Huyen and Seth held an epic Vietnam themed tea event in Bangkok

 

The tea community in Bangkok is really coming together, and the event Huyen and Seth, two friends, just held is a small part of that, and also a sign of how the rest goes.  It was themed around Vietnamese teas, kind of an odd part, since Thai teas are finally coming into their own, but somehow that part makes sense too.  There are a lot of people from everywhere in Bangkok, and cultures from across Asia and around the world merge to make Bangkok special.

This writing is mostly just about that event though.  Huyen and Seth are researching for a book on Vietnamese teas, and this is their second visit here, after also being here last January.  Of course they travel more in Vietnam related to that subject, but cultures and flow of traditional goods mix, so some Vietnamese tea history collects in Bangkok too.  Their Instagram contacts are here, for Huyen and Seth.

beautiful teaware on display in a Bangkok temple; some of it is from Vietnam

The tasting theme was about sharing unique and interesting tea versions, and the background, the context it came from.  Vietnam's story of tea is different from China and Thailand's, but it all overlaps some.

We tried an aged oolong from the early 90s first, representing a critical stage in tea production development there.  As with in Thailand rolled oolong in Taiwanese style, based on plant types and processing from Taiwan, first entered into production in both countries right around then.  Aged oolong is something people seem to love or mostly not get, since it mostly picks up an interesting depth and a bit of plum-like taste.  As a sheng pu'er drinker I'm a bit ruined for all the other range; I can appreciate refined and complex oolongs, or black teas with interesting depth, but I mostly need that atypical intensity just for tea to seem normal.

We also tried a young / newer Vietnamese sheng, and another modern oolong variation, from the #17 cultivar.  That's usually called Ruan Zhi, in most references and by most people selling it, but per some review I think Bai Lu might be a more accurate name for it.  Ruan Zhi is sometimes described as a reference to an earlier range of plant types (with more on that here, and here, with those two posts probably not saying the exact same things).  So it might be more related to the more original Qin Xin range (or Chin Shin, per another transliteration form).

the original plant type table from an interesting Taiwan tea reference

All that is just a tangent though, nothing like a central theme of that event.  And it's always all but impossible to sort out which resource is accurate, I suppose except for more clearly definitive ones.  This set of references is a good example, the Tea and Beverage Station, Ministry of Agriculture (Taiwan) page, formerly TTES and TRES (they rebrand a lot).

The tasting did well to balance background, history, plant type information, ideas about processing, and stories with the direct experience we were having.  Since Huyen and Seth have been traveling and researching Vietnamese tea for a year, or more, it would've been easy to let the tangents and background take over, but they managed that well.

The attendees were one of the most interesting parts, to me.  Because a dozen or so (11?) people attended the tasting divided into two groups, and I heard more from the one sub-set I was in, but everyone seemed on the same page related to really appreciating and getting the experience.  Really anyone at any exposure level can appreciate better teas, but it's also nice when shared prior exposure helps support discussion range.  

A few of the participants were tea vendors (an unusually high proportion), and the rest already loved diverse tea types.  I might mention business links for people to look further into more interesting Thai tea options, related to who attended:  the founder of Qing Fu Cha attended (a Chinese and Thai tea vendor), someone from Wang Pu Tan tea (a Thai producer of great teas), and the Tea Wala vendor (a local high quality Thai tea curator).

We also tried aged Vietnamese sheng, a light rolled oolong very similar to modern Taiwanese versions in style and quality level, a well-oxidized rolled oolong (sometimes marketed as red oolong), and lotus tea, an amazing and distinctive type that Vietnam is known for.  The sweet, licorice flavored taste of that lotus tea was wonderful; to me it really stood out from the rest.  But then I'd imagine different participants would've connected most with different versions, depending on their preference, or which seemed catchy in a novel way to them.

For having over a dozen people in total attend (counting Huyen, Seth, and I) the form and flow went really well.  I've tried holding events before, managing the brewing and pouring aspects myself, and even a much smaller event can be a challenge, with only half that many people attending.

The hostel space they stay in, at the Pastel House, beside the Suttisan MRT station, is perfect for this sort of thing.  Another half dozen people could have joined, and table space would have still been sufficient.  It was a large, quiet, comfortable open space.  If you're ever in that area the roasted pork restaurant right beside it is exceptional, and the Grow Tea Studio tea cafe is nearby.

So is Bangkok on the cusp of foreigner and Thai tea enthusiast appreciation taking on a new, more complex form?  Maybe.  But this kind of thing tends to evolve gradually.  The new commercial tea events, expos, can be developed quickly, and the next post here will be about a continuation of the series of "Taste of Tea" events, with one going on now in Central World.  But tea preference and private social groups transition over time.  Of course all that really started a decade ago here, among Thais.  In an earlier form groups formed around shop customers, people joining related to appreciating tea in places like Double Dogs, Tea Dee, and Ong's tea, a shop that had been in Paragon, now closed.

All of this brings up an inclination to link to lots of old posts here, going on about visiting these shops, going to events, or holding them.  None of this is centered on what I've done or experienced though, and that would seem implied by that, that somehow my experience represents, or even shapes, this local tea culture.  I've just been here to see it.  Shops really support it, and many other tea enthusiasts and vendors pull these interest groups together.  

I'm also not really part of a "tea clique" here.  I was in an online version of one, with Huyen, Suzana, and Ralph; that really helped make Covid seem less isolating, back in 2020 and 2021.  Locally in Bangkok I know some people into tea, and that's nice; it works out without being part of a close circle of tea friends, or some form of networking group.

meeting Huyen and Seth online awhile back

I met Huyen and Ralph first here, at Jip Eu, and many others

people connecting was the nicest part

Comparing Longjing varietals

 

I'm reviewing an ITea World Longjing sample set this time.  I guess I'll be reviewing different parts of their sets for another month, since I'm far from finishing an aged tea set and Dan Cong set.  Two friends have passed on some other aged teas to try, so that will be a running sub-theme for awhile.

Longjing was one of the first teas I got into when first exploring better tea.  A visit to China was a pivotal step in getting further into tea, and hanging out in a shop in a Shenzhen market was a key step there, as was a Gongfu brewing demonstration at the company we visited, Huawei.

I didn't try Longjing there though.  In talking to a local Huawei sales guy I asked what else to check out in Bangkok, and where, and he said Longjing in Chinatown shops sounded about right.  If he would've mentioned Wuyi Yancha that would have covered a lot of the next two years of exploration.  I went and bought some, and kept buying it, every other spring for awhile, even though I've always liked oolong and black tea more than green.  

There's just something about Longjing.  Of course there's also something about buying it and drinking it in the Spring, which I get around to covering in this.

So here we are, finally learning and exploring Longjing plant types, which is still a brand new subject to me.  ITea World describes it this way:

Longjing Green Tea Varietal Collection 45G ($25 for 45 grams)

This collection offers a unique opportunity to explore the subtle differences in flavor, aroma, and texture created by three distinct tea tree varietals, all using the same harvesting grade: one bud and two leaves. You’ll experience Longjing (Dragon Well) green tea made from three renowned tea tree varietals: Wu Niu Zao, Longjing #43, and the heritage Longjing Qunti. 

Though harvested and processed in the same way, each tea reflects its unique tree’s characteristics. This collection allows tea lovers to discover their preferred varietal of this classic green tea.

Review: 

Wunio Zao Longjing:  it's so nice to be trying good Longjing again.  At first I'll just be caught up in that, but the minor differences will also stand out soon enough.  There's a typical standard flavor range this definitely expresses, often described as nutty, perhaps better captured as tasting like toasted rice.  Then there's a hard to describe vegetal aspect, and some mineral to the experience; it's complex.

Longjing 43:  very similar, but different at the same time.  I'll do a little more tasting back and forth between these is normal for me for these, more direct comparison.  This includes a little more intensity than the first, more of a green edge, with the first softer and a little more towards floral.  That might sound like the first would be more pleasant then, but the opposite kind of works, at this stage.  That typical Longjing flavor set hitting a little harder is what it's all about.  

I don't mind that it's a touch more vegetal; that works with the rest.  It works to say that vegetal range is centered on a sort of fresh green bean flavor.  It also seems nutty, and the flavor isn't so simple that you can say those two descriptions capture it all.  There's a lot to it.

Qunti Tea tree:  much more floral; much richer.  Really the 43 version stands out as most familiar, but both of these others work quite well.  Intensity is really something for this version, equal to the second, but across a perfume-like floral range.  Feel is extra rich as well.  Sweetness might even bump a little in comparison with the 43 version, and aftertaste expression.  

In one sense this is clearly the best of the three.  It includes a touch of vegetal range, again like green bean, maybe a little towards sugar snap pea instead, but the floral range seems to stand out a lot more.  A distinctive nutty or toasted rice note isn't standing out in all of these as much as it sometimes does.

The second, the 43 version, is really catchy to me too though, for being more what I expected.  You get attached to a certain profile and then others could still be more interesting, and better in different senses, but it would be hard for them to match that association input.

The first seems a little diminished in terms of intensity compared to the other two.

To be clear I think these all probably had a little more to offer back closer to production time last spring.  They're quite pleasant, and of good quality, but intensity and freshness would drop off a little over this long.  I won't be mentioning heavy vegetal tones creeping in, I don't think, or anything like that, so they definitely didn't "go off," but that extra bit of bright intensity is a part of it.

Wuniu Zao #2:  I brewed these a little faster, to see how they would work out on the light side, maybe for 30 seconds, but this is using a lower proportion than I ever tend to brewing Gongfu style.

Green bean comes out a lot more in this round; floral range backs off.  It doesn't work as well as all three had last round, since when I was talking about vegetal notes it was within the context of very bright, floral, or along the lines of nutty or toasted rice contexts.  This is still pleasant, but it has shifted back more into the range of a normal green tea experience.

43:  cleaner, brighter, with more sweetness, a bit of integrated floral range, somewhat nutty effect, and more mineral undertone.  Fresh green bean or sugar snap pea stands out more, but it's brighter in this.  

This is more the Longjing experience that I remember.  To be clear I may have typically not been drinking really good Longjing.  Peter of Trident Cafe shared some teas once and I think that was completely centered on ideal range, roughly as good as the type ever gets.  That's kind of their theme, extensively curating and filtering sources and versions, so what you get in the end is kind of ideal.  These also work as a benchmark for a pretty good quality range, but I'm talking about trying a version that's relatively ideal.

Qunti:  this shifted to more vegetal range too.  As with the first version that impacted the experience, more so than the #43 version.  Maybe all three will be better brewed stronger, back to a more typical infusion strength.

Third infusion:  this matches results in the first round better than the second.  The first was quite pleasant, the Wuniu Zao version, just lacking some intensity and positive complexity in relation to the other two.  The #43 version was most familiar from past experience, with much more intensity, and more mineral base, with more of that green bean / snap pea sort of vegetal range.  It included some nuttiness / toasted rice effect, and was clean and pleasant.  The Qunti version was a bit more floral, with good depth, maybe a little sweeter and creamier in feel.

Conclusion:

All of these were nice.  All of them matched well with very positive past Longjing experience, just giving up a bit in terms of a very fresh edge that comes along with drinking Longjing in the Spring.  I think that's a main point related to this experience:  does it even make sense to be trying Longjing versions in January or February?  Not really, according to traditional Chinese tea appreciation perspective.  I think these hold up quite well, and retain most of the same character and aspects, but that one input is very prized, a type of freshness effect that's hard to describe.  It matches closest to intensity, related to the concept bundles I typically describe teas in relation to, but it's not really just that.

I know a way to explain it, or at least try to in a different way.  When Peter of Trident Cafe sent a Longjing version to try, some years ago, prior to Covid, opening the bag was enough to assure that the flavor profile exactly matched my expectations for an optimal experience, or even exceeded them.  You could tell exactly what you were going to taste, from the intense aroma of the dried leaf.  These had a pleasant dry tea aroma, but it wasn't anything like that.  It covered some similar range, for all three, but it was much more subdued, and in a warmer and different form.  It wasn't incredibly bright and fresh.

These teas would be great for someone to get a feel for Longjing range, but they'd need to have that exact experience to really capture the essence of it.  Most vendors wouldn't sell anything like that tea, to be clear, although most would claim to.  A few random trials of sourcing might miss the mark by a lot.  But you would need to be doing this kind of search in the Spring, per traditional understanding, and my own take.  

Then in a sense this leads me back to a consideration of value.  If these are moderately priced, relatively speaking, this would be a great way to do an intro prior to taking up that quest.  If they cost anywhere near $1 a gram--kind of a higher quality, higher demand norm--it would be giving up too much to have such well-rested versions provide the experience.  If someone wasn't emphasizing value in relation to their tea experience, if an extra $50 here or there made no difference, then it wouldn't matter again.  There would still be another step to be taken, but these make for a positive and informative tea experience, for a moderate expense range.  

If I really am brewing 3 grams each, per their recommended range--and maybe it's 4; it's hard to say--then these would brew 15 infusion sequences in total, or maybe only a dozen.  Even at a considerable $1 a gram pricing that's $3 per individual tea based session, or put another way I would be trying $9 worth of tea just now.  To me that's a lot, but it's not for everyone.

In looking at the pricing when doing the editing these cost $25, just over half that hypothetical consideration rate.  Around 50 cents a gram is pretty good for teas this good.  It's customary for Chinese people, and Chinese tea enthusiasts in Bangkok, to drink green tea in the Spring, so there's also that.  I think these are fine for exploring this type range now, but if someone loved them it would be essential to get back to another trial in the Spring, tracking when versions come out, and trying one very fresh.  

It's not just about the positive freshness aspect; that experience matches with the feel of Spring.  It's like waiting for the fall or winter to get back into masala chai, if that makes sense, or drinking spiced wine or hot buttered rum on a cold winter day.  

Thai wild origin material Dian Hong style black tea

Not long ago I reviewed a tea that I identified as my favorite sheng version, a pu'er in all but name, since it was from Thailand.  The producer was Aphiwat, someone I've mentioned before.  This time I'm reviewing a Dian Hong style black tea that I also bought.  It's good; I've tried it a few times before this review.

Of course Dian Hong literally means Yunnan black tea, so I mean that it's in a common style related to that type.  The plants are surely quite similar, Assamica trees, and the growing area isn't that far from China, just not that close either, not right across a border.  Dian Hong is actually a broad range, but the most typical version range is exactly like these, with the flavor aspects I'm describing here, or a related set, similar in appearance to this tea.

This is Aphiwat's FB profile link,  and this is his producer vendor page there.  He's not really set up for website based sales, or direct overseas sales, but it's also not a secret what the source is.

Review:

First infusion:  a bit light; I decided to use that approach of brewing the first round light.  It doesn't matter; the fuller flavor and feel will emerge next round either way.  

You can already tell this is great.  Fruit tones emerge, and some cacao, with underlying mineral and some roasted yam.  One part of the fruit is light and citrusy, with a more main part like dried dark cherry.  Sweetness is good, taste is clean, there are no flaws, and feel is already picking up limited fullness.  There is no astringency edge, in the sense that harsher black teas include one.  It's not tart; I dislike that flavor range, and it's nicer for me when it's not there.  It's great.

Second round:  warmer tones pick up; this is plenty strong.  If anything a little over optimum, but that's fine, trying it brewed in different ways.  Feel stands out a lot, extending from richness to very mild dryness, to about as rich and still light as orthodox Assam tends to ever be.  It even resembles malt as much as it's ever going to, made this way.  Fruit still stands out, the same set, dried dark cherry, and a hint of citrus.  Roasted yam, cacao, and mineral depth are still the rest.

Feel is a big part of the story, and sweetness, along with intensity, and balance.  It gets awkward explaining those, without repeating ideas that might not add up to much.  This is a very close match for Dian Hong style; it's just what this tea is.  It's no surprise; it's made from old Assamica plants in the north of Thailand, that match Yunnan versions about as well as any from elsewhere.  And then it's also different; the flavor character would never exactly match, even though it's so close you couldn't say it's not from Yunnan, as you can more easily pick up from sheng versions.

It's just good.  All of those aspects are positive, and they all balance and integrate well.  I could drink this for a month straight, and I barely even drink black tea now.  In a sense it's a simpler, more basic, less refined tea than good oolongs, but it fulfills a different character role.  I'd rather drink this twice a week for a year than almost any oolong version of any kind.  It's a perfect breakfast tea, and it's also good enough to drink alone, to spend a half an hour just appreciating it.

Third infusion:  even brewed quite fast this draws out good intensity.  Lighter flavor tones stand out more brewed faster; the citrus edge in the fruit emerges more, and warmer mineral eases up.  Rich feel doesn't change much, but the light dry edge is gone.  I think cacao stands out slightly more brewed light, but that could be a judgement call.  

I bought a good bit of this tea but I'm thinking of buying more.  I rarely own more than a kilogram of any tea; I don't "tong up" buying pu'er, and have only bought an entire kg of black tea once, a kg and a half, as it turned out.  That was black tea from Viet Sun, that I bought a year ago, a batch that I might only own 100 grams of now.  I gave it away frequently as gifts, to monks, as a thanks to people for helping us, and so on.  It had a tart edge; it didn't match my preference nearly as well, based on just that one secondary flavor input.  So it goes with preference; someone else could appreciate the tartness the most.

I'll brew one more round and drop the note taking.  This doesn't transition as much as some tea types, even though it might include an interesting extra flavor in the next few rounds.

Fourth infusion:  warmth extends just slightly.  Dried cherry might be shifting towards dried tamarind, or it has already changed.  Mineral seems to stand out a little more.  For someone who has never experienced anything like that, mineral really standing out in black tea, oolong, or sheng pu'er, that might not be familiar or meaningful at all.  For people deep into tea exploration they might either seek out and value that input or else see others as more important.  Either way it adds depth and balance to the experience.  It helps a lot having nice sweetness offset it, as is present in this.  It also matches well with the cacao, dried fruit, and roasted yam.

All in all a really nice, basic tea.  It would only seem basic to people who already love Dian Hong style teas, and for them, for someone with my preferences, it's just great.  It wasn't that long ago that you could find pretty good Chinese versions of this that didn't cost much, but I suppose as with most other tea range prices have jumped quite a bit, and more expensive curator sources have replaced market-type options selling good versions.  

Maybe Yunnan Sourcing's versions are this good (for Chinese teas), some of them, or it's possible this is better than the average there.  Tea Side sells Thai Dian Hong style tea directly, but that is likely to cost more than YS Chinese versions.  There's no reason why Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnamese related range couldn't also be good, made in a similar style, from similar material, so there would be plenty of range to look into, but you need to try lots of versions to run across one this good.