16 teas and a hang over

The past Saturday was a special day for me. We celebrated our 2nd year anniversary with lots tea. Although 2 years is relatively short, but it is something to be thankful for during a time like this. I am sure the 10th anniversary would be something to look forward to. At the mean time, I am grateful for all the supports you have given us! :D

A few tea heads i refer to as drinking buddies and myself drank like fishes for a day. 16 teas in total from 11:30 till closing.

Huo La Cha - Fire Spice 09
She Men - She Entrance 09
Zu Ye - Bamboo Leaf 09
Da WU Ye - Big Dark Leaf 08
Zhi Lan Xiang - Cattleya Orchid Fragrance 08
Hong Cha Tou 04
Huang Zhi Xiang - Orange Blossom 08
Song Zhong Jai 09
Song Zhong #4 08
Ping Jai Tou Qi Zhong - Unusual Varietal 07
Mo Li Xiang - Jasmine Fragrance 09
Jiang Hua Xiang - Ginger Flower Fragrance 08
Jiang Mu Xiang - Ginger Flower Fragrance 09
Honey Orchid Gold Medalist #1 08
Hai Mei Zhan 98
Gui Hua Xiang - Osmanthus Fragrance 09

After drinking 9 or so Dan Congs, I was quite drunk. Using Roy's friend Thi's words, my consciousness was push out of my body. At a subconscious, spirit out of the body period, my palate was able to identify 2 most outstanding teas out of the 16. Mo Li Xiang - Jasmine and Jiang Mu Xiang - mother tree of Ginger Flower. I had no recognition of the aroma and taste at that point. But the creamy texture and fullness sets them apart.
(I bought a jasmine plant last week unintentionally. This is the first bloom today. Although the Jasmine Dan Cong isn't scented with Jasmine flowers like the "Jasmine tea". It seems appropriate that it blooms as we sip a cup of Mo Li - Jasmine Dan Cong.)

The Mo Li-Jasmine DC leaves are particularly beautiful, even size, nicely rolled with a sheen of shine, very tender leaves of even redness-sign of even fermentation. The aroma is beautiful as well. It's a master piece. I called today intend to hog the rest of the stock, only is too late. All sold out I was told. Oh well, there will be next year, there will be others. A few trees are coming soon tho, I hogged a few trees this time. Plus a reward for my 3 years of hard work, 1/2 a pound of my teacher's private reserve.
Mo Li - Jasmine DC:


2 years ago, one of the nicest Dan Cong I had was Chuan Du Lao Ming Cong, 1 of the top 10 most famous trees of Phoenix Mountain. I had a brew of it again today, the aroma and sweetness sipped through every cells of my body. It reminds me what is excellence among the excellence. Well, this secret private stash of my teacher's is way better than Chuan Du Lao Ming Cong according to him. The tone he used when describing the tea sounded like a lover melting in a lover's arms. That's some serious love shown by a mature Chinese man. In case you are not familiar with Chinese culture, males hardly if ever show their love/feminine sides. I wish they have wings and fly my way this instance!

Saturday was the drunkest I have ever been from tea. I couldn't sleep till 3:30 and woke up with a hang over at 7:45. My head was light, my steps were cloudy, my consciousness was still out of my body till I went to the gym and had a steam in the oven. Dopey...

Tea session

I am in the mood for a full on tea session today. All the necessary gears are out. Orchids and fresh cut peony flowers add a nice touch to the environment. The fragrance is well liked by passersby. It's much healthier than incense and oils.

4 seasons and tea - Spring

Spring, after a winter long of saving energy, it's time to sprout, "spring" out from the enclosures. Flowers bloom, creation of seeds. It's the energy of creation, vitality and life. Because of this energy, Spring teas are particularly alive and active. Youngsters in teens and 20's are also considered "spring" in human life span. Therefore the energy of a young person and Spring teas goes hand in hand, hence you'll find younger people handle fresh green/green oolong teas better than matured people. People in 50's and 60's, on the other hand may find the energy too active, tell tails are stomach upset, break outs, increase heart beats.

Assuming we live 80 (national average) years, divide 80 by 4, each 20 years is a season. However, human has the potential to live 120 to 140 years. So 20 to 30 years is a season in human life depending on the person's health condition. In Chinese medicine terms, what keeps the body alive is Qi and blood, Qi is the energy that pushes blood circulating. Qi is stronger at younger age, as we all know younger people are more energetic.

Many customers of mine asked me why do they have upset stomachs after drinking green teas, and the outrage is "If green tea is so good for you, why do I get upset stomach?" The mass population follow the most current trends, when the media say green is so and so good for health, they must be good for everybody equally. However it isn't true. Each body is different from another, it's different from it's own at each season, each mood, each hour of the day, each stress we face. The media also show science results of selected teas, not all teas by season, region, grade, type, and age. The results are measured base on a standard condition, rather than suitability of a human body condition at various times.

When it comes to selecting a tea, there isn't a best tea for health. There is better tea by grade, but not for health. Therefore green tea is not the best tea out of all for health as most customers of mine assumed. I tell my customers not one tea is suitable for everybody. Select a type that your body agrees with. Our bodily mechanism is much more intelligent than our own brain when it comes to health and what is better for our body.

4 seasons and tea

Most of us are aware of the characteristics of 4 seasons, the changes that impact how we live, how we dress, how the surroundings changes along, trees, water flow, animal behaviors, etc..

We tea drinkers also have seasonal craving of teas, when do we drink green, black, oolong or aged teas. We mostly associate it with mood. Sure, stress, happenings, people around us all contribute to mood swings. However our body supersedes our mind, the weather or should I say nature supersedes human and human behavior. Human today believe our mind can conquer all, hence under estimate the wisdom of our body. If so true, why can't we become immortal as many has tried? Our brain can not even control disease let alone death, although we have control over not to get sick. We have control to comply with nature's changes, hence less prone to sickness.

According to Huang Di Nei Jing - Emperor's Inner Cannon, an ancient Chinese Medicine text written thousands years ago, each season dictates how living things behaves.

Spring - is the time to sprout.
Summer - is the time to grow.
Fall - is the time to harvest.
Winter - is the time to put away and store.

I just realize this is a very broad and deep subject. I will divide the article into 5 pieces. Each season will be talked about in details separately.

Tea Habitat Anniversary Open Tasting

Tea Habitat has opened to the public for more than 2 years now since June 2007. It's been an exciting ride in the business with many challenges and many great happenings.

To commemorate our 2nd year anniversary, we are hosting an open house tasting on Saturday June 20th from 12 to 7 pm. There will be endless tea drinking and snacks. Everyone is invited to come join us on this special day!

We have plenty of great teas to try for the day. One special tea I must mention is the mother tree of Ginger Flower Dan Cong. This tea was sold at a whopping $7k price tag a pound. After 2 years of persistent begging, I have a small sample of the 2009 batch. It's merely enough for 2 sessions. We will be tasting that on the 20th. I have not had this tea myself and anxiously waiting for the right gathering to share with tea enthusiasts for a special occasion. :)

To thank our valuable customers, we are having a 15% off sale on our website during the entire month of June, discount apply to all teas including our special old Single Bush Dan Cong oolong teas and Aged teas as well. Great time to stock up and try the 2009 teas!

Sunday afternoon tea

I had some tea today with a friend who came back from a trip. We were just catching up and snacking away. We start carrying various California grown dried fruits last week. They are wonderful tea snacks without guilt. :D Dried persimmons and cheeries are out of this world. Cheeries were harvested and dried last week. Fresh!
Dug out some dishes from home. My most favorite China styles are Qing Hua (blue and white), Celadon.

If you look close, center of the dish has wave patterns.

Tea at UCLA

NCAM Organizers, Will, Louise and moi

NCAM at UCLA invited me to talk about tea last week. I was excited and honored to have the opportunity to open the door of tea world to young minds. About 40 to 50 students attended the event. Thanks to Will and Louise for helping with tea tasting. :)

Will's explaining steps of Kung Fu Tea

In more than 2 years of tea business operation, I learn that many people are interested in tea but not knowing where and how to start. Given that there are many products available, living habits and lack of information, it's a confusing world of tea in the US and other areas in the world, including China itself.

During the UCLA event, I did not know what to expect from the students. So I planned the topics safely, the normal introduction to tea. During the question session, I am delighted that this group of students are well informed at the level where they ask logical questions. Many of which are helpful for me to reorganize how I should teach in the future.

One question I particularly love is How to identify good tea. The original question is where and how to find good tea? This is a very important topic for novices. I could easily say buy my teas. :P But seriously, its about how to identify good tea more than where to find it. We all go through a learning curve, whether you drink tea since 3 or lead down the tea path when you meet that lovely spouse of yours, or whatever reason. For myself, I have drunk tea since I can't remember, then one day I tagged along a friend for a tea class and has been steeping in tea ever since.

Looking back at my learning curve, I find that sampling various types of tea during one session is actually confusing. Because each type is entirely different from an other. What you can learn from that is the flavor/aroma difference of the teas, but there are much more to it than the flavor/aroma. Given there can be grade/flavor/aroma/texture variations, tasting a Long Jing, Tie Guan Yin and a Da Hong Pao at the same time is like comparing apples to oranges and cherries. One can say I like the taste of cherry, and the orange is better than apple. But that does not reflect how good the cherries, oranges and apples are.

My advice to any one is taste the same kind of tea at the same time to learn the difference in grade. Pick a tea you are interested the most. Say 3 or more Long Jings from various sources or grades at a session, or 3 Da Hong Pao at a session. There ought to be a better one out of 3 right? Then set a palate profile and memorize it, use that as a standard, compare it to future purchase of the same type of tea, raise the bar as you go. After the first one, use the same method on the next type, once you get a hang of this for 3-5 types, you will be able to identify good teas no mater what they are, where they come from. This is a skill to identify good tea, not just to find the flavors you like.

Whether to try various types of tea, or try various grades of the same type of tea first at the beginning of your tea journey, is a personal choice. But the later might save you a few pennies and some shelf space down the road. You'll have to pay tuition no mater what, so don't be afraid to buy something nice and expensive.

Another question I was asked, where should I start, green white or? Well, most tea drinkers who spend the effort to learn and explore Chinese teas, most likely end up with Oolong and/or Pu-erh after trying many many types of tea. That's more than plenty to try for the next 5 years. It's necessary to try as many types of teas as you are willing, it's a process to find your preferred flavors. This is a different process from identifying a good tea.

In my opinion, a good tea is great in flavor, aroma and the most important of all substance. Characteristics of substance are texture, sweetness, long brewing duration and lingering after taste. I can't stretch enough about texture and how it separates the good from bad. Old high mountain teas of 75+ years have this thick texture like a film coats your tongue and mouth. In Chao Zhou local terms, the tea's got bones! Meaning you can feel the tea in the mouth other than the taste, it's not watery. Try drinking a cup of water and some chicken stock side by side, you'll know what I am talking about. Don't focus on the chicken stock flavor though. The substance of tea can not be imitated or hidden, flavors can change, aroma can change, taste can change, but texture will not change and can not be faked.

3 essentials when making good teas: good fresh leaves, skilled master and suitable weather. Without good leaves, a skilled master can make decent teas in suitable weather. With good leaves, an average tea maker can make not bad to good teas in suitable weather. Good leaves with substantial substance are god given and are the base of good tea regardless of the other 2 variables. Of course the tea maker and weather will later influence the out come.

Tea event at UCLA

I am honored to be invited as a guest speaker to talk about Chinese Tea at UCLA on Wednesday May 27th at 8 pm.

The event is hosted by the NCAM group of UCLA. NCAM is a health awareness group interested in learning and sharing natural living experience.

Location: Covel Commons - Westcoast Room, UCLA
Address: 200 DE NEVE DRIVE, Los Angeles, CA 90095
Building Map
UCLA Campus Map:
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Agenda:
Tea and health related games and prizes
World of Chinese tea speech
Formal Gong Fu Tea presentation
Tea tasting

World of Chinese tea speech:
History of Tea - discovery and evolution
Types of teas
Process of teas
How to brew different types of teas accordingly
Kung Fu Tea - equipment and method

Any one interested in the subject is welcome to attend the event. Although reservation is not required, but there is limited seating. Please email me in advance if you would like to attend.
tea at teahabitat dot com

Horsies

Today is sunny and warm, lots horses outting on the street. PV is one of the few spots in LA where nature is well preserved.

Results of first tasting

Past Sunday was perfect for tea tasting, small group and lots tea! We had 11 teas, 9 of 2009, 1 of 2008 and the 70's Liu Bao.

Here are my personal favorites after the first tasting. I may change my mind later with few teas to have at the same time.
You Hua - Pomelo Flower <---- like it alot Lao Cong Zhi Lan - Old bush Cattleya Orchid <--- love it
Lao Cong Dan Cong - Old Bush Dan Cong (no specific aroma) <----- very good
She Men - She's Entrance <----- very good (She is the oldest tribe living on the hills of Phoenix Mountain. This tea is one of the very old and original before all the new mutated varietals we know nowadays)
Zu Ye -Bamboo Leaf <---- like it alot
Updates: After drinking this tea for 3 or so times, I can say a couple more things about it than "like it alot". :P
This tea is rather delicate, a classic Dan Cong that's floral of the Zhi Lan Xiang type, clear light yellow liquid is a sweet fragrant nectar, refreshing as a young girl, creamy as an educated young mind. Sweet and delicate!
Looking at this thin pointy shaped leaf, you know why it's named Bamboo Leaf.


Ju Duo Jai - Almond aroma <------- Like it
Ya Shi - Duck Shit (Yup!) <----- Love it
Gong Xiang - Tribune Aroma <------Love it
Huo La Cha - Fire Spicy Tea <------ Like it
Mo Li - Jasmine Aroma <----- like it alot (Very limited production of this particular aroma of DC on the hills, even smaller than Ginger Flowers. Most of the time, you can only hear of its existence without ever lay eyes on the tea. NOT the same as Jasmine tea!)
The Mo Li-Jasmine DC leaves are particularly beautiful, even size, nicely rolled with a sheen of shine, very tender leaves of even redness-sign of even fermentation. The aroma is beautiful as well. It's a master piece.

Tea and Horse

Tea horse trade road is well known to many tea drinkers, especially the Pu-erh tea drinkers. It's known as a trade route for tea and silk carried by horses. Well, it's partially true.

The true meaning is trading horses with tea, rather than silvers or copper coins. Tea was the designated currency when buying horses in the market. The early trade of horses with tea began in Tang Dynasty - 600's AD. At the time, it was not strictly regulated. By early Song Dynasty - 960's AD, horses trade between China and bordering countries/tribes were paid with copper coins which were later made into weapons. This act seriously threaten the security of the southwest and northwest borders, also the integrity of the Chinese currency. The Song central rulers soon banded the trade using coins. Textile, tea and herbal medicine were used for horse trading. New department for Tea Horse trade - Cha Ma Si were established along the borders, controlling trades and taxation of teas. According to document of such department duty, all horse trade among 4 bordering tribes, pay with tea only. 凡市马于四夷，率以茶易之.

Liao, Jin, Yuan Dynasties - 916-1368, Main land China was ruled by outsiders, hence horses were plentiful, therefore tea trades during the time were paid by silver/coins and local products. Beginning of Ming Dynasty - 1370, horse trading with tea was once again enforced by the central government. Such regulated practice continued through mid Qing Dynasty - turn of 1800's.

Busy weekend

The past weekend was a busy one. Aside of running the store, it was mother's day weekend. I was invited to watch a cycling competition on Saturday at the Home Depot Center. Saturday was so nice, inspired by the natural beauty of spring, I took a drive on the PV Drive West which is a nice scenic route along the ocean over looking the cliffs.
Cyclists on the Velodrome track, part of the LAVRA Cup.

Palos Verdes is a secluded part of LA. The peninsula is quite and rural, locals don't like noise and outside traffic. A hide away location close to the great big city LA. The cities on the peninsula do not advertise its beauty to keep tourists away, so it's unknown to the rest of the world. Home values are one of the highest neighborhoods in LA/OC, the cities here collect plenty of taxes from homes, therefore, not much commercial developments on the hill. The locals like it this way as well. There are almost everything you want here, horse trails (part of the trails are on major streets), hiking trails, beaches, cliffs, golf course, peacocks, and of course a great tea shop. :P One day, I'll sneak a few pictures of the local homes. Many of them are hidden from streets. I heard Keanu Reeves has a home here.
On top of the cliff, over looking Pacific Ocean. Homes hang below the edges. PV faces north, west and south from one end to the other.
Left is the ocean, right is the rural hill top, with scattered homes. This is a busy biking trail. It is breath taking riding along this road.
Quiet drive on a sunny day. Some man brought wild peacocks on to the peninsula back in the 70's, they are now residing among heavy bushes and trees in the area, like in this picture. It's a whopping $1000 fine if you kill one, even accidentally.

After living in LA for almost 10 years, I have discovered many quaint neighborhoods, none of which are tourist spots. Small wonders with lovely architectural uniqueness, places where there are not much chain store influences. I am inspired to take pictures of each areas, share it with others. Well, I might get kicked out for revealing the hidden secrets.

My favorite ones so far are: Naple's Island, canals in Venice, Palos Verdes, parts of Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Malibu, San Marino, parts of old Pasadena, Laguna Beach.

Little pinky

Now this is a perfect tea pinky! My 3 months old little niece.

How to use Chao Zhou Stove Set

Prepare the kettle/pot:
Soak the clay kettle/pot in room temperature water 20 minutes prior to burning for each use, else it can crack easily. I fill the pot with room temperature water to the top each time I finish using it, so that I won't forget and spend 20 minutes to soak the pot the next time. Make sure there's water in the pot when you put it on fire at any time, avoid cold water in an empty hot pot, or hot water in an empty cool pot. Do not refill water while pot is on the fire. The clay is very porous, expansion and contraction due to water temperature change will crack the pot easily. I have done that!

For first time use:

Scrub stove under tap water to get rid of any tape residues before using.

Discard the first pot of boiled water.

To light fire:

Hardwood charcoal is the best choice next to Olive Pit Charcoal, do not use any BBQ briquettes, especially ones smell and smoke a lot. I use Whole Foods Market’s 365 brand hardwood charcoal. For choice of charcoals please check the following website: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm
Place small pieces of hardwood charcoal on stove stop to burn for a few minutes till they are red on the side, then transfer to clay stove. Add more charcoals if necessary during the session. See picture. Fan from the bottom opening of the clay stove will speed up the fire.

To put out fire:

1. To put out fire completely, cover lid with the knob on, and cover the bottom opening. You may stop the fire at any time this way without waiting for the fire to burn out or put water over it and make a mess.

2. If you want to stop making tea for a little while, but want the fire going for later, cover lid with the knob off, cover the bottom opening but leave a small gap on one side to keep the air flowing inside the stove chamber. This way the charcoal will keep on going at low temperature, when you are ready to boil water again, open up the cover and lid, add new charcoal to catch on fire. You can adjust the bottom cover to control fire temperature as well. Bigger the gap, more oxygen, higher the fire temperature, faster the water will boil.

To boil water:

The lid will make clinging noise once the water is boiling. You can take the kettle off the stove and place it on a trivet (wood is the best choice) or take off the lid. Do not place hot kettle/pot over any water. It will crack the pot also. When boiling water, line the pot handle above one of the 3 elevated landings of the stove, this will prevent the fire from heating the handle, hence prevents your hand getting burnt.

Enjoy!

Wild Peacock

A boy peacock wandering around the neighborhood. Peacocks are quite aggressive and screams like crying babies in high pitch. While it's cute to have them strolling around your front lawn, it's another thing having to listen to mating calls 3 o'clock in the morning. It's not sexy! Perks usually come with a price.

I want to SCREAM!

Today came with 2 surprises, good and BAD. My mailman dropped off 2 large packages. My heart started to pound at a rapid rate. They must be the Chao Zhou stove sets, arriving early! The joy of relieve invaded my entire brain for a brief seconds. I then noticed one of the box is leaking dust particles. This is not a good sign I said to myself. Trembling hands with razor sharp scissors cut through the outer box, revealing 3 mid size boxes. I pulled each box out with a gentle shake, the sound of broken pieces was not music to my ears! In side of each box, there are 6 small boxes containing the stoves. I knew the casualty must be high this time. After inspecting each and every one, the survival rate is 7 out 20!!!!!!!!! 7 with minor cracks but functional with no major cosmetic flaws. 6 are totaled, unsalvageble! I don't understand!!!!! After explaining many times on how to wrap the items for breakage prevention, some people just don't listen, or do they just forget, or it's a different person who did the packing!!!

I just want to scream..... in silence....

Water containers

Today is play day! I bought this large (sorta giant) Zisha clay container a long while back, intended to store water. It's a commercial size tea canister as its original usage. Zisha - purple clay can do numbers to tea, be it dried leaves, water or tea.

I had a smaller size container and my friend took it. It was for both presentation and water refinement purpose. The size was perfect for home/personal use, contains 1.5 gallon of water. However it was sold out, so I had to think BIG. Container in the picture holds up to 5 gallons of water, big enough to have a tea party for five. It's been sitting in the store for almost a year, not sure when I'll use it with this much capacity. Today is the first time it ever made it out of the box. I might use it this Sunday if any of you LATA people wants to come by. I just have to remember to look for the bamboo scoop some where in the garage. Love tea toys!
I am using this small Yixing jar for personal use. A bit small for my daily consumption of about 1 gallon of tea (during work hours only). It holds about 0.75 gallon of water. So I'll have most of my tea in better water.

See the size difference! :D

1986 Honey Orchid Dan Cong Oolong

A smooth cup this 86 Dan Cong is. Like an old lover that's well lubricated, frictionless, trouble free, with a steady supply of nurture. This tea leaves me speechless. Just soak it in...

2004 Wu Dong Cha Tou

A 5 years old Dan Cong oolong, has a nourishing honey like flavor, comforting to every flesh where it passes through. It has a creamy and nutty taste and texture, reminds me of Cashew and Macadamia Butter on banana. I had a hard time relating Wild Hong Yin to any of the aromatic Dan Cong oolongs previously, one is earthy and strong, the laters are fragrant and subtly euphoric. These older leaves bridge the 2 together, where it connects its ancestry to the off springs. The first couple infusions are obvious Dan Congs, the later infusions unveil the wildness of its ancestors. It's a wild ride!

3 teas for the day

It's been a long time since I have done a tea evaluation tasting with pictures and notes. When you get swamped by many teas at one time, it's overwhelming to conduct such in dept tasting while entertaining clients.

Three teas on the menu today:
1) 1994 Green Tea
2) 2005 Wu Dong Dan Cong Cha Tou
3) 1986 Honey Orchid Dan Cong

1994 Green Tea:
A classic sample of well roasted tea using charcoal as a heating source. If you are not quite sure what charcoal can do to a tea, this is a profiling tea to have. In order to store and age tea-any tea, the bottom line is low moisture content. If you got that down, any tea can be stored for years. The oldest I have heard and still drinkable (no one died from drinking it) is about 800 years old, buried under the ocean floor for 99.9% of its life time. Believe it or not, it's a powdered green tea brick wrapped in sealed wax paper.

The flavor of this aged green tea comes from transformation of substance via roasting and aging. The color is a glowing clear light amber hue. Sweet with black tea like texture, a sweet dates like flavor which present in charcoal roasted teas. You can not detect any green tea shadow in this tea until everything goes down. After taste clearly unveil the crisp unfermented mouth feel of green teas.

Since this is green tea, using green tea brewing parameters is essential, although slightly higher temperature (95 c) water can bring out the charcoal flavor more than cooler temperature (87 C). Boiling water is not recommended. Some how the sweetness and flavor are trapped inside of the leaves when using boiling water.

Energy

Energy comes from many sources, the tangibles and the intangible sources.

Food, a tangible source of energy. Tea is also a tangible source.

Intangible sources sometimes provide a great deal of energy, more than we realize, yet we live in this pool of energy daily. A simple encouragement can lead to the beginning of great accomplishment, or destruction. A few tender words has the ability to create the most beautiful castle, or destroy a nation more than once. A smile of a lover can get you through a tough day. A giggle from a baby melts the toughest man's heart.

We shall gather as much positive energy as we can, soak your mind and soul with all that you can. It's no less important than food, water and air. The key is identifying the positive energy. I find tea to be my tangible source of positive energy. It could be coffee to an other person. I find my nieces and nephew are source of positive energy. Kids could be a burden to others. I find family to be a source of positive energy although there are ups and downs in life. Others can't wait to leave the nest.

Recently books I have been reading are Chinese medicine related. It used to intimidate me, fearful of the depth and broad horizon it entails. Chinese medicine is 4 dimensional, covering the tangibles and the intangibles, the physical and the spiritual, organs, limps, mind and philosophy. Symptoms are sickness in eyes of western medicine. Symptoms are ways our body communicates with our mind in Chinese medicine, a warning from mild to irreversible if ignored. We ignore or mistreat them because we do not understand. A liver's way of communication is blurry eyes, hot temper, or aching gums and others. If ignored, it can be fatal. If we can identify the signals, we can treat those symptoms. However what causes live to behave this way? That's the root of the health issue. A 70 years old man has all the above symptoms plus much more. The cause of this, his wife had a major illness 6 years ago, fear of his 40+ years companion will leave him soon caused his psychological depression, in turn caused obstruction of energy flow, led to his liver function digressed for years. It's not a Hollywood romantic story. It's a couple of old Chinese man and woman's everyday life, providing vital energy for one and other.

Learn how to brew tea - Saturday April 4th

Visit www.teahabitat.com for details or make reservations online.

Charcoal

Since the Beijing Olympic games of 2008, I have not been able to import any Olive Pitt Charcoal from China. I was in dire need of that second best alternative. Through the long 6 months of searching, I have yet to find the second best charcoal, but have good results in what I should look for.

Hardwood charcoal is widely available at an affordable price compared to Olive Pitt Charcoal. There are many types of wood, and each type has its own aroma, density, ash production and maximum temperature, on top of these variables, the maker is also an important factor. How much carbonation is done to the wood, parts of the tree, miscellaneous contents (stones, whacky stuff that aren't wood), percentage of dust and fannings are also factors one should consider when choosing a bag of charcoal for under $10. Sounds like a bit too picky for something so insignificant in terms of financial value eh? Well, if you use charcoal on a daily basis like I do, you'll find out the benefit of good charcoal.

Good hardwood should be heavy and dense:
Bad stuff: tree barks and harden liquid stuff means low carbonation, there are still lots organic materials left in the wood which can cause LOTS smoke and unpleasant odor that could stink up your house, clothes, hair and skin for hours.

Fluffy looking charcoal:
Same piece on left, does not burn well:All that just for a cup of good tea!

Want to know more about charcoal? http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm

Handful of sunset

Today is gorgeous with full sun in warm temperature, a perfect day at the beach for a nice long walk. Since I can't leave the shop during business hours, an urge to reach the beach built up during the day finally became uncontrollable. Thanks to Daylight Saving Time, it's bright enough to go after work. Just the right time to catch a handful of sunset.

Pelicans flying into the sun...

Ah, the light house at Point Vincent.

Looks like a farm eh? Well, you could drive all the way into the ocean.

Roasting 04 Hong Cha Tou

One of the new items I current stock is 2004 Hong Cha Tou - a wild Hong Yin Phoenix Oolong. This batch was belonged to and stored in the warehouse of Guang Dong Province Tea Import Export Company- Chao Zhou Branch for the last few years. It's now released to the market and I got a hold of the entire batch.

When I first tasted it, the first infusion had a sea breeze smell, not the most enjoyable, yet does not put me off type of thing. Once that's gone, the following infusions taste creamy and full of flavor. The creaminess reminds me of the nurishing stomach comforting chicken soup. No, not interms of flavor, just the feeling of it.

After a couple nights of contemplating, I remember younger Phoenix Dan Cong can use a dose of roasting every couple of years. So I did, tested with a small batch, the seabreeze was gone completely, went all the way out to the pacific ocean. The finished tea is even sweeter and smoother. With this encouraging result, I have been busy roasting the rest of the batch, all 8 kg of it. My roaster can handle 3 lbs at a time. It take 6 long hours each time.

Fill bamboo container up to rim, dig a hole in the middle of tea leaves to allow hot air travel up. Cover with clean paper, NO lid.


Set roaster to 80 C to preheat leaves.

Wait an hour then turn up the dial to 100 C, wait 2 hours, turn down the dial to 80 C again, sit and sip tea for 3 to 4 hours. Done!

This tea is now my new fave. Can't get enough of the sweet dessert like creamy texture. Great value at an affordable price.

LATA 2nd Anniversary tasting at CalTech

We had our 2nd anniversary tea tasting a couple of weeks ago, I had yet to post any pictures. Jason has already covered the event with details on his blog. Look forward to our 3rd anniversary. I promise I'll join everyone for dinner next year!

Here I will post a few pictures I took.
Cal Tech campus:
Showing off my new found Photoshop skill:
The early gang:

Real or fake?

This article is an extension of a previous topic Tea Aroma. I talked about types of aroma and where they come from and how some are produced.

True aroma is one of the natural essences of the plant, nothing different than the smell from a rose. Added scent on the other hand isn't naturally an essence of the tea itself. Popular Jasmine tea is traditionally scented with natural flowers, nowadays some producers add scented oil to simulate the aroma. Although both are not naturally part of the tea, the former is some what more natural then the later. How can one identify the difference? Aside of experienced nose to detect the chemical content of the scented oil, a simple step can help you separate the two.

Use separate cups for each tea, add hot boiling water to each cup, then place a thin scent free tissue over each cup covering the top for 5 minutes. If you can smell a scent on the tissue after it's dried, the tea in the respective cup is scented with oil.

This method is primarily to determine the authenticity of tea aroma, however does not apply to blended tea or teas that are flavored as part of a recipe.

Small gaiwan

This small gaiwan was looted from my friend a month ago. It's now my daily gaiwan for one, since it makes exactly one cup (left) of tea each time. It's very thin and light weight, curves well so it doesn't burn my fingers easily, the knob is big but thin and flares out so it doesn't burn my fingers easily as well, everything is proportionately well made, makes very nice tea except large quantity of fisted tea leaves. Inside of the lid has an air pocket that prevents hot air raising up the lid which also means losing heat. I am loving it!

Gaiwan can be tricky, some has small snob, some has small curve, some has thick wall, on and on. Each variable determines how well it fits in your hand and how easy to use, ultimately makes a good cup of irritation-free tea.

I can be picky about gaiwans, despite the appearance, the function enhancement of a gaiwan is particularly important when selecting a gaiwan.

Complimentary gifts at www.teahabitat.com

To commemorate our online store's opening, we are giving away many gifts as a way of our appreciation to you. Without your support, we may not be able to carry on our goal of linking the west to the east via tea.

For orders of $100 or more, you will receive one of each of the following items at no extra cost:
One 1 lb of Lychee Honey (Raw and unprocessed) $8 value
One 2 oz box of Habitat de Passion Herbal Tea $8 value
One metal tea canister with purchase of any Old Bush Dan Cong Teas $5 value
Free shipping in the US

One item of each of the above mentioned items for each order of $100 or more. Valid while supplies last.

Tea Habitat website is up and running!

Finally it's up and running! www.teahabitat.com

After more than a year of struggle, I finally have my website set up for function, not yet cosmetically acceptable at this point. But it's in business!

Here I want to thank a few people who made this happen with their generosity of knowledge, time and effort: Will Y, Roy S and Fred W.

Tea Aroma

Aroma-Marriam Webster defines it as: a distinctive pervasive and usually pleasant or savory smell.

In tea terms, this definition also applies. What dictates the aroma of teas? It's easy to figure out each tea has different aroma even from the same region, with same processing and such. In a rough summation, there are several way to determin aromas in tea terms.

1) Varietal aroma - essential aroma of a particular varietal
These varietals posses the essential oils which made them distinctive without any alteration. The aroma may subside but can not be lost. ie Ginger Flower Dan Cong, Yu Lan Xiang Dan Cong.
These are the most unique and should not be altered. They are also the most difficult to make.

2) Charcoal aroma - fire wood smell being smoked onto tea
This is fairly common, Lapsang, Russian Caravan, and some pu-erh, green etc..

3) Scented floral aroma - essential aroma of flowers being obsorbed by tea
This is also fairly popular. Jasmine ring a bell?!

3) Production aroma - natural process of tea to produce/simulate aroma.
Let's use an example: Honey Orchid Dan Cong. There are so many Honey Orchid Dan Cong's out there, how can one tell it's the original aroma or produced to simulate. Techically speaking, they are not the same. The Honey Orchid old bush is essentially aromatic as its name suggested. The commercial production on the other hand is fermented and roasted to tasted like roasted honey with higher fire and fermentation. The results will reveal over time. If both teas were left unsealed for 9 months an on, the former will still have the same aroma, verus the later will loose most of its aroma as the roasting subsides, or become something different.

Roasting can do numbers to the aroma and flavor of a tea. High fire roasting usually means sweeter, fruitier and darker teas, due to the sugar transformation from high temperature roasting. Aroma is significantly changed after high fire. Low fire and long time roasting can mellow out the texture, in turn a smoother cup, aroma is less modified.

Time to take out your forgetten Phoenix Dan Cong teas

Phoenix Oolong tea has a lot of wild characteristics even though has been cultivated with human attention for 8 to 9 hundred years. The wildness has been tamed and fine tuned beautifully. It's delightful to drink even the newest harvest. However it gets even better with time.

Every year around Chinese New Year, DCs from last Spring taste better over all, smoother, sweeter and rounder than fresh in the previous year. Fresh harvest are more aromatic with a edgy texture, with the exception of old bushes. Even old bush teas improve texture after 10 months. Commercial teas being more dramatic in improving flavors. Locals prefer drinking 1 year old DCs or older. If you had a DC that's bitter or harsh at the time you purchased it, give it a try again around this time. You might find a nice surprise.

Why such a transformation in relation to time? Phoenix oolong is composed of 38% disolvable chemicals in each leaf. As soon as they left the tree, these chemical compounds begin to oxydise, generating new additional chemicals, wilting for hours in the sun and cooling in shade ensure further oxydation, the right moisture content to provide the right amount of oxydation at the right pace. Each tossing, cooling, kill green, rolling proceedure provides the right stage for the chemical compounds to react. 2 to 4 times of roasting prepared the preliminary production called Mao Cha. The entire process takes 36 sleepless continuous hours from the time the leaves arrive. It takes another 4 to 8 roasting to finish off the Mao Cha before it hits the retail stores. The last 4 to 8 roastings are done through out the year. First one is a few weeks after the mao cha production in general. The last is around Moon Festival (mid to late September). Roasting during the year is to reactivate the glucos transformation. After 3 to 4 months rest from the last roasting, the edgie texture is significantly mellowed out. If aged for years with occasional roasting every other year or 2, your DC will be silkie smooth like an old lover. :)

Cha Tou

What is Cha Tou one may ask? Literal translation is Tea Head. Does tea have heads and tails?! It means the odds and ends of something, tea in this case. For Dan Congs, Cha Tou are older leaves harvested in each season. Better ones are the Spring harvest of high elevation trees. Pu-erh cha tou are small batches of teas left after meeting the production quota. If 10,000 cakes of 400 g each are made, what's left are either call mao cha or cha tou depending on the condition and quantity that's left.

Chinese literature insinuates meanings deeper than its literal mean in daily use. Picture cutting up a whole fish or a chicken with head, skin, feet and gills, the best part of course is the main body and served as the main entree, however the head and tails are the "odds and ends", applying to tea production, the odds and ends are less sought after are called cha tou - tea head/tea tail, usually in small batches. Cha Tou-tea head is used most often as the tail is less appealing than the head (to some). :D