I’m always surprised by how dark of a color white teas tend to have. While the greens, oolongs, reds and puer for the most part have colors that match their names, white teas look yellow. The color of the steeped…
For the longest time, I’ve been using the names “Taiwan Beauty” and “Royal Courtesan” interchangeably, believing that they were the same type of tea. However, they’re NOT. They are pretty similar, though: – Both are Taiwanese oolongs with high oxidation…
Every April, my mom asks my dad to drive along Highway 105 and Highway 6 to look at the wild bluebonnet in bloom. She likes the flower viewing drive as much as the Japanese are into their hanami (花見, cherry…
The Minimalist’s bookkeeping: Taiwan Beauty – citrusy and light. Aged Baochong – plumy and coffee-y, then smoky in subsequent infusions. Yushan High Mountain oolong – simply light, Nancy detected a fantastic smell that I couldn’t because I was already in a food-induced stupor…
Recently, I had a few amazing evenings drinking puer at Cheryl’s place. In all honesty, I never liked puer before. The puer I’ve had at Teance, minus the Fragrant Leaf green puer, always struck me as muddy with a medicinal…
Ran across this newsletter from Teance today, and I just thought I should take notes: Oolongs from Taiwan enjoy renown and prestige, as well some of the highest prices, in the world today. The locals happily consume most of what…
Some people do drugs, I do tea. And I get even higher when I do tea with company: when I recommend the teas to my friends and they enjoy it, I feel accomplished. So of course, when Kristen’s mom visits…
Nancy so kindly shared with me some of her Wild Trees oolong, noting that the package says “a taste of ginseng”. At first, its clumpy look reminds me of a green puer (and it is a lot browner than in…
Contrast to its name, Bai Cha, which means “white tea”, is a green tea. And unlike other green teas, the Anji Bai Cha must be steeped for a long time to release its full potential. Anji Baicha is delicious and…
The waiter brought out a kettle of tea, but Nancy Togami waved him back, asking for just plain hot water. Carefully, she used her thermometer to check the water temperature. One hundred and eighty degree Fahrenheit, too cool to steep…