Open mike: Pu Erh or other smashing Chinese black tea!

Since I can't get anyone to post on teas, let me try this way. Open mike! Come on, Chinese black teas are everywhere and Pu Erh is even available widely. I hope you'll join me in posting a note or two over the next week or so?

-O-

[James Roscoe]

Otto, I've decided to jump on the "good" tea bandwagon. I'll see what I can do.

[Robin Garr]

Good idea! I don't know if I can find Pu Ehr locally, but Chinese black should be easy.

Here's a copy of a post of mine from 2003 on the old forum:

Just started to explore the wild world of tea after bringing some first rate Jasmine tea home from Beijing recently. I ordered this Pu-Erh from Ten-Ren Tea in New York. Came in 3 days even though I chose to ship it cheapest method.

This is an intriguing reddish color. Smells a little earthy and sea-weedy. Flavor is smokey, earthy, leather and a little sea weed. An almost sweet after taste. I've never had this before and like it very much. My wife, however finds the earth/leather/sea-weed thing vile.

On the other hand, I also ordered some osmanthus oolong. This is a lovely pale green color, very fragrant with a flowery (different than Jasmine) aroma and flavor. It is a very crisp clean flavor with a flowery aftertaste which is quite pleasant. We both enjoy this one.

Howard

I still love and drink both the pu erh and osmanthus oolong.

Yeah, I can take part but have to be mid-week coming up. What is the Musar of teas?

Now that it's getting cooler, my interest turns to Lapsang Souchong, a smokey black tea with a fascinating history. Once brewed, it's a mellow but rich drink.

I buy my teas from Moon's Coffee & Tea in Albuquerque. The proprietor is a delightful Korean woman and she has a website for ordering: http://www.thuntek.net/coffeemoons/moonsite.html
Review: http://www.dukecityfix.com/food.php?itemid=293

One of my favorites from Moon's is Monk's Blend.

All my teas are Chinese Black teas except for one that is a semi-fermented one from Taipai. Don't care for that Southern Asian stuff.

Yeah, I can take part but have to be mid-week coming up. What is the Musar of teas?

I believe I've before reported that the Musar of teas is Pu Erh!!!!

Today at work I was sipping a generic Pu Erh without a vintage dating. It was earthy, shitty, funky and Musary on the nose. The palate was smooth and watery like lower end Pu Erhs tend to be. It was nothing special but was very drinkable indeed.

Pu Erh is, I beleive, doubly fermented which gives it its unique, but for some (and me) delightfully complex and lovable decomposing flavour. It is supposed to be very healthy: it lowers cholestrol and decreases the feeling of hunger, etc. ad inf. I wonder if any proper studies have been made on whether this is a truly health enforcing tea or not. But who cares, as I love the taste and especially the scent! I've got some Emperor Pu Erh vintage 2000 coming up and possibly a tea cake of 2005 also!

Does anyone know if vintages of Pu Erh are as variable as with wines? Or is the dating, as in the case of some beers, more a matter of seeing whether it is ready to drink or not?

[Robin Garr]

Today at work I was sipping a generic Pu Erh without a vintage dating.

Okay, I am still a Pu Erh virgin, but will shortly be deflowered ... I went out to a big Chinese supermarket (Da Hua) today and was able to find some. It's long-leaf, not a brick, not a vintage, but the shopkeeper said it's a good brand. Made from Yunnan leaves but packaged in California, hmm. I hope it's a good example.

Anyway, I have an errand or two to run first but will taste my first cup in an hour or so. Stand by for TTNs!

Robin,

Good to hear you found some Pu Erh! Even generic Pu Erhs tend to have the true Pu Erh character to them, so I'm quite certain you'll appreciate it. Or not, if you're afraid of shit. Looking forward to the TTNs, -O-

[Robin Garr]

I'm quite certain you'll appreciate it. Or not, if you're afraid of shit.

Hey, I love Burgundy, red Rhones and Musar. 'nuff said!

Looking forward to the TTNs, -O-

Will be tomorrow, I guess ... I got too busy to pay proper attention to a cup today.

The Emperor of Pu'Erh Vintage 2000 is brilliant. Earthier and more complex than the plain Pu'Erh. The palate especially is nice: smooth yet structured, earthy and with a long aftertaste. Yum!

[Robin Garr]

I hope you'll join me in posting a note or two over the next week or so?

Okay, I'm sipping my first Pu-Erh. I like it, but since I'm not really a tea geek, I'm not at all sure whether I made it properly, or if I have the language to describe it (except by using wine-geek methods and terminology. )

This was TenFu brand tea, which appears to be the same as TenRen, an international brand of Chinese tea, distributed by Uncle Lee's Tea Inc. of South El Monte, Calif., which I believe to be a heavily Asian suburb of Los Angeles. It came in a very attractive and sturdy package, a cardboard box containing a heavy cardboard cylinder with metal ends, and within that a vacuum-sealed heavy foil bag containing the leaves. The 150 gram (5 ounce) portion cost $4.49 at Da Hua, a big Asian supermarket in Louisville. The dry leaves are black and rather hard and have a nice grassy scent with a delicate "barnyard" (but not fecal) scent that's complex and appealing.

We made tea by steeping about 2 tablespoons of Pu-Ehr leaves in about 2 cups of water just below the boil - maybe 95C. I poured off a first cup after steeping for only 1 minute, then let it continue and took a second cup after 4-5 minutes.

The first cup was very delicate, as you might expect from a short steep, but it was far from watery. In the cup it was a pretty color, rather reddish-copper and very clear. The aroma was vegetal with an earthy, fermented flavor that, with a little willing suspension of disbelief, really does relate to old Burgundy in a way, or maybe I'm just letting my imagination run away with me? Its flavors are delicate and consistent with the nose. I like it!

A second cup, allowed to steep several minutes longer, was much darker in color, still clear but now reddish bronze. Curiously, I don't find that the aromas or flavors are much more concentrated, but the tea is distinctly more bitter and tannic. I think a short steep is probably best to enjoy the earthy subtlety of Pu Ehr.

But maybe I'm doing it all wrong. Any tips, Otto and others? Am I on the right track? It's good stuff, one might almost say it rocks. But it does make me want to find some more "challenging" Pu Erh. Ten Ren sells a lot of varieties online, and so does Upton.

Here's a link to an Upton page with links to informative pages on eight kinds of pu-erh

This is Ten Ren's index page to many pu-erh teas

Robin,

Thanks for the note! I haven't tried this producer of Pu Erh so I can't comment on all the points. I do prefer it steeped also at c.95C. At this temperature I've never noticed that it would get bitter or too tannic even with a long steeping. Might these be just differences between producers?

From what I've heard from friends of mine, all Pu Erh seems to be challenging. But as you like Musar, maybe you're already used to it! But if you can, find some vintage dated, especially a brick if you can. They are similar in profile, but all the edges seem to just fall in place and become sublime. Tea bricks of up to 10 YO can be found for a rather moderate price. I'm hoping I can soon get a brick of any vintage at all to put up one more note!

[Robin Garr]

But as you like Musar, maybe you're already used to it!

I think so! If anything, I think this Pu Erh was on the mild side. I did like its flavor, but it's delicate, not too strong.

But if you can, find some vintage dated, especially a brick if you can. They are similar in profile, but all the edges seem to just fall in place and become sublime. Tea bricks of up to 10 YO can be found for a rather moderate price. I'm hoping I can soon get a brick of any vintage at all to put up one more note!

I think I'll order one from Upton ... they have a wide variety, and the prices are not unreasonable. Maybe I'll order something now ...

[Robin Garr]

I'm hoping I can soon get a brick of any vintage at all to put up one more note!

Okay, I just ordered some Pu Erh teas from both Ten Ren and Upton. I'm going to be a Pu Erh maniac when this is all over!

Anyway, Otto, I notice that Ten Ren will make international shipments including Finland. The shipping costs might be prohibitive but you could check it out. Click ...
Shipping_Policies
and then page down to "International Shipping."

Not a big fan of Pu....

I am a fan of Assam and Assam Tippy, good Darjeeling, Gunpowder, Keemun, a nice tarry smoky Lapsang, and a few others.

Had a very interesting brew up of Fujian 'Flowery Pekoe White Silver' from a client (at $380 a pound Can. I was glad he was paying) awhile ago.

Due to the very large Asian population in Vancouver, we are very well served in terms of variety of teas available to us.

I had the pleasure to enjoy this fascinating tea at the end of an almost 6 hour long (!) dinner at what might be Sweden's best reastaurant "Oaxen krog", located on an island off the east coast, just south of Stockholm. A truly amazing restaurant. I did not take any notes while drinking this tea and, as can be understood, I was kind of exhausted form the long, splendid dinner, so these notes, taken from my memory are not very detailed, nor maybe entirely accurate. BTW, as an indication of the class of the restaurant, one can note that after the dinner, we were given the choice of at least 7 different coffees and more than 10 teas.

Pu Er en vrac n°8 1968
Rather light in colour and with a powerful scent for which I can find no better description than the smell of decomposition. Old leaves, old cardboard and a rather vegetal note of a pile of cut grass that has been left compact for a while until the center of it sort of starts to ferment. One person described the smell as exactly like on the attic of their 19th century house. I'd describe it more like an old Bordeaux than a Bourgogne.
A fascinating experience and my first really exclusive Pu Erh and what a tea to start the exploration of Pu Erh with! In fact, a while after drinking the tea, I felt a bit less tired, maybe revigourated by the tea!
I think this tea was delivered by La Maison des Trois Thés in Paris. I have tried to find their website, but in vane. Next time I'm in Paris, I will try to visit their shop.
BTW, does anyone know what the term en vrac means?

Cheers, Anders

[Robin Garr]

BTW, does anyone know what the term en vrac means?

Intriguing report, Anders, thanks! I have some more "serious" Pu Erh coming and look forward to tasting it.

In Southern France, as you may know, the <i>vrac</i> is a bulk wine dispenser, where locals drive up to a winery and dispense wine into jugs and larger containers from a system that looks very much like an auto gasoline pump! It is hard to see how this applies to tea, but - just guessing - maybe this means that the tea is steeped in quantity, then dispensed?

Robin, my impression is that "en vrac" means tea leaves sold loose in a box or other container, as opposed to in tea bags. "en vrac" in French is "in bulk" in English -- similar to your reference to wine "in bulk".

A local French speciality shop uses the form "XYZ tea (100 grams) en vrac" for example, and shows a picture of the tea leaves from XYZ tea.

my impression is that "en vrac" means tea leaves sold loose in a box or other container, as opposed to in tea bags.

Bob, You might be quite right here, though I think that these tea leaves are sold lose, packed in boxes, as opposed, not to tea bags, but to the round cakes that Pu Erh teas are compressed into for further storage. It makes sense since our waiter mentioned that these teas are sold either as solid cakes or in boxes containing loose leaves that are chopped from the cakes by the vendor just before packing.
Anders

I searched the internet a bit more and among others this link came up:
http://pu-erh.net/. Lots of information about Pu Erh here, as well in many of the links on the page.
Cheers, Anders[/url]

I haven't seen the solid cakes of tea, Anders, thats very interesting. Thanks for broadening my knowledge.

Anders, thanks for the note and the link! I am so envious - I've never tasted anything older than the 2000 that I just reported on. I wish I could visit the restaurant (and have someone pay the dinner for me, LOL!!).