I visited the Jip Eu shop in Bangkok twice recently, first to buy some Xiaguan tuochas to give away and keep (from 2012; not quite ready yet for ideal fermentation level, but they are drinkable), and then to pick up an aged sheng cake, which I'll get back to talking about in a later post. The second time I also bought an extra version of the local Thai sheng Kittichai made that I listed in a post about favorite sheng versions. I just drank that tea again a few days ago; it's funny how it starts out a bit strange in early infusions and then just keeps getting better, and never quits.
On the first visit he gave me some of a Wuyi Yancha version to try, which he described as from a Jing Hong cultivar, said to be one of the types derived from the original Da Hong Pao bushes. I've researched and written about that subject before (here), concluding that only Bei Dou and Qi Dan are cultivars tied back to that origin, to one of the original plants. Looking around online I ran across the idea, again, that Que She is also sometimes claimed to be related, to have origins from one of those plants.
 |
more on the DHP tea plants and legend in this TeaSenz article (photo from there) |
Who knows, really. I started a Tea Chat discussion about this back in 2015 where that Que She idea came up, and this vendor page supports that idea. I tend to not really trust random vendor input; people often just pass on "traditional knowledge," which can come in varying forms. I looked around the Seven Cups site for their take, since I had talked to Austin Hodges a little about that way back when, but it only says there are three related cultivars in a Qi Dan sales page, and never mentions what they are. Qi Dan and Bei Dou links seem fairly well accepted, with a lot less support for Que She being that closely related. Of course the fact of the matter isn't directly determined by volume of hearsay.
Searching research sources didn't help, although an exhaustive enough search along that line probably would turn up evidence. A reference like this might help, Genetic diversity of oolong tea (Camellia sinensis) germplasms based on the nanofluidic array of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Two problems come up in using such research to connect modern tea plants to prior traditional associations, and the second is a deal-breaker: that paper is only available for purchase, not publicly accessible, and it would be necessary to map against all of those original plant versions to establish this type of connection, in this case. If the research included genetic mapping of all of the remaining original Da Hong Pao associated plants that would work, but taking that step seems highly unlikely.
There's another problem beyond those: tea plant genetics are only part of the story. Processing fresh leaves into finished tea accounts for most of the variation in tea style, and a large proportion of the quality level causation, with climate and terroir issues accounting for a lot of the rest (annual rainfall, sunlight exposure, soil quality, weather suitability for harvest and processing, etc.). I'm definitely not saying that the plant type doesn't matter, because of course it does, but that's only one input among many.
So who knows what this "Jing Hong" really is. It could be a direct descendant of an original DHP plant or it could be something else entirely. In a sense it doesn't matter, because the tea is whatever it is either way, and I don't think Jip Eu even sells this, so it's all a bit academic. Kittichai said that a friend had passed it on.
Da Hong Pao is most often a blend of inputs instead, and Qi Dan and Bei Dou are often considered their own cultivars, but also the two most original Da Hong Pao versions. It's also conceivable that this tea has a different name, or that it's closely related to another plant type. If it was only somewhat genetically related, part of a later plant breeding outcome, for example, that would put it in an unusual grey area.
 |
that more recent visit, meeting Kittichai's son |
Review:
 |
really light oxidation and roast level, even apparent in the dry leaf |
 |
his type description; even the Roman script part doesn't ring a bell |
First infusion: clearly exceptional tea. The style is lightly oxidized, with a very light roast level as well, so this would likely appeal to people or not based on that context. As I take it this is essentially the most popular current style of better Wuyi Yancha, with lower quality versions tending to be oxidized and roasted a bit more (or a lot more, related to roast level). Some of that relates to convention, and some to which preparation works best for which starting point character. I don't have more to add about that, just saying. You tend to hear a lot of conflicting ideas about what is most conventional, traditional, or most ideal, but it seems as well just focus on the tea experience and not the story lines, to decide what you like.
It's light enough that the vegetal nature still carries over more than is typical for this category of oolongs. It's my take that this is probably exactly the result they were aiming for. A smooth fullness is pleasant; it gives the tea an overall depth. This includes some of a cognac like character that only better Wuyi Yancha versions express, along with some underlying mineral tone, and floral tone more pronounced than both in this infusion. It's the unusually thick feel that really stands out, along with a pronounced extended aftertaste.
It's hard for me to guess at what a conventional selling point pricing would be for this tea, but at a guess it's more than I would tend to ever pay, far more than the $30 per 100 grams Jip Eu sells pretty good Wuyi Yancha versions for, perhaps well over $1/gram. If this is as rare and sought after as Kittichai expressed, as a third main cultivar type from original Da Hong Pao plants then it may be unusually costly. He gave the tea to me, so I didn't experience that part, but I should ask.
To be clear this is my favorite Bangkok shop and I visit frequently (not regularly, just when I get around to going, but often), and handing out really exceptional version samples probably isn't part of their normal business practice. I was in there recently and he gave me some An Hui (I think it was; definitely a Hunan hei cha), so it's not atypical. They are like family to me, at least related to how I experience visiting.
 |
my wife was my driver for the last visit |
Second infusion: this only brewed for 7 or 8 seconds but the proportion is so high that it's about optimum. I can back off proportion a little more than this but it's about how I like it best, pushed roughly as far as makes any sense, or maybe just past that per a more standard take.
It picks up even more depth in the second round. It was fantastic the first round, so descriptions really aren't going to keep up with how good this tea is. I could imagine that vegetal edge throwing some people off, and some newer to the type might even like far lower quality and more standard versions better. By "more standard" I mean more standard for a moderate quality range; again I think for higher quality versions of this type this is quite typical. It would be a shame to let this oxidize further and then blur it's character with a higher roast level, but it would probably work really well going slightly further with both inputs.
A perfume-like character comes across. In the first round I had described that as being like cognac, and to me that sort of aspect range spans a continuum, expressed as liqueur-like or perfume-like in related expressions. People familiar with it will know exactly what I'm talking about, and for others there would be no way to make it clearer. It tastes like perfume smells, not just the floral range, which is there, but also the solvent part, a little.
To say that it's positive or pleasant really doesn't do it justice; it's distinctive, and you either value it or you don't. This is what teas of this general type and quality level are about, to me. Oddly I could appreciate a much more common, standard, moderate range set of aspects about as much, related to match to preference, but it's impossible to not appreciate how good this tea is. Feel, aftertaste, flavor range, overall balance, higher quality marker aspect presence; it's really something. It would be a real shame to brew this Western style, or for anyone not at all on this page to drink it, and see it as mediocre tea.
Third infusion: floral range bumps a little; this is intense. It's a sweet, rich, and complex floral range, towards how lotus flower smells. The part I've described as vegetal is shifting some, gaining warmth and depth, off green wood into more cured hardwood, but sweet, like cherry wood (those hardwood trees do tend to smell a little like the fruit they produce, often enough).
The feel structure is great; I've not really done that justice, beyond saying it's "thick." The talk of where it impacts parts of your mouth never did really do much for me, even if I could follow it, or of form, dry versus richly structured, etc.
Fourth infusion: every round I've brewed faster, down to under 5 seconds this time, and intensity keeps up, with character improving every round. In terms of description what I said about the last two rounds still works, with only proportion of what had been present shifting this time. That perfume-like character is intense. The way it all balances is amazing; no description would do that justice.
Fifth infusion: it continues to transition, but in a way that's hard to describe. The feel is a bit creamier now, not just smooth, rich, and structured, but actually feeling more like cream. Pronounced floral range dominates the taste, along with the perfume-like character, including some of the solvent range along with that floral. There is still a warmer vegetal tone, like cherry hardwood, and just a trace of flavor towards greener wood or plant stem.
Sixth infusion: not really shifting. There's a warmth to this tone that the sum of all described aspects might not seem to imply, and it all integrates and balances really well. Add just a little of the wrong kind of astringency or vegetal tone and that would be lost, but it all combines perfectly.
This is surely one of the best Wuyi Yancha examples I've yet to try. It wouldn't work to say "best," given that quality level and drinking experience doesn't work like that, or preference to type, but if someone was more into that sort of ranking maybe.
 |
some lightly oxidized oolong |
Seventh infusion: vegetal is picking up in relation to the floral perfume tone, although really that could relate to a minor parameter shift, a change in timing.
There's probably a lot more to say about the next half-dozen infusions, since this will keep going, but I won't say it. The tea is great, a perfect example for that one style and type.
It seems snobbish to say "not everyone would appreciate this tea," in the sense of "getting it," and I wouldn't mean to imply some sort of higher level understanding by that. It represents a distinct style, one that people buying Da Hong Pao or other Wuyi Yancha versions in the US might not tend to experience frequently. I don't mean the cultivar, but claims relate to that part might work too. It's lightly oxidized, and not very roasted, but all that is more about the balance, the final character they were aiming for.
Maybe this was unusually expensive tea, and maybe it wasn't, and shouldn't be. But it is very well-made, in my opinion.
 |
visiting a water park on Thai mother's day |
 |
Mama Nid joined as well |
 |
Keo won a discount for next visit in a draw (not sure what the shaka is all about) |
 |
Chinese beans and ice after that visit; I've been hooked on that lately |
No comments:
Post a Comment