Tea Tasting Saturdays #56, 57 & 58 - Puerhs

If I didn't already have another 52-week tea project in mind, I would probably be a bit sad about writing today's post! I simply cannot believe it has been a year since I began this tea-tasting project inspired by the 58 teas in "The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea" by Michael Harney. It was more enjoyable and enlightening than I had imagined, and I was pleasantly surprised I was able to find every tea or a reasonable substitute.

What have I learned? That I really love tea! That I am more fond of "pure teas," especially greens, than I knew! That tea is a fascinating subject as well as a delicious, healthful and calming beverage! And I learned that the tea vendors I've purchased from (in the U.S. and one from China) have all given exceptional customer service. I can think of no other category of shopping in which I have experienced absolutely flawless service, but the tea companies all treated me well. (Their shipping rates remain one of the best bargains around.) Finally, I've learned that "The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea" is simply a phenomenal guidebook which no tea lover should be without.

After this year of tea tasting, I don't by any means feel like a tea connoisseur (I don't think my palate will ever be that finely-tuned) but rather like someone who has dipped her little toe about six inches into the ocean and realizes there's quite a bit more to be explored. So without further ado, it's time to wind this up and claim my Tea 101 Certificate of Completion!

Category: Puerhs

Purveyors: (From left in photo above) Ban-Zhang/The Tao of Tea; Loose-Leafed Black Puerh/Harney & Sons; Tuo Cha/TeaGschwendner



Dry leaf appearance: The Ban-Zhang was thin and wispy; the black puerh had shorter, much more uniform leaves; and the Tuo Cha (slightly bigger in diameter than a quarter) looked like a miniature bird's nest!

Wet leaf appearance: How about I let the pictures do the talking?




Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 212 degrees, 2 minutes.

Scent: For the most part, the three teas' dry scents were very similar to the steeped scents. The Ban-Zhang smelled a little like that Creomulsion cough syrup scent I associate with Lapsang Souchong, which had me worried. The black puerh suddenly took me back to an oyster bar on Pensacola Beach because of its fishy scent! (Steeped, this one's scent developed into a "fish in dirt" scent.) The Tuo-Cha smelled very much like the potting soil I used to repot my Christmas cactus a few days ago.

Color: The Ban-Zhang was light golden yellow, the black puerh and the Tuo Cha a deep coppery brown.

Flavor: Despite some questionable scents on the front end, all three of these teas produced perfectly drinkable brews! The Ban-Zhang was the lightest and had a lovely buttery quality. The black puerh was definitely stronger and had a little of an earthy taste, but I liked it and wasn't even thinking about fish or dirt! The Tuo Cha was also earthy tasting but quite enjoyable.

Additional notes: "Puerhs are prized throughout China as slimming teas," Harney says, and some claim they reduce cholesterol and blood pressure. So ... slimming teas? Well that's enough for me, how 'bout you? (Just kidding. Sort of.) Puerhs are teas that are aged anywhere from 2-50 years and are, as Harney puts it, "an acquired taste." He notes the teas "get their unusual qualities from fermentation, a process no other tea endures." I have tried puerhs before and knew I liked the earthy taste of them. Harney notes the teas have become so popular in Asia that investors now speculate in them, which could be one reason I found an online vendor selling a particular aged cake of Tuo Cha for $138! The book also gives advice for aging your own puerhs.

A special thank you to those of you who have been kind enough to encourage me along the way and therefore insure that I would complete these tea tastings this year!

Tea Tasting Saturdays #54 & 55 -British Black Tea Blends

Since this is the last Saturday before Christmas, and the next-to-last Saturday in my year of tea tastings, I thought it would be appropriate to sip out of a Santa mug this week!

Category: British Black Tea Blends

Purveyor: Harney and Sons

Dry leaf appearance: Smallish pieces of broken tea leaf, with the Earl Grey a bit darker in appearance than the English Breakfast.

Wet leaf appearance: Both these teas had that wet mulch look.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 212 degrees, 4-1/2 minutes (because I'm not one who likes my tea too strong).

Scent: Dry: Earl Grey's famous bergamot scent is unmistakable. The English Breakfast smelled like strong black tea but with a hint of that "woodshop" scent I've been detecting in recent weeks. Wet: Earl Grey had the classic and lovely Earl Grey scent. The English Breakfast had a pleasant, if somewhat strong, black tea scent.

Color: Medium brown.

Flavor: While I liked the English Breakfast blend just fine, Earl Grey will always be one of my favorites. That bergamot flavor is one I love in tea, in cookies (made with Earl Grey tea leaves), whatever. Occasionally I get weary of Earl Grey and then "rediscover" it, always happy to realize that a good Earl Grey never disappoints.

Additional notes: Of the English Breakfast, Michael Harney says it "was designed as a simple tea for the average middle-class citizen to start the day." He notes that Earl Grey is one of the best-known teas in the West and says it is "a gateway tea for novice palates." I *love* that particular description because Earl Grey was definitely "a gateway tea" for my own enjoyment of this beverage!

Next week's teas: Puerhs

Tea Tasting Saturday #53 - Milima Kenyan Tea

After doing multiple tea reviews a few times lately, I'm relieved the Kenyan tea category includes just one tea. And I can hardly believe there are only two more Saturdays left in the year!

Category: Kenyan Black Tea

Purveyor: Harney and Sons

Dry leaf appearance: Black tea leaves with a few brown leaf bits throughout.

Wet leaf appearance: The steeped tea leaves had a very reddish, henna-like appearance and reminded me, alas, of a few unfortunate home hair coloring experiences.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 212 degrees, 5 minutes.

Scent: Dry: The dry tea had that wood shavings scent I've found with a lot of my recent teas. Wet: This is the first time I've found the same woodsy scent in the steeped tea leaves.

Color: Medium copper brown.

Flavor: I brewed the first cup for the full 5 minutes and knew immediately it was way too strong for my tastebuds. So, I added a little skim milk and voila, enjoyable tea materialized! Out of curiosity, I made another cup using the same tea leaves, steeping for just four minutes. It tasted just as strong as the first time! So if I make this tea again, I will steep it for just 3 or 4 minutes -- and have milk handy. I liked the (softened) taste but didn't find anything particularly distinctive about it.

Additional notes: Michael Harney says that in Kenya, "tea production is scattered among nearly half a million small farmers, all operating independently. This huge number makes quality control an almost insurmountable challenge." He notes that Milima is Swahili for "In a High Place." Lovely!

Next week's tea: British Black Tea Blends

Tea Tasting Saturdays #50, 51, 52 - Ceylon Black Teas

It's hard to believe I'm entering my last month of Tea Tastings for the year, but here we are. This week it just made sense to taste all three Ceylons at once, so that's what I did. And it was quite a happy tasting experience, I'm pleased to report. In the photo above, the teas are, left to right, Uva Highlands Pekoe, New Vithanakande and Kenilworth BOP.

New Vithanakande

Kenilworth

Uva Highlands Pekoe

Category: Ceylon Black Teas

Purveyor: Uva Highlands Pekoe from Tea Gschwendner; New Vithanakande and Kenilworth from Harney and Sons

Dry leaf appearance: The Uva Highlands tea looked very tiny and choppy, almost like coffee grounds. The New Vithanakande looked like small, wiry bits of leaf, and the Kenilworth appeared to be larger bits of leaf.

Wet leaf appearance: The size distinctions so evident in the dry tea leaves were equally evident in the leaves once they had been steeped. If you had shown me just the three samples of dry tea leaf, I could easily have matched them with their wet counterparts. (I know this isn't exactly rocket science, it's just another observation I enjoyed.)

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 212 degrees, 5 minutes. And I did steep all three of these for a full five minutes.

Scent: Dry: The Uva Highlands Pekoe had a strong woodsy scent reminiscent of that freshly-cut-wood-and-fresh-paint scent I experienced a few weeks ago. The New Vithanakande definitely had some strong malty notes, and the Kenilworth was woodsy but not as strong as the Uva Highlands Pekoe. Steeped: All three had woodsy scents, but the Uva Highlands Pekoe also seemed to have a sweet finish and a little extra something I couldn't quite distinguish.

Color: The New Vithanakande was the darkest brew, a deep coppery brown, with the Kenilworth and the Uva Highlands Pekoe a good bit lighter.

Flavor: I enjoyed all three of these teas. The New Vithanakande had a nice brisk taste and only slight astringency. The Kenilworth was my favorite because it had a nice rich flavor, a good mouth feel, and an almost sweet finish. I also detected sweetness with the Uva Highlands Pekoe, but it seemed the most astringent of the three. Still, I would be perfectly happy to drink any of these teas again.

Additional notes: Since Ceylon is now known as Sri Lanka, the country's teas are still called "Ceylons" purely for marketing reasons. Michael Harney notes that "the tropical island is smaller than the state of Indiana yet produces a quantity and variety of black teas to rival China."

Next week's tea: Kenyan Black Tea

Tea Tasting Saturday #49 - Assam Boisahabi CTC

Have any leftover pie from Thanksgiving? Something super sweet and syrupy like pecan pie (or my chocolate chip pie), perhaps? Then I have the perfect tea for you to pair with it!

Category: Assam Black Tea

Purveyor: Tea Gschwendner

Dry leaf appearance: Choppy, tiny little bits of tea, mostly dark brown with a few lighter bits in the mix.

Wet leaf appearance: This is another of those teas which reminded me of wet fish food when steeped. The flat, flake-ish looking bits stuck to the side of the pot when the liquid was poured off.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 212 degrees, 4 minutes.

Scent: Dry, this tea simply smelled like any old black tea to me. Steeped, however, the scent was much more complex. It didn't have a malty smell but more of a roasty/toasty scent, with a finish of something in the maple/honey/brown sugar family.

Color: Medium copper brown.

Flavor: I was worried that even the four minutes of steeping might be too strong for my taste, but it ended up being, as Goldilocks would say, "justtttttt right." This Assam had a rich, full flavor, only the merest hint of astringency, and I enjoyed two cups of it (no milk) with an evening sliver of pie.

Additional notes: The Assam Boisahabi is a CTC tea, which means it is produced by the "Crush, Tear and Curl" method. Michael Harney notes that this is the only CTC tea he includes in the book. "The flavor is comfortingly stable but also somewhat predictable."

Next week's tea: Ceylon Black Teas

Tea Tasting Saturdays #47 and #48 - Mangalam Assam

When you're trying to sample 58 teas in the course of 52 weeks, there comes a point when you simply have to double up, and this week seemed like a good time to compare two teas in the same family. The two teas were Mangalam FTGFOP (fancy tippy golden FLOWERY orange pekoe) and Mangalam FTGBOP (fancy tippy golden BROKEN orange pekoe). According to Michael Harney's book, "flowery" means the tea consists mostly of the largest particles of tea, while "broken" means (sensibly enough) the smaller, broken pieces of tea leaf. I ended up being quite glad I tasted them this way!

Category: Assam Black Tea

Purveyor: Harney & Sons

Dry leaf appearance: Dark, almost black bits of tea leaf with many lighter brown pieces scattered throughout. Even a non-tea drinker would be able to look at these and tell which one is broken and which one is flowery.

Wet leaf appearance: The broken tea was very choppy looking; the flowery tea's leaves were noticeably larger and more uniform. The flowery tea is the one shown in the last photo above.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 212 degrees, 4 minutes.

Scent: Dry, I thought the broken tea smelled like traditional black tea while the flowery tea had more of the malty scent. Once steeped, I found the scent of the two teas indistinguishable, both smelling like a nice strong roasted tea, and I really tried to detect a difference!

Color: Dark bronze for both.

Flavor: Now this was interesting. The broken tea is the one I actually sampled first. It was a nice, strong tea, but about halfway through it seemed a bit *too* strong and I added milk hoping to cut the astringency I was detecting. Perfect! I loved it. But then I tried the flowery tea. The taste was richer, fuller, almost a sweet taste, and I didn't detect any astringency and didn't need milk. So I actually enjoyed both these teas very much, but I would probably have milk with the broken tea again.

Additional notes: Well what do you know, I accidentally did something right! Michael Harney says, "Tasting the two next to each other helps illustrate how much leaf size helps determine a tea's characteristics." I thoroughly agree! I also like the way he says the broken orange pekoe tea "emphasizes strength while the (flowery) shows off its sophistication."

Next week's tea: Boisahabi CTC

Tea Tasting Saturday #46 - Golden Tip Assam

Assam is a tea I've tried just once before, and it was not a good experience, so I was curious to see what I'd find this time. Perhaps I just tried an inferior tea, but this week's sampling was a much more pleasant experience!

Category: Assam Black Tea

Purveyor: Harney & Sons

Dry leaf appearance: Skinny little bits of leaf that were so reddish brown and golden in color, I was reminded of rooibos tea!

Wet leaf appearance: Finely chipped mulch.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 200 degrees, 4 minutes.

Scent: I've never tasted beer but I have smelled it, and since that is what this dry tea's scent reminded me of I was rather cautious about whether I'd like it. To my surprise and delight, the steeped tea had nothing like that smell, bringing to mind some of the earlier teas I've sampled, those roasted teas with a fruity finish. I found it quite interesting that the dry and steeped tea scents were so very different this time.

Color: Copper penny. I steeped this tea for only four of the four to five minutes suggested, and it turned dark very quickly.

Flavor: Yippee! This tea tastes nothing like that yucky Assam I tried a few years ago. This had a pleasant but very brisk taste, more of what I consider a "traditional" black tea taste. There was a bit of astringency that could probably be offset by a little milk, but this was still very good and a tea I'm certainly willing to try again.

Additional notes: Oh, please tell me you *do* have the book so you can read the wonderful intro to the chapter on Assams! (Tea plantations alernate with gas refineries there? Who knew!) And here's what Michael Harney says about this particular Assam made of pure golden tips: "Created within just the last thirty years, the tea is so rare that it is made only on commission. I have to place an order before the harvest has even begun."

Next week's tea: Mangalam Assam

Tea Tasting Saturday #45 - Kairbetta Frost Nilgiri Tea

It's funny how the strangest things can trigger a memory! When I first opened this tea, I noticed the small bits of leaf and it reminded me of some of those coffee-ground-looking teas I've had before. Once the water hit it, though, this tea reminded me of flakes of fish food. I've never eaten fish food, but I can attest that this tea is a good one!

Category: British Legacy Black Tea

Purveyor: Upton Tea Imports

Dry leaf appearance: Very fine particles of tea leaf.

Wet leaf appearance: Fish food!

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 212 degrees, 5 minutes.

Scent: The dry tea smelled like bark, but the steeped tea had a much more complex scent with an almost fruity/floral topnote. Almost the faintest whiff of gardenia.

Color: Golden honey! I wouldn't have thought of this comparison had I not had a jar of honey out on the counter behind the teapot.

Flavor: This is perhaps a strange word to use to describe a taste, but the first one that came to mind was "bright." And then, "clean," which is not to say the other teas I've been tasting were dirty. Maybe it's just that the weather outside is bright and sunny and fresh and autumnal, and that's rather how this tea tastes! Had a good bit of astringency, though, so I may try this one again and adjust the amount of tea and/or brewing time.

Additional notes: According to the Harney book, frost tea is made during the cold months from December to February in the Nilgiri mountains of southern India. "The cold weather also allows the factories to wither and oxidize the teas more slowly as well, further developing the aroma compounds to draw out their attractive fruit, floral and spice notes."

Next week's tea: Golden Tip Assam

Tea Tasting Saturday #44 - Okayti

The exact tea Michael Harney lists in his book is Okayti DJ 480 Autumnal FTGFOP, while the tea I was ultimately able to find was simply "Okayti" from Stash Tea. Harney explains that the DJ 480 in the name means this tea is a Darjeeling from the 480th lot to be harvested that year at this particular plantation.

Over the years I've observed all sorts of tea packaging, but this Stash Tea package had an interesting way of opening. If you look at the top right corner of the bag, you'll see a punched out hole with a little "tab" you pull to open it.

Well, the tab actually comes off and leaves a strand of what feels like a strong nylon thread, and then the bag re-closes like a ziploc bag. Now that was a new one on me! And now, on to the tea ...

Category: British Legacy Black Tea

Purveyor: Stash Tea

Dry leaf appearance: Longish tea leaves that were mostly dark brown, but with a few lighter brown leaves mixed in.

Wet leaf appearance: These tea leaves seemed to open to full leaf size pretty quickly.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 190 degrees, 4 minutes.

Scent: As with another recent Darjeeling, this dry tea smelled of a mix of freshly cut wood and freshly painted paint! It's a very fresh, woodsy smell that I really like. Steeped, this smelled like a roasted tea with a pleasantly fruity finish.

Color: Coppery orange brown.

Flavor: At first cup, I thought this was a pretty good cup of tea, with a nice traditional Darjeeling taste but a bit of astringency. Because I happened to be home all day on the particular day I tried this tea, I made another cup, and then another, and then another. To my surprise, the taste just got better up until cup five, when things started to weaken a bit.

Additional notes: Michael Harney shares a tale I've heard before, that Queen Victoria "found teas from this garden enjoyable" and "pronounced that it was indeed 'okay tea.'"

Next week's tea: Kairbetta Frost Nilgiri tea

Tea Tasting Saturday #43 - Himalayan Tips TGFOP1

One thing I've observed in ordering some of these recent teas is that the exact tea named in Michael Harney's book may not always be available. This week, for instance, the tea I read about was Himalayan Tips SFTGFOP1 (Special Fancy Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe) Second Flush. It wasn't available from Harney at the time I needed to order, so I got the Himalayan Tips TGFOP1 (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe) from Upton. I was kind of bummed to miss out on the "Special" and the "Fancy" until I remembered what Harney says in his intro to the material on Darjeelings: "Supreme, Special, Fancy, Tippy, Number 1, Golden and Orange Pekoe are all meant to suggest little more than best-quality teas." (Still, doesn't it make you feel smart to know what all those letters stand for?)

Category: British Legacy Black Tea

Purveyor: Upton Tea Imports

Dry leaf appearance: Tightly rolled leaves ranging from near black to dark brown, light brown, some greens and almost white.

Wet leaf appearance: Chopped green/brown with what looked like quite a few twigs floating around. Curious, I fished a few out of the bottom of the pot and realized they were simply leaves so tightly rolled they had never unfurled!

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 190 degrees, 4 minutes. But that was wayyyyy too strong a brew for me, so I tried it again at 2-1/2 minutes. Much better.

Scent: The dry tea smelled like wood shavings. The steeped tea reminded me of steamed vegetables with a slightly sweet finish.

Color: Pumpkin orange!

Flavor: On just a few occasions this year, I've sampled a tea and recognized immediately that its too-strong taste was the tea maker's fault and not the tea's. Such was the case with this one. The first cup I made with the 4-minute steeping time tasted like double strength tea. The second, 2-1/2 minute steeping time was just about as strong as I like it. A nice traditional Darjeeling taste with a pleasant aftertaste, and only slight astringency.

Additional notes: Michael Harney says this tea is actually from Nepal, not Darjeeling, but it's made in the Darjeeling style. "Himalayan Tips comes from a promising new garden started just a few years ago called Jun Chiyabari," Harney says. "A small operation about thirty miles west of the border, Jun Chiyabari supplements its own leaf production with leaves from other local Nepalese tea farmers."

Next week's tea: Okayti

Tea Tasting Saturday #42 - Margaret's Hope Estate FTGFOP1 Musc.

My biggest question about Margaret's Hope tea wasn't what it would taste like but how it got its name! And this particular story appears on several web sites and has the ring of familiarity about it, in case you're like me and didn't remember how this tea got its name.

Category: British Legacy Black Tea

Purveyor: Upton Tea Imports

Dry leaf appearance: Varying bits of mostly dark brown leaf with a few lighter pieces scattered about.

Wet leaf appearance: Chopped greens.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 190 degrees, 4 minutes.

Scent: As with last week's Darjeeling, this one's dry tea scent reminded me of freshly cut wood, with a sharp, fresh scent. Once it was steeped, I also detected a sweet, almost fruity "grape juice" scent.

Color: Medium orange-brown.

Flavor: Despite appearing to have so much in common with the Singbulli Darjeeling from last week, this tea was a letdown. First, the flavor had an odd taste to it that I can't quite define. It was a faint but almost bitter taste which, again, I can only compare with what I think liquid wood might taste like! I also detected more astringency than I am accustomed to. The second cup, taken with milk, was tolerable, but only tolerable. (And I had wanted to like this tea because I like the name!)

Additional notes: This tea has something in common with Fanciest Formosa Oolong in that part of the tea's flavor comes from the fact it has been munched by leaf mites!

Next week's tea: Himalayan Tips SFTGFOP1 Second Flush

Tea Tasting Saturday #41 - Singbulli Darjeeling SFTGFOP1 Musc.

The letters after this tea's name stand for Special Fancy Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe Number 1. Say that five times really fast, will you?

Category: British Legacy Black Tea

Purveyor: Upton Tea Imports (so my tea is not the exact same one Michael Harney includes in his book, but I decided this Singbulli Darjeeling was close enough)

Dry leaf appearance: Wiry pieces of tea ranging from light to dark brown to almost black.

Wet leaf appearance: Sort of a choppy/spinachy look, and I was surprised to see what looked like a few small bits of twig in there.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 190 degrees, 3-1/2 minutes.

Scent: Now you're going to think this is strange, but hear me out. You ever been out house hunting and walked into a new home under construction? You know that unique smell of freshly cut wood and the last vestiges of drying paint? That's *almost* what this tea smelled like. That may *sound* bad for a tea, but it wasn't. Once steeped, however, I detected sweet, almost grapelike notes from the tea. When I realized this package says "musc." for "muscatel," I remembered that Darjeelings are known as "the champagne of teas," and the taste tells us why!

Color: A medium orange-brown.

Flavor: What an utterly delicious tea! From first sip to last, I really enjoyed this tea's full, rich and almost sweet taste. I drank one cup entirely black and finished it with no puckery sensation. Mid-way through the second cup, however, I decided to add a bit of milk. Again, just a great cup of tea!

Additional notes: If you have the Michael Harney book, I highly recommend reading his excellent intro to the British Legacy Teas and the Darjeelings. Harney says the northeastern region of Darjeeling is famous for three seasons of tea, spring's First Flush, summer's Second Flush, and the late summer and fall Autumnal teas. "Though they grow more subdued the farther they get from spring, all three seasonal teas have a charming rounded quality, a depth and a gentleness to rival Chinese black teas." He also notes that Darjeelings should be brewed between 190 and 212 degrees.

Next week's tea: Margaret's Hope, which I've been eager to try!

Tea Tasting Saturday #40 - Lapsang Souchong

As a little girl growing up in the sixties, I was sometimes given Creomulsion cough syrup when I was sick. I'm sure I became quite adept at holding back coughs because I absolutely detested the stuff, and that horrible taste would stick around forever. I was surprised to learn that Creomulsion was actually invented in the '20s, in neighboring Griffin, Ga., of all things. Happily for children of today, the cough syrup has been given a makeover with (according to the Creomulsion website) cherry flavoring and a pleasant taste. I did not know they still make such a thing as adult Creomulsion, however, and its ingredients include beechwood creosote. Creosote! That's exactly the smell I remember!

This week's tea reminds me very much of the old Creomulsion cough syrup I had as a little girl. Why on earth would anyone want to drink an entire cup of this stuff?

Category: Chinese Black Tea

Purveyor: Harney and Sons

Dry leaf appearance: Dark bits of tea leaf that smell like they've been to the very pit of you-know-where and back.

Wet leaf appearance: Soggy bits of same.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 205 degrees, 4 minutes.

Scent: Have any of you read the wonderful book "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis? I can't help wondering if this is what Screwtape and Wormwood drink. "My dear Wormwood," I can just hear Screwtape saying, "please enjoy the enclosed tea sample. It's a custom blend finished off with essence of creosote, and one whiff and it will no doubt whet your appetite for further such delicacies here in the underworld ..."

Color: A medium orange-brown.

Flavor: I'm willing to try just about any tea, anytime, but four sips of this was all I could choke down. Someone clearly found a 1960s-era stash of my mom's Creomulsion stock and used it as the basis for this tea. What other explanation could there *possibly* be for taking something as sweet, angelic, healthy and wholesome as camellia sinensis and turning it into this vile brew? (But on a more helpful note: I have used a scant amount of this tea, steeped, in place of liquid smoke in certain chili recipes with good results! It's a happy use for what would otherwise be a tossed tea!)

Additional notes: I was absolutely stunned to read in the Harney book that Lapsang Souchong was one of the original half-dozen teas Harney sold and remains a favorite! Say it ain't so!

Next week's tea: Ahh, back to the good stuff -- Singbulli Darjeeling

Tea Tasting Saturday #39 - Yunnan Black Tea

Yunnan is a tea I've tried before, but it seemed different this time. And quite enjoyable!

Category: Chinese Black Tea

Purveyor: Harney and Sons

Dry leaf appearance: Shavings of pine bark with a few lighter colored bits throughout.

Wet leaf appearance: Chippy, wet-bark-looking bits of tea leaf.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 205 degrees, 4-1/2 minutes.

Scent: Perhaps I am just paranoid because I know the evil Lapsang Souchong tea tasting awaits me next week, but ... I thought this tea's scent was just a bit too reminiscent of that tea's woodsy/smoky scent. (But I needn't have worried!)

Color: A deep, rich brown.

Flavor: Although this Yunnan is quite a bit stronger than the one I've tried before (I don't remember the vendor), I enjoyed it very much, and the taste was nothing like L.S., I am pleased to say! I drank the first cup completely black, but since it was getting a bit astringent there at the end, I decided to have the next cup with a bit of milk. Delicious! I could drink this tea all morning long just fine, I think, with a little milk on hand.

Additional notes: Michael Harney says that Yunnan "offers a delicious combination of full body and sweetish flavors, with a certain earthiness and even a mild pepperiness, balanced by the sugars from lots of tip." Guess that explains those tips in this tea, and I do believe the earlier one I tried was called Tippy Yunnan.

Next week's tea: Lapsang Souchong, much to my dismay

Tea Tasting Saturday #38 - Keemun Hao Ya A

I must confess that this week's tea was actually tasted quite a few weeks ago, back at week #33. I somehow managed to confuse Huo Shan Huang Ya with Keemun Hao Ya A.

Ya, I sure did! So I went ahead and reviewed it back then so at least I would enjoy being one week ahead.

Category: Chinese Black Tea

Purveyor: Harney and Sons

Dry leaf appearance: Pencil shavings. Very dark black with a few coppery brown bits thrown in.

Wet leaf appearance: Little twiggy bits of tea leaf.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 180 degrees, 3 minutes. (So it was a tad too hot for the tea I *thought* I was drinking, a tad too cool for this one. It should have been 205-212 degrees steeped 4-5 minutes, but I don't like my tea boiling hot and super strong anyway, so I would probably make it similar to this again.)

Scent: The dry tea scent reminded me just a bit of that smoky Lapsang Souchong (which, have I mentioned, I am dreading tasting). The steeped tea also had a smoky/woodsy sort of scent.

Color: Bright coppery brown. (And I realize I'm really in danger of becoming such a tea nerd, but isn't it lovely how the afternoon sun makes this tea almost seem to glow? If you look at just the coppery part of the tea in my glass gaiwan, it looks almost like a sunset over the ocean!)

Flavor: I happen to like Keemuns and this one had a nice, full taste, no astringency, very nice mouth feel.

Additional notes: Michael Harney says that Ha Ya teas are separated into Ha Ya A, the next-best into Ha Ya B. "The grading system is an affectation adopted for the U.S. market; A and B grades don't exist in China." I'm glad I sampled an "A" and not a "B." Grade school habits die hard!

Next week's tea: Yunnan Black Tea

Tea Tasting Saturday #37 - Keemun Mao Feng

I am so happy to have arrived at the Keemuns just as cooler weather has begun to arrive. The high was only 79 degrees yesterday. Brrr!

Category: Black Tea

Purveyor: Upton Tea

Dry leaf appearance: Dark, almost black bits of tea leaf which, thanks to a comment I recently read about another tea, reminded me of pencil shavings.

Wet leaf appearance: A bird's nest after a tornado.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 205 degrees, 4 minutes.

Scent: The dry tea had that lovely earthy scent I know to be Keemun scent. The steeped tea? Now don't freak out, but ... it reminded me of wet leather and fire ashes -- and I loved it!

Color: Coppery brown.

Flavor: This tea has a great earthy taste I love, and I drank it straight black.

Additional notes: From the Harney book: "The name Keemun is an older Western spelling of the town now known as Qimen (pronounced "Chee-men"). There is also great information on how and when this tea is harvested.

Next week's tea: Keemun Hao Ya A

Tea Tasting Saturday #36 - Panyong Congou

A few years ago, I purchased some Rose Congou tea and was so impressed with my "Congou black tea" -- until I realized that Congou simply means a grade of black tea! Oh well, live and learn ...

Category: Black Tea

Purveyor: Upton Tea

Dry leaf appearance: Dark, almost black, twiggy bits of tea leaf.

Wet leaf appearance: Lumpy looking when steeped, almost like coffee grounds.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 205 degrees, 4 minutes.

Scent: The dry tea simply smelled like strong black tea. The steeped tea's scent reminded me of Keemun teas.

Color: Coppery brown.

Flavor: This tea was just a good solid cup of black tea. I had a bit of a puckery feeling after I drank the cup, so I tried a second cup with a bit of milk and enjoyed it even more.

Additional notes: Michael Harney enlightens on the word "Congou," which he says is "a corruption of the Chinese words 'Gong Fu,' or 'Kung Fu,' which mean 'Highest Mastery.' A tea trade classification for Chinese black teas with this particular twisted shape, the word refers to the masterful skill required to produce the teas by hand." (Today they're mostly machine made, he says.)

Next week's tea: Keemun Mao Feng

Tea Tasting Saturday #35 - Panyong Golden Needle

By the time I got off the phone with a most unhelpful computer "customer support" person the other night, I needed some Valium. Instead, when the call was over, I made tea! I had already planned to do my tea tasting that night, and I decided that would give me time to clear my head before attacking the computer problem on my own some more. I set about sniffing, measuring, steeping, straining, pouring and tasting my tea, and I was amazed at how much better I felt about everything (even though I wasn't wild about the tea). Just goes to prove that the calming effect of tea even works with computer problems!

Category: Black Tea

Purveyor: Upton Tea

Dry leaf appearance: Dark brown spindly leaves with lots of golden tips.

Wet leaf appearance: Most of the large brown leaves opened to full size.

Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 205 degrees, 4 minutes.

Scent: The dry tea's scent had an almost dessert-like quality to it, reminiscent of caramel or vanilla tea. The steeped tea's scent had almost mocha/chocolate notes.

Color: Deep copper brown.

Flavor: The first cup of tea had a nice mouth feel and a pleasant taste with a little zing of something that made me really like it. But near the end of the cup my mouth began to feel a little dry. By the time I got halfway through the second cup, it was so puckery I didn't care to finish it! I added cold water to the steeped leaves and put them in the fridge to cold brew overnight.

Additional notes: Michael Harney says that "unlike the more heavily fired black teas from the Wuyi Shan region, Panyong teas are finished in an oven. Discerning tea makers do not like fire flavors to overpower these rounded teas."

Next week's tea: Panyong Congou