A Surprise of Crocuses and an Alchemy of Tea

{ A Surprise of Crocuses }  

When I was, oh, 10 or 11, Dad had a secret. During early Autumn sometime, he made my sister and me PROMISE not to tell Mom what we were up to. Like spies or ninjas, we went to the backyard with a TOP-SECRET bag, and we dug little holes, into which we put what I now know are called, corms. We had no idea what these were, and Dad wouldn't tell us. Winter came. Christmas with its usual abundance of toys, fun, exhaustion, energy. New Year came and went. Snow was still on the ground. Valentine's Day. Every day, now, Dad would (secretly) ask us to look in the backyard to see . . . what? We didn't know, the little holes we dug having been long forgotten.

Then one morning in early Spring, all over the still-snowy yard were an abundance of crocuses, purple and yellow and blue bundles of flowers, scattered everywhere. This was the surprise for Mom that we had waited for all Winter long. A delight of crocuses, and snowdrops, and who knows what else we had planted as a way of being welcomed by Spring and of saying, "I Love You," to Mom. I imagine she still remembers that wonderful Spring to this day.

and now to the tea

Ah, yes, you've been waiting for me to write about tea again, not about flowers. Well, I had a surprise waiting for me this month. I had made an order from Chicago Coffee and Tea Exchange, who provide decent-quality tea without much ado. They were the source of my first true tea education, and I am forever grateful. Kevin handles the orders over there, and he's always helpful in locating something special hidden among the bins for me to try out.

So amidst my order, he had sent me something called Imperial Gold Oolong. Not a terribly expensive tea--in fact, quite affordable. (Which is why I love Chicago Coffee and Tea Exchange. On my limited budget, I can afford to get enough tea to last a few weeks rather than a few days.)

Imperial Gold Oolong is the surprise crocus in my story. I didn't expect it to be anything special, but it was, quite. Highly fragrant, the aroma wafts from the carafe as I let it rest before drinking. The leaves are typical rolled bundles, which open up into perhaps 1/3-inch-long leaves.

This tea's source is unnamed, and neither is its plucking date listed on the website. Honestly, in Chicago--a coffee-drinking city if ever there was one--there's really not much of a tea culture, so fastidiously sourcing an oolong would be meaningless information for pretty much their entire clientele. Who are in there for the coffee, anyway.

I prepare the tea in gongfu style-- lots of leaf, high temperature, short steeping times. I place my preheated Yixing pot into a wide bowl of steaming, then boiling, water. This helps keep the temperature high as I steep. In gongfu style, you don't allow a long steep to mix all the flavors together. You break up the drinking experience into chapters, in a manner of speaking, which lets you catch the drink at different points in its development. First, the introduction. Then, the characters introduced, the plot is introduced. The storyline comes to its conclusion, and then there is a nice epilogue as the tea can be resteeped as many times as your patience and interest allow, until the tea is a mere wisp of aroma on the clear water.

The first steeping of this tea is particularly aromatic, bright, complex, floral and fruity at once, with a bit of wildness hiding behind the more conventional flavors. If a forest walk smelled like this, it would draw you down an unfamiliar path to an unknown destination.

{ Tea is part science, part magic }  

The second steeping is even better. I oversteeped it only slightly, so it has a somewhat sharp--but not bitter--edge to it at first. But the fragrance is so bright, I wish I could share it with you right now. As the tea sits in the pot for a few minutes, it oxidizes slightly; and the deep gold, transparent liquor mellows a bit, with that almost tartness dissipating. HINT FOR TEA DRINKERS: If, like myself, you've ever oversteeped that delicious oolong of yours, just let it sit for a few minutes. The heat + biomaterials will engage in some alchemy while it "rests" and you wait, causing the flavors to deepen and mellow. Try it sometime, rather than dumping the tea and starting over.

SO . . . I have no idea where this tea comes from--though, if I bothered to pick up the phone and call Kevin, I'm sure he'd be able to tell me something more about it. But the beauty of this is the surprise element. Don't know where it's from. Don't know when it was picked. Don't know anything other than that it's a joy, made doubly so because it's affordable.

Thanks, Kevin, for including this in the package you sent. My UPS guy always wondered why my coffee packages from Coffee and Tea Exchange would arrive without a coffee aroma, and he never had any time for me to make him a cup to show him what he's missing. Too bad for him, but great for me.

note on coffee & tea exchange

Coffee and Tea Exchange is great for decent-quality and even high-quality tea on a budget. They take good care of their clients, and I've found them to be a wonderful resource in learning what the heck a Darjeeling is, or introducing me to something called Hairy Crab oolong, and so on. Go to their Website when you need a package of tea to get you through the mornings, but you just don't feel like writing an essay about everything you have in your cupboard.

REVIEW: Rembeng Estate Assam, Chicago Coffee & Tea Exchange

I opened up a tin of Rembeng Assam this morning, which was delivered to me from Chicago Coffee & Tea Exchange. They're no longer my first choice for excellent teas (that would be Tea Gschwendner), but they have a variety of second-tier teas that are quite good, if not amazing. This is the company that first started me on understanding the different types of black/oolong/green teas, even if they don't carry the very best of the best. But they're affordable! In the words of Calvin & Hobbes, "Almost as good, and a whole lot cheaper." Their Web site: http://www.coffeeandtea.com/

Anyway, they sell Assam black tea from the Rembeng Estate, in India. It's not on the Web site, but the owner told me about it, and I ordered. I lifted this description from the Arbor Teas Web site:

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http://www.arborteas.com/rembeng-assam-black-tea.html
A classic black tea produced at the Rembeng estate in India's state of Assam in northeastern India, near the banks of the Brahmaputra River. The Rembeng estate is credited with pioneering organic tea production in Assam. This organic and Fair Trade Certified tea is composed of finely twisted leaves with occasional golden, downy tips. Its full-bodied red-brown infusion does not disappoint, exemplifying the character of a high-quality Assam tea - very flavorful with rich maltiness and a good coppery finish.

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Now, granted, this description is for the Arbor Teas brand, which may differ from what I'm drinking from Chicago Coffee & Tea Exchange; but it serves to help me think about what I'm drinking, anyway.

Method of prep: 4 tsps, just boiling water, poured over tea in my Japanese tetsubin iron teapot. 2.5 minutes for steeping.

The tea is very pleasant; very "umami," so to speak. It almost has a meaty, thick quality-- probably what they describe as "maltiness." I'm glad I didn't let it steep much longer, because it would have taken on a rather heavy quality. I'll have to try it at longer steeping to see if I'm right.

The description says it has a coppery flavor. I wonder if that's because the leaves, which are a rich black with some coppery tone in them, suggests it. But I don't taste copper-- more a metallic mouth-feel in the back of my throat. The tea doesn't seem to have much in the way of complex fruitiness or herbal flavor to my taste. The finish is long and rich, sitting on the tongue well after the last sip is complete. The flavor of the finish, though, doesn't change much from what it was like when drinking it. Very consistent flavor from beginning to end, though not terribly nuanced, I guess.

As with almost every tea I get from Chicago Coffee & Tea Exchange, I would say it's a great "everyday" tea, but not something I'd show off to guests. Like drinking a $15 bottle of pinot noir-- pretty good, satisfying, but nothing to write a review of.... D'oh!

UPDATE: The second cup is, predictably, better than the first. The flavors are brighter, more biting. A little bit of sugar to take the edge off the tea helps. I can see what they mean by "copper" flavor now; the metallic flavor seems somewhat refined as the tea develops.

BASIC RULE: Never judge a tea by the first cup; the second cup is always better, because the tea has had a chance to develop and oxidize in the pot a little longer, thus allowing more layers of aroma and flavor to pop.


-----note: a fellow Facebook member took umbrage because I was (slightly) dissing Chicago Coffee & Tea Exchange. I responded thus:

Thanks for your response. Well, regarding prices and so on, I just thought it was interesting, and my honest thoughts on quality. I'm not getting paid by any of these companies, so it's a fairly dispassionate view. Still, providing a second-tier tea is something significant, and nothing to be ashamed of. (For example, people say Tchaikovsky is a second-tier composer, but no one says how much work and effort it takes to rise to that level of excellence. Most of the teas I see are fourth or fifth tier, so this is still a high compliment. And yes, their customer service is very good.)

REVIEW: Keemun, Chicago Coffee and Tea Exchange

(This review will be in several parts on this topic. I wrote extensively, hit the wrong key, and lost what I had done. Now I'll post in pieces so I can't lose too much time or work. Hurrah, I'm writing a serial! Like Oliver Twist! I'm sure you all will be checking in hourly to see how the review is coming along.)

http://www.coffeeandtea.com/

Surprise, delight, dismay. "Keemun!" These were my emotions yesterday, when I discovered a package of tea sitting in the back of my tea cabinet when I had just drink my last cup of the "good stuff," and was rummaging around to find something. I was surprised to find it hidden back there; delighted that I didn't now need to drive a goodly distance to buy some more; and dismayed because I typically try to drink my tea in six months so it doesn't go stale. I can't stand stale tea, which creates, more often than not, an indifferent brew that makes me think, "Meh, why bother?" This tea must have been back there just about six months. I was concerned this would be one of those pots.

I typically buy in bulk from either Chicago Coffee and Tea Exchange or Tea Gschwendner. CTTE used to be my one and only place to buy tea when I lived near their shop, but now that I've discovered the Internet, I am branching out to other sources, as well. CTTE gives very good customer service, and their teas are what I would consider very good, second-tier teas. That is to say, they'll sell a couple kinds of Darjeelings, several oolongs, and a number of other varieties of "true," unflavored teas; but the teas won't necessarily come from an individual tea garden or flush that I can identify.

And so: a package titled, Keemun. Hm, not enough information to go on. I've drunk this before, but it's been awhile, and I've been trying to educate my palate a little bit more consciously since then. Time to read up a bit, while I drink.

The Coffee & Tea Exchange Web site says:
Keemun
Famous for its superb flavor and aroma, a fine and twisted leaf with a complex flavor and distinctive aroma.

CONTINUING: A bit of history about Keemun.

I did a bit of research. Apparently (British people, take note), Keemun tea is the primary ingredient in English Breakfast tea blends. Zoka Coffee ( http://secure.zokacoffee.com/tea/TPW-KEEMUN.html ) says the following:

Origin Notes

Keemun is produced in the Qimen County of Huangshan Shi, in Anhui (Anhwei) province of China. "Keemun" was actually the English spelling for "Qimen" during the colonial era.

"Keemun has a relatively short history. It was first produced in 1875 by a failed civil servant, Yu Quianchen, after he traveled to Fujian province to learn the secrets of black tea production. Prior to that, only green tea was made in Anhui. The result exceeded his expectations, and the excellent Keemun tea quickly gained popularity in England, and became the most prominent ingredient of the English Breakfast tea blend."

AND MY WORRIES that the tea would go bad quickly were also set to rest: http://www.englishteastore.com/1mt-kp.html English Tea Store says the following:

"Of all the China black teas available Keemun Panda #1 is probably one of the best known. Keemun is one of the congou-type teas; meaning it requires a great deal of gongfu, (disciplined skill) to make into fine taut strips without breaking the leaves. Interestingly the characters in the written Chinese script for time and labor are the same as those used for ‘gongfu’. It is often said that a properly produced Keemun such as Panda #1 is one of the finest teas in the world with a complex aromatic and penetrating character often compared to burgundy wines. Traditionally keemuns were used in English Breakfast tea.

"Keemun is one the best-keeping black teas. Fine specimens will keep for years if stored properly and take on a mellow winey character.

"The name Keemun comes from Qimen county in southern Anhui province, where almost all the mountains are covered with tea bushes. Qimen county produced only green tea until the mid 1870’s. Around that time a young man in the civil service lost his job. Despite being totally heartbroken and completely embarrassed by his shame, he remembered what his father told him - ‘A skill is a better guarantor of a living than precarious officialdom’. Following this advice, the young man packed up his courage and his bags to travel to Fujian Province to learn the secrets of black tea manufacturing. Upon his return to Qimen in 1875 he set up three factories to produce black tea. The black tea method was perfectly suited to the tea leaves produced in this warm moist climate with well drained sandy soil. Before long, the superb flavor of Keemuns became very popular around the world."

I LIKE that story! Failed bureaucrat goes out and creates a world-class tea.

BACK to the review. See what happens, if I get interrupted by events (and deleting my post prematurely)? I dropped a few hundred words, and still didn't get around to discussing the tea itself.

Dry leaves: very dark black, almost dusty appearance. Tightly twisted leaf. It has a nicely sharp smell.

Wet leaves: Actually, quite dull smelling. Of course, wet leaves don't really indicate the flavor of the tea itself, but they can add to my pleasure nevertheless. The leaves smelled slightly like ash, and they're dark black.

Preparation: 4 tsps, boiling water in cast-iron tetsubin, 3 minutes.

Initial impression: Very smoky, almost like a Lapsang Souchong. Smoky is not my favorite characteristic in tea, ever since my friends discovered I liked Lapsang, and they gave me too much of it. I wonder how that flavor develops in teas that are not actually smoked over pine needles?

With a touch of milk and sugar (I know, I know, shoot me): the smokiness is minimized, allowing me to taste some of the nuance of the tea. It's a though the roof of my mouth (or the part of my tongue that corresponds to that area) notes the smokiness, but the back of my mouth senses these other things... a floral note, very elusive. Very brisk flavor, but with a rather thick, malty mouth-feel. I wish I hadn't noticed that smokiness first, because I think it's masking the other flavors I'm trying to get a hold of.

All in all, Chicago Coffee & Tea Exchange's Keemun was pleasantly surprising, because it hadn't died in the back of my cupboard. A bit smoky for my taste, but still bracing and enjoyable. And because it was inexpensive, doubly enjoyable!

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And coming back to the tea review: I had run out of my normal Darjeelings, so drinking the Keemun wasn't my first choice. But after drinking it on and off for a week or so, I think I'm done with it. That smokiness sticks in my throat, and I'm just frankly not that interested in this tea to plow past the smoke to try to find the subtle nuances of whatever is hiding back there.

All in all: an okay tea to try out, but for my taste, not something I'll be coming back to soon.