Saturday Morning Tea

Jan9

Good morning and Happy New Year, dear tea friends! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season. I’m feeling full of hope, with a generous dollop of joy thrown in, as we start this brand new year. How about you?

A China white tea, called Pai Mu Tan Special Grade Organic, graces my cup this morning. Its plucking is of the new leaf shoot, or bud, plus the top two leaves. Pai Mu Tan, or Bai Mudan, translates to “white peony,” some say because of the shape of the leaves, others because of its fragrance.

Many folks ask, “what is the difference between a green tea and a white tea?” After all, look at the leaf in the photo above. It’s green, right? Well, it’s all in the processing of the leaf. Whereas green tea leaves are heated up pretty much right away, whether steamed or pan fried, for example, to halt the oxidation of the leaf, white tea leaves are allowed to wither naturally in the sun, sometimes for several days. So, the leaves aren’t heated to halt oxidation. In fact, after withering, the leaves are piled and allowed to oxidize a little bit before they are baked to dry the leaves out for packing and transport.

I steeped the leaves for 3 minutes in 180F water. A gentle, sweet fragrance wafted up from my glass teapot as the leaves released their flavor into the water.

The tea liquor is the light golden color of the morning sky right before the sun breaks the horizon.

A ripe melon note is present in both the aroma and the silky smooth flavor. A lovely tea that’s sweet, fruity and light.

Bits of down from the white hair on the tea leaf float in my tea bowl.

Outside my window, thick, winter white clouds sprinkle down a fine, damp mist, foretelling of the wind and rain storm expected here tomorrow. It’s a good weekend to stay inside, wrapped in a cozy blanket with a hot cup of tea in hand. I just started a new knitting project I’ll work on, a jasper green cardigan sweater with cables for myself. I love new projects!

“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. And on a quiet day, if you really listen, you can hear her breathing.” ~Arundhati Roy

Saturday Morning Tea

Dec5

Good morning, dear tea friends! On this crisp, early December morning, there’s not a cloud in the clear blue sky, and I’m enjoying a Pu-Erh tea in my cup. This particular selection, called Pu-Erh Tuo Cha Std., has been compressed into little birds’ nests shapes, called tuo cha. As you can see, each tuo cha is neatly wrapped in paper.

Each tuo cha will make 2 cups of tea so I had to break them up a bit to measure for my 3-cup glass teapot. I used one full tuo cha and one half tuo cha. I steeped for 6 minutes in 212F water.

Traditionally, Pu-erh teas are created from leaves harvested in the ancient tea forests of Yunnan province in China. There are two different kinds of Pu-erh tea, raw (Sheng) and cooked (Shou). This Pu-Erh is of the cooked (Shou) variety.

Cooked Pu-Erh goes through a “composting” step during its processing. The leaves are piled into heaps, much like a compost pile, creating a heat in its core and transforming the leaves into this unique tea. Compressed forms of tea have been produced in China for hundreds of years. It was the most common form transported on the ancient caravan routes because it was less susceptible to physical damage and easier to transport.

The tea liquor is a dark, opaque brown, with a sweet, earthy aroma. The flavor is velvety smooth, with notes of earth, autumn leaves and a dark sweetness, like molasses or dark brown sugar. As the tea cools, it gets even sweeter.

To conserve on heat, I keep my house pretty cool. I rely on my tea to warm me up and this tea did a great job of that. I’m going to the movies with my grandkids today, always a special treat to spend time with them! When I return home, I’ll put on some holiday jazz music and finish decorating the tree. I love this festive time of year. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy your tea!

Heaven or Hell, love or hate

No matter where I turn

I meet myself.

Holding life is precious is

Just living with all intensity

Holding life precious.

~Kosho Uchiyama Roshi

Saturday Morning Tea

Nov21

Good morning, dear tea friends! It’s a bright, cold November day today as we near Thanksgiving, a time to gather with family and friends to give thanks for all of the abundance in our lives. I think it’s especially important to focus on all that’s good in our lives what with the frightening events happening in the world. I’m thankful for a hot cup of tea on a cold morning and for all of you to share it with.

In my cup this morning is a China black tea from Yunnan province, called Yunnan Rare Grade. Composed of downy, golden tips, this tea is rich and inviting.

I stepped out of the box a little bit and steeped the leaves for 6 minutes in boiling point (212F) water. I love how you can see the fine golden hairs even under water.

The twisted tips release slightly after steeping, giving off a warm aroma with just a hint of cocoa. The tea itself has a toasty aroma.

The beautiful dark-amber liquor is sooooo smooth with notes of biscuit/toast and hints of cocoa, which reveal themselves more as the tea cools. I feel this tea is inviting me to experiment with how long I can push its steep time.

I’m comfortably settling in to my new home, one unpacked box at a time, and am looking forward to creating a special area in my dining room to display my tea bowl collection.

Until our next cup of tea, I leave you with one of my favorite poems. Have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Morning Poem

Every morning the world is created. Under the orange

sticks of the sun the heaped ashes of the night turn into leaves again.

and fasten themselves to the high branches—and the ponds appear like black cloth on which are painted islands

of summer lilies. If it is your nature to be happy you will swim away along the soft trails

for hours, your imagination alighting everywhere. And if your spirit carries within it

the thorn that is heavier than lead—if it’s all you can do to keep on trudging—

there is still somewhere deep within you a beast shouting that the earth is exactly what it wanted—

each pond with its blazing lilies is a prayer heard and answered lavishly, every morning,

whether or not you have ever dared to be happy, whether or not you have ever dared to pray.

~Mary Oliver

Saturday Morning Tea

Oct10

Good morning, dear tea friends! Since we last shared a cup of tea together, I’ve moved again. This is my fourth move in a little over a decade. Moving does seem to be a part of my life’s path, and I’m trying my best to embrace it. Again. That’s a story for another time, however. Today’s story is about a well-known and well-loved tea from China, a green tea called Pi Lo Chun Imperial.

The name Pi Lo Chun translates to “green snail spring”, so named because the leaf is rolled into spiral shapes resembling snail shells. I have read that they roll the leaf this way to retain its freshness.

I steeped the leaves for 3 minutes in 180F water. The water turned murky as the silvery dust released from the tippy leaf.

As I lifted the infuser from my glass teapot, a sweet, vegetal fragrance was released.

The leaves were loosely rolled so steeping released them into their original leaf bud shape.

The golden yellow tea liquor has a fresh buttery mouth feel with notes of sweet melon and flowers and sea-grassy vegetal hints.

As I sip my tea, I gaze out the window at the colorful autumn leaves swaying in the breeze and think about change. The change of seasons. The changes in one’s life. The change from a spiral shaped leaf to a delicious cup of tea.

Thanks for your patience with my sporadic tea posts as I get used to this newest change in my life. Enjoy your tea!

Saturday Morning Tea

Aug29

Good morning, dear tea friends! As August winds down and we head into the cooler days of September, I’ve chosen a contemplative tea for my cup this morning. I’ve been experiencing a lot of change in my life recently, I’m sure you’ve all known a time like that in your own lives, where everything seems to be happening at once. Anyway, I’ve made a pot of a China white tea called Organic White Silver Needle, to help me slow down and unwind so I can get in touch with that inner place.

This tea is made up of just unopened leaf buds, the baby growth on the tea bush. The buds undergo a minimal amount of processing and are dried in sunlight.

I steeped the buds for 4 minutes in 180F water.

Each bud is covered in soft white hairs that give it a silvery appearance. After steeping, the now sleek hairs reveal more detail on the buds.

The aroma is delicate and sweet with a whisper of melon.

The pale straw-colored tea liquor is light and sweet yet it has a very solid mouth feel. Fruity hints like melon and nutty hints like pistachio glide across my palate in a silky smooth dance.