REVIEW: Xiao Tuo Cha, Red Leaf Tea

Today I type with cuts on my index finger and thumb on the left hand, which makes the letters t, f, g, r, b, and v rather difficult to achieve. I was opening a container of tortellacci, which are indistinguishable from tortellini except for the presence of an -acci at the end, and I cut myself. Being thus disabled, and dealing with the grotty remnants of a Nyquil hangover, and a fussy but temporarily sleeping baby nearby, I naturally thought to do something complex. So, pu-erh! I think I will review both the tea and its effectiveness in driving away the grunged-up feeling in my skull this morning. And if an occasional g is dropped, please have mercy on my cut finger.

Xiao Tuo Cha, Red Leaf Tea

This is what you'll find on the Red Leaf Tea Web site:

Description:

Xiao Tuo Cha Pu-erh tea provides a novel drinking experience by way of the tea leaves which are compressed into "bird's nests" and subjected to an aging process that imparts it with a distinctive earthy flavor. Known to many for its reputed weight reduction properties, Xiao Tuo Cha Pu-Erh comes individually wrapped and are ideal for families or single large servings. This tea is oxidized slowly, which explains its richer, deeper, flavor, qualities which only seem to get better and more intense with age!

THE LEAVES
The pu-erh is compressed into a tiny bird's nest shape (which is the meaning of the term, tuo cha), of very tiny leaves. Typically, tuo cha are not made of the highest-grade pu-erh leaves, so I chose to do two washes of 20s each to help clear the cobwebs, so to speak. As I rinsed, I noticed that quite a lot of tiny leaf matter made it past the built-in strainer on Great-Grandma's porcelain Japanese pot, into the secondary strainer below. Not quite dust or fannings, perhaps, but very tiny.

THE GONG-FAUX PU-ERH FLIGHT
Because I don't have all sorts of Chinese gaiwan or Yixing pots, I make do with what I have, trying to achieve the wabi-sabi relaxed preparation style anyway. I am doing a number of steepings, about 10-20s each, with two 20s rinses to start.

10s
The first steeping produces an opaque black brew, with a nice burn to the back of the throat, and a high note of berry, which is riding over the top of the rather smooth woodiness. Grottiness in my head is beginning to abate, slightly, and I don't feel as though I'm typing in such a fog. The letter g is still not wanting to appear when I type it, and I need to keep repeating every time I hit that letter.

15s
Second steeping was accompanied by baby waking up and fussing. Makes a proper pu tasting a bit questionable. But what is wabi-sabi about, but an embrace of the perfections hidden within the imperfections? I'm happy the baby is up, though my attention may now wander a bit from its intense (though bleary) focus on the pu. The liquor is a bit more transparent, just a bit. The wet leaves are waking up to a mild spiciness. Taste is not very strong, but it does have a bit of bitterness that is off-putting to my wife, who thought it could use a bit of sugar to smooth the rough edges.

10s
This steeping is significantly more transparent than before, and the bottom of the cup can now be discerned. Thus far, I've not been too excited by the flavor of this pu, but I'm willing to keep steeping to see where this goes. Starting to wake up, and was sufficiently alert to discuss the idea of Qi, and whether there's anything to it. This steeping is quite a bit smoother than previous, as well, with a hint of sweetness and a faint burn in the throat. Liquor at the bottom of the white cup now displays a nice reddish-brown. Some small amount of leaf dust has made it past two filters into my cup.

20s
Nicely transparent cup. Sufficiently awake to make breakfast. Is it the caffeine, or is it the Qi? Either way, being awake is no longer a bother. The flavor of this pu is slightly woody, and the bitterness has gone out of the cup. There is a blueberry or such astringent berry flavor hiding up inside the rafters, peeking out. Now I understand why reviewers of pu-erhs have such an odd assortment of steeping lengths: Basically, counting to 15 or 20 in your head combine with little life moments that mean that getting a tea to pour at a precise moment is not terribly likely, and it's a bit of a pain to achieve anyway. So why bother? If a pu-erh flight is a chore because it's impossible to maintain precision, then I'm probably missing the point entirely.

25s
Transparent, amber-brown cup. Awake enough to now remember that I have a seven-year-old boy, as well as the baby mentioned earlier. He's making a fort in the living room and is starting to require attention, too. The leaves in the pot are mildly fragrant, slightly spicy, but difficult to discern specific nose-references. (To hyphenate or not to hypenate? That-is-the-question.) The subtle flavors are starting to announce themselves, though they are quite restrained. I'll stop here, because I don't want to keep drinking it as it becomes even weaker.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
I'm glad the caffeine or Qi have been sufficient in this cup of pu-erh to wake me up and let me feel refreshed enough to get started on the day. To be truthful, I'm glad this was not my first foray into pu, because I would have thought, "Meh. What's all the fuss about?" Though I was not the best test subject, what with noisy children, and demands of the day, and feeling as grotty as hell (there's that word again!) this morning, these tea leaves still seemed not to be very excited about going into the cup. My wife found it bitter and unexciting; I found it rather weak, insufficiently nuanced, and unexciting.

That being said: at about $2.50 per tuo cha, multiplied by 5 steepings with 2 teacups' worth of tea per steeping, we come to about a quarter per cup. Talking to a Chinese friend the other day, I was reminded that the Chinese-- inventors of the wonderful tea innovations-- don't always sit around drinking only the most ethereal of brews, which I as a Westerner dare not even contemplate. So it's certainly okay to drink a utilitarian cup of tea, and it doesn't always have to be a near-religious experience.

But I want to drink pu-erh not merely to wake up, but also to expand my tea-drinking horizons and excite my palate.


Note: no finger puppets were harmed in the making of this review.

REVIEW: Red Leaf Tea, Peony White, 2008

Red Leaf Tea, Peony White

It's late evening, and the family has gone to bed. Time for something to drink. I'm grateful to Red Leaf Tea for their generous gift of tea, which I'll sample tonight.


The Red Leaf Web site reads:

Description:

Hot on the heels of our hugely popular White Tea blends comes this offering that is made of an even higher grade of tea. Peony White Tea is made only from the finest tea buds and leaves plucked in early spring from Fujian province in China. These ingredients are steamed and dried soon after picking, ensuring that all of the health giving properties contained therein is intact.

Brewing Instructions For A Single Cup:

Amount Of Water 6.0 oz
Amount Of Tea 1 tsp.
Water Temperature 170°F
Steeping Time 5-7 minutes

As always, I wish that Red Leaf had published the background of the tea, including details of where and when it was produced, a bit of history about this tea itself, and so on. I have not tried any of the Red Leaf brand flavored white tea mixes, so I can't compare with their other "hugely popular" whites.

THE TEA

Peony White is a white, unprocessed tea that is called bai mu dan in Chinese, and it is one grade lower than silver needle, bai hao yinzhen. I'm initially attracted to this type of tea, because it's unflavored and simple, and should afford some nicely complex flavor and aroma to wake up my tongue and nose tonight.

High-grade white teas are to be steeped for a fairly long time, which allows the layers of flavors to develop. I'm going to steep this at 170 for the entire 7 minutes, to get the full measure that the tea will provide.

MY MEDITATION TONIGHT

While I wait for my tea, I'll meditate a bit on the nature of my changing tastes. When I first started drinking tea, about 20 years ago, I was like most Americans first encountering teas of a higher grade than teabag fannings: I enjoyed the flavored teas with lots of additives. Over time, I settled into a very happy place, drinking high-end, single-estate Darjeelings and other highgrown Himalayan teas, without any additional flavors, trying to refine my own palate. And this year, I am finally delving into the Chinese teas, as well. I'm finding that the highest-end Darjeelings and the Chinese greens tend to reach toward one another, meeting in this zone of clarity in the cup, and brilliance of flavor, and nuanced subtleness that carries me through many stages of flavor and aroma in a cup, and in a pot.

THE PREPARATION

1.5 cups boiling water, brought down to 70C, with 2 heaping teaspoons of tea, in Great-Grandma's porcelain Japanese pot. One of these days, I'll perhaps start investing in Yixing, but at the moment, this is producing a pretty nicely consistent product.

THE LEAVES

Dry, they are silvery-gray buds with a very floral aroma in the high register, without a lot of deep or darker scent.

THE CUP

This tea has a very deep, port-wine golden color to the liquor, while still retaining its transparency. The tea has a very, very light scent, which is barely noticeable, but which is definitely floral in character. This is a very subtle, very smooth tea.

I don't know why, but this tea sets my mind thinking in terms of sound: This tea, were it transliterated into music, would be Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, Op. 11., perhaps; or piano music by Ginastera. In fact, I've put this music on in the background while I drink, a Pandora Web radio station that works nicely in the U.S.: http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh30802010806901952 .

The tea, like the music, is polished and does not have sharp edges to jar me as I drink and listen. In some ways, this is a bit too subtle, a bit too restrained for my taste, yet still lovely. The bai mu dan has notes of honey, of cherry fruit, of green grass-- but one has to go looking for it, searching the subtleties out carefully to capture the quiet sensations. The tea coats the mouth with an almost buttery sensation, without any hint of dryness.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

This tea carries very lovely flavors, but in such a muted way (almost to the point of dullness) that I stretch to really discern what is going on here. I drink this in Spring 2009, and this is the Spring 2008 vintage. It is perhaps because the tea has been sitting a complete year before drinking that accounts for the overly restrained character of this cup. I'd like to try this Peony White again with a very fresh Spring plucking to see how they compare.

(Photo can be found on this lovely travel blog post, ComeFollowUs.com: Wandering Through Wuyishan)

REVIEW: Red Leaf Tea, Golden Nepal

Red Leaf Tea, Golden Nepal

THE TERROIR
Nepal is a country in the Himalayas, and its conditions are similar to that of the high Darjeeling lands. Elevations are 4000 to 5000 feet, generally, which cause its highgrown teas to have the intensity you'd see in the Darjeelings. In fact, there are tea farms in Nepal that create teas every bit as good as their Darjeeling counterparts. Nepali tea farms are usually small and family-owned, so there is quite a bit of variety to be found. And because the Nepal brand is not as well known as Darjeeling, it means the prices can be quite reasonable for somewhat similar teas. Let's see what we have here!

THE TEA

...

UPDATE: The nice folks at Red Leaf Tea have corrected their site after I pointed out that they had the wrong description. I deleted the incorrect information from this review, and now will use the new information to complete the review. Thank you, Red Leaf, for being so quickly responsive. Here is the description I find on the Red Leaf Web site:

Similar to Darjeeling tea, this high grown tea originates from the Antu Valley in Nepal. This tea features a pronounced flowery overtone and bright, yet mild flavor. This tea is best when served plain, so that you can enjoy the more subtle flavor qualities of this premium tea.

Sri Antu is in the Ilam District, which in turn is in the Eastern Region of Nepal. Ilam is directly opposite Darjeeling-- in fact, if you are on the tea garden in Ilam, you can see Darjeeling on the other side of the valley. Virtual Tourist describes it thus:

Ilam is the far eastern district of the country, inhabited by people of different colors living in peace and harmony. Neighboring the famous Indian hill town of Darjeeling, it is situated on the foothills of Mount Kanchanjunga, The third highest peak in the world. Ilam is adorned with an almost limitless range of lush-green tea gardens. The rolling hills covered with tea leaves are simply majestic. The thick white fogs alternatively descend to veil the gardens and then suddenly vanish. Greenery prevails all over the hills of Ilam all around the year. Ilam Tea Garden located near Ilam Bazaar and Kanyam Tea Garden located halfway between Terai plain and Ilam Bazaar are the major gardens of Nepal.

THE PREPARATION
2 generous teaspoons with 2 cups just boiled water, cooled to perhaps 210F, in Great-Grandmother's ceramic Japanese teapot. Just over 3 minutes steeping time.

THE LEAVES
The leaves look pretty typical for what you'd see with a cut-tear-curl Darjeeling: small, black leaves, with maybe a hint of golden tippiness. When I smell the dry leaves, I get a very pleasant fruity scent. After steeping, the leaves had a rather dry smell, not as fragrant as I would have expected.

THE CUP
This tea seems has a transparent orange-brown cup, moderately fragrant with nice fruit scent. When I taste the Red Leaf Tea's Golden Nepal, the cherry-like fruitiness reminds me of the only other Nepali tea I have ever drunk, which came from the Jun Chiyabari estate, and is sold by Tea Gschwendner. Not to get into a contest between these two teas, but the flavor profile of this tea is rather similar, though quite a bit more restrained than the Tea Gschwendner offering. I didn't know what to expect from this tea, but it hadn't occurred to me that the regional characteristics of Nepali teas would have such distinct flavor markers that I could pick them out this easily.

The tea has a nice, full mouthfeel, with that pleasing sour cherry, woody flavor and an unusual bite at the back of the throat. I am noticing a floral scent that starts to make itself known as the cup cools slightly.

THE SECOND CUP
As I repeat every time I write (in case this is the first review someone has read), I believe my understanding of a tea is enhanced by drinking a second cup from the first steeping of a pot of tea (after the leaves have been removed), so the magic of chemistry allows the flavor compounds in the teas to react to one another in the heat of the pot, creating new flavors that were not present at the first.

Very nice. The Golden Nepal is quite smooth by the time I get to the second cup of this tea. Naturally sweet without a dry mouthfeel at all; a very well-modulated, light cup of tea that I like quite a bit. To quote an old Buddy Guy song: "...Where the water tastes like cherry wine." The tea is sweet, nicely spiked with something like a sour-cherry flavor. Nice finish, though not dramatic.

AND A SECOND STEEPING, AS WELL
The second steeping is noticeably weaker than the first. Drunk hot, the tea has very little flavor or scent at all. Upon being allowed to move from Hot to Warm, the tea's flavors reassert themselves somewhat, though in more muted fashion than before. At this point, it feels a bit dryer and more ascerbic, a bit less smooth, and not so flavorful.
The second steeping is not terrible, but really not where the heart of this tea can be found.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
A lovely tea for those who like Darjeelings and want to try something in the same vein, with a slightly different flavor profile. While not as ecstatic a drinking experience as the Jun Chiyabari was for me, nevertheless I enjoyed this quite a bit, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to taste it. Thank you, Red Leaf Tea, for sharing your tea with us.

REVIEW: Red Leaf Tea, Prosperity Cube Pu-erh

Review: Red Leaf Tea
Prosperity Cube Pu-erh


A PU-ERH GONG-FAUX FLIGHT
On Easter Sunday, after the family dinner, I convinced some of my guests to participate in a pu-erh flight-- by which I meant, a tea tasting in many parts, drinking that very strange animal, the pu-erh. I can't really call it a proper gong-fu session, because I don't have all the right equipment or training. I'd have to call it gong-faux, so to speak. But still, a lot of fun! Let's get started.

QUICK OVERVIEW: WHAT IN THE WORLD IS PU-ERH?

This is an enormous topic, but I will try to give a short outline here. Please use a search engine and type in, "pu-erh," and you will find a fairly overwhelming superabundance of information.

The teas that most of us are familiar with fall within three main categories: green, oolong, and black. These teas differ from one another by how much oxidation is allowed to take place in the leaves, transforming from the unoxidized white teas, all the way to the blackest Assams. The oxygen in the air reacts with the tea leaves, causing this transformation to occur.

However, the Chinese have a fourth category: pu-erh.

Pu-erh (or puerh, or pu'er, or other variations as the language is transliterated) is not defined by the amount of oxidation that occurs, but rather the fact that it undergoes fermentation, in much the same way that wines, cheeses, and beers do. In this process, a green tea from a specialized pu-erh tea tree (that is, Camellia sinensis sinensis plants that have been been bred on Chinese tea estates to have large leaves and a particularly favored flavor) is then pressed into a compressed brick, or disk, or tiny cube, or other various shapes. The compressed pu-erh tea leaves are then allowed to mature for a number of years, allowing microbes to transform the leaves into one of the most complex, perplexing, and fascinating culinary adventures one can experience.

Over time-- and the time can be short or very long-- the pu-erh beengs (disks) and tuo-cha (single-serving nuggets) are transformed, allowing one to brew amazingly layered, complex drinks. And as with wine, prized pu-erh vintages can go for astounding prices. The very best pu-erhs almost never leave the Chinese mainland, and are stored as investments by Chinese billionaires in special, humidor-like environments. During the '90s, there was a pu-erh bubble, which has since popped. During that period, the vintage pu-erhs' prices rose dramatically, making them beyond most people's ability to purchase. And, unfortunately, fake pu-erhs abounded, with young, poor, or substandard beengs being passed off as old, carefully stored pu-erhs. In consequence, much confusion abounds in the world of pu-erh. In fact, many collectors will only buy new disks of pu-erh, because (1) they are the only affordable kind; and (2) the old ones are so often faked, it's difficult to know what you're getting.

WHAT DOES PU-ERH TASTE LIKE?
Young, green pu-erhs can be very bitter and challenging to drink. They have strong earthy tastes, and can be very harsh. However, over the years, if they are made of good materials and they're treated correctly, they can transform into truly extraordinary drinks that have driven true aficionados to pen such poetry as this:

Oh, 70s maocha. How do I love thee? Your long, chocolate-coloured leaves are coiled around unbroken, ossified stems. Absolutely no aroma of any kind is to be detected - but these are leaves that have drifted into deep slumber, and which awake with a powerful shicang [wet storehouse] aroma once rinsed.

(I really enjoy shicang pu'er.)

HOW IS PU-ERH SERVED?
Pu-erh is served in traditional Chinese gong-fu style. The Chinese tea ceremony is not nearly as focused on social custom and the outer accouterments of the tea experience, as it is on the actual tea itself. And so it is very efficient. All that is needed is hot water, a gaiwan (lidded up), a pitcher, and some cups. And a whole lot of gong-fu (which is the same word as kung-fu). A good description is here: http://teamasters.blogspot.com/2005/10/gongfu-cha-brewing-lesson-1-equipment.html

MY QUANDARY
I am very intrigued by pu-erh, but I have had very little experience with it, and I don't have all the proper equipment. When TeaViews let me have a tuo-cha (small, single-serving sized nugget) of pu-erh, I jumped at the chance, even with my inexperience. I went online and spent hours reading the proper way to steep pu-erh, and what to look for in the experience. So I decided to use the equipment I had and just try to figure it out as I went along. I'm sure a proper pu-erh master would recoil in shock and horror, but I don't know how else to learn except to try. Therefore, I'll go with my gong-faux preparation and do the best I can.

THE TEA
I am working with Red Leaf Tea's "Prosperity Cube Pu-erh Tea (2003)."

http://www.redleaftea.com/Pu-Erh-Tea/Prosperity-Cube-Pu-Erh-Tea-(Year-2003)

In appearance, it is a small, black cube perhaps an inch across, in a paper wrapper. The cube has the Chinese character for "Prosperity," which is embossed in the tea itself. According to the Web site, prosperity cubes are enjoyable gifts that invite the drinker to experience, well, prosperity. While I don't know if drinking a cup of tea will give me the desired prosperous life, I am certainly looking forward to an enjoyable experience.

The vintage is from 2003, which means it's had only a couple years to develop its flavor. The very best leaves are not really used for small cubes and tuo-cha, and it is pretty unlikely that, for under $4.00, I will be getting some tea that a connoisseur would be drooling over. That being said, I can still have a great time playing and learning.

---
UPDATE: On her Twitter feed, Gongfu Girl gives us the following:

GongfuGirl The "tuo" in "tuo cha" (沱茶) means "bowl or nest shaped" in Mandarin, so what would you call a tiny, square Pu-erh Cha (普洱茶)? Zhuan Cha (砖茶)?

---


THE PROCESS
One porcelain Japanese teapot, one cube pu-erh. I brought water up to the boil on the stove, and started, one fluid cup at a time. I timed each steeping pretty carefully, and designed the following flight schedule: 20s rinse, 10s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 1m, 2m, 3m, 4m, 5m. I took the following notes on the fly, as we were tasting the teas. My brother and his wife had to leave after the fifth steeping, and I completed the flight on my own. I am aware that the first four steepings are not pu-erh at its best, and that the fifth steeping is where the true flavors truly announce themselves. We'll see!

THE RINSE: 20s
I rinsed the cube for 20s and used that water to clean out and warm up the tea bowls and sniffing cups for me, my brother, and his wife.

10s

• exotic and spicy at the back of the throat
• smell is also very strongly spicy (forgive overuse of this word, but it will come up quite a lot in this review), after the initial wash woke up the leaves
  
• hint of cherries? very complex flavor: earthy, exotic, very strong
  
• my brother does not like the smell at all-- a bit too earthy for him at this point, so to speak
  

20s

• dark, black in color
  
• much fuller body and mouthfeel
  
• dry feeling in the mouth
  
• bitter edge to the flavor
  

30s

• makes me slightly dizzy (as with every pu-erh experience I have)
  
• taste of acid, ash, tobacco, sweet under the bitter
• cherry fruitiness hiding in there somewhere
• as with before, the scent seems exactly as strong and spicy as before. The scent of the wet leaves is wonderful, intoxicating, fascinating. Very enjoyable for all of us, including my brother!
  

40s

• extremely powerful smell in leaves, very sharp and bright
  
• drink less strongly scented, like earth-- not too spicy
• peppery, fruity undercurrent.
• dry, but still rather smooth, not burning back of throat

50s

• still a very dark liquor
• the scent of the leaves remains so strong
• did I mention it smells spicy?
  
• the flavor is surprisingly constant after all these steepings, but less earthy
• the tea is drastically losing its strength, and starts to seem watery

1 min

• slight metallic flavor developing
• guests went home, so now it's must me and the pu-erh

2 min

• lighter flavor
• still consistent taste, though-- not very drastic change or development
  
• color is approaching a peach-pink, not as dark
  
• tastes great when coupled with silky chocolate

3 min

• the flavor seems very consistent
• rather sweet, honey
• not nearly as astringent as in the second-fourth steepings
• (Is it really correct to throw out the early steepings? I've enjoyed tasting them.)
• The leaves are still amazingly fragrant
  
• The tea seems now like a nicely light Indian tea, perhaps, with a bit of spice at the back of the throat. It's the scent of the leaves, more than the taste, that says to me, "This is not an Indian tea."
  

4 min

• when drinking it quite hot: rather metallic, flavor falling flat
  
• very slight burn in back of the throat
• It doesn't seem at this point very worthwhile to keep steeping it, because the best flavor and scent seems behind me
• still a long aftertaste, like hot metal, and like weeds
• a taste reminiscent of hot, dry roses
  

5 min

• (I made a fifth steeping, but neglected to take notes here. But as I remember it, the steeping was starting to get quite watery, and losing its interest for me.)
  

OVERALL REACTION
Well, that's how I approached the pu-erh flight. Drinking pu-erh is not something where you just toss off a cup and drink it on the fly. Lots of focus and lots of good conversation with wonderful people made it fun.

I realize I do not have the breadth of experience to say whether this is a high-quality pu-erh, but I can definitely say it is worth spending time on this type of tea. It's really not like any other type of tea, and it is wonderful for people who, like me, love exotic scents and complex, layered flavors. I do like how this Prosperity Cube allowed me to share an intriguing tea experience with several people for several hours, all for less than $4.00. And it definitely makes me want to experience it a lot more.