The Types of Tea and Their Chaqi: Aged Liuan Tea

Liuan tea has been used as a medicine for hundreds of years. Its qi is drying and has the ability to dispel dampness which accumulates in the body. Its bitter flavour is attributed to this health property as the bitter taste has a draining and often diuretic effect on the body. Conversely the tea also has hydrating properties as well. Aged Liuan tea becomes thermally warmer in nature as it ages. This gives the tea the ability to harmonize the body's energy with the heat of the summer. The result is a hydrated body and mind.

Traditionally it was often administered and drank in the summer in the Southern provinces of China. In this region of China the summers are unbearably hot and humid and aged Liuan was thought to remedy the imbalances created by these climatic influences. The symptoms of Summer Heat which include fever, sweating, heavy sensation of the limbs and head, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, bloating, dehydration- Luian tea was thought to treat these symptoms.

Traditionally Liuan tea is packaged in a bamboo leaf basket imparting the energetics of bamboo into the tea leaves. Traditional infusions of Liuan tea always include a piece of the aged bamboo basket in the pot of tea along with the dry leaves. Bamboo leaves have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years to reduce fever, detoxify, calm the mind, and drain dampness. These are some of the same medicinal properties of thought to be contained in Luian tea. When both bamboo and Luian tea are steeped together they are thought to enhance the medicinal properties of each other thereby creating a infusion that is more than the sum of its individual parts. The result is a delicious tea perfect for the hot humid summer.

Sipping away at some 1980s Liuan today, one hopes to review some of this tea as well as some other Liu An in the coming weeks and months.

Peace

1995 Yi Yang Fu Zhuan Brick Tea

Over the last few weeks one has consumed Fu Zhuan Cha on an almost daily basis. The decades old bricks which one has consumed over the last five years or so are dwindling. Thankfully Daniel of The Chinese Tea Shop provided a generous sample, this dry stored 1995 Fu Zhuan Brick from Yi Yang factory, and one has been dipping into it off and on. Let's heat up the kettle and see what this old brick is all about...


The dry leaves display visible flecks of "golden flower" mold and smell of very sour but dry wood-bark. The sour notes linger in the nose- an almost fermented sweet odour.

The first infusion is prepared and gives off a flat sweet initial taste which gives way to a malty flavour then to wood and cereal with undercurrents of sweet-corn and flat-caramel. There is a faint sweet caramel and sweet corn-wood aftertaste. The mouthfeel is slightly dry and is felt in the mouth and barely in the upper throat. The taste seems, like most fu tea, to be on one monotone plane with different tastes coming and going with ease.

The second infusion delivers a flat, dry, maple-wood sweet taste in the initial profile. This profile disappears leaving sweet-corn and dry woody-sweet tastes over a distinctly malty base. The aftertaste is simple and malty with faint corn and a slightly caramel disposition. The qi of this tea is very relaxing, ones breath feels much more relaxed- nicely calming.

The third infusion has the same initial taste with slightly stronger dry wood and slightly less flat sweetness. It seems smoother now and transitions less noticeably through the same profile.

In the fourth infusion the tastes become slightly less distinct with more dry-wood taste apparent. Still it is pretty much the same as last infusion with more of a slightly deeper malty-sweet lingering aftertaste which resides in the upper throat. In the fifth infusion the lingering malty-caramel aftertaste becomes even more distinct and has some nice sweet edges to it.

In the sixth and seventh infusions things get more creamy and smooth. The tea develops a velvet-like feel in the mouth with the malty-sweet-caramel taste dwindling over wood notes throughout the profile. The seventh infusion has slight, creamy, vanilla notes in there as well.

In the eighth and ninth infusions woody tastes and malty tastes offer a nice very simple balance. The tastes become uncomplicated here.

In the tenth infusion has a distinct wood broth with a thin pear aftertaste. Fruity qualities are starting to emerge here.

This tea is put to a few more long steepings and it gives up tangy, flat plum fruits, in a watery, subtle smokey broth.

Peace

The Types of Tea and Their Chaqi: Hunan Fu Brick Tea (Fu Zhuan Cha)

Hunan has three famous hei cha, or black tea, which comes from the province. Perhaps the best known here in the west is fu zhuan cha or fu brick tea (Kor. bok jeun cha). This tea is a favorite and one drinks it heavily during the late summer and in times of seasonal change. This tea is a simple tea, not as flashy nor complex as other hei cha such as puerh, it has the distinctly subtle effect of regulating, harmonizing, centering, and grounding and strongly resonates with the Earth Element. No wonder this tea is loved by many monks in Korea.

Fu brick tea is harvested during the hottest days of Summer, this makes it unique among other types of tea that are usually best harvested in Spring. The harvest time strongly influences the subtle and physical characteristics of fu zhuan cha. Biochemically, tea leaves that are picked in Summer have more fluorine, catechins, and are therefore more bitter and contain larger, dark green leaves. The bitter taste is surprisingly absent from all fu zhuang cha as it is eliminated through fermentation of the leaves. The high fluorine levels however can cause bone weakening especially later in life if this tea is consumed daily (see here and here). The Summer tea leaves used for fu zhuan cha also grow slower and have more of a warmer thermal nature, having absorbed the heat of the hot Summer sun.

What gives fu zhuan cha its regulating, harmonizing, centering, and grounding properties is its special production method. Its production is rather complex and involve twelve steps which include: fresh picking of leaves, panning, pile fermentation, rolling, drying, softening with steam, piling, partitioning, pressing into bricks, fungal fermentation, drying, packing and storing. In the end there are many pro-bacterial flora that proliferate in the finished tea the most commonly recognized is the eurotium cristatum bacteria which produces fu zhuan's famous "golden flower" yellow mold. It is famous because it is most noticeable to the naked eye. However many other bacteria are found in fu brick tea, and not all brick tea contain golden flowers.

Fu zhuan cha has a special affinity for the digestive center, the Earth Element. This is partly because of its slightly warming thermal nature which fortifies digestion in the body but mainly because of its bacterial content. According to the theory of the Five Elements, Yellow is the colour of the Earth Element and the Stomach and Spleen are the organs of the Earth Element. It is no wonder that the quality of a particular brick is often measured by the amount of "yellow flowers" contained in the brick. The Earth Element is also connected to the Late Summer season and the change of season at the equinoxes and solstices. Fu zhuan's strong centering qualities allow us to get through these periods of change with its stabilizing qualities. As a result it is the tea that best harmonizes us with this season.

Its mild, unpretentious taste and smell neither impart too much yang not yin, helping to again stabilize us along the path of the middle way. Fu tea contains a mild sweet taste. The sweet taste is said to be the taste of the Earth Element further harmonizing it with these energies.

Traditionally this tea has been used to aid in digestion by remote Tibetans and Mongolians. Recently it has been found that the bacterial cultures in fu zhuan cha increase protein and carbohydrate metabolism, while preventing the absorption of fat in the body. Years ago Japanese studies have shown fu tea to be the best tea for weight loss which is probably due to this newly discovered effect.

Peace

Tea, The Perfect Hangover Remedy Part II: Types of Tea for Hangover Symptoms

It seems every tea drinker has a preference for the type of tea they use to manage a hangover. Most tea drinkers seem to choose either a green tea or puerh tea though.

Green tea has the strongest detoxification properties of any type of tea. It is the colour green- the purest manifestation of the Wood element. Even its raw leaves can be ground to a paste and used topically over burns and bug bites. This is partly because of its detoxification properties and part due to its cooling thermal nature.

The properties of flavour explain how green tea reduces toxicity. Green tea is cool, bitter, and sweet. Cool bitter flavours are especially draining. Green tea is a diuretic, its detoxification mechanism involves removing the toxin through the urine. Although it is a diuretic it also quenches thirst and rehydrates the body and mind. This regenerative property is due to its sweet flavour. Sweet flavours are especially strengthening. These properties of green tea combat hangover symptoms such as headaches, dry mouth, lethargy, and even drunkenness.

Green tea is especially good at reducing that warm, feverish hangover feeling and regulating body temperture. The sensation of heat/ fever is the body’s natural way of reacting to a toxic substance as the body mobilizes against the toxic substance (in this case a drink too many). This benefit is due to its cooling thermal nature.

The downside of using green tea as a hangover remedy is that it can irritate an already shaky stomach. To prevent this from happening you should make a lighter, more diluted green tea that isn’t as strong.

Old puerh tea also has detoxification properties but uses a different mechanism than green tea. Puerh tea’s warm thermal nature goes deep within the body and pushes out toxins by diaphoresis, by sweating. Its strong, calming chaqi is also great at soothing a headache and clearing the mind.

Old puerh tea is especially calming for the stomach and promotes digestion. Because puerh tea descends deeply and is warm and comforting, it calms nausea and regulates digestive functioning. In this way puerh tea is especially helpful for hangovers with nausea predominating.

Other aged teas such as Hunan black teas and aged oolong as well as Korean yellows (bal hyo cha) have a powerful effect at harmonizing and comforting the middle. These teas often pour a yellow colour- which connect them to the Earth element, to the digestive system, and to the middle of the body. These teas therefore have a strong regulating function especially for digestion. These teas also have much more sweet flavour than bitter. The predominance of light, sweet flavours suggest that these teas are strengthening. These aged teas and Korean yellow teas have a more mild result of balancing the body and mind after a hard night of drinking.

So whether you are a puerh drinker, a green tea drinker, or whether you are just simply a drinker, chances are there is a type of tea for your hangover.

Here is a link to Part I if you missed it.

Peace

Three Indigenous Types of Tea in Hunan Province China: A Tasting of 1990 Kum Cheom Cha

“These three teas are to Hunan what Puerh is to Yunnan”

This phrase came from a Korean tea master while discussing tea from Hunan Province China, of which he was quite found of.

The three teas he is referring to are Chan Yang Cha, Bok Jeun Cha, and Kum Cheom Cha (these are Korean pronunciations not Chinese, if anyone knows the Chinese transliterations please share). These teas are some of the oldest types of tea produced in the Northern slopes of Hunan, an area where tea production has been taking place for over 2000 years.

Chan Yang Cha is perhaps the most interesting of the group mainly because of its production and resulting storage. It stands like an enormous tree, a pillar- from top to bottom- it was almost as tall as the teamaster and the diameter was almost as thick as his waist! This is NOT the shape of the tea tree but the actual formed shape of the tea leaves! To see it in the forest you would be convinced that it is a tree trunk. It is like a trunk of tea leaves-Really strange.

It looks this way because of its production. One is not quite sure of the exact production methods but it seems like sheets of tea leaves are either rolled over and over into a giant cylinder shape or they are stuffed into a hollowed out tree. Then the giant solid tree trunk of tea is wrapped in rice paper for storage.

Bok Jeun Cha is some kind of brick tea and Kum Cheom Cha is a chunk tea similar to a cake. The shapes of these three teas seem to suggest that they are border tea used or traded to the minority people of China.

All three of these teas are made seemingly with the same quality of tea- large paper thin leaves with lots of thick tea branches. The teamaster would always drink this tea in the extreme heat of the summer, he said that these teas have a medicinal value for the treatment and prevention of heat stroke. All three definitely have a thirst quenching, light, replenishing feel to them.

Today as the first cherry blossoms of the year bloom abnormally early, one pulls out the last of a sample of Kum Cheom Cha while water boils.

The large paper-thin dry leaf is a straw brown colour with the slightest tint of red notes there is an abundance of large wood twigs protruding from the sample. The smell is earthy soil with light, sweet hay notes. The earthy smell is much different than shu puerh- this sample is much lighter, dryer, and sweeter. Almost just as much straw smells as dirt smells.

This unique sample is carefully separated into the pot, rinsed with hot water, and the first sample is prepared with just off boiling water.

The first infusion is sweet dirt, the mouthfeel is very thin, a characteristic of all three of these Hunan teas. Very subtle plum notes hide amongst the dirt. The aftertaste is just a touch dry on the tongue but in the back of the throat there remains a soft, sweet dirt taste.

The next infusion is prepared. A bit more of the earthy taste drops off and this infusion tastes more like sweet hay than earthy dirt.

The golden brown liquor of the thrid infusion is much the same. The plum notes are noticed between the initial primarily earthy dirt tastes and the straw finish.

Really this simple, sweet, light, plumy tea doesn't move that much from infusion to infusion. Although simple, it feels complete not lacking or deficient in some aspect or another. Its watery, fresh, profile seems about right. Its chaqi is just as subtle and relaxing as the mouthfeel, flavour, and smell of this tea- all three of these types of tea share these qualities.

Gradually this tea turns more woody in taste later into the session but retains its light, fresh, earthy-hay sweetness. After many pots, one feels rejuvenated on this cloudy spring day.

The wet leaves reveal many thick wood branches mixed with large to mid-sized paper thin leaves. The wet leaves (as well as the earthy notes and redish tint of the dry leaves) suggest some element of shu puerh-like production.

Peace