Review Series Green Tea 2: TeaHub Pre-Ming West Lake Long Jing 2009

The folks at Tea Hub are smart. When discussing the provenance of their tea, they are very, very serious about ensuring that, say, their Long Jing (Dragon Well) tea really comes from the West Lake region in China. For buyers like me, this is invaluable as I learn about the Great Teas of the world.

Provenance is what the game is all about. Many famous Chinese teas are fairly costly, because there are only so many acres available upon which to grow a region's characteristic tea. Thus, limited source leads to cost increases in the tea when it comes to market. So unscrupulous dealers will try to sell quite similar counterfeits from other, less-famous regions, as the real thing. (As an example, imagine a Peruvian wine dealer trying to pass off their bubbly wine as "Champagne," even though it does not come from that region of France. It's misleading and harmful to the industry, and it sets the experts' teeth on edge when they see it.)

The Tea Hub's Web site (and their Twitter feed, @TeaHub, which is a place to speak directly with the knowledgeable staffers who know their tea) is a great source of information, and I urge you to wander through and learn something, as I did. This, I learned from their article, "Majority of Long Jing and Bi Lo Chun Are from Si Chuan."

Recent news from ChengDu Business Paper said that 80% Long Jing (from Zhe Jiang), Bi Luo Chun (from Jiang Su) on the market are actually from Si Chuan. According to the news, unethical business people purchase Si Chuan teas at low prices and sell them as Long Jing or Bi Luo Chun at 3 to 4 times the paid prices.

An expert told the reporter that appearance of real Long Jing and Si Chuan tea, Zhu Ye Qing, are quite similar. It is very hard for regular people to tell the differences. Experts from Tea Research Institute also said that Long Jing demanded high prices while its production was low. Therefore, some business people produce Si Chuan Long Jing to make high profits.

Good grief: 80% of the stuff was reportedly fake, back in 2004, when the article was written. For someone like me, who is only discovering Long Jing in the first place, this is just so frustrating. How can one discover what is the real deal, and what is faked?

Tea Hub followed up with a companion article this year, "Reading Long Jing Tea Leaves," which addresses the same situation. An excerpt:

Below are photos of the most common faked Long Jing on the market. The one on the left is Wu Niu Zao from Wen Zhou, Zhe Jiang, and the one on the right is Zhu Ye Qing from Si Chuan.

Both Wu Niu Zao and Zhu Ye Qing are early-harvest teas. Because that early-harvest Long Jing demand much higher prices and only have limited productions, some illegal business people chose to fake Long Jing with Wu Niu Zao and Zhu Ye Qing in pursue of maximum profits. Real Long Jing teas have beautiful straight, flat leaves with none or very few hairs. Faked Long Jing, on the other hand, have fluffier leaves, some even covered with hairs. Leaves of faked Long Jing from Zhu Ye Qing are smaller than real ones. Leaves of faked Long Jing from Wu Niu Zao are bigger than real ones.

There are other sources of information about this same phenomenon, as well; I think I will write an article about, "The Great Tea Counterfeit Heist: The Seamy Underbelly of the Dirty Tea World," sometime. In the meanwhile:

THE TEA HUB: West Lake Long Jing

Tea Hub's description of their West Lake Long Jing scans with the information above.

Pre-Ming West Lake Long Jing/ Dragon Well (明前西湖龙井) 2009 Spring Tea!

Another great West Lake Long Jing (also called Dragon Well or Lung Ching) from Tea Research Institute in HangZhou, the only authority in tea quality test in China.

This delicate pre-Ming Long Jing was grown at Tea Research Institute's Long Jing tea garden in the protected West Lake Long Jing Origin area, and hand fired by experienced masters. This year's extremely cold weather caused delay in harvest. Our Long Jing is the few early harvest. This tea carries Chinese Green Food Certificate.

THE LEAF
Exactly as described. Sadly, when I originally started writing this article, I did not have camera on hand to document the leaves, but they were a brilliant green, sharp and flat because of the method of frying the leaves, and delicious. And when I say, "delicious," I meant that I tasted the leaves, and it's like wonderful tea candy. Seriously, they could market it as a snack-- except for the fact that you get a mouthful of rather gummy tea leaf residue once the crunch has worn off. When wet, the leaves took on a beautiful citrus-grape and seashore aroma. It's the aroma that is so intoxicating with this type of tea, really.

THE CUP
The liquor: pale greenish, clean. It's highly fragrant, and this Long Jing is as good as any I've ever had. It's refreshing, like the aroma of freshest grass clippings, like citrus, like lemon...

I found a sweet, sweet aftertaste, which rises up through the throat. This is why I drink tea.

I can quaff this down in large quantities, because it is so easy and pleasing to drink (same with cranberry juice: can just chug it forever, seemingly) without coming up for air.

The package says it is pre-Ming, and it's been dated quite carefully. Happily, because of the certification, I can have some certainty that this is the real deal, and not faked. As I attempt to develop my palate enough to be able to tell the real thing from the fake, it helps when I can perhaps trust the dealer to be providing something legitimate.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
I can't wait until next Spring to be able to buy the 2010 Long Jing. This tea is best purchased right around the time of picking, so when it's drunk, it'll be at its best. When I took the tasting notes on this tea, it was only a couple weeks after it had been harvested. (Sad, how long it took me to finish the rest of the article! I'm trying to catch up, really I am.) You would not really want to buy or taste a Longjing in midwinter, for example, because by then the leaves would have lost their "oomph." Green tea, in particular, is a seasonal, vintage product, and it's best enjoyed on those terms.

(This review has been cross-posted at TeaViews.com)

Review: Tea Hub, Da Hong Pao (lightly roasted) 2008

I recently wrote about Tea Hub's "Organic Da Hong Pao (heavily roasted)," and I urge you to read about it in full. An excerpt:

Da Hong Pao is one of China's famous oolong teas, and is one of the world's greats. It's known in English as, "Big Red Robe," named when a Chinese emperor was so overwhelmed by the tea that he gave his robes of office to an underling and commanded that they be placed at the roots of the tree that produced this great thing he was tasting. It's been cultivated primarily in the WuYi mountains forever, and the volcanic rocky soil produces the tea's very unique flavor.

As with all things, other people have already written about Da Hong Pao at great length, and I love reading information such as this, which I found at The Seven Cups:

In the last 1000 years, hundreds of varieties of tea bushes have been identified as growing in Wu Yi Shan. Out of these hundreds of bushes, Da Hong Pao, Tie Luo Han, Bai Ji Guan, Shui Jin Gui are considered the Four Famous Wu Yi Wulongs. Of the four, Da Hong Pao is unquestionably the most famous. What are considered to be the mother bushes of Da Hong Pao still live in the cliffs of Wu Yi Shan, and are now over 350 years old. Since Wu Yi shan has so many bush types, the famous teas are always produced in small quantities. They will never be truly common products, at least the tea grown inside the mountain range; there are a lot of areas in the surrounding mountains that are producing large quantities of these cultivars. Certainly the most common of the rock wulongs is Rou Gui, a cultivar that some locals rank as better than the more famous teas.

I beg you to read the rest, if you wish to learn about Da Hong Pao.


THE PREPARATION
As before, I made the tea with my patented gong-faux tea stylings, in which I use my very Western tea equipment to approximate as best I can a true gongfu preparation. Namely, lots of leaf, very short steepings. As I've explained elsewhere, tea prepared in this style can be drunk as a book is read: in chapters. Each short steep allows the various flavors to be read separately, rather than all in one as is the Western method of tea preparation. And using a lot of leaf, you have the benefit of many steeps, all with different characters. (I've never tasted a tea yet that allows 39 steeps, but I'm looking!)

1) Rinse
A quick rinse to clean off debris from the leaf, as well as to wake up the leaves properly for a nice first steeping.

2) 1st Infusion: 25s
The tea is transparent and pure, and it has a good mouthfeel. But yet, it's a bit sharp, a touch bitter. I believe this is a fault of my own gong-faux and not that of the tea's. It is ever more clear that I need a competent instructor to help me increase the finesse of what I can get out of the multiple-steeping Chinese tea preparation. In retrospect, for Da Hong Pao, I would start with a quite short steeping-- perhaps 5 seconds-- and then go up from there. This is a tea with strong bones, and it must be respected (even though it is lightly, not heavily roasted).

3) 2nd infusion: 15s
Much more to my liking. Tea is clear, beautifully amber-peach-brown in color. The fragrance is lovely and light, and has a unique minerality that I've come to expect from Da Hong Pao. It is noticeably less "roasty" in tone than the last Da Hong Pao I tasted from Tea Hub.

4) 3rd infusion: 20s
Gorgeous aroma, which makes me think of sculpting clay or slip, perhaps-- a bit mineral, and beautifully rich. It's not a floral aroma, by any means, but it's sweet and sharp at the same time. The aroma seems to carry the flavor at first, but as it cools, the bright, sharp flavors rise up in the mouth, as well. The oolong has a pleasing mouthfeel, just a bit tingly, but with a great presence. This is the best steeping yet, and well worth the price of admission.

(4th, 5th, 6th infusions: No notes taken, so sorry.)


OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
I really do love this tea. It's got bones, it's pure, it's complex, it is nuanced, and the flavor is utterly distinct. The light roasting allows me to taste the tea itself, rather than primarily the roastiness, which I think is a good choice.

Well done, Tea Hub, on sourcing this tea. Thanks!


[And by the way, I'm quite proud of finding the image above, which is a perfect counterpoint to the heavily roasted Da Hong Pao from TeaHub, which I interviewed previously.

>> UPDATE: I corrected the link above, so the picture of the young monks sends you to the right Web site. I hope you'll visit there, because it's a great site.]

REVIEW: TeaHub Organic Spring WuYi Da Hong Pao (heavily roasted), 2008

TeaHub Organic Spring WuYi Da Hong Pao (heavily roasted), 2008

Created in my patented gong-faux style. Please do not try at home. Trust me.

ABOUT DA HONG PAO
Da Hong Pao is one of China's famous oolong teas, and is one of the world's greats. It's known in English as, "Big Red Robe," named when a Chinese emperor was so overwhelmed by the tea that he gave his robes of office to an underling and commanded that they be placed at the roots of the tree that produced this great thing he was tasting. It's been cultivated primarily in the WuYi mountains forever, and the volcanic rocky soil produces the tea's very unique flavor.

For the reader who is not as familiar with Chinese tea preparation, the gong-fu style of tea involves a large amount of tea leaf and a series of short steeps, rather than one long steep, as is common in British-style tea. When I drink Chinese tea, I have not been trained in Chinese gong-fu preparation, so it's obvious that my tea will not get the best results you would find with seasoned tea masters. Nevertheless, I try to be as careful as I can, paying close attention to the water, the pot, and such things as I an pick up by reading masters on the Internet. Thus, I am pretty certain I can make a pretty decent, if not mind-blowing, cup of tea.

Gong-fu tea is like reading a poem broken into multiple stanzas, or a book with a number of chapters, or a play in several acts. Or a multicourse French meal. Or some other metaphor divided into smaller, baby-sized submetaphors.

TeaHub's Organic Spring WuYi Da Hong Pao (heavily roasted), 2008, is a good example of how this can work to provide an interesting tea experience. You don't drink the tea to get a huge whallop of caffeine and go on with your day. Instead, you slow down just a bit and read the progression of the tea as it transforms slowly across the "Acts."


A TEA FLIGHT IN FOUR ACTS

Introduction: 25-second infusion
In the play's introduction, you get to know a little bit about the characters, and what type of story this is. Is this a drama? Comedy? Are the characters strong, weak, conflicted?

Strong, roasty flavor is predominant, with a high note of sweet honey and something sharp but difficult to define, sort of a buzz, up among the clouds. Suzanne, my wife, says, "It had a weight to it, without being bitter or heavy." Very pleasing, full mouthfeel, which coats the mouth and throat.

Act 1: 20s
Now we get into the story itself. A plot arises. The conflict emerges.

I taste a bright, hard edge, with very complex roasty base. Mm, second infusion better than first. A bit of charcoal, slight drying in the mouth.

Act 2: 20s
By the second act, we would get to the sexy love scene and maybe a murder or two.

The tea is much sweeter now. Still, there's this tingling buzz in the mouth, which is likely my response to the particular combination of astringency and sweetness in this cup, which has an unusually complex manifestation. The drying compliments the richly smooth mouthfeel.

Act 3: 30s
Ah, to the meat of the play. The conflict naturally moves toward its climax.

Roasty, sharp, excellent, best yet. Beautiful, exciting flavor that is complex without being overbearing, light but strong.

Act 4: 40s
And the finale, the conclusion, the dessert course.

Flavor profile receding, probably could steep longer. More mineral taste developing.

Exeunt: 50s
At this point, the main action is over, and it's all about getting the bill, the after-dinner mint, and hitting the streets.

Now the tea is weak enough that the mouthfeel has subsided almost entirely, and we've entered the realm of new decisions. How long do I want to drink this tea, as its flavor slowly fades into a whisper? For this tea, it would be difficult to push this terribly far, but interesting enough, perhaps, to try it. I'll probably keep steeping this into the afternoon, just to see what happens and how far it can go, but it won't have the same punch as those early infusions.

UPDATE: Now includes link to to TeaHub Web site, above.