As many of you probably know, I live near Boston. There is, in a word, snow. A lot of snow. A very good day for tea. I had two, and wanted to share them, because what they are and how I drank them were such a departure from the Pu'erh I drank all last week.

First up is this absolute beauty.

It's not on their website, BTW. You have to go into their store to get it. The tea comes from Taiwan, and I'll leave it to your google skills to investgate just why this is such a batshit crazy way to make tea. Fortunately, I had a highly traditional, very respectful way to brew it.

Snowy days require mugs of warm tea. I loaded the built in infuser with big pinches of tea, and hit it with the not-quite-boiling water. Oh it is GOOD to be home with my precision kettle. Set and hold a temp to within a degree? Yes please!

I mean, look at that! The flavor and aroma are absolutely incredible. As subtle as the Pu'erh was, this is direct. It's sweet, immensely, overwhelmingly honeyed. It holds up to a longer steep without the faintest hint of bitterness or tannins. This is all sweetness and warmth and just... happy. I must have drunk four mugs of this during the day, and the leaves were still going strong. If you live remotely near Boston, it is worth running down. It's that good.

After mid afternoon, I got into tea number two.

This one I did a bit more traditionally, in my budget porcelin gaiwan, and shared with a very respectable rat.

Now, this tea was chosen for a very particular reason. I haven't liked the oolongs I've tried before, and this was something they suggested in the shop. When the roads are better, I'm buying a bucket of it. Really. Subtle, nuanced? HELL NO. Does it smell like a milk tea, have the most incredibly smooth mouth feel and taste sweet and rich and delicious? Yes. Ten thousand times yes. Tannins and bitterness, no. But who cares?

Look at the view out the window behind my tea kettle.

Doesn't that make you want a cozy cup of sweet, warm tea?

I'm posting this because I wanted to share some things I like. Things that weren't challenging myself, or leaning into the more arcane aspects of gongfu tea. No fancy clay gaiwans or clay tea cups. No special mountains, or age-worthy teas. Just immediate, comforting fun. Strong flavors, easily drunk and easily enjoyed.

Don't know if I found tea qi. But boy, did I touch happiness!

Hoping you are all warm and safe out there-

Warby

PS. When I landed at Logan, it was so cold my face hurt. I got a headache from the cold just walking to the Uber. That morning, I had been keeping my sunburt legs covered in the eighty six degree heat.

The Little Tea Venerable continues his journy through the red dust of the world, meditating on the fact that he, too, is clay holding water. And speaking of that-

Kind of an odd one today. Looking over my notes, it feels much more of a harsh evaluation than I feel about it now. With some time and distance from it, this is the tea from the sampler that (so far) I have liked the least and enjoyed the most. I'll get into the steeps and then explain at the end.

First Steep- The tea was still pressed into a single dense fragment of a cake. Gently breaking it apart and weighing the leaves was surprisingly satisfying. Counted to ten. Very pale gold color. I get hay barn on the nose from the dry leaves. Brewed, I get a bit of funk. A bit more cloudy than yesterday’s tea, and none of the little white hairs floating. Almost completely flavorless. I don’t even get “tea.” Examining the gaiwan, the leaves appear to not have completely opened. There is a mustiness to it, not bad, exactly, but I can’t really think what it does smell like. Woody, maybe a hint of dried tobacco, or maybe the smell of the wood lumps you would use for smoking meat.

Second steep- counted to twenty this time, trying to extract more flavor. Still pale gold, getting more of that roasty note. An ancient memory threw up a flag and identified what I was smelling- it was a Japanese green tea I tried years and years ago that had been blended with roasted and puffed barley. Since Pu’erh is actually pretty close to a green tea, as someone in the comments noted, that’s not such a weird stretch. That clay cup gets HOT. 

Getting some menthol cool, which I’m starting to strongly associate with Pu’erh. Not a whole lot of flavor otherwise. Tannins are now appearing, a bit spikey, getting a bit of bitterness but it’s pretty minor. As the cup cools, I’m getting something more vegetal and green. 

Third Steep- counted to twenty five, am I killing the tea by oversteeping? I might be, because the smell is still there but the flavor is practically non-existent. No, that’s not right. As the tea cools I am getting more tea flavor. Still very mild, but I’m getting more sweetness and the tannins have turned from bitter to a mellow, mouth drying feel. Not much menthol, no syrup texture, but it’s trending in a better direction. How very interesting. It really is evolving with each steep, not just thinning out.

Must remember to brew with a little less water. Just tasted what was in the pitcher- bitter, and unpleasantly tannic. Room temp Pu’erh is bad. Don’t drink it.

Steep Four- the pot had gotten cold. Twenty second steep produced sweetness and a little tea flavor, with more pronounced tannins coming in. The color is crystal clear and a vivid gold. Rather pretty in the glass cup. A bit more tea flavor, but nothing really distinct popping out. Nailed the water level, however. 

Steep five- went in hot. Not a whole lot of flavor left in there, but it’s not bad. Crystal clear color, no visible change from steep four. Kept the twenty second steep, and this time no bitterness to speak of, but there really isn’t much to speak of at all in there. 

Steep six- Dead. Boiling water, extra long steep and bupkis. Somehow the cup contained the sensation of drinking tea, without carrying any flavor of tea. I think it was almost more flavorless than plain water would have been. Somehow.

Conclusion- This tea never developed a strong flavor. Not so much muted as hardly present. Definately not what I prefer in my tea- I want to taste it, not be reminded of what I'm not tasting, if that makes sense. It never tasted bad, but in this case, absence did not make the heart grow fonder.

Despite that, I found it very enjoyable to brew and taste this tea. I felt like I was getting the hang of the techniques- how to pour, how to hold things so I don't scald my fingers. I've gone from being quite incapable of drinking something so hot to figuring out how to make it work. There is a rhythem to gongfu tea, I'm finding, both in the brewing and the drinking. It's an active process. Not a fast one, I do see why people find it meditative, but you can't really let that cup sit there forever.

There is a moment to make your move, where drinking your tea is effortless and pleasurable. Too hasty and get burned. Too slow, and it's gone bitter. Waiting patiently for the moment, moving with the rhythem of the tea, keeping the cycle moving and savoring the changes as they come... I felt like the Little Tea Venerable approved.

Would I buy it again? Not on a bet. But it's going to be a fond memory of this journey.

Didn’t get to tasting until after dinner. Dim lights at the dinner table, just me and the Little Tea Venerable, digging in to the Pu'erh. I am taking a totally different tack tonight. Tea, I am told, is a vibes based hobby. But here I am with my little espresso scale and counting the seconds for the steep… is this vibes? It is not. 

How much tea went in the pot? Enough, I hope. I put in what felt right. This tea cake was a million times better than the last one, practically falling apart with a gentle tug. This did have a pleasant dried tea aroma in the bag. I’m starting to identify what I would call the smell of age. A sort of pleasant mustiness. 

First steep- I must be doing something right with the quantities. The color is rich and amber. There is a nice taste of tea, and a tiny hint of menthol on the exhale. I’m getting a bit of that smooth mouthfeel I’m starting to associate with aged raw Pu’erh, though I do wonder if it’s the clay pot and clay cup. They say they take the rough edge off some bitter teas. Dunno about that. It gets unpleasantly tannic fast as it cools. Me and the Little Venerable will take it as it comes.

Second steep is giving me a hint of smoke. Just on the nose, something lightly smoky and pleasant. A very gentle flavor of tea, not aggressive or assertive at all. Great mouthfeel, though it does run bitter fast. Still, so far this is probably my favorite of the teas this week. Just… nice. The light is coming from a wicker covered overhead pendant lamp, giving everything a dim, somewhat orangy glow. It makes the tea a deeper, richer red. I’m getting the tea tannin, I’m getting the flavor of the tea-as-tea. I’m feeling how the tea liquor coats my mouth. Not the most syrupy, but the texture is noticeable, and nice. 

Returning sweetness? Maybe. It’s subtle, if that is what it is. 

Third Steep- Slightly longer steep, and I used water a few degrees shy of a full boil. It was hotter than a simmer, but not as violent a boil as when it hits max temperature. I’m getting a musty tea aroma, and that standard Raw Pu’erh flavor. Tannins creeping in around the edges. My mouth waters afterward. Really waters, I can understand why people like Pu’erh with meals. It wants to be drunk in glugs, not sips. The tea liquor cools fast, even with the clay insulation. Glugging is possible. I salute the Little Tea Venerable, and drink deep. 

It’s not the most delicious tea I have ever drunk, but there is something about that action, the lifting and the drinking deep, that is warming something deep within me. Smoky tobacco, but not bitter- pipe tobacco, maybe, or the smell of unlit cigars. 

Have you ever taken the time to experience a cigar, even if you don’t want to smoke it? You should. Pick it up and smell it. Roll it between your fingers and feel the leaves wrapping the densely rolled leaves within. Smell it. Smell the richness of it, the warmth of it. Hear that crackle of the leaves between your fingers. 

Take a moment to savor the experience. 

Damn. This really is a vibes based hobby. 

Steep Four- Full boil this time, nearly scalded my lip. A short steep too. The liquor is still crystal clear, and has fine white ‘hairs’ floating in it. It seems this is a very good, and very well preserved, tea. Not much on the nose, a bit of that pleasantly aged smell. It is definitely sweeter with the short steep. Noticeably sweeter, almost fruity. Absolutely wild, I didn’t get even a hint of that on the earlier steeps. It definitely does not want to be sipped. I’m genuinely fascinated by this.

I’m persuaded by the vibes based argument. It is a mistake approaching it like coffee with precise requirements for process. A scale is useful so I can remember what I have liked before, but it shouldn’t get in the way of the moment.

Like a lot of Americans of my generation, I don’t consider myself a non-drinker, I just don’t drink alcohol. I lost my taste for it, and getting drunk stopped being fun in my twenties. But when I was drinking, BOY HOWDY did I drink! Wine, whisky, vodka, beer, I went at ‘em hard. Sometimes drinking to get drunk, sometimes trying to savor the moment. 

This Pu’erh, at this moment, feels like ordering a Manhattan when I was in Manhattan on business. I was sitting at the bar of an expense-account hotel, wearing a made to measure wool suit and fine leather shoes, watching the cocktail waitresses in their short dresses and practiced smiles and just… feeling the moment. Knowing that there was nowhere I had to be the next morning and just relaxing into the drink. Tasting the corners of it and seeing how it all fit together with that place and that time and me.

It was a mediocre Manhattan, but a good Manhattan moment. I don’t know if this is good Pu’erh. But it’s a good Pu’erh moment.

Steep Five- Still clear, still a rich gold, the tea is leading with a hit of menthol cool, though the tea flavor is very mild. It still has a really pleasant texture to it. As it develops in the cup, I’m getting a bit more of the leaf, a distinct vegetal taste. The smoke starts to come in on the back of the palate, and the tannins dry out the mouth. I’m not getting the juice this time, but it is still very pleasant. 

I’m going to make a special note of this one, and look for more teas from this mountain. It’s good stuff.

Alas, like all good things, this tea journal must come to an end, at least for a while. I’m flying back to the worst weather of the winter from my tropical retreat, and the next few weeks are going to be a brutal grind of writing, editing and the sorts of household chores that seem to eat up hours without visible results. There won’t be time for a tea blog, though I will certainly make time for tea. 

Did I identify Tea Qi? I did not. What I did find is a path. I built my skills with intention and focus, found a tea that I really enjoyed, and most importantly, I found a new way to experience the making and drinking of tea. 

I have really enjoyed this week of tea exploration. Thank you for joining me on it. The Little Tea Venerable and I will keep exploring raw Pu’Erh together… possibly joined by a new companion? But that will be a story for another day.