Mrs. Su's Dong Ding Tea

Today I am drinking a beautiful Dong Ding tea made by Mrs. Su. You can see her making tea at 7:00 in this wonderful short documentary. My friend and tea guide Shiuwen of Floating Leaves Tea, with her talented partners, have made the video. Please watch!  

About the documentary: "This is a portrait of farmers Mr. and Mrs. Su, their dedication to their land on Dong Ding mountain and their family business of oolong tea making. The land on Dong Ding itself is incredible for tea production, which is the land that Mr Su's forefathers passed down to them. The Su family have preserved the art and land of their ancestors for many years.
This short film also features Mr Zhan, a tea roasting master that inspired our tea journey. His teas are like magic. He also works with Dong Ding oolong. We plan to produce a full length film to preserve his legacy and share his story with a wider audience."

If you love Taiwanese oolongs and want to help preserve the history and tradition of charcoal roasting, please consider donating to the making of the full-length documentary.

Sample High Mountain Taiwanese Oolongs, Floating Leaves Tea

Shiuwen Tai, Floating Leaves Tea

Keep reading to the bottom of this post for a 30% discount on the High Mountain Oolong Sampler box from Floating Leaves Tea!

I am blessed to be able to taste teas regularly with Shiuwen Tai, of Floating Leaves Tea. Shiuwen's shop specializes in well-curated teas from her homeland Taiwan, as well as China and Japan. I had the chance to travel to Taiwan with Shiuwen in 2013, visiting farmers and fields and drinking my weight each day (or so it felt) in tea.  It was heaven!

Below is evidence of a recent tasting, where we made our way through several categories of tea, including white, baozhong, high mountain oolongs and Ti Guan Yin. 

Shiuwen gave me a sampler box of High Mountain Oolong teas, to taste and write about. This is a new product available from the online shop.  Shiuwen has very generously given readers of my blog a 30% discount for the next 30 days on the High Mountain Sampler, shown below.  This is a very, very good deal!!  Use "stephcupoftea" in the referral code at checkout.

The sample box contains a half ounce each of Alishan, Shan Lin Xi, Li Shan, He Huan Shan and Da Yu Ling. The teas represent different mountains (and elevations) in the category of High Mountain Oolong.  

I recommend using two gaiwan and tasting these teas side-by-side, so that you can tease out the subtle differences.  (You can steep these teas several times each, so this is a great thing to do with friends.) While this category of tea, generally, is light and aromatic, when you drink these with attention and care, you will be given the gift of noticing the differences in flavor, aroma and mouth feel. 

So let's celebrate a good deal and good tea!  Thank you, Shiuwen.  Go here to enjoy the discount (good for next 30 days) and use "stephcupoftea" in the referral code.  

Baozhong: Lunch

Shiuwen, of Floating Leaves Tea, is writing a series on her blog about five major categories of Oolong tea from Taiwan. This is based on her recent presentation at the NW Tea Fest and I'm honored to have been able to help with that.  She begins with Baozhong tea - read the story here.

Farmer Chen

For the duration of this series, I thought I'd share a few side stories.  Today I'll talk about a fantastic lunch we had in Pinglin. We had been visiting and tasting teas in Farmer Chen's shop. When it was lunchtime, we walked to the restaurant that his wife operates and were treated to a feast!  

Walking through town

Farmer Chen's wife

The lunch menu:  apple soda, chicken on the bone, pork fat sandwiches on sesame buns, red rice with dates and pork, river shrimp, shrimp with apples and guava, whole "fragrant fish", fried mashed potato balls with egg and corn, chicken broth soup with goji berries and dates, greens, tea jelly.  Here are a few images.

Chicken broth with dates and goji berries 

The meal included several types of fish

Shrimp with apples and guava

Fried river shrimp

Meals always included greens

Tea jelly

This was our first full day of adventuring in Taiwan and we were welcomed with such generosity! I continue to send thoughts of thanks to Farmer Chen and his wife.  And thanks, too, for the great tea you make!

Lunch at Ten Ren Tea, Taiwan

The English Text in the upper left reads, "Pu-Erh Vegetarian Tea Cuisine"

A tea person could go a little happy crazy at Ten Ren Tea in Taiwan.  First there's the gorgeous teaware. And then there's the restaurant, which not only serves delicious food with tea as a theme, but also includes vegetarian options.  And to cap it all, there's a tea school at the top.  Sigh!

We enjoyed lunch at Ten Ren in Taiwan.  The meal consisted of several small courses.  Mine included: 

Matcha Drinking Vinegar - VERY good!

Salad with a light dressing, soup with dumpling and loofah squash with noodles (not shown)

Main course:  Mushrooms and veggies in a pu-erh sauce (delicious!)

Dessert:  Purple rice mousse

To my fellow traveling companions - what do you remember having?

Ten Ren Tea in Taipei, Taiwan

In Taiwan, the retail tea company Ten Ren is a big deal. (You may also see it called Tenfu Tea.)  We visited a shop during the Taiwan Tea Tour.  The first floor was retail, including teas, equipment and tea snacks. Upstairs was a restaurant (a future post!) and a tea school.  The company is associated with Tenfu Tea College and the Lu Yu Institute.

Here are some of the beauties I found browsing in the retail part of the shop.

Ten Ren also has shops in North America. Like any good retail shop, they sell tea and equipment in a range of price points and qualities.  One of my favorite aspects was the tea snacks.  I came home with black tea-walnut chewy candies.  Do you know Ten Ren teas?

Tea Sage Hut

It's so hard to believe it's been a year since I was at Tea Sage Hut in Miaoli, Taiwan.  I think it's taken a year for me to unpack my experiences from the Taiwan trip (and I'm not done!).  The official tea tour with Floating Leaves had come to a close.  After saying our goodbyes, two tea-loving friends and I made our way by train to the Tea Sage Hut.

Miaoli is located in the area of Taiwan that grows my beloved Bai Hao oolong (Oriental Beauty).  That tea was the first to open my mind to the exquisite nuances accessible in tea.  I was excited to be here!  My friend L had been living at the center as a student for several months.  I remember hugging her for a really long time when she and the other center residents came out to greet us.  When a friend lives far away, there is a special joy in reunion. 

Once we had been settled, we were  invited to a tea session in the gorgeous space above. We drank many rounds of raw (sheng) pu-erh.  This tea was from Laos.  It was organic, and from the same forest as Yunnan (humans making the dividing lines, not nature).

Tea Sage Hut offers tea and meditation instruction/experience, lodging, wonderful vegetarian meals, trips to nearby cities, and bowls and bowls of tea.  One of my favorite things about my time there was the tea sessions held in silent contemplation.  

Staying at the center is free. There are dorm-style sleeping quarters and meals are made communally.  You are welcome to make a donation, with the idea of paying for future travelers, as others have already paid for you.  

My experience of life at the center:  The day starts with a meditation session about 7 am.  Next, there is a healthy breakfast (we had oatmeal with  cacao nibs and pumpkin seeds, and fruit).  After that, there is often a tea session (this can last a good hour or two or more!).  Daily tasks are attended to until the lunch time.  Lunch is the largest meal of the day and is made with much festivity.  After lunch, perhaps another tea session and other business.  About 4 pm, the permanent residents head out to the English language school where they work.  Dinner is light and there are often evening meditation and tea sessions.  Sometimes, people take day trips to nearby towns or tea farms.  We visited San Yi.

Around Miaoli

Drinking tea mindfully is an experience offered in abundance at the Tea Sage Hut.  It's something I value tremendously. While there, I had the opportunity to encounter a place of my own tenderness.  During one tea session, tears streamed down my face.  It was OK. I had friends to give me hugs.  It was a gift to learn more about myself.

I Can't Get Enough of Tea Photos...

A year later and I'm still sorting through Taiwan Tea Tour photos.  

This one, from Pinglin Taiwan, just showed itself.  My hand and such beautiful leaf.

Hong Shui (Red Water) Tea, Bowl Style

I recently re-opened some tea that had been resting for several months. I brought it back from Taiwan about a year ago.  It's called Hong Shui (Red Water).  This tea is highly oxidized with a bit of a roast (to increase the shelf life). I think it's yummy!  Shiuwen, of Floating Leaves Tea suggested that I try brewing it "bowl style".  Good timing, as this brewing style had been on my mind.

"Bowl Style" is very  simple.  Choose a bowl (a rice bowl works great) that you can drink from directly, but isn't giant.  Add leaves in the bottom, pour hot water, let steep for a bit and enjoy.  Repeat.  Above, I'm using a summer-style Japanese tea bowl.  It doesn't have to be a special tea bowl.  Find something you have that works.

This Red Water tea is rolled into a ball during processing.  The leaves open as they steep.  It's fun to watch, and this brewing style allows for a great view.  Above, first steeping after a minute.  The leaf is still fairly tight.

 Second steeping, just after pouring hot water. Notice how much the leaf has opened.

One of the things I love about this brewing style is the intimacy with the leaf.  It literally engaged all my senses.  Visually, I get the best view of what's happening during the steeping process. When I drink the tea, my nose is deep in the bowl and the aroma envelopes me.  The taste of the tea changes from steeping to steeping, and I even got to chew on a few leaves as they slipped into my mouth in the early steeping.  (Once opened fully, they stick together in the bottom of the bowl.)  That counts for touch as does playing with the leaf to unfurl it fully. You can't see it very well, but in the last photo, I'm showing some unrolled leaf.  And finally, most surprising was the connection to sound.  It was magical!  After the leaf unfurled, when I would tip the bowl up to sip, I heard this little gurgling sound, like the movement of a gentle spring, as the water navigated the leaf terrain and made it to my mouth.  I loved it!

Giveaway Winner....

Tea farm in the midst of the hills in Pinglin, Taiwan

Congratulations to Amanda who has won the giveaway!!

I will post our collaborative poem tomorrow. 

Happy May Day!  Today I am joyfully remembering that a year ago, I was en route to Taiwan!  Read about the Taiwan Tea Tour here.

In Tea by Tim Maxwell

The spring tea harvest in Alishan, Taiwan
May 2013

In Tea...

I have glanced into tea leaves,
and found a forest.

Tea is all in a moment,
and a way of life.

It is recollection,
and attention to Nature.

A murmur of the breeze through the trees of Autumn,
and the warm of the hearth.

Silent mornings at home,
when rain streaks the windows' panes.

If you analyze tea, you'll find chemical components,
but not a hint of Life.

Analysis is achieved through concentration,
Synthesis arrives through relaxation.

Tea relaxes the stomach,
but it revitalizes the Heart.

~Tim Maxwell

Halfway Down, AA Milne

Stairway in Alishan, Taiwan

Halfway Down by A.A. Milne

Halfway down the stairs
is a stair
where i sit.
there isn't any
other stair
quite like
it.
i'm not at the bottom,
i'm not at the top;
so this is the stair
where
I always
stop.

Halfway up the stairs
Isn't up
And it isn't down.
It isn't in the nursery,
It isn't in town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head.
It isn't really
Anywhere!
It's somewhere else
Instead!

Another Way to Cook a Holiday Bird

A whole chicken, deep fried
Muzha, Taiwan

Well, here's another way to cook up a holiday bird - you can deep fry the whole thing!  And how do you serve the meat? Like this!  With oven-proof gloves covered in plastic. 

The turkey was very moist and delicious.  It's a local specialty.  At this feast (and feasting was a daily occurrence), we also enjoyed sauteed greens, bamboo shoots, eggs with pickled daikon (another local specialty), soft noodles with tea oil (below), fried shrimp, soup with fermented winter melon and bamboo, fried soft tofu, fried sweet potato, and a special seasonal green onion from a field nearby.

This Turkey Day, I am going bird-free again.  The DH and I are having a quiet dinner in front of the fire with cava (sparkling Spanish wine), cheese and crackers, and fruit.  Happy Thanksgiving to you however you eat your bird (or don't eat it).

Hiking in Sun Moon Lake Area of Taiwan

Old growth tea plants in between betel nut trees

I've been sifting through Taiwan Tea Tour photos and will return to blogging about that trip for a few days. 

One of the most physically engaging aspects of the trip was the time spent near Sun Moon Lake.  We did lots of hiking, much of it through betel nut/tea groves.  These tea bushes are old, from the Japanese Occupation era in Taiwan's history (~1895-1945).  Taiwan tea was a popular crop (black even!), but over time the market weakened and betel nuts became more of a cash generator.  Fortunately, the Taiwan tea market is finding its strength in black tea once again and these tea fields are becoming lucrative.  In the photo above, the darker green bushes are the tea plants.

One fine morning after an interesting breakfast of pesto sandwiches, hot dogs with relish, sweet potatoes and eggs, we set off.  (The place we stayed, Black Tea Workshop - and I highly recommend it - was offering a 'European' experience.  I think something was rather  humorous in the breakfast interpretation.)  Then we set off to climb up, up, up...

And past signs like this...  It took me awhile to figure out that our guide (above) was banging his walking stick into the bushes not because it was great fun, but rather because it was scaring the snakes away.  I'm not a fan of snakes and prefer they stay out of sight.  I am very glad that they did.

We crossed a beautiful creek

On a rickety bamboo bridge...

   

And we all survived!  (Note to my traveling companions - this  image and the first one are actually from the day before).