Comparing 2017 and 2018 Yunnan Sourcing Impression shengs

I just bought a cake of the Yunnan Sourcing 2018 Impression sheng, and had part of a sample left over from a 2017 version from a Liquid Proust sample set, so I'll try them together.

Per the earlier description of the product series these teas were intended to be something like the 7542 classic Dayi sheng series; a blended tea on the intense side, appropriate for aging, versus what most people would like best right away.  The actual character of the 2017 version didn't remind me of what I've tried of 7542 (although to be honest I only own one cake of that, a 2014 version, last reviewed in 2017 but I've tried it again since, so others' opinions might serve a better reference).  This 2018 product reference clarifies that background:


This year's Impression cake is a blend of tea leaves from Spring and Autumn, originating from Mengku, Bang Dong, and Jing Gu tea gardens. Unlike previous years this is a 400 gram cake (not 357 grams).

The tea has been grown naturally and processed in the traditional method. We blended various teas together to achieve a powerful blend that has strong mouth feeling, cha qi and a balanced sweet, bitter and astringent profile.

In 2012 I created the first impression blend to be an alternative to a Xiaguan or Da Yi 7542, but it has far surpassed those mass market teas in both quality and value!  I also feel strongly that this tea being very strong in aroma, mouthfeel, bitter/astringent, infusability and Cha Qi, makes it a good choice for long-term aging!


It crossed my mind that it might be interesting to compare the two side-by-side, Impression and 7542, but with that age difference (related to the version I own) it just wouldn't work.  It also doesn't work to compare sheng that is well-chopped leaves and whole-leaf tea; it's a lot to factor back out as a difference.  It's normal enough to think that more whole leaf is always better, and to an extent that seems right, but in a different sense I think that much more astringent character, from different levels of some compounds being extracted from chopped leaves, may contribute a lot more intensity, and that might well work better in a version that's been sitting for more than a decade. 

I should phrase that as a guess instead:  to some extent the difference in character and intensity may cause aged versions that are the same in other regards but different in that one (how whole the leaves are) to work as well as chopped leaf versions, conceivably even better (although that might seem a stretch), even though in general teas across most types processed that way aren't as good.  This is one more variable I'd have a better guess on in another decade, with an intermediate level of experience versus just getting some basic exposure now.

I say that about the tea (2017 Impression version), that it didn't seem as well-suited to long term aging as it might be, because it was mellow, not that bitter, and not necessarily intense related to astringency, flavor, or other character.  That worked well for me for a blend, for something not presented as a higher-end single-type character; the balance was nice and it was quite approachable, even one year old.  I'm still sorting out how autumn source teas factor into character but including such material may have toned down some of the intensity, but in speculating across what aspect range I'd be going too far.

The versions comparison here is the thing, and I'll surely get around to mentioning how I think a year of age has factored in, and how both might change over coming years.

Review

color difference evident already (2017 left)

2017:  it's not completely opened up yet, on one relatively longer infusion after a short rinse step, but it's pleasant already.  A good, moderate balance of bitterness with plenty of sweetness works well.  Mineral range supports that. 

Someone just pointed out that I tend to include mineral description in most sheng, but that they're not noticing it as pronounced in many versions.  To me mineral is part of the standard sheng profile, like considering degree of bitterness or sweetness, or to what extent floral range plays a role, or doesn't.  The flavor complexity is nice in this tea, and the feel works well, and overall balance.  Even the aftertaste isn't bad, moderately long for a tea just getting started.  I want to go ahead and describe the taste since I still tend to focus on that but it seems as well to wait a round to instead.


2018:  on the similar side; that works, given how nice the 2017 version was and the series context.  There's a pronounced wood-tone / pine flavor range that comes across in both, the main part of the flavor aspect.  2017's seems a little richer, milder, and slightly less bitter, but age alone could account for that.  Given this is a blend I'd expect them to vary, that putting together a very similar tea two years in a row wouldn't work out, even using the same exact inputs, since weather and harvest conditions are one of many main inputs to final outcome, but it's a little early for general conclusions.

Second infusion

2017:  more of the same, woody and piney, with decent intensity, sweetness, and bitterness working along with that.  As weaknesses go it's all a bit non-distinct; those aspect ranges give it complexity and balance in a sense but it's all a bit more vague than a single-source tea might be.  On the other hand there's a part to feel and flavor aspects that seem to relate to each other, on the flavor side that pine note, which seem to connect and stand out.  Aftertaste isn't missing but it's not notable; I never do get around to saying much about that range here because of that.

Based only what I'm experiencing so far I'm not sure when this tea would peak, at what point in aging it might be best, but this could be it.  Another year in hot and steamy Bangkok storage conditions will age it fast, and initial brightness, intensity, and some flavor range will become more subdued.  It's not as if the bitterness and astringency need time to fade; it's fine as it is as those go.


2018:  if you project back to a guess at where the 2017 started a year earlier you'd be pretty close to this tea.  They're very similar, it's just a bit more intense, with a bit more brightness, lacking a little smoothness and depth, but not much.  It's so close in character that minor changes in initial fermentation over a year could account for all the difference.  The feel is a little drier, which goes along with this version including a good bit more pine flavor, the same flavor present in the other version but stronger.

Third infusion

lots of color difference with leaves wetted (2017 left)

2017:  there's a catchy aspect to the feel and flavor profile I've not done justice too yet.  On the feel side it never works all that well to describe those; if I say it feels juicy, sappy, resinous, or oily that would mean something clear to me but others would probably use different concepts, or use the same ones in different ways.  "Thick" is a bit vague since feel varies in so many ways. 

On the flavor side there is some green wood, more cured wood, and pine tone, and mineral, but what I'm talking about now is something else.  People tend to jump ahead and just match it to the closest fruit, since a catchy aspect that's somewhat paired with sweetness is halfway there, even if it maybe hasn't really covered the second half.  I think in this case that works; it's around the range of dried pear, warm and rich, soft and a bit subtle, but with depth to it.

I probably should have bought a cake of this when it was still available (it's sold out now).  As for alternative interpretations since "floral" is even more of a default it would be possible to interpret a vague, secondary fruit aspect as towards that.  Or one might interpret mineral input as covering some of the range I'm calling pine here; it's as much a feel paired with an unusual flavor as just a taste, and there is other mineral to pick up as well.


2018:  this flavor is warming as well.  I'm working with two slightly different proportions in these samples, which is going to throw off any direct comparison, related to not having as much as usually use left over from the 2017 version sample.  The year of age difference already did that, threw off a truly direct comparison of versions, but I mean comparing including that as a factor.  Very minor differences in infusion strength, brought about by proportion and timing differences, shift the character, in ways one learns to expect and appreciate as related to that.  To help flesh that out I'll do a flash infusion next round, trying both very light, describing how that changes things.  This is sticking more to pine range as flavor goes, but again I think it will cause that to become less noticeable doing that next fast infusion, and shift the feel.

These two teas might well be best after 2 or 3 years of aging (or where the 2017 version is now), versus right away, or storing them for over a decade.  Time will tell for this one, since I just bought a cake, since I'll keep part around for that purpose of experimenting.  One of many sheng truisms comes to mind related to that, that "a cake is a sample," which I think is from "Marshal N" of Tea Addict's Journal, the pen name attribution for one of them most classic tea blog authors.  The idea is that to really explore a tea a cake isn't enough to work with, since you can't both drink it many times and leave it to age, and then experience it at different ages.  That kind of works.  I see what I'm doing as sampling as much as drinking these teas I'm now buying for daily drinking stock, or for truly holding any significant quantity for long term collecting and later drinking.

I'd like to get to that, to keeping a dozen or so tongs around for later consumption, but I haven't yet.  My daughter is 5 now; if she takes up drinking a lot more tea at 18 then 13 years is a decent time-frame for aging sheng.  It would still be a decade away from what a lot of people would consider fully aged, even here in this heat and humidity, but it would be a nice place to drink teas regularly to keep tabs on that later transition cycle.

Fourth infusion

2017:  it's actually a little light for being brewed as a flash infusion this round (a long version of one; brewing two teas at once slows things), but that kind of was the point.  Feel thins down to a range that doesn't work but the flavor is still positive.  Really checking on the other tea was more a concern, seeing if that different flavor and feel range moved closer to where this one had been over the last couple of rounds.


2018:  pine flavor is just as intense (it really stands out) and feel is much softer, although you can still tell it's completely different than the other version, drier as opposed to just having a different form of thickness in the 2017 version.  The dryness works better lighter like this but the relative proportion of it didn't change; I don't notice as less prominent (versus me saying that's what would happen).  This could be a bit of a special case because it's not as if a number of aspects stand out and I could shift the proportion of what I notice by varying infusion strength; this tea version is all about that pine and dryness, it's what you experience.

Fifth infusion

2017, 2018:  more of the same really.  It's interesting how similar these are, except for that difference in one pine aspect and feel that I keep going on about.  The 2017 seems slightly sweeter, with just a little more flavor complexity, across a broader range.

Back to that idea of interpretations running towards what one expects, or tends to notice, that reminds me of a recent exchange in a FB post thread comments.  I'm noticing pine because a sheng recently tasted so much like pine that I couldn't miss it, but before that I easily could've written a similar aspect off as other types of wood tones.  Another blogger mentioned tasting cherry in a lot of teas at one point (probably in reviewing black teas instead), to the extent that he was taking it back out of notes for final edited and posted versions of reviews.  Tea tastings tend to be interpretations, and what reviewers notice tied to expectations is probably as significant as any skill in objectively reporting experienced aspects.

Sixth infusion

The 2017 tea is probably better than it had been earlier in the cycle, but not so different.  Holding up well across infusions and even transitioning in interesting and positive ways can be seen as a marker for tea quality, but to some degree teas just vary by aspects, including that.  I'd see extended length of aftertaste, pronounced mineral base, and bitterness transitioning to sweetness as clearer quality markers for sheng.

The 2018 version might be thinning a little, but softening works well for evening out the balance.  That hint of dryness is really a version of astringency, not an unpleasant version of it but not necessarily positive either.  These teas have rounds more to go but I'll brew a slightly longer infusion, more like 15 seconds, and leave off with final thoughts on that.  These teas aren't transitioning so much in character there's a lot of story to be told there but how well a tea holds up through a full infusion cycle does indicate something about it.

Seventh infusion

Again the sweetness and that one catchy flavor aspect in the 2017 version stands out.  In an earlier review of multiple teas from a Liquid Proust set I interpreted that as citrus; that works.  It would be closest to dried orange peel as those go, maybe even tangerine peel.

The pronounced pine in this 2018 version is diversifying, warming and changing, maybe as close to spice tones now.  Citrus would be a stretch for interpreting that but if one was so inclined it would be closer to a red version of grapefruit, or that fruit combined with the dried peel of that same fruit instead.

Conclusions

Both are nice; I liked both.  The 2017 seemed a little better, and I can't be sure but at a guess the extra year of aging did improve it.  Both are pleasant, mild, and drinkable now, and it would depend on preference for aspects and character how much someone like them.  Blends tend to be a bit more non-distinct but these aren't bad as that trade-off goes; single-types tend to allow specific aspects to come across clearer, but these still have their own interesting character, and don't seem too averaged-out. 

As value goes the tea works really well; I paid $28 for a 400 gram cake of the 2018 version.  Unlike with the random inexpensive Chinese tea market cakes I've just bought this version was tested for pesticides residues, with details referenced in that product write-up.


If the 2018 version swaps out some astringency (dryness in feel, in this case) and what I've interpreted as pine flavor for warmer and deeper flavors, and a slightly less dry texture, it will improve.  I don't see both as bitter, astringent, and generally intense enough to be good candidates for aging into really exceptional tea in another decade, but to be honest I'm guessing about that.  And the aged sheng versions that I've tried that did seem to lose a lot of intensity, to really flatten out and fade as much as just transition, others may have liked more than I did. 

It's not as if more is necessarily better when it comes to those aspects being present, since a couple of the aged sheng I've been trying recently include plenty of intensity but also a good bit of "dirt" flavor aspect (or geosmin, to put that more positively, with more on what that really means here).  A little dirt flavor can balance well enough, to me, just as a touch of tar or petroleum in a shu can be fine, or char in a roasted oolong.  It just doesn't take much of any of those to throw off the balance and positive effect, to me. 

I've been wondering if some of that present in one of those aged sheng (which I've not mentioned in a review, but will) might not relate to rapid aging, to being pushed to transition faster in a more-humid environment to be sold as an older tea than it really is.  A Chinatown-purchased version I did write about improved a lot over the course of months due to some of that fading relatively quickly, which may be the case related to that other tea version I bought in China instead.

Since I can't really pass on a well-informed guess about what this 2018 version's character and flavor profile will be like in 10 years I'll have to only drink a little here and there to observe the progression and then wait and see.

Farmerleaf Spring 2018 Jingmai Tian Xiang

I recently ordered a few teas from Farmerleaf, a past favorite source for Dian Hong (Yunnan black teas), and a good producer and reseller for a range of Jing Mai sheng.  And they sell others, white teas and such.  I've been buying a few more sheng cakes to try different versions and to bridge more into experiencing how they age, trying them over time.  I've been trying a lot of samples of sheng for a couple of years but don't own that many cakes.

This review covers a version that sounded good, a "Tian Xiang" cake.  I'll cite the whole Farmerleaf description, in part to introduce the tea, and to explain why it sounded interesting:

The second edition of the 'Tian Xiang' cake is made from a selection of natural tea gardens from Jingmai Mountain. Each year, we research about the characteristics of each tea garden and some spots give teas with special traits. This cake was made from natural tea gardens located close to the ancient tea gardens and another group of gardens remotely located halfway between Mangjing and Jingmai. Because of their history and the current agricultural practices, these gardens make a tea of superior qualilty, featuring a thicker soup and more complex fragrance.

This tea was processed in a wok, in the same way as the Miyun cakes, but the raw material differs. The tea features a complex floral fragrance, with hints of tropical fruits. The soup is thicker and Huigan deeper than in the Miyun cake.

In terms of quality, this tea is a good middle ground between the basic natural tea gardens tea and the more expensive teas grown in the ancient tea gardens.


I talked to William Osmont, the Farmerleaf business owner, about the tea before buying it.  He described this as a "daily drinker" in discussion, which raises some interesting considerations.

That simple concept invokes a lot of context issues.  On the one hand it implies a tea should be inexpensive and moderate in quality, decent tea but not good enough to warrant lengthy weekend sessions focused only on the tea.  "Inexpensive" is a matter of expectation too; there is a lot of sheng out there selling for around $40 per cake and this was $79, so double that.  I've recently tried a Yunnan Sourcing "Impression" cake and Bitterleaf "Year of the Dog" cake that were blended tea versions that seem to fit that general type, and match that first lower price range.

One might wonder what William meant, and he clarified that to him it relates to a relatively inexpensive tea that is easy to brew, doesn't require too much attention, and may not be as strong in flavor or body as some other versions.  That works.


I first took him to mean that other versions, in particular older tree / gushu plant source versions, can be more intense, perhaps more refined, and can require a different kind of focus, and can bring different layers of exposure to the experience.  Tea tree age alone doesn't make a tea better; lots of processing inputs go into play, and growing conditions are a factor, and which plant type happened to stick around to get old.

As I interpret it the concept of a "daily drinker" is more about tea style than cost, although that is related too.  I'll drink different types of teas when I'm rushing through a work-day breakfast than I'll choose when I have time to spend.  It's nice to drink a well-above-average orthodox Assam on the fly, brewed as two strong infusions in two rounds in a large mug.  It doesn't work as well to drink 12 rounds of sheng quickly, but I still do sometimes.  Even if I only have even 20 minutes to brew tea with breakfast if I feel like it I'll have sheng, preparing 10 rounds really fast Gongfu style, mixing ("stacking") them as I go to moderate the temperature I drink it at.  I wouldn't do that with a better version I was trying to get a clearer read on.

Given all that it will be interesting to see what I make of the tea, so on to it.

Review

The first infusion is pleasant, on the light side still, but sweet and complex with good intensity.  I should leave off filling in the aspects-list style description until next round and limit this to a first impression effect.  It seems to work.  Bitterness won't a problem in this tea, although there is some to balance the rest.  It will be sweet, flavorful, and approachable.  A hint of smoke stands out, even though it's a trace, there is a vegetal aspect, part of the sweetness probably does relate to fruit, and mineral fills in a nice base.  It's good, of course with "good" being a bit relative.

It's funny how that general description could either be interpreted as sheng at its best or very limited quality tea, depending on how someone takes it, related to their expectations and preferences.

Of course it's a little more intense the next round; the leaves are closer to fully saturated.  Drilling further into how the aspects break down is tricky; that initial take captures a lot of what I'm still picking up.  There is a distinctive range of complex flavors that stands out, but it covers a lot of scope, even though it comes across as simple and integrated.  That can happen.  At first it comes across mostly as a floral range, since that's a default description (more or less), and general expectation.  It resembles fruit too though.  At this point a bit towards pear or white grape, so sweet and light, maybe even Asian pear (very light), but some of the warmth and depth does extend to how more typical US-grown pears are.  Mineral range supports that flavor complexity.

Sweetness could be a little more intense, but there's plenty, and the mild bitterness works well as a counter.  Feel is a bit light, and at least at this point aftertaste doesn't stand out.  There's enough of both that it doesn't come across as thin but compared to a lot of young sheng range it might be judged as such.  If I focused on that more than overall balance and effect (what I really value most about teas, in general) then it would seem more of a limitation.  The style is such that this is a drinkable young sheng, which is fine as a premise, for me.  It doesn't bode well for the tea to be as positive after more than a decade of aging, per my understanding, but it makes it stand out as pleasant now.

All this might sound familiar, about contrasting pleasant, drinkable young sheng with aging potential.  It's a recurring theme I never drop lately, and one I'll be another decade sorting out.  I just re-tried a Moychay Nannuo sheng yesterday that was one of my favorite shengs yet (with this a link to the next-year's version, 2018).  I've finished 2/3rds of a cake of the 2017 cake, in part related to checking back in on it just over a year after buying it.  It's fading; no surprise there.  Or just transitioning, to be more positive about that, but it's definitely losing flavor intensity and sweetness, and it didn't have much astringency and bitterness that could drop out to improve the experience.  It might sound like I'm saying this tea is a lot like that, and at the end I probably will, but I'll hold off on concluding that for now.

This does remind me even more of that tea on the third round; it has nice flavor intensity, sweetness, a good balance, and pronounced fruit.  It's just not overly bitter, astringent, or structured in feel (all of which works for me; it still strikes a decent balance).  I was just thinking of ordering the next years' version of that Moychay Nannuo sheng (and may still), but with this being as stylistically close, and matching in similar aspects, at least I have more to drink of something comparable.  I just doubt that this tea will serve the initial purpose of buying cakes to age well (again at the level of conclusions best reserved to the end).

Mineral makes this tea pleasant; it really helps the flavor balance.   That doesn't pair with feel-structure that tends to often couple with similar mineral range.  I'd picked up a hint of smoke early on but that's not apparent now; it already dropped out.  There's something unusual about the bitterness, which is often simple a one-dimensional, basic aspect, as sweetness sort of is, but both can vary in nature.  The mild bitterness seems to have a complexity to it.

The fruit range seems to be changing most in this round, warming a little, shifting in type.  Lots of flavor aspect interpretations might potentially apply, and since it's complex and linked to a lot of other flavors.  To me it tastes less like white grape, and like a different kind of pear, warmer so further into a ripe, sweet, rich version.  I'm not so good with pear types though; bosch comes to mind but I don't think that's it, since I think that's the one with a brownish skin that's simple in flavor but pleasant.  They're more like this Harry and David gift-delivery version, which my Mom sent me once, some really expensive but pleasantly buttery and rich flavored pears.

Or that fruit also resembles how some mangoes come across, at least warmer, richer-flavored versions.  It's a close to a move towards or into light spice range too, it seems.  It could still be interpreted as floral, and at a minimum it seems to also include that kind of range.

from one of the trees at our house, very nice versions of mangos

On the next infusion (4?) it transitions less.  Intensity picked up, but that probably relates to not paying attention to infusion time, to brewing it longer.  Feel structure is much fuller and aftertaste runs longer.  That's probably both a function of infusing this round slightly longer and a natural transition of aspects through the rounds, really gaining intensity across those ranges.  It had to be that the character actually changed because the effect is too different, especially related to a trailing sweetness aftertaste.  The feel / structure is still a bit light but the aftertaste is much more intense now.

It's interesting how variations in how it comes across at different infusion strengths might allow this tea to suite different preference for sheng style.  If someone liked the flavor-based intensity, sweetness, and approachable nature brewing it very lightly enhances all that.  Letting it run a little longer ramps up thickness and aftertaste effect.  Lighter would be better for me; I can do without the rest as being pronounced, and brewing teas lightly allows you to pick up the finer aspects better, or so it seems to me.

More of the same on the next round; it seems like characteristic transitions across rounds won't be the main story related to this tea, even though it has changed in a couple of notable ways.  Bitterness is a little stronger this round, but it still balances well.  Now it's where a lot of younger sheng more typically are for how sweetness and bitterness offset each other, just still in the lower-end range for level of bitterness, but that much closer to moderate.  Spice range never did develop into a notable aspect, or at least not yet.

This next infusion was on the fast side, back to just under 10 seconds, to gauge how much varying infusion time had been an input, versus the described transitions.  I like the character better quite light.  The flavor is moving towards a more vegetal nature, into a green wood range.  It's not bad but I suppose I did like the fruit better.  It's still complex, it still spans a broad flavor-aspect range, with green wood definitely standing out.  Aftertaste and trailing sweetness is still really pronounced but not like in that last slightly stronger infusion.

My patience for making tasting notes is wearing thin, and this is probably a long enough read anyway.  I'll mention the next round and drop it.

More of the same next round, although it is warming slightly, again.  I bet it will go through one more minor transition in character before it starts to thin in a few more rounds and extending timing changes things again.

finishing a few extra Nannuo rounds (left) with this tea

Conclusions

It's nice.  I'm not sure it will be as nice as it is now at any later stage in the aging process, although it will probably take another year for a lot of the flavor intensity to drop off and character range to go through an initial shift.  I'm sure it will still be fine for a couple years after that, it just remains to be seen if it's not just notably faded between 5 and 10 years old, and if it develops an interesting character further along the aging cycle.

I definitely wouldn't put this away in storage to see how that goes; at a guess it might be showing its best character now.  It's my impression that bitterness, astringency, and overall intensity enable a tea to transition positively over time and to age well, and this version is moderate related to all that range, more on the drinkable side now.  Or maybe it could be on the mild side but still interesting and distinctive later on, for starting from an interesting range related to flavor profile.  I won't drink it all so that I get to check back on changes over time but I will enjoy drinking a good bit of it over this next year.

The character doesn't seem too far off that Moychay Nannuo sheng.  I really should pick up that next year's version, the 2018 tea, so I could drink a lot of both to compare them, and see how they both change.  That other tea might've been slightly fruitier and more intense in flavor range, at least at first, even though some of the fruit aspects that were expressed were common to both.

I often skip the part about evaluating value, but will since that did come up explicitly in the initial framing.  This does seem quite distinctive and pleasant, with the main drawbacks related to someone not preferring this style versus flaws or quality limitations.  Versions get better for being quite different but for the style and character it is this one is very nice.  I would agree that $79 per cake is at the top end for a "daily drinker," but other less costly cakes typically achieve quite different results, based on using blending to even out flaws from more limited quality material.  Of course that's something of a sweeping generalization but that does seem typical.  The overall effect is different for those fairly-priced value-oriented teas that I mentioned; they are "daily drinkers" in a slightly different sense.

The Moychay Nannuo sheng described as similar lists for $71.67, not far off this.  I bought the version I had at the beginning of last year for around that and was very happy with the tea character and quality; it was an immediate favorite.  I may still like that version just slightly more than this one but there's no direct comparison tasting to be done now that the tea has faded over the course of its second year of existence.  It would take buying the 2018 version to settle it, and even then year-to-year changes wouldn't assure it's a close match for that 2017 tea.  Both would make excellent versions to share some of, since they're pleasant and easy to drink, if I could force myself to part with some.

White chocolate masala chai Christmas blend

Originally posted as:  http://www.tching.com/2017/12/christmas-tea-blend-2017/


I've been meaning to get back to making a masala chai and a Christmas tea blend, so to clear through both I combined the themes.  This also contains a touch of bitter orange marmalade to fill in the spice range with a little fruit but the title seemed wordy adding it.

I've done Christmas tea blends before, and talked through what that's all about quite a bit.  Two years ago I did a fruit and spice blend, and last year's version went a bit further from the basics (black tea, orange citrus, and cinnamon) to include vanilla, cacao nibs, and black cherry jam, so based on chocolate covered cherries.  It was nice, just a bit removed from a typical dry tea and spice blend.

This year I didn't put the advance thought in and prep was mostly limited to what I had around.  That actually came up as both a positive and negative factor in the outcome.

Christmas nativity play; there to see that cow in the lower right

my cheerful Christmas cow

Ingredients

-Thai organic CTC black tea
-ginger, clove, cardamom, touch of salt and black pepper
-bitter orange marmalade
-white chocolate
-palm sugar, milk


I did have to buy the black tea for this; funny there was no CTC tea in the house.  I think my wife picked up a couple of free tea bags in a hotel stay once but I went ahead and bought some loose black tea anyway.

I used all dry spices; spice-rack versions.  If the spices are relatively fresh that's fine (not on the old side, I mean, anything in jars isn't fresh in the other sense), since spices have a pretty good life-span.  Flavor dropping off is one thing but after a couple of years they really can pick up a mustiness.  Ginger is typically easy to use fresh, since we cook with the root here, and it's even easy to find back in the US, but we seemed to be out.  I think the powdered ginger was the oldest of the spices and did contribute a slight mustiness.  Luckily the proportion of ginger was quite low in this version, something I'll get to more in the next section.

I would expect that black cherry would be nice for the fruit balance, or orange peel for citrus, but bitter orange marmalade was the closest thing on hand.  I considered squeezing in a bit of fresh pomelo juice (Asian grapefruit), since that was on hand around, but didn't expect it to work as well.

White chocolate was sort of a gamble.  I wasn't sure the texture would work, but then using real vanilla bean (in the past) does contribute a really thick, creamy texture to spice and tea blends, which is still ok.  Adding a touch of salt gives blends balance.  I'm not sure it changed much but I went with a dash of black pepper for this version, which isn't atypical for masala chai, I just don't like peppery chai.  Palm sugar isn't that different than a natural brown sugar; it was really just what was around.

Proportions, process

The blend was mostly black tea.  Clove was heaviest after that, with this version light on ginger.  There was a good bit of chocolate, nearly as much as in a Hershey bar, but not enough to make the drink into a tea flavored hot chocolate instead of a chocolate flavored tea.  I didn't measure those, which leads into an aside I've been meaning to mention, and probably have already covered, about not sticking to well-determined proportions or parameters.

It comes from an approach to cooking.  I taught myself to cook in my 20s, based on my mother's cooking (which is quite good, mainly traditional foods back in Pennyslvania), and on a partial study in making dorm food in college.  Part of my approach was to never, ever use recipes, except maybe for something like chocolate chip cookies--those are touchy.  It was about the process as much as the outcome.  Funny that just came up in talking about making tea; you can probably imagine why.  People get into the ceremonial aspects of that, or see it as some sort of Zen practice, with the Japanese tea ceremony based on that sort of thinking.  I could be more careful about using ideal parameters (I am an engineer too; I get it), but then it becomes about optimization, not the experience.  For me winging it is part of an organic process, and experience limited natural variation is too.

So back to that blend.  I mixed the ingredients and simmered for around 15 minutes.  For more whole spices I'd probably go with at least 20 minutes, but that's fine for finer processed versions.  Whenever you taste such a mix without milk it seems like you've completely ruined it, but adding the milk swings it all into a reasonable balance.  It's probably more typical to simmer along with the milk, and it's my impression that the milk does actually cook a little, changing the flavor, but this time I didn't.

Conclusion, outcome

It worked!  Often the first go at something novel really points towards how to get it right the next time instead, but this balanced well, and was nice.  The chocolate fell into a nice relation to the spicing, and the levels of all of the flavors worked out well.  Clove was strongest of the spice elements, but they all mixed so much that no one element was really pronounced over the others.  The marmalade folded in so well that it was hard to notice it even had any citrus aspect, but I think it probably supported the other flavors more than was evident.  The texture was fine, a little thick, but then ordinary masala chai tends to seem a little thick too.

It was a bit close to hot chocolate, of course, really in between a masala chai version and that.  It worked well for me, but I wouldn't want to drink either of those things too often.  It's a lot easier to review; it tastes like those ingredients.  It would match well with cold weather but it's in the mid 20s here (C; probably up to around 80 F now, cool for us in Bangkok but not cold weather).  I made enough to have two very large cups with breakfast, and judging from the amount of soaked tea and spices I was probably good and dosed with caffeine from that.


Part of the point was trying something new, and part was also about encouraging others that making tea blends is possible.  You don't just need to rely on Teavana or David's to hand something over, and really don't need to go find whole spice versions to make a costly tea blend either.


I'd think lots of things might work well for this holiday blend theme, lots of which I've seen in review posts about them:  pine needles (more on using those here and here), peppermint candy, etc.  It might be cool to try and figure out how to integrate nuts, or other things that wouldn't typically go in a tea blend, cognac, or egg nog, whatever comes to mind.  At worst a batch would be awful, so the time and ingredients would be wasted.

drying fruit for a version awhile back

Messing around with the tea input would be a natural variation.  I often use both CTC black tea and a mid-range quality orthodox black version (if I have both around), but an aged shou mei might fold into spice flavors just as well, or maybe better if you could balance the richness and subtlety well.  Smoked tea (Lapsang Souchong) has blending potential, but you know how it goes with those, finding a good one and getting the balance right would be tricky.

It starts to go a bit far but a Hunan brick tea might have interesting potential, keeping the spice a little lighter in that case so the unusual nature of that tea would have a chance to shine through.  One of those with a little cinnamon and nutmeg, dried orange peel, apple, and some dried fruit (raisin or date) might be great.  Crazy spicing like rosemary and sage might work for a different version, in the right mix.

Or just mixing black tea, cinnamon, and dried orange peel would be great, I'd think.

2016 Christmas in PA, with snow

visiting grandparents last holidays

A Bangkok tea expo; gateways to tea

Bangkok tea expo (media event image from the Impact arena, photo credit)

I attended a Bangkok tea expo at the Impact event arena over the weekend, the second time I've been to that one, and the second such event this year.  It was really a coffee and tea theme, combined with foods, but there wasn't much going on related to tea.  Unfortunately that will be the main theme of this post, that tea-themed expos in Bangkok don't amount to much.  I'll add some about what is going on with tea, related to what I saw, which will fill in some background.

SNSS local Ceylon vendor

At that expo I saw a local business contact who I ran across at last year's event, the Chai Dim owner, and a Ceylon vendor I met for a tasting earlier this year.  Other than matcha, and commercial Thai tea that sells in grocery stores that was about it.  I'm not really into matcha but I almost bought some, just to participate.  I've tried real matcha a number of times, and Starbucks latte level versions more, and ice cream and smoothies, but it's sort of an acquired taste, like beer or coffee, and I've not acquired it yet.  Which I'm ok with.  I don't love green tea so it's not the best natural fit.  I was into adding spirulina to protein drinks when I was a vegetarian (which lasted a bit shy of 20 years, not a short stint), so I have the potential for that range, but my tea habit is enough ground to cover without it.

Chai Dim vendor booth

Where to go with saying I barely drank any tea there?  I can describe what I did try.  I tried a Wuyi Yancha Shui Xian that was ok, not great, but decent for commercial tea.  And I tried a SNSS Ceylon hot brewed tea that was fine, typical for those, better than what one buys in a grocery store, and a version they had prepared with milk and sugar.  That was probably the one interesting high point, tasting milky tea in a range that wasn't completely familiar.  It was good, with enough flavor range it almost seemed like flavored-tea versions, except it was that mineral-intensive and earthy Ceylon range natural flavor.  Still sweetened milky tea though.


At last year's version I first met those two vendors I mentioned and tried a Nespresso machine version of Thai flavored tea, and drank a bit of local Thai tea, and a Dilmah brand sample (decent commercial Ceylon tea, if one is into such things).  Not much going on in comparison this year; the same, just less.


So that's it:  the story of a Bangkok tea expo is that there wasn't much tea there.  I went to a different coffee and tea specific expo version not too long ago and walked back out without seeing an equivalent of those two booths I said some about here.  I tried some watery, warm matcha there or else I'd have not have tasted anything.  Even though it was awful it filled in the experience, a little.

I've been to an organic foods event here in town that's had more tea selection than both events; it really seemed the "coffee and tea" sub-theme would draw out more showing than it did.  At least I bought some cashews, and sausages, and milk-candy for my kids on the walk back out through a different section.

SNSS Ceylon display; I have some tea to review later

Beyond the expo, other related discussion

at the Jip Eu Chinatown shop, looking a little somber

I met another vendor in town for different reasons, Kenneth of Monsoon teas in Chiang Mai, at my favorite Chinatown shop this weekend, Jip Eu.  We talked a little about what he was into (the short version:  wild, sustainable, other-related-plant-type based tea development).  Really that's not as distinct a subject as it might seem.


In one Facebook tea group a long discussion just reviewed how closely Taliensis--another Camellia Sinensis variety--is related to the other two standard branches.  The short answer:  who knows (but different research papers do give longer answers).  And I just reviewed a Yabao tea buds product that seems to be from a plant type that's not exactly the same as those in the other two main branches (Dehongensis instead, although what that is isn't clear).


We were sitting in one of the best places to pick up Wuyi Yancha in Bangkok, maybe the best, and tried a really nice Da Hong Pao there.  Of course "nice" is always relative; probably as good as nicer online shops tend to sell, maybe not quite as good as the average tea version pitched as being in the "never makes it out of China" range.  That Bei Dou I bought from them awhile back probably was on that level, just crazy how pleasant and well balanced (reviewed here).


All that aside, I asked him how it might work to get people into better tea, and his answer was simple:  gateway teas (not how he put it, but how I tend to think of it).  Flavored teas and blends, to be more specific.  On the one hand that's a solid, completely intuitive answer that matches lots of people's experiences.  I started out on tisanes 25 years ago, and maybe only got into normal teas because of that, partly by way of trying out Tazo blends around 20 years ago.


Bit of a tangent, but it makes you wonder how long Tazo has even been around (23 years, per the Wikipedia entry, probably with more on that somewhere on their website).  I had no idea I was an early adopter.  Really I just tried a lot of their line since a restaurant in Colorado carried it, within the first few years the brand even existed, it would seem.  I remember drinking a health-inspired blend from a local health-foods shop called "Immuni-tea" back then; that was an interesting idea to develop a functional blend (even if the validity might be questionable), and got in early with that range of tea puns, but as I recall it tasted a bit nasty.

Peony tea shop in Silom; mostly about blends (2015 photo)

Others experienced or are still experiencing something similar through Teavana, or David's tea, or by trying Twinings versions, or whatever else comes up.  T2 seems to have dumbed down their selection from years ago, probably in part related to being bought by Unilever, but one can only assume the blends sell (or at least the profit margin is good).  Here in Thailand you see mostly bottled (RTD, ready to drink) Japanese theme tea, bubble tea, or Thai tea (spiced black tea, served cold with milk and sugar, the orange one).  Plain black tea with sweetened condensed milk isn't exactly the same but not so different.



Of course a tea enthusiast might well think people don't need to go through all that, they could go straight from a Starbucks coffee habit to any number of plain-tea entry points.  Light oolong (Thai versions) was one of my own, but I'd been drinking green tea in Japanese restaurants before that, and buying an unusual Laos farmer-produced version was another stepping stone.  So was jasmine green tea.  Earl Grey not so much, but that was the luck of the draw, if that restaurant in Colorado had carried it in addition to Zen and the rest maybe the process would have went faster.


At the expo the Chai Dim vendor was saying the same thing; he started selling a whole line of blends in the past year.  That one Shui Xian was the exception, the only plain tea loose he sold (as I remember), with a smoked Lapsang Souchong as a standard flavored alternative.  I probably should've tried that; the smoke balance in versions almost never matches my preferences but I could probably still get into smoked tea if it did.  I reviewed a smoked tea from Japan that was nice not long ago, it just didn't lead me to searching for more, at least just yet.

food and beverage expo meets car show  (photo credit)

Where does that leave plain tea

Would a better plain tea booth at that expo had worked?  Maybe; it would probably depend on the format.  End-customers can and do go to those events but it's more focused on other vendors, so the vending theme would have to be right.  The image would need to sell, to an extent, along with the teas themselves.  The same awareness problems that factor in for end-customer sales also applies to other vendors.

These are issues I've been giving a lot of thought to.  This market is where the US tea market probably was 20 years ago, definitely establishing an opportunity for the right approach.  But then surely lots of US tea vendors have failed in the last 20 years, or continued with businesses that aren't clearly successful.  Awareness on the customer side has to be one factor; the most promising development on the supply side means nothing without the teas being desired and purchased.  The main difference is that Northern Thailand was growing tea 1000 years ago, and a wave of Chinese immigrants (Tai people--long story) were responsible for establishing the Sukhothai kingdom and era right around 1238 (with lots more on that here).  That shop I was in has been around for about a century but that's quite recent compared to the roots of Chinese tea here.


Again and again I post about vendors that are chipping away at the problem, building up awareness and demand in Thailand, but the conditions are just as much a recipe for failed businesses as an opportunity.  I suppose I have more ideas for potential directions than I've shared here but the root of the problem is that although tea awareness isn't non-existent interest in better tea is very, very limited.  There are vendors selling them but people aren't buying them, and online options don't need to be in-country, teas ship from place to place easily.  I've had one idea for a new approach that is truly novel, something I've been biting my tongue about, related to the potential for a darker side of marketing to emerge.  I'll say more about it if I ever see it happening.


There are Thai teas being sold here, of course.  Thai oolong is sold in grocery stores, or in small shops all over the place, or Royal Project stores, and online, in lots of places.  There are closer connections to other Asian countries than in the West, so you can visit Chinatown for tea, or walk into a Vietnamese restaurant and probably pick up some low-end green tea.  It doesn't seem to be serving as a gateway, and I'm not completely sure why not.  Unless you count about one new tea-themed cafe starting up in Bangkok per year, including branches, and then it is on the rise, but that's going to take time to build up to much.  I'll walk by 8 or so booths selling bubble tea or instant tea on the way to the BTS after work (elevated train system); at this rate it will never be on remotely the same level of popularity.

on the way back home from that event; way outside of Bangkok looks like this