Homecoming

We're back from our trip, jet-lagged and mostly happy to be home. Found some great teas and we'll be posting our discoveries on our website in a few days. I've got a ton of photos to sort through and I can't wait to share my experiences with everyone. Taiwan was beautiful and Hong Kong felt like a second home.

Here's a few pics from our journey while I get back into the groove of things.
Our last morning in Taiwan, the view from my window.

The fresh, honest face of the Camellia Sinensis flower.

A tea tasting, one of many...

Enjoying some tea against the backdrop of the Hong Kong night.

Hong Kong egg tarts go great with tea.

Yet another tea tasting, this time some heavy roasted TiKwanYin.

And no trip would be complete without some beautiful antique teapots to admire.

More to come...

Greetings from Taiwan

Yumcha here, blogging from Taroko. This is the first time I've had internet access since we crossed into the mountains of Taiwan. I'm losing battery power and my travel companions are impatient to get back on the road and go find some teas. It's been a great trip so far and I wish I could go into more details but my photos will have to do the talking for me since I have to keep moving...

Last Weekend

This is the last weekend to purchase teas on our online store!
At least until we get back from China which isn't til the 14th of December. Once again, sorry for the inconvenience. Please get your orders in before Monday the16th, since it will be another month before you'll be able to order again. Visitors will still be able to navigate the site but unable to complete purchases.

Meanwhile, we're still working out our travel plans. The tea fields of Taiwan are on the itinerary! Also, hoping to visit a hot spring or two while we're there.

Travel Plans

Hello beautiful tea people!
Just a little bit of news for our internet friends: The Tea Gallery TEAm will be heading to Hong Kong in a couple weeks. We're all terribly excited and impatient to leave the cold weather behind us. But we have some days to go before our plane takes off. Our travel plans are still being worked on and I'll post any new details I get.

Unfortunately, this means that out little online shop will not be running from Nov. 18th to Dec. 12 since we have no one to handle the orders and shipping for us. So please order before that date so you're not left without tea while we're away. To make it up to you, we promise to share our findings and update our site with new tea finds as quickly as possible. I know it's unusual to close down an online store for any amount of time but we really don't think we can let anyone else handle the daily affairs of our little gallery. Our apologies for the inconvenience this may cause to our good friends and patrons. (Visitors will still be able to navigate the site but unable to complete purchases.)

I, Yumcha, also promise to update this blog with notes and photos of our travels.

Vintage Tea Set

I think the porcelain gods were with me last weekend. While poking around one of those "stuffed to rafters" vintage shops in upstate NY, this relatively pristine tea set was found in the back next to some Bakelite bracelets and a couple of tarnished tins. For an astonishingly small sum (I tried to hide my giddiness in front of the proprietor) I was able to take a little bit of history home.

I don't have Michael's eye when it comes to dating old teaware but I had no problem figuring out the age when I turned the pieces over:

While a "Made in OCCUPIED Japan" stamp is pretty obnoxious reminder of a terrible time with bad memories for many, it's useful as a "time stamp" that tells me the items were made between 1945 - 1952. Right after WWII, during the several years Japan was under US control.

Made for export, the tea set seems to be going through a little identity crisis. The teapot's round shape and spout has a Western feel but then it's paired with the traditional bamboo handle. I find it beautiful, right down to it's rusted metal hooks.

It's well made with nice thin walls, there's even a built in strainer for the loose tea leaves.

I was more attracted to the covered cups than the teapot. There were only two that were found but the set may have originally come with more. Still, I was pretty pleased to find both with their lids and only some minor damage to the rims.

The artwork is simple on both cups and teapot. The painting of the horse is a little on the cartoonish side but I find a childish grace to the effort. The lids on the cups is slightly larger than the one for the teapot. The cup itself has a nice flare to the rim and it rests perfectly against my bottom lip. The striped foot adds elegance to the wide body and from above the teacup seems to float above the table.

I hope this has encouraged you to go and look for your own lucky finds. Maybe we'll cross paths at the next flea market...

A "Classic" Afternoon

Yesterday gave us our first chilly preview of fall. It was a good opportunity to make ourselves some heavily roasted oolong and stay warm. We decided on our Classic Roast Iron Bodhisattva. We've received a lot of questions about this tea and it's about time I did a post about our most popular oolong. Most were about brewing methods and water temperature. I'll try to include information that answers the most common questions we get.
While this is the tea that Michael uses for his ChiuJoa GongFu Cha, it's flavorful enough to withstand even a western style brewing method with little leaf, lots of water and longer steeping time. Michael is away for the week, so Winnie decided to brew in the basic GongFu style that anyone can do.
Right now, we're drinking and selling the 2009 Spring Harvest. Because of the heavy roasting, this oolong has a very long shelf life so long as it is stored in an airtight container, away from light and heat. Michael will usually reserve some of the harvest for himself so he can age the tea for later enjoyment. Aging is possible due to the high firing process the leaves go through. The heat stabilizes the tea oils and compounds. Once it's been stored for a few years, the roasted character mellows and the flavors become more complex. It's a softer taste with fewer floral notes but a more mature profile. Also, the cha-qi will strengthen over time and drinking a ten year aged TiKwanYin has had me blissed out and dreamy.

Now we that we have the tea, we need a teapot:

This Yixing clay pot is from the seventies. It can hold about 2oz - 60cc of liquid. It's TINY. It fits perfectly in my hand and I have small hands. Pots of this style are well crafted and beautiful to look at but the thin walls can crack if exposed to to extreme temperature change. This is rare but when you have something this nice , why take chances?
Take the time to start with very warm water (120 degrees), fill the teapot and make sure the outer walls are thoroughly soaked. Empty the teapot and repeat once more with hot water (175 degrees). After the teapot has been emptied again, you can proceed to use boiling water to heat up the pot before adding the tea leaves.

Once the teapot is heated through and emptied, Winnie pours in the tea. She doesn't stop until the pot is three quarters full. With so much tea, infusions are going to be very short to prevent bitterness and oversteeping. The first several steeps will be poured out almost as quickly as the water was poured in.

Hot water is poured first along the outer rim and circles it's way into the pot. Winnie pours it out as soon as she's put down the kettle and replaced the lid. This is the tea rinse and is reserved in the fairness pitcher.

We can't all have Winnie's delicate bone structure. But there are ways of moving and serving tea that create a graceful atmosphere. Every person who's ever made tea for me has their own "style" that comes through.

The rinse is poured back over the outside of the teapot. Winnie calls it "feeding the pot". The Yixing clay develops a rich patina from years of soaking up the tea. Most of our readers know this but I think it's important enough to mention again. Some people still toss out the rinse not believing it's good for anything. Bathing your teapot with the rinse is an important part of maintaining and properly aging the teapot.

Another good shot of Winnie's hand position as she pours out the tea. Her fingers are curled around the handle, mimicking the curves of the teapot and creating a nice rhythm. In my lessons with Michael in the traditional ChiuJao GongFu Cha method, I was made aware of how my pinky finger would often stick straight out and apart from the rest of my hand while I brewed tea. A little thing but one that betrayed tension in my movements and exposed my
inexperience. It seems like a minor detail most people wouldn't notice but your guests may pick up a sense of discomfort at a subconscious level. Afterward, they may wonder why they didn't feel entirely relaxed during the tea session. Keep your movements small and fluid. Notice your fingers, wrists, elbows and shoulders. Keep your back straight but not rigid
Maybe you don't care about appearance so long as you can make a good cup of tea. Or maybe, one day, you will make tea for a master... and they will notice everything.

Because there is so much leaf packed into the pot, it's important to give the teapot time to let as much of the infusion drain out. Find an appropriate fairness pitcher or porcelain cup to rest the teapot against. The circumference of the opening should be small enough to keep the lid secure against the pot. While the water navigates the labyrinth of twisted leaf to pour out of the spout, the tea's finish should be perfuming the mouth and tasting sweeter on the tongue.

The first couple of steeps gives us an autumn hue. I think of sunsets when I see this color. Subsequent steeps get richer and darker as we move to heart of the tea.

As Winnie brews, the leaves expand and start to push out of the pot. There's just enough tea to fill two little cups.

The afternoon wore on, and each infusion took a little longer than the last to brew. Finally, Winnie upended the pot one last time that day. There was a little light left in the sky and Winnie fancied a walk in the crisp air.

I hope this has answered some questions, although maybe I'll have created more. Either way, it's always great to hear from other tea people and I'll do my best to respond to any comments left on this post.

Rain and Phoenix

I do love a flared rim on a porcelain cup. Filled to the top, the edges of the tea lighten and disappear into the porcelain's glaze. There is no demarcation of tea and vessel, just softness and a beautiful blurring of elements. I take a sip and the world seems to lose its hard edges. Rain on a weekday afternoon also gives me that same fuzzy feeling. Sheets of water slap against the windows and the city skyline fades into the clouds. It's dark and cozy and I happily abandon the computer and join Winnie at the tea table.

She's brewing the Phoenix oolong, a tea that loves the wet weather. Hard to explain, maybe it's the humidity or the change in atmospheric pressure... whatever it is, a rainy day just seems to bring out the best in teas, especially teas from Phoenix Mt. My mouth starts to water as she scoops out the dark, slender leaves. I can already taste the notes of peach and wild almonds. I know the aroma will not disappear and instead wait for me at the bottom of my cup

The afternoon seems even more special as Winnie pulls out her cherished Yixing teapot for Phoenix tea. Since the move, so much of what used to be on display has been carefully packed and shelved to keep our new, smaller space organized and clutter-free.
It's been months since I've seen this beautiful teapot:

Understandably, Winnie stopped using her phoenix pot at tea gatherings as she hated to disappoint everyone who wanted to purchase it from her. It's not for sale but I can see the desire to add this beauty to one's collection. Even without the hand-painted artwork, the teapot is a well balanced Yixing ware with a classic shape. The dark purple clay feels supple to the touch and darkens considerably once it's fed water and tea.

More like a kingfisher than a phoenix, the bird theme is fitting for the Phoenix oolong without having to be too literal. The delicate colors and expressive line work is a lively contrast to the dark clay. Bold and sweet at the same time. There's skill in decorating teapots with this much color and keeping it all in the realm of good taste. Sadly, teapots of this caliber are much harder to come by in this day and age. No wonder everyone wants Winnie's.

Even in Winnie's dainty hands, her teapot looks tiny. In fact, I've never seen Michael use this teapot.I don't know that it would look right. It's not about the size, Michael's used smaller teapots for his ChiuJao GongFu Cha. I really think this is about the matching the teapot to the appropriate personality. There's a feminine beauty to Phoenix pot that seems to come alive with Winnie's graceful movements.

If there's a ever a reason to choose fine, porcelain for your tea, this is it. To see the effect of the light as it tumbles about in the cup, transforming tea into a glimmering treasure. And perhaps it was all in my mind, but the Phoenix seemed to taste richer for the company, the rain, the clay and the porcelain. A sweet, floral fragrance hovered over the table. I tasted hints of lychee and a rich, mellow honey that lingered after the fruitiness evaporated off the palate. A touch of astringence led to a cooling finish. Even as the rain let up and I shuffled back to my work, I could still taste the ghost of the tea getting sweeter and sweeter.