Cupping high grade taiwanese teas.
Checking the leaves after the cupping which were very intact, undamaged and pretty. Thy expanded with each brew until being fully unfurled.
Dha yu ling and a Pear mountain tea from taiwan. Each taiwanese tea was high grown and sells for $100 per 5.5oz. These teas were both at the base very sweet and intensely floral.
Fresh crop!
Flavor cuppa notes:
Pear mountain - pear, cinnamon, mint, honey, super creamy, and lemon drop aftertaste.
Dha yu ling - molasses, cinnamon graham cracker, clean cucumber, grape soda aftertaste.
Summary: We don't drink teas like this in the states! Silas needs more of these!
The sweet aftertastes linger in a super sweet clean flavor for many minutes afterwards.
-jaime
UPDATE: I realized that after this cupping we had to rethink everything one more time. If the tea industry is this advanced in Taiwan, then it means this is where the coffee industry should be or will be going. It's scary to think but maybe that's what it's about. The tea's were expressive, amazing, and complex. They were worth getting excited about. They were more complex than any tea I have had. Granted I have visited china and Japan but these blew down any of those expereiences by a long shot. It was strange how you could taste layers of flavors in the cups. Tea has this potential? That's something to think about.
Big cheers to Ben's dad in Taiwan for arranging them!
Labels: cupping, oolong, pear mountain tea, taiwan, tea, tea leaves
10 Comments:
Jaime,
We have some tea talent in our shop, but I admit to personally knowing next to squat about tea, other than Intelly's 333 blend is our best seller.
Question for you since you seem to enjoy this stuff and understand the terroir issues as they relate to chemistry - can these types of teas be grown in the US? Would seem to me that there are similar macroclimates here in the US, but maybe not the required microclimates.
Whaddya think?
Yes. There are experimental plantings in oregon and there was a tea farm in south carolina about 200 years ago. They are still around, but they use only machines that make ctc tea.
Conceivably they could be grown here but maybe not well. Teas of this grade are somewhat of a rarity though. Silas could add more being the tea guy! Some of these teas are grown at 4500 meters above sea level with about 18 varietals out there, maybe Silas can elaborate the possibility. I know many herbals are grown in the us but I am not sure if the climate or elevation lends to teas anywhere in the US. Good question.
One of the more interesting points we learned was that Taiwan has such amazing processing methods and that plays a huge part in it. They have developed so much tech into processing that they neither damage nor cover the potential of each tea. They are essentialy light roasters too! The processing is so good and consistent they often buy teas from outside sources, import them, process them, then turn around and export them for a premium. You have to understand though some of these uber lots are broken down into each tree producing one lot. Sounds Terroir-ish.
The lack of roastiness on the teas and the complexity of the oolongs is very interesting. We begin to realie that all theoolongs we taste here in the US, even the $300/lb are somewhat rubbish in comparison to these competition grade teas. Scary thought. While we have a good source for SO herbals here, we never realized just how complex and developed the tea industry in taiwan was. As an outsider, we assumed it to be lemming philosophy but that's rubbish talk.
333 eh? Nice box though, I still have one in my cabinet I think!
where is my part? I didn't get to drink it. I should be a expert of drinking tea... hehehehe
Hong,
You will really love this tea (especially the pear mountain). Wait till next week when Silas bring over the tea set. I will try my best to consume this ASAP... it will be a shame to let it go wasted (I don't think it will last very long after opening... 2 to 3 months top?)
Another thing you have to realize, is that it would just not be economical at this point to grow tea here. All the research and processing techniques would take time and money to develop and perfect. No one wants to spend all the money and time to sit there and make tea, just to turn around and sell the low grade tea for hundreds of dollars a pound. It is certainly possible to find the micro climates, but all the money involved with creating even a poor quality tea would cost a whole lot.
Silas,
I see your point on the processing, but, let's just say somebody found an similar microclimate in the Appalachians and had some success trying to grow some of the same teas you mention.
Would the processing have to be as sophisticated as you suggest, or could it be done as a lower tech microbrewery, where some imperfection may appear in the final product.
I'm thinking that perhaps the tradeoff is a tea that might not be as wonderful as you've experienced in Taiwan, but perhaps significantly better than what's here now - and at a better price.
Is that feasible?
Heck, Daryn's growing coffee in NC and I need a new hobby...
I'm not being totally facetious here... I've actually thought of growing truffles, too.
And Jaime, they are very useful boxes. We use them for our plastic utensils and stirrers on the service bar. Good for keeping small loose parts, too. The new paper boxes aren't as sturdy though.
Acutally I think the tea will be quite expensive if it's grown and process here. The good teas are entirely harvest and process by hand. And with these high mountain teas, the leafs (the ones I have are mostly 2 to 3 on a stem) are rolled into tiny balls, which I am sure is not a trivial process. With the cost of living here being roughly 3 times of that in Taiwan, I am sure you can start to imagine the cost of labor invovled.
Like I was told, due to the high demand (and the low yield), estate will often buy tea leafs from neighboring farms, and thru processing, they can produce tea that are vastly better than same tea from the same farm they purchased from. This is very similar to wine making I believe.
And ultimately, there is just no market to support these quality teas. The ones I got are just "medium to high grade" that you can purchase at stores. The really premium stuff are quite expensive.. just food for thought: a recent competetion champion tea fetched $15,000 for 300g. Yes, that is in US dollars....
Actually, it would be cool to have some of your own personal tea trees nevermind the ending product quality. Much like Ben's little pot of 'ethiopica' and Daryn's monster coffee tree. Info on the seeds, flowers and life cycle of a tea tree would be interesting fodder.
I think this needs a full photo post after a bit of research.
Rich, are they switching from the branded wood? Those boxes were kinda cool. I really do still have some in my cabinet and one of the really big ones with the logo and slide top!
Rich,
I think that is a wonderful thought. It would be fun to grow and process as a hobby and learning experiance but it is just not really economical for comercial use. It would be awesome to see some local tea! How cool would it be to drive an hour into the mountains and get fresh tea, just fired? But for now that is just a dream.
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