2015 Medium Roast Ben Shan Oolong - Fancy Grade

As one of our regulars told me today during our morning rush, "I may not know about art, but I know what art I like." To some extent, that is how I feel about tea. I'm constantly learning - for this weekend's upcoming "Drunk on Darjeeling" tasting, I've been pouring over old and new texts, websites, and drinking LOTs of tea. Yet, when I read something new I throw up my hands and exclaim - "I don't know anything!"

Perhaps that is why Camellia sinensis is so fascinating.

So, in prep for the Darjeeling tasting, I thought why not drink a Ben Shan Oolong?!? No, really, I've had so much Darjeeling I had to switch it up. I really like Yunnan Sourcing and their teas, and as I was digging around for what to drink this afternoon I settled on their 2015 Medium Roast Ben Shan Oolong - Fancy Grade. I bought this tea last year for the cafe, and it went over really well with customers. Roasted for 10 hours, this Ben Shan has a nice, complex aroma of chestnuts with fruit - perhaps peach or some other summer fruit. The flavor of the liquor is not at all to roasty, and the orange color sets it apart from a Tiequanyin.

The tightly rolled leaves before being touched by water.

I would bet that most people could not differentiate between a Ben Shan and a Tiequanyin if both were roasted to the same level and came from the same county or province. I know I couldn't - or at least not yet. However, there are a few things that one can use to help distinguish the two: the leaves of a Ben Shan are often coarser or thicker than those of a Tiequanyin; you often don't get quite the orange liquor with a Tiequanyin that you do with a Ben Shan; and historically Ben Shan was a greener oolong while Tiequanyin was a darker oolong (although now and in this case, it is the other way around).

During the third steeping, the leaves being to finally open.

This year's Medium Roast Ben Shan Oolong is basically the same as last year - delicious. I'm hesitant to go into descriptors because there are too many variables involved: the water, my mood, my constitution, and so forth. Like my friend told me earlier in the day, "I know what I like." And really, is that not all that matters?

6 steepings in and this Ben Shan is still delivering. It could probably go a couple more steepings, and over the course of the afternoon I will continue to enjoy it. Really, though, the point of this post is not to review the tea - I don't believe I have the qualifications for that - but to share and ruminate on this variety of Se Chung Oolong. It is very good, and makes me aware of how much more I have to learn!

 Still delicious after 6 steepings...

A Ben Shan leaf unrolled.

2002 Six Famous Tea Mountain You Le Gu Cha - Sheng Puerh

Yesterday, a friend showed up at work and we quickly dropped in to talking about tea. He mentioned having tried an amazing puerh recently, one with incredible cha qi, or energy. I was inspired to share some delicious tea with him, so I rummaged around in our archive and pulled out a 2002 Six Famous Tea Mountain You Le Gu Cha. Being a generous person, I gave him the rest of the beeng cha (pressed disk) to enjoy. I kept a bit myself, and now I'm drinking it and posting about it here.

However, before we get to the tea I want to highlight something first.

Brick Tea

This tea "serves both for drink and food. The Chinese carry on a great trade in it, but never drink it themselves. In the tea manufactories, which are for the most part in the Chinese government of Fokien, the dry, dirty, and damaged leaves and stalks of the tea are thrown aside, they are then mixed with a glutinous substance pressed into moulds, and dried in ovens. These blocks are called by the Russians, on account of their shape, brick tea." The Kalmucks and inhabitants of Siberia, "take a piece of this tea, pound it in a mortar made on purpose, and throw the powder into a cast iron vessel, full of boiling water, adding a little salt and milk, and sometimes mixing flour fried in oil. This tea, or broth, is known by the name of Satouran." This brick tea serves also instead of money in the dealings of these people. - Timkowski's Mission to China.

This fascinating quote comes from the Dublin Penny Journal, Vol. 2 (89), p. 296, which was published in 1834. Digging around, George Timkowski turns out to have written an account of his travels to Russia and China, which was published as "Travels of the Russian Mission through Mongolia to China, and Residence in Peking, in the years 1820-1821." Although I like old books and old travel narratives, that is really not the point here - this is a post about what we call today pu-erh (puerh) tea. I love puerh tea, and despite it being one of the more confusing "types" of tea, I love drinking and delving into its history and nature.

Above is a photo of some of the puerh we have stored and aging. Cooked, raw - shou and sheng. But right now, I'm fascinated with the above quote; what is this tea described by Timkowski? My understanding of puerh - a brief, incomplete one at that - is that it originated partly as a result of trade requirements on the Silk Road. Putting 10lbs of fresh tea on a camel's back and trekking from China over the Tibetan Plateau towards the West would not prove to be economical. The tea would be too bulky, and by the time it got anywhere, it would be stale and probably not taste well. Taking the fresh leaves, however, and pressing them tightly together into "bricks" was developed as a result, proving to be an easy, economical, and efficient way to transport large quantities of tea West. That is what is described above, but it is certainly not what I know of as puerh! So, what is it? I can't find any mention or discussion of this type of tea or hei cha. Was it the original bullet proof coffee? I would be really interested in learning more about this tea and what the glutinous substance was. It just goes to show, my lack of knowledge if far greater then my knowledge of tea. But, on to the tea that is subject of this post - a 2002 Six Famous Tea Mountain You Le Gu Cha.

2002 Six Famous Tea Mountain You Le Gu Cha

Here is what I (think I) know - the Six Famous Tea Mountain Factory was formed in 2002 by a former Menghai Tea Factory manager Ruan Dian Rong. This You Le Gu Cha may or may not be their first puerh - I'm sure they produced several different puerh's during their first year. However, it is from their first year in production, which makes it very exciting. From the photos, it is easy to tell that it is a sheng by the color of the leaves after being steeped.

I'm a believer in lots of tea, quick steeps. Using 185 degree water, I did steeps at 15 seconds to 30 seconds. All turned out beautifully, and this tea was a pleasure to drink over the afternoon. With a classic sheng aroma of deep raw earth and aged, suede leather smells the liquor had a light mouth feel that primarily tantalized the middle and back of the mouth. A touch of sour was noted, with a slight oilish coating over the tongue, I really enjoyed this raw puerh, and I noticed an immediate cha qi (or caffeine hit) from the tea. Overall, a perfect tea for a busy Sunday afternoon at work.

 The raw leaves broken away from the beeng cha.

After the initial rinse, freshened but still closed and tight.

The first steeping - ~20 seconds.

The leaves starting to open - note the green color of a true sheng.

Fourth steeping - ~20 seconds again. Fully open, this puerh proved to be delicious from first to last steeping. 

The leaves fully open - they almost look like fresh green leaves even after 13 years of aging!

About Me

Hi,

Thanks for reading Golden Tea Colorado and for stopping by. I'm a tea buyer and tea fanatic. I buy tea for Trident Booksellers and Cafe, located in Boulder, Colorado. This is my own personal blog about tea, and is not tied to the Trident. 

The purpose behind this blog is to share my journey as a tea buyer and taster with the larger world of tea drinkers. I've been in the coffee and tea business for 20 years, and over that time I have tasted many, many teas. Likewise, as a buyer, I have to balance and select teas not only based on my personal preference, but also on what we need at the cafe. 

So, this blog will have lots on tea tasting, but also on how to buy tea for a busy and established cafe. How to budget and balance having a comprehensive tea selection that one can offer to customers at a reasonable price. Likewise, how I go about educating our customers about tea, how I host tea tastings, and so forth. 

I'll be honest, I'm not an expert. The world of tea is so vast, nuanced, and complex that to be a true expert requires many, many years of hands on experience. I don't have that - yet. What I do have is over 20 years of experience in the coffee and tea business. A passion about tea and a thirst for knowledge around tea. And, of course, a desire to drink tea - lots and lots of it.

Feel free to shoot me an email, or better yet, leave a comment. I hope that this blog, if anyone ever reads it, will prove to be fun to follow as well as educational. If you ever want to stop by the Trident and talk, I'm always open for a chat and tea session. 

Cheers,

Peter