Tea In Hoi An, Vietnam

Introductory Note: The tea pictured is of the common Vietnamese, low grade, flowery type and has nothing to do with the tea mentioned below other than the fact that it was produced in Vietnam and enjoyed in the charismatic streets of Hoi An.

Hoi An, an old Chinese and later French trading town, was once bustling with the trade of goods, some of which were tea. Today Hoi An still shows some traces of its tea trading roots. In particular, the modern day Tam Tam Restaurant and Cafe is housed in what used to be a warehouse for tea. This building still flaunts old colonial charm and original Chinese Calligraphy but seems to serve up more Jack and Coke than tea these days.

In the drizzling rain of early morning, in the busy core of the central market, one finally stumbled upon some nice tea. The shop had large glass sealed jars of different grades and brands of Vietnamese green tea on display in the front of the shop. The modest concrete store looked much like the facade of the commonplace tea shops of China but with a more rundown and barebones feel to it.

One sat with the shopkeeper, a polite, smiley, and undemanding young lady, and sampled the highest grade green tea that the shop had. One didn't take tasting notes, but instead stayed in the moment enjoying tea in the ambiance of the old market.

The Vietnamese tea seemed to share elements of both Chinese and Japanese green teas. It had a fresh grassy greenness to it that was common of Japanese teas while dwindling in a deeper roasted notes found in some Chinese greens. One remembers that the aftertaste of this tea was its shining point as it nicely evolved in the mouth and throat.

One wished to take a bit of this tea with but because the tea was sold loose and not in an airtight container one decided to pick up a Vietnamese oolong in a tightly sealed vacuum pack instead. One didn't sample this tea but it was quite inexpensive and was recommended by the courteous shopkeeper. As it turned out this would be the only tea purchased throughout ones travels in Vietnam.

Peace

Vietnamese Tea On The Mekong Delta

Like Korea, Vietnam prefers coffee. Unlike Korea, the coffee here is quite good.

Although coffee is preferred, tea is always on hand. The tea consumed is also different depending on where you are in Vietnam. On the small tropical islands on the Mekong where palm trees and banana trees flourish they drink tea in an especially unique way.

One sat down with some locals on a fair sunny day on a thatched roof patio and tried tea their way. This house like every on the island seemed to have a tea set. These sets were just a quite typical French white porcelain tea pots with small handless white porcelain cups.

Elsewhere in Southern Vietnam these unexcitable, cheap, commonly chipped and cracked cups were usually filled with green tea leaves mixed with small flowers. These small flowers gave the tea a natural perfume that seemed to cloak the slight bitterness given off by large, usually torn leaves. This is the tea of the common people of Vietnam and is found virtually everywhere on ice and occasionally hot in the south. But on these small islands they seemed to drink tea a bit differently.

The tea they use is sometimes the green variety but more often a low grade black tea is prepared in old colonial style pots or cheapy new Chinese pots. Alone this tea is nothing more than cheap, common black tea. It is what these smiley people add to it that makes it an interesting brew.

While the loose leaves are steeping in hot water, the island folk put a little wooden bamboo spoonful of homemade island honey, and a teaspoon of dried bee pollen to each cup. They then pour the tea into the cups, top it off by squeezing a freshly picked lime into the mixture, and stir.

One has never heard of tea prepared in this manner. Although it somewhat resembles what the English sometimes do with their tea, it tasted quite different.

As far as the actual tea goes, it wasn't so good. But, after everything is added it was intensely flavourful, fresh, and vibrant. The final mixture seemed to bring the flat flavour of this dull black tea to life.

What one most enjoyed about tea prepared 'Mekong Style' was that the feel and taste of this concoction mirrored the spirit of the people of these small islands.

And this is how one will remember the tea and people of the Mekong- intense, flavourful, fresh, and vibrant.

Peace

Travel Tea

This is the most convenient way to consume good tea on the go.

Just add matcha. Add cold water. Shake vigorously.

And so this is how one heads out with tea.

Peace

2008 'Mo Am' Ujeon Jiri Mountain Yellow Tea

These dry leaves are the tiniest one has ever seen in a yellow tea. That doesn't come as a surprise as the tea is produced from the first spring growth.

The smell of the dark brown dry leaves could as well be the smell of Christmas baking from grandmas house. The smell is wonderful milky chocolate and roasted nut, the most savored of oxidized tea smells in Korea. It's a real festive treat for the nose as it taunts the tastebuds. This tea couldn't smell any better. With tea smelling this good, its hard to believe that its taste could live up to its smell.

Just like Santa on Christmas eve, this tea doesn't disappoint. The brew is very smooth and coats the mouth in creamy milk chocolate and nutty tones with a subtle undertone of spice. The mouthfeel mirrors taste and is creamy, rich, and smooth. The first few infusions leave a festive spiciness on the breath. Later infusions seem to leave more chocolate than spice.

As the session progresses the liquor develops a noticeable, but not at all distracting, citric sourness that is mostly cloaked by prevalent chocolate and nutty tones. Its mouthfeel develops a slight fuzzy feeling, emulating the warm fuzzy feeling you get when drinking this delightful tea, or when spending time with loved ones on Christmas morning.

This tea has a lightness and vibrancy to it that only such young leaves could possibly emit. Its energy is a beautiful balance between fresh, young exuberance that is typical of Korean green ujeon teas and grounding, settling, stability that is found in most Korean oxidized teas.

In the end you can't help but walk away from this one smiling.

Merry Christmas to everyone.
Wishing you lots of holiday cheer.

Peace

*** Housekeeping note- Please halt all generous tea shipments. One will be leaving Korea in a few weeks and embarking on a journey around the world. One will not have a permanent address for, at the very least, a few months as one travels in search of experience, knowledge, and probably more tea. Also those who were expecting some Christmas goodies may have to wait a few months. Right now one doesn't know where one will settle back down. Most likely it will be someplace other than Korea.

Double Peace

A Wintery Erabo Style Tea Bowl By Sel Young Jin

Fall has passed. Winter is here.

A few weeks ago one awoke at the break of morning to little wet snowflakes that coated everything as they rode the light mountain winds to the ground. It was marvelous to embrace the red hot embers of the brazier so early this frigid morning and share tea with the first snowflakes of the year. They barely clung to their majestic, ice-crystallized form, dancing outside one's large windows before melting into the ground, quenching the dry winter's thirst.

As the seasons slowly change to winter, one usually migrates from loose leaf green tea and spring oolongs to yellow and black teas, as well as puerh. But the one thing that stays pretty much consistent, is one's consumption of matcha.

Drinking matcha from Sel Young Jin's erabo style bowls are like drinking matcha from the snowy winter mountain. This bowl is heavily glazed, like the slick snow that is beaten by the winds and molded by the blinding winter's sun upon the eves of a mountain temple. It gleams like it too was born of the elements.

It's form only further validates this imagery of cold winter. It's rim is most impressive as it maintains this feeling of snow bulging over the eves, a haphazard drift of snow whipped about by cold winds now leans above one's head.

It's foot is littered with dark black cracks which seem to jump out in the backdrop of white. These could as well be the cracking ice that covers the winter pond. The other small markings left by the ash in the kiln are amplified in these whiteout conditions.

The three spur marks left on the rim of the foot almost resemble foot prints in the snow.

Sipping tea, one marvels at the beauty of this tea bowl, the beauty of this season.

Peace

2008 Yunnan Yunxian Huimin Chachang Chupin ... And Puerh Induced Stomachaches

This cake, not to be confused with 2008 Yunnan Yunxian Huimin Chachang Chupin High Mountain Semi Wild Puerh, is a regular offering from this company. It doesn't boost of any 'wild' or 'high mountain' claims and is about half the price its bigger brother.

Its dry leaf shows no resemblance to its snazzy sibling. These leaves are a nice mix of fresh light coloured leaves that smell of creamy, sour tobacco puerh.

When prepared in a modest yixing pot this tea is a bit sweet like melon with a creamy mild tobacco finish. These flavours fight to be noticed over a smoky, common puerh taste that seems to dominate throughout the session.

The mouthfeel is wonderfully oily. It becomes slightly gritty which only acts to compliment the oily viscosity in later infusions.

The energy of this little guy is a killer. It stagnates in the lower abdomen- a perfect recipe for an upset stomach, especially in such a newly minted shang puerh.

And it did just that, sending one's stomach churning and getting one up and running to the bathroom. This tea caused one to stay away from young sheng for the last month or so.
One can't entirely blame this tea as it could have just been the have been the accumulation of drinking so much young sheng, something that one fully knows the dire consequences of, or other uncontrolled factors. Either way it prompted one to drink up some of the older sheng and some shu puerh that's been hanging around for a while. It also allowed one to enjoy the many wonderful yellow Korean teas that one has been posting about lately.

A few days ago, craving the sunny freshness that only an infant puerh can offer, one tried some 2007 sheng and things went well. Feeling confident, and curious whither this tea actually caused one's upset stomach, one decided to test these waters out again. Even with considerably less leaf this tea gave the stomach a good whoppin' not nearly as bad as before but, none the less, uncomfortably noticeable.

If you're lookin' for a fight this tea is for you, otherwise consider this a warning.

Peace

Joseon White Porcelain

Although white porcelain tea sets like this one are not a common sight on this blog, they were once the most sought after pieces in Korea.

Korean white porcelain was first popularized during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) and so it is often referred to as Joseon White Porcelain or as Joseon Baekja. The Joseon nobility governed the country using the principles of Confucianism. When Joseon rose to power they attempted to stamp out and repress all things synonymous with the previous rulers of Korea, the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392).

Under the Goryeo Dynasty, Buddhism was the state religion. At this time powdered tea, similar to the way tea was prepared in the Sung Dynasty of China, was the preferred method of enjoying tea. The Joseon Dynasty despised all things 'Buddhist' and gradually began drift away from preparing tea in this manner.

The Confucian literati played a crucial roll in popularizing the use of leaf tea in Korea. They claimed that the best way to experience tea is in a Joseon White Porcelain cup using loose leaves. They poetically praised how the white colour allows for the jade green liquor to be fully appreciated. Their influence must have been widespread because even Cho Ui, the Korean Saint of Tea, and a devout Buddhist, sings praise for Joseon white porcelain cups, in his masterpiece titled Dashinjeon, the story of the tea god (1830). He claims that cups as white as snow are best because they don't distort the colour.

It is important to note that during the Joseon Dynasty these pieces were once very difficult to produce using a wood fired kiln. The whitest pieces were the most sought after during this time. Nowadays, modern gas-fired kilns make producing this style much easier. This, in part, has lead to the relative decline in popularity for pieces like this today. If you visit a tea shop in Korea you are bound to see at least one set of Joseon white porcelain on display. It is quite common for famous Buncheong masters to try their hand at the unpretentious form and simple blue designs of Joseon Baekja.

The set pictured here is a beautiful example of this style by Kim Jeong Oak.