tea session BA 280525
I thought to write some notes from our weekly local tea sessions. This one I would name
‘if you are not sure about the tea find a similar one and compare it’
I would rather add that comparison will help me to decide which tea to choose and also helps me to explain some attributes of taste and flavour. Things we do not have names for and everyone can imagine something a bit different but once a real experience comes into place then it is much easier.
Here are the teas we had:
1. Mansong gong cha 2020 (8 grams pressed ball, probably ‘hand’ pressed)
2. Green Mark tuo 1997 (Taiwan stored)
3. Yinghao tuo 1993 (Taiwan stored)
Here the Mansong was a ‘starter’, someting to open a match, a warm up which blew our cap off. I admit 8 grams for a 80 ml teapot is a lot but the result was tremendous, some of us loved a lot this tea, the tea leaves were giving a lot throughout the whole 3 teas plus one session.
The main topic was although the ‘scratching bitterness’ in plantation teas to be explained or put into words. This is in no way saying that this ‘feature’ is not good neither the plantation tea is a waste.
The Green mark tuocha from 1997 is rather plantation tea that is well aged and stored all its life in Taiwan.
The Yinghao tuocha from 1993 is allegedly gushu (qiaomu-forest) tea also aged in Taiwan.
The years of production are not the same but they are both aged and the thing, the bitterness won’t change that dramatically over a period of 5 years.
HEy, and here is the thing that I can ‘lightly’ put into words what I experienced but the best way is to try it.
The bitterness of ’97 tuo is like ‘scratching tounge bitterness’, it is not rounded and soft like with the Yinghao ’93 tuo. The gushu tuo comes with more sweetness and smoothness.
This bitterness is either ‘rough’ in 97 tuo or hard but instatly turning pleasent in 93 tuo. Both should leave natural and good feeling afterwards.
If this bitterness leaves bad off taste and feelings afterwards then it is something else that I talked about here.