Today's tea: 2020 Old Tree Shui Xian from Old Ways Tea

On Tuesday afternoon, Jade posted to her Facebook about a tea she was drinking called a Lao Cong Shui Xian, describing it as a "tea you take deep into the forest and write your memoirs." 

Despite all my resolutions not to buy any more tea for awhile - having quite a good supply now - I checked out the vendor, oldwaystea.com and discovered that (a) they're relatively local, (b) their niche is tea from the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian and (c) they sell in small enough quantities to sample without breaking the bank or ending up stuck with too much tea of a kind one turns out not to like. I was able to put in an order of three teas that even with shipping only came to $15. 

My order was waiting for me when I came home from a rainy run to Target. As soon as I finished lunch, I opened the box to find a nice note from the proprietor, plus an extra sample of tea as a welcome gift! Little touches like this are really nice and I do appreciate them. The Purple Da Hong Pao in the gold packet is the freebie, and at 8g, I can get two brewing sessions out of it. (The Osmanthus is a 5g sample, all the others are 8g.) 

This is why I'm keeping all these tea notes. Keeping track of the Chinese varieties is getting just complicated enough. Being able to check which ones I did or didn't like and what vendors they came from will hopefull serve me in the future. Who knows, I might have to start a spreadsheet. 

Anyway, on to today's tea, the Lao Cong (old tree) Shui Xian (water sprite). Jade did not steer me wrong, although hers is from a 2018 picking. I brewed 4g/100ml @ 200F for 30 seconds on the first steep. (Second and third steeps were around 45 seconds.)

It's a very tea tea. Hearty without being bitter, light roasted aroma, with a sweet, honey finish on the tongue. For a damp winter afternoon, it's just about perfect. 

Getting better with my gaiwan pours, which is saying something. My hands are small and one handing a hot cup while trying to keep the lid just so has required practice.

A word about tools and utensils, because they're helpful and can add to your tea making experience: 

Having an electric kettle with temperature presets and a keep warm feature is not strictly a necessity, but it does make life easier. I have a Cuisinart CPK-17. Decent capacity, speed and six temperature choices ranging from "Delicate" to "Boiling," it beeps discreetly. This one has a short wide spout, which may be good or bad depending on your preferences. The price has gone up since I got mine for Christmas 2019. Do some internet research before choosing - you may find something that suits you better.  

A decently sensitive kitchen scale is also helpful because tea leaf processing may take up more or less volume and measuring by volume (e.g. a teaspoon, scoopful, etc.) may not help. For Chinese teas, 4-5 grams is a good portion for a 100ml brew, Ippodo suggests 10 grams per 210ml pot of their sencha or bancha. Being able to measure that by weight is helpful. I have an inexpensive Greater Goods model I picked up on Amazon. Easy to clean, big enough for most jobs, flat enough to be easy to store. 

For actual brewing, you can absolutely get by with a brewing vessel (teapot, gaiwan, or a bowl), a strainer and a drinking vessel. Or you can get swept up in the process and pretty tea wares. There are a ton of resources on the internet about gongfu cha brewing if you want to get into it.