2009 Takumi Shincha

After a long winter of drinking Oolongs and Puerh even the most die hard tea lovers become somewhat jaded, but spring does amazing things. With all the new teas coming to market it,s easy to get drawn into the world of tea again. This Takumi Shincha I bought at a local shop, $13.99 for a 50 gm. nitro flushed bag. Grown in the Kagoshima prefecture and using the Gokou varietal which is known for it.s sweetness and richness. This teas dry leaf appears much more broken than most Shincha, suggesting it,s been subjected to a little heavier steaming than is typical. Also a fair amount of tiny little stems, so small it,s easy to mistake them for leaf. So rustic that it almost looks more like an Aracha (farmers tea) The smell of the dry leaf is very vegetal and fresh. Traditionally Shincha is a very light and delicate tea, but this one appears to be a little bit more on the sturdy and stout end of the spectrum. Brews a deep green cup with a slight murkiness. a.k.a. cloudy. Yep! When they brew up like that, they have been deep steamed, a.k.a. fukamushi. The flavor is very deep and rich with that savory vegetal flavor permeating. In the aftertaste there is a noticable sweetness. A slight astringency in the aftertaste as well. I know a lot of people really love the fukamushi style tea but I prefer the traditional light or mid level steamed tea. Not because I don't like the flavor of the fukamushi but because I don't like the way it looks, green swamp water. Also I prefer to taste the tea itself and not the processing. I guess you could think of it as French Roast Coffee which because of the way it was roasted all you really taste is the roast, the type of coffee used is very much secondary. This is a good quality tea but I,m not sure I,d buy it again. The flavors this tea has are easily found in a lot of the less expensive brands. The characteristics of the Gokou varietal show up well and the tea is fresh, I,ll give it that much. For my money I,d rather buy a mid or light steamed Yakubita, now there,s a tea to swoon over.

note: one of my favorite cups, I bought this from Artistic Nippon a couple of years ago. Holds an entire pot of tea. Even though there is a crack running all the way down the side of the cup it doesn't leak. Very rustic clay with large particle sand mixed in and then glazed and hand painted in porcelain.

2009 Honyama Shincha

At last, some fresh Japanese teas are starting to show up in the shops. This tea is gorgeous! The smell of the dry leaf is pungent and rich, just sticking my nose down into the bag and smelling it makes me realize how every year I always seem to forget just how good Japanese teas can be. This stuff smells so freakin good! The leaf is very long and spindly and a very dark, earthy green color. (Click on the pics and see for yourself) I already know what this teas gonna taste like just by smelling the leaf. This tea is without a doubt the best Shincha Ive seen in several years. I mean their always good but this Shincha smells far more pungent than I remember it smelling before. When brewing Shincha or Sencha I,m pretty heavy handed with the quantity of leaf, I use 7 &1/2 gms for I,m guessing maybe a 12 oz capacity kyusu and give it a full two minute infusion. This is my theory on brewing Sencha. I think the best flavors are extracted in the first infusion, no matter how brief you keep that infusion time the best flavors to be had are in the first pot. The second pot I brew very briefly, pour the water in and right back out. Knowing the second pot is not gonna be as good as the first. With Sencha I don't think it,s possible to get two consecutive infusions that taste identical to each other so I put all my eggs in one basket (the first pot) and just be happy with that. Honyama teas are from the Shizuoka prefecture grown near the Abe river, an area known for the pristine water sources and misty climate. The flavor is just what I expected, rich with that veggie protein flavor, full mouth feel and the aroma permeates into my nose, I can still smell it even though I finished my tea 15 minutes ago. This tea is a Chumushi style tea.(mid steamed) Fukamushi (deep steamed) teas, while I like them are not the cream of the crop. And there is also the Asamushi style (light steamed) Really high quality Sencha would never be subjected to a fukamushi style process because the deep steamed method is used on teas that are a little lacking in inherent flavor. It,s just a way of coaxing the most they can get from it. I know Ive said this before but the aroma of good Sencha always reminds me of popcorn, while it,s popping. Seeing how I bought this at my local tea shop there really is no point in going into prices and all that, meaning you don't have access to it anyways. But get out there and get your orders placed, you,ll find something just as good or maybe better. Shincha is only here for a very brief time, so order soon.

P.S. I accidentally posted two pics of dry leaf but I liked both pics so decided to leave em both.

Rishi Bao Zhong

One more Rishi tea for ya and then I,ll call it quits with Rishi. This Bao Zhong being such a good value at $53.00 lb. I thought it deserved a mention. Of all the times Ive bought more premium quality Bao Zhongs I admit that at least half of the time Ive been somewhat disappointed. Even Hou De,s Bao Zhongs were not all that great, at least in my opinion. Rishi,s Bao Zhong is a fraction of the price of the "gourmet type" Bao Zhong,s and in some ways the flavor is just as good if not better. It has that floral, spice aroma. Brews a cup with good clarity. The aroma reflects in the flavor as well. Judging by the dry leafs appearance, it looks to me that this tea has a little more oxidation than most Bao Zhongs, probably to coax as much aroma as they can get into the leaf. Mouth feel isn't quite as full as some others but it,s alright. The only reason I,m posting about this tea is that it,s such a good bargain, has a lot of the aspects you look for in a good Bao Zhong. Has it,s limitations also but at their price it,s not difficult to overlook that. I think in a blind taste test this tea could fare better than you'd think.

Rishi,s Organic Dragon Well

Yeah I know, another Rishi tea? At the tea shop the other day I just filled up a bunch of two oz. bags of various teas. So now I have my sample box back up to brimming with little bags of teas to explore or re-discover, and this one falls into the category of re-discover. The last time I had this tea was easily 5 years ago. Rishi currently has two new Long Jing teas but this is the Organic Dragon Well, a long time staple on their menu. $61.00 a lb. The appearance of the dry leaf has similarities to the "real thing" flat, light green leaf. The aroma of the leaf also has characteristics of the real thing but much more subtle. The flavor? Ummm.... it,s alright. A lot better quality than you ll find at your local Asian market that's for sure. I learned through experimentation that this is best brewed as a one infusion tea. 185 degree water and a three minute infusion time and that's about as good as it,s going to get. I tried going for two infusions with a shorter brewing time but it just cant hold up to that. In summary, the flavor is there, kinda. And the aroma is there, kinda. It,s lacking that rich, nutty flavor. Good Long Jing,s flavor really permeates your taste buds and the flavor stays a while. With this Dragon Well the flavor just washes over your palate but leaves you with nothing. If you don't go into this tea anticipating something rich and pungent then it,s really an alright tea. Another thing to consider is that Rishi doesn't date their teas, you have no idea how many years they have had this tea. If really fresh, who knows? Did anybody notice that Rishi started offering their Sakura Sencha (or whatever they call it) about two months before Shincha was available? Getting rid of last years teas by flavoring them and calling them by another name? I think so. Anyways, I think it would be more accurate to think of this tea as more of a Dragon Well style of tea rather than the actual tea.

Rishi,s Organic 2nd Flush Darjeeling

Now this is a offering from Rishi that I find no fault in what so ever. Ive been buying this tea for about four or five years now and it,s flavor profile is always very consistent. It reminds me a lot of a Thurbo Estate tea. The flavor of stone fruit is there in abundance as well as the muscatel. Nice medium body. I prefer second flush teas with a little more body than this one, but it has so much going on in the flavor and aroma that all is forgiven. This tea is a great value at $84.00 a lb. This is one of the teas that made me a big fan of Rishi,s way back then. Rishi,s Darjeeling and the Golden Yunnan were once upon a time mainstays in my house but that's no longer the case. Even though I don't buy much from them anymore I still think Rishi has several teas that can hold their own even compared to teas from the "cool" online vendors. When you have been buying from Hou De, Jings and Seven Cups can you go back to Rishi and find satisfaction? With this tea the answer is a resounding yes. It just smacks of peaches and apricots with a good amount of the floral aspects in the aroma to make this a Darjeeling that is as complex as many of the other more elite teas. If your looking for a really good value Darjeeling I cant imagine a better one. You can see in the picture above that the dry leaf is comprised of a mix of browns, reds, greens and silver tips. Brews a amber cup with superb clarity. This tea in my book is one of Rishi,s winners.

Lin,s Ceramic Art Studio Ju Series Celadon And Purion Tea Ware

Some of you may not know this but it is now possible to buy directly from Lin,s Ceramics. Their site is now in English and they can email a price list. The above pics are of the new Ju Ware series and the Purion series. The Ju Ware is celadon, good for green teas and oolongs not requiring high heat retention. The Purion is intended for yancha, black or puerh as it,s heat retaining abilities are superb and the special clay that it,s made from adds minerals to the water. Something like that.

Taiwan Style Celadon Pt.2

The above and below pics are Japanese celadon. Handmade by Kamada Koji, set of 5 cups, $700.00

A close up of the fracturing. Slowly but surely the teapots acquiring a spiderweb like appearance.

By examining the teapots foot or in this case feet, we can see what type of clay was used in it,s construction. In this case the clay used was the traditional dark clay.

The pics above are on the left side a celadon teacup, on the right side a "mi zi"rice glazed teacup. Both cups being made with the dark clay. The metallic like sheen on the rim of the cups in the pics below are caused by being re-fired with an ash glaze. The mi zi teacup seems to crack differently than the traditional celadon, a lot of the cracks run in straight lines which makes it look like the cracks were cut into the glaze, almost like incisions. Both of these cups are very heavy, they do a good job of keeping your tea hot but I have to admit that I only use these for oolong or puerh tea. Drinking green tea from them just doesn't feel right.

Comparison Of Chinese And Taiwan Celadon

Celadon or Qing Ci in Chinese was invented in ancient China during the Song Dynasty (960-1126 AD) most notably Zhejiang province. In ancient China only the elite and royalty could afford it. The perfect pieces destined for the emperor's use. The above pieces are Chinese celadon made at the Longquan kilns.

The above and below pictures are the only Chinese celadon that I own. By examining the foot of the cup it is apparent that that base material for the piece is porcelain. And that is the main issue of this post, the base material that is used in the piece of celadon has a big impact on the appearance of the finished piece. Porcelain is not the traditional way of making celadon, originally it was made with a red clay base. The rim of the cup in the above pic pays homage to celadons roots, by painting it red it,s purpose is to imitate the original look of celadon.

Celadon is making a come back, many young potters taking up this almost lost art and learning through trial and error and mostly self taught. Celadon is made in a reducing atmosphere kiln, meaning the temperature is gradually reduced, that as well as the base material and the thickness of the glaze is what determines the finished pieces color and appearance. The colors can range from white, grey, grey / green, yellow and a variety of blues. One of the most notable visual aspects of celadon is the cracks in the glaze, some of them deliberately made to crack in the kiln and some of the celadon initially have no cracks but with use develop cracks and fractures. The reason for the different base material is that the original red clay base contains iron oxide, and there is the problem. The glaze also contains iron oxide and consequently there are adhesion problems between the glaze and the clay. Originally Chinese celadon also used the red clay but with a 20% success rate after firing I can understand why the potters stopped using it. You can not determine which pieces will be defective before firing. However there are still some potters willing to take that gamble, mostly the Taiwanese potters. All the pieces in the pics below are handmade by Xu De Jia, a Taiwanese potter. The temperamental nature of the combination of glaze and pottery make for a not so lucrative pursuit as many pieces are lost due to flaws. Wu Yuen Zhong a Taiwanese potter claims a success rate of one out of every thirty pieces.

A variety of celadon tea ware, kyusu style teapot, fair cups, tea jars and cups. All made with red clay as it,s base. The pic above was taken a long time ago, now the teapot is almost completely covered in tiny cracks. You can see pics of that in some of my other posts. The teapot and the cup are made with the traditional red clay, the jars and fair cup an alternative red clay similar to the white tasting cups in the pic below.

But not all red clay is the same. The cups above are made from red clay but it,s not the original type of clay. This clay contains no iron and therefore no adhesion problems. Celadon has such a unique creamy feel, some people wouldn't use anything else for their tea. I wouldn't go that far but I,m definitely obsessed with the stuff. Celadon is expensive, of course the handmade type being more expensive. Usually the Chinese celadon is manufactured and the handmade celadon coming from Taiwan and Japan. The examples of Japanese celadon that Ive seen are amazing, with each yunomi selling for $100.00 each. Out of my price range!

The piece above is made with the traditional red clay, as you can see the traditional clay is quite coarse in appearance but it,s feel is very smooth. One type of celadon is not superior to the other, they are just different styles and methods and materials. Everything is subjective but I personally prefer the traditional red clay celadon. To me it,s rustic yet elegant. When new these pieces were without fractures and gradually watching the cracks develop with use was at the same time interesting and disconcerting. But the cracking is what celadon is known for so if you cant stand the idea of your tea ware cracking then stay away from celadon. When everything works like it is supposed to the results are gorgeous. Not only visually but the feel of the pottery is equally impressive, soft and creamy, elegant and earthy at the same time. Maybe not best suited to tea,s requiring boiling water but for green tea and oolongs it,s ideal.