A Buddhist take on the designation of tea master / artist

An online friend posted an interesting question recently:  What does it mean to be a Tea Artist?

This was first published in TChing, here and here.

My own response is the general theme of this post.

This mentions but never really does explain the claim to represent Buddhism, and if you read that related response detail carefully I'm not saying that at all.  The claim is that my interpretation of use of personal labels and roles has been influenced by Buddhist ideas and practices.  It doesn't relate to having been an ordained monk, to completing two degrees related to Buddhism, or to living in a Buddhist family in a Buddhist country, even though those have been some of my own personal contact points with Buddhism.  Since it's not essential to the rest it's as well to not really develop that part further.

with a cat I think of as my first daughter; a kitten in this picture but now 12

Some framing discussed with that friend addresses issues that underlie fixed role or status designations, related to tea:


I really do think the people who embrace ritual tea interest or competitive tasting aren't getting anything wrong.  It's just a different way to take it all.  Once you take up titles or labels that changes things a little, but even then that could be fine, getting ranked, certified, or acknowledged.

That relates to a Tea Masters Cup group that people join and compete in, an educational interest group that--per my understanding--hosts competitions related to ceremonial form practices and tasting identification.  The last would seem to represent overlap with wine sommelier scope, more or less.


I never really do unpack use of "artist" as a designation versus the more common "tea master" in what I added to that discussion.  Along with those "tea expert" and "tea enthusiast" form a sort of continuum.  My own input relates to underlying context, so not directly about that theme anyway, how those varying terms map out.

Tea production is something else; this response is mostly about the consumption side.


My response to the initial question, what does it mean to be a tea artist?


As someone influenced by Buddhism I tend to use labels and extra concepts sparingly. They can help clarify meaning but they can also limit it. If a few people are tea artists then everyone else has a shallower expression or experience of tea compared to them.  To me the opposite is more true instead, that any of us brewing and drinking tea are sharing common experience. If you put yourself above others for any reason you typically do an injustice to them, and also to yourself. Extreme humility is a very functional position, and an especially valid personal choice.


If you drop the label you only need to keep in mind what is positive that potentially gets lost, and then choose to retain that if it's worth keeping. Unique experience of tea or expression through tea experience can be positive, but linking that to achievement or personal status I would typically see as negative.  Maybe within a competitive interest group that's different.


I might add a little about the one part, what could come along with the label or designation that might be positive. People use tea expert--or artist, master, enthusiast; whatever it is--to describe a range of competencies. Some people are into ceremonial forms, others into experiencing and being able to differentiate types and quality levels of tea. Just being able to brew tea effectively gets a lot of focus, and I suppose to some limited extent the most positive outcomes also require that, careful progress through a learning curve.

this organization relates to tea practice competition (maybe not related to ITMA / Tea Masters training)

To me it's useful to stay open to appreciating teas across a range of quality levels (a theme that only overlaps a little).  Emphasis on only exploring and appreciating the highest, most unique, most rare and sought after forms of some teas could work out even better when coupled with broader interest.  To be clear, as an ordinary tea drinker, with some background and experience, I sometimes drink good versions of teas but nothing too rare, unusual, or costly.  Working from a limited budget makes that choice for me.

I can be more specific about what I mean by type diversity. I think Earl Grey and masala chai are valid, interesting, and pleasant forms of tea, even though I focus more on plain, single-input, higher quality teas. But then I'm a generalist myself, related to tea preference, and of course it's just as valid and reasonable to focus on one type (eg. aged sheng pu'er, or Dan Cong oolong), and to explore higher quality level scope as a main range of interest.


To summarize, it seems that "tea artist" would of necessity mean a broad range of things to different people. Again, tea production is a completely different theme that I've not included in this answer, but of course it could be included.  Making great tea would require even more knowledge and skill than brewing it.

I don't reject this or other role or status designations as valid, or potentially quite useful, I just don't include use of such terms in how I approach tea.

a Vietnamese friend embraces the aesthetic side of tea, and formal brewing, but all that only overlaps

Jip Eu traditional roasted-style competition grade Tie Guan Yin

Maybe the visit after this one (Kittichai is lower right)

Kittichai, the Jip Eu shop owner (my favorite shop in Bangkok), passed on samples of this tea to me during a recent visit.  I don't even think they sell this; it was from his visit to a tea competition back in Anxi, which focused on Tie Guan Yin oolong from there.  He has family in both Wuyishan and Anxi, Fujian, so ties back to tea growing and production related to both Wuyi Yancha and the TGY typically lighter rolled style oolongs.

Traditionally those TGY oolongs weren't as light as is relatively universal now, or so the common story goes.  It's still possible to find more traditional slightly more oxidized or more roasted versions (or both; it's great when both inputs can balance well).  I compared two versions in an earlier post, once lightly oxidized and heavily roasted with the other at a medium level for both.  It probably related as much to preference as to one being objectively better (although quality would be an input, along with style), but I liked the medium-oxidation medium-roast version better in that case.

We'll see what this seems to be.  According to Kittichai this version may or may not have been a type / category winner but it definitely placed, passed on to him from a producer participating in that competition.

So I don't think they have more to sell at their shop (Jip Eu), but they do carry a really broad range of teas, including good TGY, so someone looking for that should visit and spend some time tasting with them, to see what they like of what they do carry.  They specialize in Wuyi Yancha instead but I've bought a good moderate priced version of Dan Cong there, and good Longjing (green tea), and lately aged sheng tuochas that I've not got around to reviewing.

I went back twice to buy another after trying this; I should write about it

Review

second infusion, but it's still opening up

It's definitely a bit roasted.  Some roasted versions are charred, cooked long enough that mostly that roast stands out, and of course as a well-above average quality version this strikes more of a balance.  I think it will develop further as the leaves unfurl more but it's nice early on.  It has a characteristic sweet, floral aspect common to a lot of Tie Guan Yin, distinctive of the type, especially versions grown in Anxi, versus those transplanted to other places.  It also comes across as a hint of cooked sweet corn, with a warmer general tone than unroasted version express.  The sweetness really stands out too; it tastes a bit like a light caramel, like a browned sugar.

On the second infusion the tea picks up some depth and the roast really stands out, the related cooked-sugar sweetness.  The balance of the tea works, how the aspects come together.  This may have been oxidized slightly more than the bright green TGY versions but it's the roast that's responsible for most of the transition away from that type of final character, for sure.  It seems to me that's a standard style now, to keep oxidation level relatively low and use the roast to adjust flavor profile, versus oxidizing the tea more and also roasting it.  There is a very faint hint of char but in general it just warms the flavor range profile and converts some floral and light vegetal character more to a cooked sugar range.  Mineral is pronounced as well; that balances the other aspects well.

The next infusion was on the fast side, to see how the tea works out made as a light infusion.  For once this proportion is such that gaiwan isn't filled with leaves, so flash infusions aren't necessary to adjust for that extreme.  The tea works well light but the flavors come across a little thinner; at this proportion infusion times of over 10 seconds work better, with optimum depending on preference.

The roast effect draws out flavor complexity that's hard to describe, but I'll give it a go.  Mineral range extends to an inkiness, to tasting a bit as ink smells.  That may or may not be related to roast; just as likely not.  The sweetness and floral aspect probably aren't resulting from roasting either, except in the way the sweetness takes the form of cooked sugar versus a lighter range.  One light vegetal range in the last round reminded me a little of how better grades of marijuana smell.  This might be wrong but for some reason I thought that might be tied to terpenes, the aroma compound set. 

Let's check a reference on that (tied to a different product subject mentioned in this text, but the terpenes scope is the same):


What you’re sensing in meals, fruits, flowers, and even cleaning products are terpenes.

These organic compounds that give plants flavour and smell (and the reason you can tell a difference between a coconut and a raspberry) are present in cannabis flowers, too.

So let’s dive into what terpenes really are... Terpenes (pronounced tur-peens), or terpenoids, are aromatic metabolites found in the oils of all plants.

There are more than 20,000 terpenes in existence and at least 100 produced by the Cannabis plant. Terpenoid production evolved over time in plants, including cannabis, to attract pollinators and to act as defense compounds.



So there's that.  According to that reference they not only smell nice in different ways they also have an effect on people:

...terpenes have their own effects apart from their relationship with cannabinoids, including inhibiting serotonin uptake and enhancing norepinephrine activity (acting as antidepressants), increasing dopamine (regulating emotions and pleasure experiences), and augmenting GABA (the “downer” neurotransmitter associated with relaxing effects).


But are these found in tea?  Yes, according to a World of Tea reference (now rebranded as a Specialty Tea Alliance reference):

The flavor and aroma of each tea depends on a wide variety of combinations of these compounds, hence the name aroma complex. Compounds such as, linalool and linalool oxide are responsible for sweetness; geraniol and phenylacetaldehyde are responsible for floral aromas; nerolidol, benzaldehyde, methyl salicylate, and phenyl ethanol are responsible for fruity flavors; and trans-2-hexenal, n-hexanal, cis-3-hexenol, and b-ionone are responsible for a tea’s fresh flavor...

Linalool is one, a linear terpene, with a list of some other cyclic terpene compounds familiar as tea-related flavors in the following Wikipedia table graphic:

That aromatic compound Wikipedia reference is interesting, the rest of it, to me well worth a look.

The next round isn't so different.  Again it's nice the way the mineral, sweetness, floral, touch of sweet corn, cooked sugar / light caramel, and light vegetal aspect all balance.  There is really no char at all to be noticed; the little that was present faded over the first couple of infusions.  This tea doesn't transition much (change over the rounds) but then at least it was nice the whole time.

A touch of aromatic wood tone joins in at this infusion (4 or 5?), towards cedar or redwood, just not quite that aromatic.  The transition costs the tea a bit in terms of sweetness and floral range but that still works well; it still balances nicely with the rest.

I really liked the tea.  The high quality level is evident.  That balance of slightly more oxidation and some limited roast input in the other version I mentioned in another review worked slightly better, but in this case it was more a style difference than related to this tea not being as good a version.  This style still does work; the roasting draws out a nice complexity, in addition to just changing the initial character.  It retains the brightness and sweetness and adds other levels.  I just like the warmth and different tone of slightly more oxidized oolongs better, and the overall balance such a profile can strike.

with her best friend during Chinese New Year

Tea evaluation and scoring

Originally published on the TChing site.

News about a tea competition results awhile back started me considering what a tea competition evaluation and scoring process might be like.  As my mind works it would be interesting to compare some of the methodology and evaluation process to the very different but vaguely related process of judging teas against personal preference, when drinking them for enjoyment.  I didn't expect a lot of telling overlap to emerge but did eventually get around to researching the subject.

Overview

Obvious enough, but evaluation for a tea competition would involve a few basic steps:

1.  a consistent brewing methodology for evaluation, under carefully defined and controlled conditions

2.  a set of review criteria, categories against which the tea would be evaluated (taste, color, body / mouth-feel, etc.)

3.  a scoring system to enable judging which teas are evaluated as superior (although it seems conceivable that a tiered pass-through process could replace numerical scoring)


Really there would be a lot more to it, related to all sorts of controls of conditions, example integrity controls, methodology to ensure consistent judging related to throwing out some "outlier" results, and so on.

the real thing

I suppose this is a good place to mention that I have absolutely no experience with such a process, which is why researching this subject appealed to me.  The prior categories and functions might benefit from restatement from someone with more experience and training, but that was one goal, to consult and summarize research sources.


I attempted to consult "tea experts" in one place such a request would make sense, in a tea professionals oriented LinkedIn group, but that didn't get far, so hopefully some gaps get flagged once this is published instead (the Cunningham's law idea).

The ISO standard

If there is such a thing this must wrap it all up, right?  Not so much.  ISO 3103:1980 does cover how to brew tea consistently for evaluation, though, described as such:

The method consists in extracting of soluble substances in dried tea leaf, containing in a porcelain or earthenware pot, by means of freshly boiling water, pouring of the liquor into a white porcelain or earthenware bowl, examination of the organoleptic properties of the infused leaf, and of the liquor with or without milk or both.


It is headed in the right direction, but the Wikipedia excerpt--a sample of partial detail summary, mind you--shows up why it just didn't get there (also noted by the Tea with Gary blog awhile back):


The pot should be white porcelain or glazed earthenware and have a partly serrated edge. It should have a lid that fits loosely inside the pot...
If a small pot is used, it should hold a maximum of 150 ml (±4 ml) and must weigh 118 g (±10 g).
2 grams of tea (measured to ±2% accuracy) per 100 ml boiling water is placed into the pot.
Freshly boiling water is poured into the pot to within 4–6 mm of the brim. Allow 20 seconds for water to cool.
The water should be similar to the drinking water where the tea will be consumed
Brewing time is six minutes....
If the test involves milk, then it is added before pouring the infused tea.
Milk added after the pouring of tea is best tasted when the liquid is between 65 - 80 °C.


It's not as bad as it looks.  One possible way to go is brewing all the teas exactly in the same way and tasting around the broad difference in how personal preference brewing parameters would vary, and my understanding is that this is still essentially a common approach (maybe just not always using this set).

Tasting based on using milk might seem odd but I have it on good authority that some prominent tea purchasers do exactly that, judge teas in an altered final consumption form.  A tea mentor (of sorts) once suggested that it's best to drink tea cooler to taste it, around 60° C, and I'm not certain about any optimum but of course he is right in principle (per my own experience, at least).

More developed standard references

There must be a lot more but Google did identify a few for a starting point.

The World of Tea site reference actually includes the ISO 3103 process as one alternative, and suggests using both that methodology and a second review based on more conventional brewing parameters, partially defined as such:

Tea Type	Temperature	Time for First Steeping
Green Tea	160F/ C	1min  (Yellow and White teas omitted)

Oolong Tea	190F/ 88C	1.5min
Black Tea	205F/ 96C	1min

The article goes on to suggest evaluating the following criteria, along with reviewing leaf appearance:

1.What color is the liquor?

2. What does the liquor smell like? (How does it change from steep to steep?)

3. What does the liquor taste like? (How does it change from steep to steep?)

4. How many steepings can the tea withstand and still produce acceptable flavor?

So far so good; reasonable brewing and evaluation guidelines.  I'd hoped for a bit more on scoring, some summary rating process, but regardless of what a reference set up for that it would be hard to really improve on a subjective over-all evaluation that compared teas directly.  Direct evaluation of limited samples might just be limited when attempting to judge a large number of teas, or to combine multiple judgments from different judges.

This also seems like a good place for an aside about how limiting the number of factors evaluated would also limit the completeness.  For example, that methodology suggested review against liquor color, liquor smell, taste, and number of steepings, four factors (and a good start).  A more general Tea Vicious reference on how to evaluate teas suggests some others (only partially cited, with their section on methodology omitted entirely):

• How does the inside of the mug lid smell?
• Does the aroma linger? Which part of it lingers longer? Which shorter?
• Does any part of the aroma remind you of another substance?
• Does any part of the taste come first and some other later?
• What do the different parts of the taste remind you of?
• Which part of your tongue gives you the sensation of the taste?
• How does the taste stay?
• Does the taste change during the process of tasting?
• What is the texture of the tea liquor?

That would be way too much criteria for judging a lot of teas against each other but the general concepts of feel and finish (aftertaste) might be retained.

Maybe as well to cite a bit of two other references, and then wrap this up.  One from Tearroir provided an example of the type of scoring system I'd expected:

Each tea receives a base of 60 points, and we award each tea up to 40 points based on the following categories:

Color and appearance of tea pre-brew: 5 points
Aroma: 5 points
Flavor and Mid Palate: 10 points
Mouthfeel and Finish: 10 Points
Overall quality level: 10 points

The engineer side of me loves this approach.  Based on how I evaluate teas myself, related only to preference, I'm not so convinced a lot wouldn't drop out in trying to weight groupings like this though, that it might fail to fully capture how a few strengths or weaknesses can really determine impression.  I just tried a Hong Shui tea with an amazing range of great flavor characteristics, and a slight sourness issue that corresponded to how the feel was presented, so even the break-down might not be so simple.

Lastly, the North American Tea Championship, related to the World Tea News / Academy / Expo, provides another good example of evaluation methodology, which they summarize as such:

Each submission into the class is evaluated blind and through organoleptic analysis of the following characteristics: dry leaf, brewed color, brewed aroma, brewed flavor, brewed mouth-feel and brewed harmony. An overall numerical value on a 100-point scale is then calculated based on the ratings of each characteristic above.


Nice!  They just don't mention how the actual scoring is calculated, but they do include a fascinating description of how they make judging more consistent by throwing out inconsistent / outlier scores (and you really should read that if you happen to love statistical sampling process).  A sample of brewing parameters makes it clear they go with brewing methodology closer to ordinary brewing:

Category	Type	Temp	Minutes	Weight	Special
Assam	Origin Authentic	Boil	5	2.5g
Breakfast Blend	Origin Authentic	Boil	5	2.5g
Bai Hao/ Oriental Beauty	Breakfast Blend	Boil	2/4	2.5g	Steep open bowl; 2 infusions; 3 cupping bowls per tea
Chai	Masala Chai	Boil	5	3g	Add 20% warm milk/sugar mix

That partial citation of "Signature Famous Teas" doesn't do parameter choices review justice but it's probably saying enough to add that green teas are cited as between 175 and 180, depending on type.  Interesting to also note World of Tea went down to 160 on their guidelines for green tea brewing; make of the difference what you will.

That last reference didn't really seem intended to give the full details of the methodology and evaluation process but it's nice they passed on that much.

Conclusion

I had intended to circle this back more to a comparison against how people drink and evaluate teas for enjoyment but it seems as well not do much with that.  It's just different.  

It's interesting to consider how flaws in tea might factor in to these approaches, or how individual positive aspects might be rated versus a balance of aspects in a tea, but it also seems as well I that don't muddle the review here with too much of my own speculation.  Besides, with more expert input or research about this much content I could always write up a "part two" post and ramble on in that one.  Scoring systems never went far in these references; lots more room to add to that.