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…
A photo posted by Mai Truong (@flavorblvd) on Nov 21, 2015 at 6:59pm PST A light, easy-going green oolong, this Jin Shuan (also known as “milk oolong”) just arrived at the shop last night. After a trek to the tea…
“At first I didn’t really comprehend it, but then it struck me: this tea was literally on the bush just a few days ago [in Hangzhou], and here it is in my cup [half way across the globe]”, said Teance’s…
It’s been a long time since I last went to Teance, between research and editing, I can no longer afford 2-3 hours with tea. However, today was one of those days when things didn’t go as planned, I was up…
The new spring harvest teas are arriving at Teance, and so am I. I tried three teas earlier today, a yellow tea, a green tea and a white tea, all of which I have had from previous seasons, but a…
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…
Last spring, I got two bags of last-spring (Spring 2012) shincha (新茶) from Yaoya-san in El Cerrito. The soft green color of the bags was so pleasing, I like shincha so much (it immediately became my number-one favorite green tea when I…
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…