Ginko's Great Buddha

I have the good fortune to be the ( very appreciative)  recipient of some of Ginko's (Life In A Tea Cup) Great Buddha Dragon Well. It has been a very long time since Ive had the pleasure of a cup of pre Qing Ming Dragon Well. Ginko was kind enough to send me a few teas from her current selection. These Pre-Qing Ming teas are not available in large quantity's, they are not going to last long. So,  I,m hoping everyone gets a chance to try these teas before they are sold out.

Pre-Qing Ming teas are the first leaves to emerge after the dormancy of Winter. Before the rain is what I remember it as meaning. Highly valued and sought after by tea lovers. But having said that, they are not to everybody,s liking. For some westerners the flavors are too delicate. I think of them as being teas with pristine clarity and focus.

Cute little tin isn't it? It contents are superlative. So green and vibrant. The aroma from the dry leaf is so fresh and sweet. And there is something that reminds me of pine. You can see in the picture below that the picking standard was very consistent. Practically every leaf and bud set are the same size. The dry leaf is still pliable. Not brittle and crumbly. This pliability is testament to its freshness.

My tea table is just about functionality today. No flowers or dramatic lighting. It is, what it is.  The tea has been brewed with loving care and attention. Freshly heated spring water that has dropped to 175 degrees. With Pre-Qing Ming teas I try to be careful with brewing time. A gentle approach pays off.

There are a lot of people that are of the opinion that you don,t have to be all that careful brewing these Pre-Qing Ming teas. I am not one of them. It's too easy to kill the tea by water that is too hot or too lengthy an infusion time. The end result of either of these scenarios is that what should the slightest bite of astringency can easily wind up being the more dominant aspect in the cup, you don't want that.

The aroma of sugar snap peas and pine as well as some very delicate florals waft from the pot and cup. The first sips are sweet as could be. The pine or maybe I should say sap like flavors contrast with the sugar cane sweetness, a perfect balance. Typically I think of Dragon Well teas to be kinda nutty, yeasty, toasty and slightly vegetal, but this one is different, so clean and delicate.

The color of the brewed tea is actually a tad lighter than the picture below. Crystal clear with an almost silvery sheen. Pretty darned durable too boot. I get 3-4 infusions before it starts to fade. The teas aftertaste is unrelenting. It's sweetness permeates the entire mouth and even the nasal passage. It's early spring and I am usually so congested this time of year due to allergies that I cant smell a thing, but this tea seems to have helped to clear me up a little. I wonder if there is any history of tea being used as a decongestant?

Thank You Ginko!  I cant wait to try the some of your other offerings. As this years teas are making their way to the states I,m keeping a close eye on  Life In A Tea Cup  to see what else you have in store for all of us tea lovers. The proofs in the pudding. Evidently, Ginko has some MOFO connections. Take advantage of it for crying out loud. For more information on this tea pay a visit to Ginko. She,ll hook you up!

Kim Song Tae Ddokcha

For years I have been reading Mattcha's blog (All things tea, especially Korean) With all the various types of tea that is made in Korea be it Ujeon, Sejak, Jungjak, Hwangcha. One of the teas that most intrigued me was Ddokcha. Actually back when I first started reading Matt's blog I had never had any type of Korean tea. I think it was 2008 when Matt first started his blog and back then there was no chance in hell that a westerner shopping online was going to run across any Korean teas. Things have changed. Now   it's fairly easy to find some good quality, handmade Korean teas. Reading through Matts blog today it's easy to see that  Matt played a significant role in these teas and tea wares becoming easier to source. Always educational and informative. He has taken on some massive projects with his blog, remember the Book Club?  So.......we all owe Matt a big

Or maybe we should hold him to blame. Haha!

Anyways, on to the Ddokcha. The one I brewed today was made by Kim Song Tae. A gift from
 Morning Crane Tea. A small circular wafer of compressed tea. I had a general idea of how to brew this tea, a fairly large qty. of water and a brewing time of about 2-3 hours. I knew going into this that the brewing time was crucial, too little and the teas bitterness would dominate. I tasted the tea as it brewed to learn what to look for and to see the how the flavor and aroma changed as the tea continued to simmer away in a glass kettle.
The tea has a very pungent aroma of spice's. Sure enough as it continued to brew the Ddokcha developed a rounder, softer, sweeter flavor. The soup had changed from a pale yellow to a deep orange color. I had tasted it at around the 2 hour mark and it was quite bitter and astringent. By hour 3 the tea was pretty good. Even though this was the first time I have tasted Ddokcha I think it is a simple, unpretentious tea. There is not tons of complexity but what is there is pretty straight forward and easy to enjoy.

Next time I'll take some pics and do the whole kit and kaboodle for ya!