Some intermediate level ideas about tea

First published in Tching here


Related to the social media theme, I tend to like to talk in places where people are newer to tea, because I can help people more there.  The “expert” groups are nice for a different kind of reference and discussion.  Even in those places it often works out that a newcomer who really isn’t very far along the experience curve can help prompt really good discussion with questions.

Here I’d like to explore some ideas from a middle-ground, the kinds of things people pretty far through a learning curve probably took years to become clear on.  Of course in some cases even “the basics” relate to potential differences of opinion, so to be clear this is all just my take.  This moderate length writing format doesn’t allow enough room for full context discussion and treating exceptional cases or opposing views.

Brewing temperature:  

Really a 1000 word post couldn’t do this subject justice, but I want to quickly map out a few ideas.  Those brewing temperature tables aren’t wrong, as a starting point guide, even though their suggestions vary quite a bit.  It’s also not wrong that essentially all teas should be brewed Gong Fu style using boiling point water (or just below it), and short infusions, even for green teas, for some.  But the two contradict.  Preference variation is part of that, but some people claim that using anything but boiling point water for good oolongs is doing it wrong. 

There seems to be a natural progression towards using Gong Fu brewing more once you get familiar with it, and it works a lot better with higher quality teas to use very hot water than it does with lower quality versions.  That sketch doesn’t resolve all the contradictions but it maps out some main themes that lead to some of them.  Really for people who feel they represent a more authentic Chinese tea preparation tradition what “Gong Fu” brewing really is wouldn’t be a simple subject, but a lot of people just use that as a reference to using a different proportion of tea to water, more infusions, and a different teaware device (gaiwan or clay pot, typically).

A recent Liu Bao tasting; Gongfu style brewing can be nice for comparison tasting

Tea exploration, vertical versus horizontal:  

Of course this one really is a matter of preference.  I just talked to a vendor who prefers to stick mostly within the scope of Taiwanese teas even for personal consumption, and that’s fine, very reasonable.  For me it works well to adopt an organic approach, to get to whatever comes next naturally, whether that relates to exploring better quality teas within a limited range or being all over the map.  Or not exploring much at all is still a valid judgement call.  Advocating exploration of what else is out there as an option might bring up an implied “tea snob” context, since there’s really nothing wrong with someone mostly drinking blends, or Harney and Sons-level “pretty good” teas.  Sticking to tea bag teas is pushing it; that’s like someone with a coffee interest only drinking instant.  Up to them, but why?

Trà chít, a Vietnamese example of a rare Chinese version of sheng pu’er 

Appreciating flavor versus mouthfeel, aftertaste, and “cha qi,” drug-like effect:  

Rhat’s already most of what I want to express, that over time people tend to expand what they like about teas.  To me it’s not that I want a tea to have a certain mouth-feel, for example, more that the way varying types of aspects balance can be nice, or not work well.

Varying exposure; South East Asian teas:  

Off the broad themes here, it’s worth considering exploring tea types and sources outside China, Taiwan, Japan, and India.  Not that anyone could ever really “get to” all the tea types in China, or even do justice to just sheng pu’er or wuyi yancha.  The “generalist” approach is kind of assumed then. 

To me it’s interesting trying something new, versus only enjoying ever-improving close variations of past experiences.  Trying teas from less traditional source regions gets you that, even though they are harder to turn up.  There are significant other challenges, like most of the mass-produced oolong coming out of Thailand not being very good (relatively).  And the rarer teas out of Vietnam are all but impossible to even hear about, never mind buy.  Teas from Indonesia, Laos, and Myanmar just aren’t widely available either.  Exploring versions from Nepal might be easier, but then finding others that are hard to find could make for an interesting endeavor.  One good lead for hearing about what’s out there, in detail, is my own blog, Tea in the Ancient World [here].  It’s crazy what has turned up in the past year.

Forest-sourced tea, an NGO project in Laos (photo credit and details, CCL web page)

Tea group themes:  

I touched on this specifically not so long ago so I’ll keep this short. No matter what page you are on there’s a tea group out there that will be a close enough match.  There’s no need to lose hope because some seem too snobby and others aren’t into even hearing about single type loose tea.  Put another way, tea perspective and culture seems to bunch up at those two extremes.

Keeping pace with others in tea exploration:  don’t even try.  The interest is yours, and trying to achieve some benchmark for getting through a certain range of knowledge or experience, or owning a “normal” amount of gear, might only ruin it.  If leaning into those or other pursuits is a good match for you then go for it, or even if making it a competition is.  To me the core of experiencing tea is liking what’s in your cup at the present moment, and all the rest of the context and framing is secondary.  Then again I never really was into “finding my tribe,” related to anything I did.

Functional tea preparation doesn’t require a lot of equipment

Over and over I hear humble-bragging about how “I’m not really a tea snob, but I do own or have tried (whatever it is, often a list).”  A photo alone can imply all that, or a statement like “it’s crazy how many types I’ve tried.”  There are groups for that, circles in which owning tea gear, or tea collections, or rare teas (or all of that) is the norm.  Or I suppose also places where knowing a lot about processing, local Asian cultures, history, or tea genetics is valued, but at some point the themes do run out of enough shared interest level to collect members into a group.

The nice part about a tea interest is that people can make of it what they want.