Composed of used, dried Chinese black teas from Fuijan and Yunnan.
Tag: chinese
Recently with tea
Chinese Yunnan Golden tips (black tea) with Japanese Sencha and Hojicha below (green tea). I’ve been sorting teas with certain visual qualities and experimenting in creating patterns.
An Ji Bai Cha
Four teas with a friend. Chinese Green in the Gaiwan, previously a Yunnan, 2nd Flush Darjeeling, and an Assam.
Anji Bai Cha. Very green, very light, plucked from bushes usually reserved for white teas. Very luxurious.
Jin Long “Golden Dragon”. Chinese Yunnan black.
Very beautiful, tippy, and golden. The dried leaves even look cozy and soft. When steeped the leaves turn a rich brown and show a nice texture.
Yunnan’s like this that are so beautiful will often be very mild in flavor. They’re designed much more for show than for taste. This is an interesting trend with tea production now in China, very often seen with black teas.
I’m still experimenting with water temperature and steeping time to figure out how to get the best flavors out of this tea. So far a cooler water helps to bring out a range of taste and aroma.
Purchased from Bohea in Friedrichshain, Berlin.
See other mentions of Yunnan on this blog.
Green teas from China, Japan, Korea
Korea is an often forgotten tea producing country. Their teas are quite good and a curious mix of style and flavors of Chinese and Japanese greens.
Top left, Chinese Green: Show Bud (Xue Ya) from Silk Road Teas. A very nice Chinese green with the usual properties: A pale green leaf, mixed sizes, and light, savory flavors and aroma.
Top right, Japanese Green: Sakura-no from Paper & Tea. Darker, smaller green leaf. Savory grassy flavors with a thickness to the brew.
Bottom, Korean Green: Daejak from Paper & Tea. Leaves are the size of a Chinese green, yet the darker color of a Japanese green. The flavors are a mix of the lighter Chinese green with a grassyness of the Japanese green. But unlike the other two there’s a noticeable additional flavor and aroma of roasted leaves.
Chinese tea plants and tea culture spread to Japan and Korea over hundreds of years. Both countries developed their own from cultivation to production to ceremony. Korea has a tea ceremony linked to the well-known Japanese tea ceremony.
Typical weekend on Flickr.
Michael Pieracci 