconds to find a photo of her, fully-clad and simply gorgeous. I spun my lap top around and watched the looks on their faces when I pointed to the image on the screen and said “Tom Brady’s wife”. Or I should say that my translator said that for me. She asked me what his wife did and I explained that she was a fashion model. I’m not sure what she told the men, but at first there was not much reaction. Both men seemed stunned.
I feared that I had offended them in some way that I could not possibly imagine. But just a few seconds later they both began to grin with delight and got very chatty with one other and the translator. After a few Japanese OOHS and AAHS I realized that they were both writing down the URL on the screen and her name. They both seemed quite approving and I believe that Tom Brady got another couple of ”thumbs up.”
The meeting was just about over and we parted ways with a lightness of spirit that was missing from the earlier part of the meeting. Later that evening, at a cocktail party for all of the tea sellers and buyers, I noted the Uncle cruising towards me with a big smile on his face. He sauntered past me flashing two thumbs up and gave me a knowing “Tom Brady.”
It felt like we were friends for life now – bonded by a shared knowledge that would be difficult to put into words. He seemed more animated than he was earlier in the day, and tea was no longer on the table as a point of discussion. As I turned to watch him walk away I imagined he was thinking about something other than “Tom Brady.”
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 !
This post is a re-post from last year. Because many new tea drinkers may not know how to evaluate some of the claims of ‘new tea’ that are being touted this time of year, we hope this will help. As well as be a good reminder to those of you who know this but need a little re-fresher on this topic.
Soon the earliest plucks of fresh tea from the 2014 spring tea harvests in China, India, and Japan will begin arriving in the US. In fact, Tea Trekker has already received 3 new 2014 season teas from Western China.
Confusingly, it is also the time when some tea vendors add ‘new teas’ to their inventory that are not from the new 2014 harvest. So it is important for tea enthusiasts to understand what they are purchasing by paying attention to harvest dates. Some of you know this information, many of you may not, so it is worth repeating:
In the next two months, simply because a tea is advertised as ‘new’ to a store or website does not mean that it is new tea from the 2014 harvest, and tea enthusiasts should not fall into the trap of assuming that it is.
If the tea is not dated, it may be last year’s tea (or tea from anytime, really) that is simply ‘new’ to that merchant or tea vendor. Which does not mean that last year’s teas should be avoided – that is not the point. Some of last year’s green teas are still tasty; but many are not.
But my point is two-fold:
It is helpful to know in what period of spring premium Chinese green, black and white teas are made:
Tea production times follow roughly the same pattern each year with slight allowances for weather, and there is an order to when tea factories make certain teas. It most often depends on when the leaf is the right size on the tea bushes to achieve the characteristic appearance of the tea, and that the flavor components of the fresh leaf is properly developed.
So awareness of when certain teas are made will help tea enthusiasts determine if it is possible for a certain tea to have been made in the new tea season or if it must be from last year’s harvest (or older!) For instance, spring high mountain oolong from Taiwan is not plucked until May, so any spring tea of this type being offered now is from last winter or last spring as it is too soon for 2014 high mountain oolong from Taiwan to be in the marketplace.
Our 2014 eastern China teas ( a handful of pre-Qing Ming green, yellow and black teas ) will be arriving as early as next week, followed soon by an early round of 1st Flush Darjeelings.
Once the season is underway our tea deliveries arrive fast and furiously.To appreciate the absolute fresh goodness of these tea we will air-ship them to arrive at our store as fast as possible. (Watch your in box for email alerts that the tea has arrived – some sell out quite fast each year!)
Tea from the 2nd seasonal plucking (Yu Qian -April 6th to April 20th) of black, white and yellow teas, oolongs and Pu-erh will follow along as their production season arrives.
The 2014 green teas from Japan (with the exception of Japanese Shincha which will be available sooner) are still 4-6 weeks away from being harvested, depending on the region and elevation of the tea gardens. Weather depending, production in most regions will begin at the end of April or in early May. Which puts arrival of 2014 Japanese green tea to our shop about the middle to end of May. ( Again, watch your in-box for emails).
So plan your tea purchasing accordingly and make sure that you understand what you are purchasing regarding the dates of harvest. Tea enthusiasts who know what these dates and differences in freshness will end up with fresher tea than those who are unaware of what they are purchasing.
Hooray for spring and happy fresh new tea drinking!
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