Alishan soft-stemmed oolong

Olive green chabu and fresh oolong - what a match!

What this world needs in this day and age is some peace, tranquility and time-out from the press. An olive green keffiyeh seemed like the best choice of chabu for today's chaxi. Green also happens to be my favourite colour since it soothes our tired eyes.

For the purpose of comparing materials, I opted for a porcelain teapot today, something that is more readily available than a Zhuni teapot. 'He' is a big guy (roughly four cups of tea) with enough room for these tightly-rolled oolong balls to unfurl. Gong fu cha brewing is always about extracting the best fragrances, taste and flavours from your teas. For this to happen, tea leaves must always be opened by the strength of our pour and heat from freshly boiled water.

The pre-heating step also gives us a clue if the pot might be too big or too small to fill all three cups. In this case, I would have to adjust my infusion volume to a lesser amount. Doing so helps us to avoid the issue of  '等杯', waiting for cups to empty the teapot.

With three cups of tea nicely filled, one could take time to reflect on his pouring skills (all part and parcel of the Gong fu cha package ;-)) - how much tea dripped and how even is the tea concentration in every cup. Such reflection actually brings the essence of gongfu tea brewing back into focus if you are seeking to improve your techniques.

In my few short years of studying gongfu cha, I have come to realise that attention to detail and a high level of concentration form the core of converting techniques to excellent tea brewing skills!

With a porcelain teapot, tea notes appear to be gently skipping on my tongue with a bright, clean taste. The relatively long aftertaste coats the tongue evenly like rich butter. The scent of green apples fills the breath as I exhale.

The right teas always require the right teaware, and the right teaware doesn't always come with a big price tag to beat.

Goodbye dragon, hello spiritual snake

3 days to the Chinese Lunar New Year of the snake. To see the year of the dragon off, I planned my chaxi tonight with dragon themed cups and saucers. In the Chinese culture, dragons motifs are heavily used to decorate personal items and prominently adorn architectural creations. The snake however, does not share the same standing and understandably commands less reverence. Perhaps, it has to do with negative legendary associations with this legless reptile. Personally it isn't one of my favourites either.

Tea tonight is a 4 year old hong shui oolong form Ali Shan. It has been aging in my pewter jar for 16 months now in the hopes of refining it further and taming the roast. I especially like this tea because of the its strength that lasts for quite a while both in the mouth and its overall sensation of warmth that can be felt radiating from my stomach.
Notice the obvious roasting on the edges yet slightly yellow but mainly green appearance in the centre of the rolled tea leaves?  I believe care has been taken to roast this tea very gradually for an extended period of time. The purpose is to remove water content so tea tastes sweeter.

I used a zisha teapot to brew this tea. The infusion is a very light yellow green colour with a less obvious but present roasted scent. This time the fruity notes emerge more prominently than previous tea sessions. The difference that time makes to the aging process of tea is magical! The infusion is nicely balanced, moderately complex and sweet. The flavour reminds me of hay. The mouth feel can be compared to semi-bubbly mineral water. It is smooth and at the same time leaves behind a slight tingle on the insides of my cheeks and coats my whole tongue with a rather high resolution and long aftertaste. I really enjoy my tea sessions more and more so with this tea every few months I come back to it when I feel the need for a medium strength tea that gently heats me up and its effects continue to persist long after my pot is emptied. I put together a full scale cha xi complete with new year goodies and some candles to draw attention to the smallest of details and keep all our senses engaged. Afterall, a chaxi is an interaction between the tea master, tea and the chosen teaware. 

Like good people who mellow with age, so does good tea. What used to be an overpowering roast has subsided to allow the underlying fruitiness and freshness to take centre-stage. The tea has begun to balance itself out.

Happy lunar new year everyone!

Use force if necessary

2011 Ali Shan Oolong

With tightly rolled Oolong tea balls, brewing requires more strength of pour in a controlled manner. After all,  we do not want the tea leaves to spin in all directions, resulting in a messed up brew.

Set leaves into a spin

The usual rules of engagement hold - preheating your gaiwan and cups. Meanwhile, estimate the right amount of tea to use. With a compact tea such as this Ali Shan high mountain oolong, I would recommend enough tea to cover the bottom of your gaiwan and keep enough room for the leaves to expand during infusion. This ensures maximum flavour release.

Decanting

The next step involves infusing your tea leaves with a strong pour of hot water from the side of the gaiwan. This sets the tea leaves into a circular spin and helps the leaves to open up most effectively. In the first infusion, floral and delicious milky notes with a hint of umami presented themselves without hesitation. This is a sign of a successful brew.

What about unsuccessful first attempts? One will notice that the brew is not as flavoursome and somewhat muted. It is advisable to increase the strength of your pour throughout the cup, ensuring that each leaf opens up from then on.

Having said that, it is most rewarding to get it right the first time because there are limitations to salvaging a brew gone wrong when tea leaves cannot unfurl sufficiently at the first contact with water.