October 20, 2009

2000 Zhong Cha Tie Bing





It,s a beautiful day here in Austin so I thought I,d ride the Capitol Metro Rail to one of my favorite tea shops. Glad I did because I bought a couple ounces of a superb Chung Cha Tie Bing. This shop typically has half a dozen shengs to choose from ranging from teas you can find online and usually one or two that Ive never heard of before. Ive heard of Chung Cha brand before and if memory serves me it has a good reputation, lets see. The owner assured me that this is a very nice tea and that there is not that much more of it to be found (implying that it is rare, buy it, don't be a fool) so I did.
Now this tea is a perfect example of a well stored tea. The soup is a bright, clear, clean amber with a syrup like viscosity. I bought this from a local tea shop, the price of the whole cake is $175.00 To rich for me but a ounce or two is allowable on my budget. This is the first Chung Cha tea that Ive ever had. I don't recall ever even seeing Chung Cha for sale anywhere before. What a unique aroma wafts from the pot, woodsy and anise like spice is the first thing I notice. There is the very faintest of smokiness and camphor, so minimal that it,s really an after thought. The slightest bitterness quickly followed by a caramel like sweetness that completely coats my mouth and throat, even my teeth. What a unique flavor this tea has, something that is so subtle reminds me of licorice and anise. So rich that I can smell it long after the session is over. So many flavors and aromas. This is one of those teas that each time you drink it you notice some flavor that you didn't notice before. So much complexity in both the soup and the aroma.


This tea sets a new standard for aged sheng for me, just goes to show that not all aged tea is murky and musty. This Chung Cha,s flavors and aromas are clean and somewhat medicinal and they retain there individuality very well. Each component is very distinct from each other. The dry leaf is large and mostly whole. Considering it,s a tie bing the leaf comes loose from the chunks with almost no effort, all I have to do is threaten it with the pu knife and they just fall apart. There are some rather large stems in the mix but who cares? Maybe the stems are contributing to the over all flavor, who knows? If this tea has had any wet storage it was so minimal that no damage was done, the teas clarity speaks for itself. What a gorgeous tea. This is one worth saving for special occasions or when you have the time to savor it.
P.S. Thanks Will. I had wondered if Zhong Cha or Chung Cha was the correct spelling.

6 comments:

  1. I don't know if it's the power of suggestion or scientific fact, but I was drinking some of Nada's 1980's WangZi loose leaf sheng while reading this and it seems the two have quite a bit in common.

    Nice cup in the header pic! I also have a pair of those blue cloth coasters.

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  2. wow, the layer of film on the tea cup in the third photo looks gorgeous, and I'm officially jealous that you can "hop on a metro" to your favorite tea store.

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  3. Chung Cha is just a different romanization of zhongcha (中茶), i.e., CNNP.

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  4. Salsero, actually that is one of my favorite cups because it holds an entire pot of tea.

    Maitre, The tea shop is either feast or famine, there has been many times Ive left there with nothing because the selection was mundane. But every once in a while they get something good in.

    Will, yeah I was wondering if the correct spelling was Zhong Cha, but the sign at the shop was as I wrote it, Chong Cha.

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  5. Yes, what is Austin, the underground tea capitol? I can get around on the bus or train in the Twin Cities but there isn't good Puerh to grab off any store shelf.

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  6. Jason, I dont know why but there are an abundance of tea shops here in Austin. Where I bought this tea is actually a Chinese Medicine Shop, which they consider tea in general and especially puerh to be a medicine.

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