Geoffrey Norman

Do you know what I like? Naps. I took one today, and it was glorious. But do you know what I hate? Recovering from a nap. For such a thing today, I went for a second pot o’ tea…but I didn’t want something black and migraine-inducing.

So I went for this little lovely – a step between green and white. It was peppery, light, melon-like, and a smidge on the floral side. Truthfully, I forgot I even had it, but it sure did the trick.

I went for a pint of this today with a bowl of cereal (in almond milk) and…more chocolate cake. The stuff looks like but packs quite a wallop still in the caffeine department. It’s a gold-tipped Yunnan hong cha to the core.

On this, my day of birth, I bid a fond farewell to the last of my Canton Tea Bai Lin Gong Fu. It’s last vestiges lasted two exquisitely sweet and malty pints, and put added vigor into my morning step. This newly-turned 36-year-old bids this exquisite black tea…adieu. SALUTE!

Aged. Yunnan. Gold.

If there were three more rapturous words in the English dictionary…I can’t think of them right now. It’s no secret that Yunnan Golds are probably my favorite types of black teas. What I hadn’t had, though, was an aged version. When I ordered this last week at a Chinese Garden tearoom, I was expecting a pu-erh version, but – nay – the host informed me that it was a normal hong cha, simply aged.

And it was everything it was supposed to be – honey, peppery, slightly malty, sweet, and – most importantly – winy. Dare I say, I was even tea-drunk after scores of steeps of the stuff.

The full story can be found here: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/09/28/tea-flutes-and-yellow-hatted-hoffmans/

Doomur Dullong (or Dullung?)…the name sounds Klingon. And, you know what? This tastes like something Klingons would drink. I mean that in the best possible way. It’s manly, malty, and bitterly rawhide-like on the aftertaste. You can steep the hell out of it, and it can last a good Round #2. Fitting for a tea that I found in Wyoming of all places.

My full account of that adventure can be found here: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/09/20/tea-wiles-in-the-wilds-of-wyoming/

I did not expect to run into this tea on a chance outing to a tea lounge – killing time. I came back the next day to fetch it, and promptly brewed it up that night. My gaaaaaaaaah! What a splendid white tea! It had some of the strengths imparted by regular Kenyan purple tea, but in its raw form it was more akin to Ceylon whites in character. That and it lasted a whopping six infusions non gongfu style. So glad my tea karma is this good.

A full write-up on how I came across this tea can be found here: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/09/10/solomons-purple-white-seal-of-approval/

I did a whole pot of this tea this morning. It’s a mid-bodied yet burly low-altitude Ceylon – meaning a “flowers-with-chest-hair” feel. I can’t say I paid attention to the brewing specifics, but it held up rather nicely to my abuse and neglect. More-than-passable morning cup.

Going shopping for this actually wasn’t my idea. A fellow writer/editor I know wanted to visit a Korean superstore I’d mentioned in passing. I didn’t think we’d locate this mysterious tisane she mentioned, but – lo and behold – there it was. I brewed it up that night. (It was a teabag, so no special instructions were needed.)

What to say…

The liquor smelled like Frosted Mini-Wheats and tasted like a cross between barley and buckwheat. I mean that in the best way possible. It’s not the great herbal I’ve ever tried, but in a pinch it certainly works. And I got a good story out of the deal. Can’t argue with that.

Filing this under “stuff-I-forgot-I-had-in-my-possession”. This looked very much like a Golden Bi Luo Chun – smelled like it, too. The leaves were darker, though. However, they were rolled in the same, adorable, snail-like way. Brew-wise, this actually had a lot more in common with heavier Dian Hongs, which I didn’t mind. It was woody, sweet, slightly malty, and imparting a bit of cocoa nib-like loveliness. A happy accident.

I really like Lochan Tea, and I dig the family behind it. Their Doke garden also puts out some quality stuff. I received this in a swap thanks to Tea Trade HQ. I was psyched to see that Castleton’s new Moonlight was among the teas delivered. Last year’s Moonlight was my favorite Darjeeling of 2011.

How did this measure up?

Well, I hate to be frank…but not at all. Granted, it was fair, but nowhere near the excellence of last year’s. I’m not sure if something went wrong in delivery, or if I stored it wrong…but the entire gongfu affair started off kale-like and ended up with woodiness – at best. It reminded me quite a bit of a Chinese yellow tea rather than an oolong, which is too bad.

WHAM! “Hi there.”

That’s the sort of introduction this tea gives you. Seriously.

I received this generous sample from the lovely WifeyWoman. I have a soft spot for Yunnan hong cha…but this is no soft tea. It’s a full-flavored, woody, malty, peppery kick in the face. And, by golly, this morning I needed that. Way more full-bodied than the average Dian Hong, and not as nuanced as a Yunnan Jin Cha, this occupies a Midgard populated only by manly teas.

I received this – and two other Korean green tea samples – directly from Hankook several months back. What took me so long to get to them? Um…unicorns? (I have no good reason.)

Hwang Cha instantly held my fascination because it was dubbed a “yellow” tea. However, it was not to be confused with Chinese yellow tea – Huang Ya. I’m not sure how this one is classified. Is it an oolong? Is it a black tea? I have no clue.

Point is, it’s a beast unto itself. It’s nutty, it’s sweet, it’s slightly smoky…it’s hard to classify. As are Korean green teas.

Full [fictional] write-up here: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/09/06/everybody-hwang-cha-tonight-gamnong-style/

It’s been a trying couple of weeks. It was about high time I make time to whittle down some of my tea storage. I had tried this once already as a gongfu prep, and – frankly – it did not hold up well. I don’t know if it was the leaf size (i.e. smaller pieces) or water temp, but it just didn’t work.

Today, I deferred my usual morning pot o’ black for a pot of this – done with boiling water. And – to my surprise – with a western-style prep, it was mighty tasty. Can’t say it was as nuanced as other Formosas out there, like Ali Shan, but it does offer something fruity and robust. That works for me in a pinch.

Laziness in action is having a ton of tea to choose from…and going with one you brewed yesterday. Even further laziness in action is brewing a tea tailored for icing – hot. I brewed a pot of this just as a normal tea. Strong yet smooth, lightly bergamotty, and a bit of a head-rush. Perfect for the lazy sort running on five hours of sleep on his day off.

I’ve had this stuff for quite awhile, but the only time my brother/roommate and I ever brewed it up was in order to make sun tea. While it handled that A-MURR-ican like a champ, I figured it was time to do it like the instructions said – brewed concentrate, topped off with cold water, then poured over ice.

I think I almost got it. Something tells me I brewed it a little light. However, even with my flub-up, it was still just as “exceptional” as the presumptuous name suggests.

Today, I bid adieu to the last of my 2011 Castleton Moonlight 2nd Flush. It was a good run. (sniffles) But how I part ways with it the only way I can in the summer…as a pint of iced tea. And to that end, it held up spectacularly. You were the best of the best of last year’s Darjeelings, dear Moonlight. Cue bagpipes!

ICED PU-ERH EXPERMENT: This was my second visit with this sheng (apparently?). Completely forgot I’d tried this already. However, this time – given that it was 90F outside – I decided to ice it. Yep, still works…even with an unsophisticated “A-MURR-ican” approach.

It’s not everyday that you find a Dan Cong by accident. In this case, I was trying to catalog (a travailing feat, I assure you) my canisters. I found this amidst a pu-erh canister for some reason. Naturally, I gave it a go…well…a day or two later.

It’s a very green oolong with a buttery profile, similar to Taiwanese oolongs in delivery. That and it gets even more so with each successive steep. Cream and flowers also make their mandatory appearance on the palate.

I have yet to come up with a requisite flavor profile for the Dan Congs I’ve tried. They all differ significantly. Guess I’m just going to have to stick to drooling noises.

When I pulled this out, I thought it was going to be an oolong. I mean, “Bai Chai” just sounds like an oolong-y sorta name. Surprised me that I was looking at a needle-thin green tea. I should read more.

Anyway…the liquor was clear and the taste alternated between grass and grape. Very close to Long Jing, methought.

Yet another one from the inventory archive. I had no idea I still had this, and it had been on mothballs for at least half a year. This was a Keemun from the 2011 Spring Harvest, but I had never opened the sample. Results? This was one of the maltiest Keemuns I’ve ever tasted. Sure, the requisite sweetness was there, but it brewed amber and pounded the tongue with burliness. I guess that’s what happens when you forge-…er, I mean, “age” a Keemun.

I didn’t know I had this until I was going through my cupboard. Nor did I know what to make of it – was it a sheng pu-erh or a shou? I couldn’t tell. On smell, it seemed cooked. On taste…things get dicey. If it’s a shou, then it’s a very good shou. If it’s a sheng, it needs work. But it lasts quite a few infusions…and it woke me up plenty. So, I guess that’s something.

This is another custom blend from my blogger buddy – Teaconomics. Took me awhile to get a write-up about it done and to issue the proper feedback. Like the Taiga blend, this was smoky but with an underpinning of…something else. Hard to describe but easy to taste. And it’s smoky…I love smoke. I just do.

Full Review: http://lazyliteratus.teatra.de/2012/07/24/a-tiger-in-the-taiga/

Oooooooh man. Now this is what I think about when I hear the words “Dan Cong”. The flavor is tart, slightly nutty, sweet, and with an added dash of butter. It tastes more like an aged Dan Cong than a young ‘un, probably the result of using old growth trees for the batch. Not quite up there with the aged Dan Congs I’ve tried, but pretty darn close.

I just got these in the mail – a couple of new Dan Congs from Canton Tea. Took me about a week to finally get to them, though. I had been so entrenched in Darjeelings of late, I neglected all other forms. So, I dusted off my trusty gaiwan and gave this a go.

They weren’t kidding when they said it was a floral and buttery oolong. On a blind taste-test, I would’ve thought this was a Taiwanese varietal. It’s very Li Shan-ish in some respects, minus the sweetness. Butter and flowers (lotus blossom, maybe?) dominate the profile. Normally, I would subject each infusion to their own notes, but the flavors remained fairly consistent throughout.

It’s not as tart as aged Dan Congs (which I like), but it’s still quite exquisite.