The girlfriend's dad suddenly brought out a huge box of tea and said it was for me. Dangggg. It came in one of those Chinese packaging that didn't indicate a hoot of which factory it came from, except that it's a Tie Guan Yin (Iron Goddess, 铁观音). Most unhelpful for newbies. By virtue of it being a Tie Guan Yin, it would be an oolong from Anxi County, Fujian Province. But I wouldn't know if it's a 'greener' type or heavily roasted till a packet is opened.
While I knew that the quality would be decent, I wouldn't know how good till a pack is opened and brewed. The dad likes teas too. It's rare opportunity to be able to meet him when he's in town. Since he was in the mood to linger and chat today, I wanted to brew a cup of tea for him, and at the same time, taste this batch of tea. The friends had no tea paraphernalia at home. Whatever traditional Chinese teapots or teacups they had, weren't 'seasoned' enough to be used. No sweat. I'd use whatever's on hand. If one couldn't brew tea because there aren't 'proper' vessels, that's damn sad. Fundamental principles yo. Those don't change.
Most people own glass, porcelain and fine china items, or at least an English teapot or two. Merrily raided the friends' crockery cabinet for appropriate brewing vessels. The water and the boiler wouldn't be ideal, but I'd make do. I can moderate it by using the usual English bone china teapots.
Found a Wedgewood lidded sugar bowl. Perfect. That would do fine to steep the tea leaves. I'd simply use it as a gaibei (盖杯) . The pour wouldn't be elegant, but no one's grading this. It fitted the purpose. Took the milk jug too, as the holder for the tea before serving it in tiny clear glass espresso cups. Happiness.
Gingerly opened a new pack of tea. Smelt promising. Half the table is sensitive to caffeine. I wouldn't want to do even 3 steeps of this. Without the 'proper' tea vessels, it's almost impossible to attempt 5 steeps. I would do two, and try to produce two starkly different flavors, and hope that the aroma and fragrance would still be able to be discerned.
It was comforting when I realized that the tea was indeed of a good quality. Whewww. It was a hot day and this lightly roasted Tie Guan Yin (清香铁观音) from the spring of 2013 was most soothing the throat, if your body is so inclined to the notions of 'heatiness' and 'cooling'. The table enjoyed the clean fragrance that's typically associated with Tie Guan Yin. And they declared that the first steep tasted different from the second. Great.
While I knew that the quality would be decent, I wouldn't know how good till a pack is opened and brewed. The dad likes teas too. It's rare opportunity to be able to meet him when he's in town. Since he was in the mood to linger and chat today, I wanted to brew a cup of tea for him, and at the same time, taste this batch of tea. The friends had no tea paraphernalia at home. Whatever traditional Chinese teapots or teacups they had, weren't 'seasoned' enough to be used. No sweat. I'd use whatever's on hand. If one couldn't brew tea because there aren't 'proper' vessels, that's damn sad. Fundamental principles yo. Those don't change.
Most people own glass, porcelain and fine china items, or at least an English teapot or two. Merrily raided the friends' crockery cabinet for appropriate brewing vessels. The water and the boiler wouldn't be ideal, but I'd make do. I can moderate it by using the usual English bone china teapots.
Found a Wedgewood lidded sugar bowl. Perfect. That would do fine to steep the tea leaves. I'd simply use it as a gaibei (盖杯) . The pour wouldn't be elegant, but no one's grading this. It fitted the purpose. Took the milk jug too, as the holder for the tea before serving it in tiny clear glass espresso cups. Happiness.
Gingerly opened a new pack of tea. Smelt promising. Half the table is sensitive to caffeine. I wouldn't want to do even 3 steeps of this. Without the 'proper' tea vessels, it's almost impossible to attempt 5 steeps. I would do two, and try to produce two starkly different flavors, and hope that the aroma and fragrance would still be able to be discerned.
It was comforting when I realized that the tea was indeed of a good quality. Whewww. It was a hot day and this lightly roasted Tie Guan Yin (清香铁观音) from the spring of 2013 was most soothing the throat, if your body is so inclined to the notions of 'heatiness' and 'cooling'. The table enjoyed the clean fragrance that's typically associated with Tie Guan Yin. And they declared that the first steep tasted different from the second. Great.
2 comments:
Your CNY greetings in Chinese are always so beautiful. Sorry I can only do simple ones. 祝你 新年快乐，马年安康！
Awww. The thought is the same. :))) A lovely lunar new year to you too.
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