25 Tasting Notes
Muji porcelain teapot
2 heaped t
95-100º C;
steeped 3min
Green! ranging from white to ash green and various shades of brown. Plenty of thinly twist-rolled, hair covered leaves.
Amber liquor. Beautiful brilliant clarity. Nutty sweet aroma. Easy to drink, light, spring fills mouth.
Multiple infusions (5m, 6m, etc) until sweet water
1g in 120ml gaiwan lasted 3 days drinking it per:
http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-simplest-way-to-enjoy-cup-of-dan.html
1, preheat utensils (cup or pot)with boiling water
2, add dry leaves IMMEDIATELY upon emptying and cover lid
3, shake utensil in circular motion (not up and down) occasionally for 1 minute
http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-time-good-brew-without-timer.html
dry leaves gave up the smell of peaches & nuts
tasted like http://www.teanerd.com/2009/03/2008-da-wu-ye-jiang-hua-xiang-dancong.html
“Fragile ginger flavor and a sweet aftertaste”
“Gentle brewing seems to help with this tea”; so my mindless random steeping times led sometimes to astringency
“wonderfully delicate … not the most complex or the most powerful tea, but it does not waver in its subtlety or clarity of flavor.*
“Phoenix tea is one of the most difficult tea to brew. No matter a light, medium or high fired; aged, new harvested; Ming Cong, plantation; High mountain, low river side; Rock based, or just plain red earth….etc. " teachat Postby TIM » Jan 7th, ’09, 16:20
http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-brew-dan-cong.html
Kingdom :
宋種 (Song zhong) varietals = 鳳凰 (Feng huang)
Phylum :
水仙 (Shui xian)
Class (by quality) :
1) 单枞 (Dan cong), meaning single bush, is the highest grade due to careful selection from the vast number of Phoenix Shui Xian trees. In the past, these single bushes were harvested and processed one tree at a time. Today, single bush processing is still very much practicing and strong, averaging 3 lbs production per tree, the tea doesn’t travel out of the country across the sea much, if at all.
2) 浪菜 (Lang cai), good grade of fresh leaves were used, and processing is slightly more complicated during the fermentation step than for Shui Xian.
3) 水仙 , low grade of fresh leaves. and less careful processing.
http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2007/12/get-to-know-phoenix-tea-2.html
http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2008/01/get-to-know-phoenix-dan-cong-3-naming.html
20g tea
yixing
5s
Oily mouthfeel
Shellfish
Smells of dry, fresh forest & something almost flowery sweet
10s
Disappeared mouthfeel
Tea is strong, warmth travelling noticeably all the way to the stomach
and sitting there (where is the qi? is it there?)
20s
Return of the oily mouthfeel
The sweet note in the smell is that of sweet rice
Which also seems to be the flavour of the very light huigan
The qi is up the back of the spinal cord, to the base of the brain, & hovers above that like a pillow of air or earmuffs around back of the head and ears
45s
Seaweed and sweetest rice
1m
Delicious sweet rice
More enjoyable mouthfeel: full without being oily
2m
I could drink this tea all day
4m 6m overnight
20g tea
yixing
Airy & sweet filament cotton candy
Ba bao fan (八宝饭) or 豆沙粽子 ( Bamboo leaf wrapped young rice with red bean paste)
Tea eggs
Rich, creamy mouth
Immediate huigan
wonderful Wuyi seaweed on amongst warm rocks smell
Preparation
20g tea (suggested 7g / 85ml)
yixing
newly whittled stick
roasted (chest?)nut (barley? millet?)
summer on a northern coast:
forest giving way to cliff, overlooking dried seaweed on warm rocks and strewn through warm sand
qi is upward, a little much like a big, overexcited, jumpy puppy
Preparation
1 heaping tea scoop
~300ml 原矿紫砂 zini yixing
gongfu
warmed pot, added leaves and smell of tea = smoke in the face by a big gust of wind
1) pours at
5sec: smoke again, being outside on a rainy, autumn day
thick mouth, changing flavours not fast, rather practiced & leisurely
+5sec: salt
+10sec: qi is relaxing, a massage on the shoulders
the hotter the tea, the more downward the qi
cooler, qi is upward, meditative travelling in head
2) 5, 10, 10
less complex changing of flavours, more dominant first
mouth feel is rounder, follows shape of a long moustache
3) 10, 20, xx
huigan
then a hit of salt
smell of leaves is pure smoke
then earth overturned exposing buried leaves, insect life etc
4) minutes
sweet water
5) minutes, 20min,
30min smokiness is back
Preparation
First steep:
2 heaping tea scoops
Muji
gongfu
wash
untimed pours (many)
Second steep in pint glass
after ~8 hours
lightly sugared
left overnight
citrus, not lemon or orange, maybe grapefruit
hiking through rain over earth and leaves towards a welcoming smoke from a cabin chimney
Flavors: Camphor, Citrus, Earth, Peat Moss