Lok On Tea Stalk?

So, I am hoping that perhaps someone could shed a little light on this Lok On Tea Stalk. I picked this up at the Hong Kong Supermarket near my office on break yesterday afternoon. I swore I had remembered something about it online, but upon returning from break I could only find one message board discussion which didn’t seem to entirely resolve the original posters question about it.

I feel certain that I read somewhere that is a by-product of Liu An Gua Pian or Liu An Basket tea, but was unable to find anything definitively confirming this online.

I have included photos of the two sides of the paper bag that it came in.

There were some small remnants of leaves mingling among the stalks when I had it this morning.

The broth, as seen below, comes up a pleasing shade of amber (perhaps red amber). The liquor is thinnish in consistency, but nicely mouth filling.

My partner thought it smelled and tasted of steeped old wooden furniture, my co-worker suggested old upholstery, that had been stored in an attic. This as opposed to the old basement, which he sometimes refers to, when I drink other aged teas.

It definitely presented a very unique woody flavor which lingered for a substantial amount of time after the last cup. I want to say it tasted of wood pulp, though I’ve not personally sampled any wood pulp recently.

It exhibited a lovely golden ring, and was rather lively in the head.

From the steeping sessions I have had with it so far, there is not much in the way of flavor progression. It’s pretty straight-forward. There was no notable bitterness, even when steeped for lengthier durations of time.

I realized later on this morning that I remembered seeing it, or something similar, (at least I think it is the same thing obviously not of this vintage) at sampletea.com:

http://www.sampletea.com/product/1920s-anhui-liu-an-zhi-anhui-liu-an-stem-loose-tea

I would be grateful to anyone who could shed some light upon this curio. The cashier at the market even picked the bag up three times to look at it, once from my just packed shopping bag. She remarked that she thought it was a curious product for them to have in stock. There were two of these bags, though the other one was torn a bit on the bottom, so I purchased just the one.

While I certainly wouldn’t say that I would want to drink it every day, it is interesting. I also wonder how it will mature with time, if it is indeed the same as the tea at Sample Tea.

Mang Zhi 2011 Spring by Mr Gao

(From the Tea Urchin web site: We selected this tea with Mr Gao, who then spent 6 months creating this special production for us by inspecting each and every leaf, removing discoloured & damaged leaves. Over 10% of the leaves were discarded, to create this exceptionally smooth, beautiful, private pressing. The maocha came from Mang Zhi, one of the original 6 famous tea mountains of classical times, located in what is today known as Xiangming region, between Yiwu & Simao.)

This Mang Zhi is a tea deserving of an absence of distractions. Its refined poetry would be lost amid trivial mental wanderings. My first run with this tea left me speechless. I hope that I am now able to convey some of the extraordinary nature of this tea with the brief notes that I transcribed below from my second session.

The level of attention in the production is unquestionable upon viewing the dry leaves. They gently interlock with seeming reverence for one another. The aroma in the cha he is clean, vegetal, and accented by notes of small white flowers.

The liquor is full-bodied in the cup, exhibiting pureness in its tonality from the first rinse through to the final steep. It gifts substantial fullness in the mouth, and presents an initial cooling sensation in the sinus cavity and at the top of the throat.

The flavor is heavy with notes of stone fruits, honeysuckle and narcissus. The profile ascends to a peak on the sixth steep, blossoming fully within the mouth. Inhalations heighten its ethereal sweetness to the point that it suggests a physical manifestation around the tongue and teeth.

The cha qi syncs with the pulse. It fills the chest and upper abdomen with warmth, eventually moving into the limbs. The forearms become heavy. The palms go damp.

I am flooded.

Tea Urchin -Gua Feng Zhai: Autumn 2011-

(An update of note 03/09: Tea Urchin’s recent post on A tea trekkers guide to Gua Feng Zhai.)

Please excuse my absence… I had intended to post during the previous weeks; however an increasingly consuming health issue that had kept me from being able to comfortably sit since the beginning of January had completely soured my mood.

Finally over this past weekend following a lengthy series of chiropractic adjustments, and coupled with a healthy dose of physical therapy, I began to feel increasing relief. I don’t think I had realized how much I had missed taking tea without the fear of discomfort until this morning when I had a fully pain-free session with a remaining sample of a Gua Feng Zhai sheng cake.

Eugene –Tea Urchin– had graciously sent this sample to me back in December. I wanted to write about it for as long. While I had remembered from my first experience with this tea that I thought it was exceptional, this was a considerably more profound exchange with the notable lack of discomfort. I felt as if the tea and I had become one at multiple points. I found myself not wanting to part with the experience, and was reluctant to do so even when the leaves had finally given up their last bit of energy.

The perceived purity of the leaf from the cake is one of its most remarkable traits. While the slightest note of smoke may have whispered among the fresh green in the dry nose, it all but vanished with the preliminary flash rinsing, leaving only the faintest note of oak lingering in the second and third cups.

The tea exhibited a strong characteristic of sweet grass during the first third of the session. This was delicately streaked with a trace of youthful ku wei which actively engaged the tip of the tongue and the sinus cavity. Throughout each subsequent steeping the flavor profile expanded with a powerful series of minor and major notes, dwarfing what may have initially suggested humble simplicity. The symphony moved in a circular motion throughout the mouth, from the tip of the tongue up across the hard and soft palates and down before flooding forward.

I made particular note of a detected ‘thickening’ in the throat beginning around the 6^th or 7^th steeping.

With this tea I also found myself taken by the density of its liquor. The leaves sang within the pot as they thickened and exhaled with each addition of heated water. Tiny beads would ping outward from the entry point of the pour just below the surface of the liquid to the rim of the cha hai. The broth would then thread as it was poured into the cup forming foam clusters in the center of the soup, while short pearl-like links strung along the edges. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

The consuming movement of its cha qi became wholly calming, and well, just a bit more. I had become surprisingly intoxicated to the point of near sedation around the 8^th steeping. My eyelids were heavy. My limbs felt light. The palms of my hands were damp. My thoughts concentrated. They did, however, become increasingly softened and blurred around the edges as my time with the tea came to a close. My tea taking partner Newt appeared content by proxy while lying next to me, intently observing.

This tea remained decidedly thick and substantial throughout the session in excess of the above brief details, even after the exhausted leaves had rendered a nearly transparent broth.

Did I enjoy this tea? Most assuredly, yes. I can’t say that I have attached myself to many teas in the way that I have this one. While I am more than aware that some of this feeling may have developed out of the lack of the negative effect of the health issue after a period of it being present, I choose to never underestimate the powerful effect of an excellent tea. This Gua Feng Zhai left me contented and wanting to share this experience with others. I ask; how can that not be the greatest outcome of any moment with a tea?

Notes taken on 25th February.

Steeping listening: Johann Johannsson: and in the endless pause there came the sound of bees

Morning Crane Tea – Dong Cheon Red Tea: Dan Cha (Hong Cha) small leaves second pick-

This tea comes courtesy of Morning Crane Tea, who celebrated the ending of 2011 with an online tea sale. The tea is beautifully presented -as you can see from the following photo- arriving lovingly outfitted in a silk bag made of Korean Hanbok.

While I didn’t have any previous experience with Korean red teas prior to this session, I have been a devoted admirer of Dong Cheon‘s green teas I have been fortunate enough to taste. Needless to say, my anticipation for experiencing this tea was running high in advance.

The leaves present a pronounced dried cocoa scent with a trace of smokiness, and the faintest hint of hay. It should be said that I appreciate the need to reference hay during any tea session, as years of being in the company of rabbits really warmed me to the scents of dry grasses. I certainly do not view it as an issue with a tea’s aroma. The leaves are a beauty to behold, as you can see from the image below.

Early steepings yielded a medium bodied burnt caramel toned broth which tasted exceptionally clean in the mouth. The flavor fluctuated from smooth notes of cocoa, to what my subconscious kept telling me was orange flower, to the slightest hint of tobacco.

Later steepings found the tea stretching itself from cream and honey like coatings of the mouth, to exhibiting traces of crispness that would align it with higher grade Darjeeling teas. The broth in subsequent lengthier steeping shed its deeper copper highlights, as well as its fullness in the mouth; though it refrained from becoming insipid in taste. The hui gan came in gentle waves, rising and falling. The tea provided an enjoyable, and calming session.

I was not a fan of what are classically categorized as red teas prior to a pivotal steeping session with a Sun Moon Lake from Tea Trekker this past year, and more recently an extraordinary experience with a Laoshan Autumn plucking from Verdant Tea out of Minnesota -both of which I plan to post about shortly. I generally found the teas to be overly brisk for my personal liking; however the two teas mentioned in addition to this wonderful Dan-Cha have altered this perception greatly, and for this I will always be thankful.

(steeping listening: Oren Ambarchi “In the Pendulum’s Embrace”)

Tea Urchin -Luo Shui Dong: Autumn 2011-

I have now had two sessions with this tea –Luo Shui Dong: Autumn 2011– of which a sample was kindly forwarded by Eugene – Tea Urchin.

Both sessions found the mellow nature of this tea present, with a hint of bitterness following at the back of the mouth -a punctuation mark. The tea possesses a rounded sweetness, which is a characteristic I enjoy. It is present throughout my mouth, particularly around the upper palate and gum area, and is lasting. (My enjoyment of teas with a sweet profile is assuredly a hangover from the days when pastries were never far from me. My sweet tooth is such that I once downed a full dozen Pierre Hermé macaron on a flight home from Paris.)

During this recent session there was a stronger awareness of floral notes than I remember from the initial round of steepings, though they were definitely present. Letting my mind wander off, I kept relating it to the floral profile of a recent Wenshan Baozhong. I am certain that this is the tea speaking, but I still question it due to the lingering memory of that particular experience.

The tea feels active in my head… not in a brutish manner, more flirtatious. On both occasions, my body relaxes greatly with this tea as it sinks into me.

My mouth is still salivating a good 45 minutes after the last steeping as I type this down.

A very enjoyable experience from a recent Tea Urchin tea.

(steeping listening: Air Texture Volume 1 – selection by bvdub)