San Francisco, Calif.
Dec. 22, 2007
Teas: Red Blossom Ming Qian Dragontip, Red Blossom Ming Qian Dragontip, Imperial Court Old Bush Pheonix, Red Blossom 1982 Aged Wenshan Baozhong
Above: Aftermath of Red Blossom tea tasting session.
One aspect of growing up in the Bay Area that I've always been proud of is the amount of cultural drift that takes place. It was here that American bohemia first embraced the classical arts of China and Japan. You can hear Hyphy, Norteño, or Cantonese Pop blaring out of teenagers' tricked-out cars roaring down the 101. In SF itself, South of Market, an elusive and often annoying vision of the 21rst century reveals itself just miles from the hippie-survivalist rural axis of Marin and Sonoma counties. Rifles and geodesic domes, dude.
The city has all the 24/7 hubbub and hassle that I miss living in Portland, Oregon. Last night I had to pick between eating an order of Belgian pommes frites or a cone of cardamom and clove ice cream with a samosa at 11PM. And even now, an Its-It sits melting on top of Cantu's copy of Ayurvedic Cooking Made Easy.
But tea.
Last July on a trip to San Francisco I stopped by Red Blossom with Jefre as well as Brian and Phoenix from the Starving Weirdos Arcata, CA connection. Working in a teahouse at the time, I was impressed with the shop. I was able to sit with Peter Leung for a bit during a hectic tourist high season rush in SF's Chinatown. Peter and his family know tea. Red Blossom is a family business, formerly a tea shop that leaned more towards a TCM apothecary run by Peter's father, the family's children have renovated the shop with a bright, modern design that's tasteful, easy to navigate and staffed by a nice and knowledgeable crew.
What really caught my attention though was the nice selection of Yixing pots (most handmade and thin-walled) as well as the 1982 Aged Wenshan Baozhong. The '82 Baozhong is notable for its strong camphor mint and cocoa notes as well as its unique history -- it hasn't been re-roasted since 1982. Most aged oolongs are re-roasted at regular intervals, roughly every year, to preserve the character of the tea. As anybody who has ever let some low-oxidized oolong sit around for too long knows this is due to the fact that taste of these teas begin to fade over time. According to Peter this Baozhong was roasted according to historical tastes of the early 80s, which is to say heavily, which may have helped preserve and develop its very unique flavor. A cool contrast to the fresh, winter-fruit taste I find in most modern Baozhongs which seem to be more minimally processed as time goes on.
On this trip, I bought two ounces of the '82 Baozhong right off the bat, but I was lacking a decent green tea to have around the house. So Jefre and I asked Scott of Red Blossoms to recommend a solution. We tasted two teas, the Ming Qian Dragontip and Ming Qian Dragonwell Panan. The Dragontip consisted solely of fine, needle-like young leaves while the Panan had slightly larger, flatter leaves that were occasionally covered with downy hairs. Both teas were picked prior to the first rains of harvest which theoretically prevents nutrients from being withdrawn into the interior of the plant and instead retained in the leaves.
Above: Side-view of Red Blossom gong-fu cha.
The Dragontips were a very mild tea, brewed in an inverse style by Scott that I had never seen before, with the tea floating on top of the water to compensate for a colder SF mid-day which was then mixed. Buttery, light, with a bit of grass and an astringency that had a somewhat mineral quality to it, the Dragontips were a good tea, but not what I was looking forward to drinking on a frigid, wet Portland morning.
Tasting the Dragonwell Panan, I realized what I actually wanted after all. I needed a more resilient tea I could brew at a bit higher temperature with a full-bodied vegetal taste that rang of freshly harvested winter greens and vegetables. And so I was sold.
On our way out Jefre bought an unusual mixed-clay yixing pot. I had never seen a mixed clay pot in a spiral sort of design before. At first I was skeptical, but its really grown on me and as such a nice balance, well-fit lid, and steady pour that I just can't fade it.
Below: Jef's tripped-out yixing.
Afterwards we headed over to the original location of the Imperial Court Teahouse, which sadly is closing in a few days. I always really dug the classic teahouse vibe of the original Imperial Court, just a few tea snacks, lots of caged birds, old furniture, and good servers who know their stuff. A great place to plan a conspiracy or debate the minutiae of poetics.
Tomorrow we would cure Jefre's yixing with Imperial Court Old Bush Phoenix and debate curing methods. Stay tuned.
Avant-MP3 mood lighting to be added.
Taken from http://teadrone.blogspot.com/
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