Well over a year ago, Tony “World of Tea” Gebely posted a photo of a dark tea on Instagram.
It was an aged moacha (i.e. the rough stuff used to make puerh cakes) . . . but it was from – of all places – Thailand.
Used with permission by Tony Gebely.
For obvious reasons, it grabbed my attention.
Russians love tea. Like . . . really love tea. Even the British and Irish look at the Russian love affair with tea and say, “Would you kindly tone it down?”
I learned of this secondhand when I was doing research a couple of years ago on tea grown in Russia. Not exactly sure how it happened, but Russians took a rather strong liking to low-altitude Ceylon. Brewed as a concentrate . . . from a giant brass water heater . . . that was stoked with a boot. Yes, a Samovar.
But in recent years, there’s been a shift in the Russian tea palate. One I learned of from – of all places – Instagram.
Photo used with permission from Electrogorilla
Young Russians love dark tea (or “heicha”). Like . . . really love dark tea. Puerh, to be precise.
NaNoTeaMo, Day 29: “A Forward Foreword to a Fermented Puerh
I have a confession to make, but I’m going to do it in the most roundabout way possible. Don’t worry, I’ll get to a point (eventually), and I’ll somehow try to segue into tea. But I warn you, it won’t be pretty. And neither is my confession. It involves a spelling error, a really public spelling error that no one seemed to pick up on.
Earlier this week, I received this in the mail.
Myths & Legends of Tea by Gary Robson.
And I was psyched. Actually, I’ve received a few tea books recently, and I will get to all of them in due time. Including this one; but that’s not why I was so psyched. I immediately turned to the introduction. Why? Because . . . I WAS the introduction!!!
NaNoTeaMo, Day 27: “A Different Dark Tea on Black Friday”
As I’m writing this, it’s the night of Black Friday. To most tea people with a pun gland, though, it’s Black Tea Friday. So, in honor of that, will I be talking about another unique black tea?
Forget it, I’m going to talk about dark tea, instead. That’s right, heicha! And not from China, either. This time? We’re going to look at a little known tea growing country called Laos.
Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of Laos. Ever watch The King and I? That’s Laos!
Well, Siam to the time period it was portraying and . . . y’know what? Bad example.
NaNoTeaMo, Day 24: “Three Words: Puerh Tea Paste”
Cha Gao is weird.
No . . . weirder.
The concept behind it is weird. The backstory is weird. The whole damn experience is just . . . weird. And this is coming from a guy that thrives on all teas weird. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
NaNoTeaMo, Day 19: “The Making of Misty Peat Puerh, Part 2”
For Part 1, go HERE.
I last left off stating that I declared this experiment a success. The puerh leaves took up the bourbon scenting quite well. Almost too well.
When I got home that evening from my brother’s house, I even had my sister and niece smell the can. My niece’s commentary was, “It smells like a Sharpie!”
Oddly enough, it did. Very pungent liquor aroma. The following day, I did a couple of follow-up tests to see how even the taste was.
NaNoTeaMo, Day 18: “The Making of Misty ‘Peat’ Puerh, Part 1”
In the Fall of 2014, I did a write-up about Misty Peak Teas, and a tea session I had with its head cheerleader, Nicholas Lozito, in his backyard. I had a lot of tea that day, and some of the thoughts swirling in my head were less than conventional. One of them occurred when I noticed this:
Photo courtesy of Nicholas Lozito.
He had a giant bamboo platter of puerh leaves just . . . lying there.
I asked him what they were doing outside.
He replied with a shrug, “Oh, I just want to see what it does.”
He called it his “outside” puerh, and looking at it gave me an idea. One I vocalized. “Hey, do you think you can spare 200-grams of loose sheng?”
“For what?” he answered.
“I want to put it in a bourbon barrel.”
NanoTeaMo, Day 14: “Pa Sa Puerh and More Tea Pet Hijinx”
As of tonight, I am two-thirds the way through my NaNoTeaMo goal of doing one tea blog a day for a month. Much to the joy of a few of you, and annoyance to the rest. This has mainly been about establishing some sense of writing discipline, which I’m going to need going forward on some future projects.
Given that this is officially the two-week mark of that self-imposed challenge, it seemed fitting that I celebrate with a special tea. And also – given that it’s still Fall – what better way to do that than with a sheng puerh from my favorite mountain – Nan Nuo Shan. One that I almost forgot about, no less.
NaNoTeaMo, Day 13: “Mortimer and the Malawi Dark Tea”
Everybody, meet Mortimer . . .
He’s a tea pet – specifically, a tea slug. On a visit to Phoenix Tea yesterday, co-owner “Cinnabar Gongfu” talked me into adopting him. She said he had “little anime eyes”, and the next thing I knew, I was reaching for my wallet. Yeah, I bought the li’l bastard. Vladamir the Racing Snail isn’t too sure what to make of him; Mortimer doesn’t seem to be aware of Vladamir. And . . . good god . . . I’m so alone.
Moving on to tea, dammit!
NaNoTeaMo, Day 3: “An Autumn Puerh Pairing”
We are now Falls deep into Autumn, and every tea drinker is cuddling up to their favorite color-changing brew. Everyone has their favorite autumnal cuppa. For many, it’s masala chai. For others, it’s something equally burly or floral. It varies from person to person, but everyone has a favorite. Except me. Well . . . until recently.
Until . . . well . . . tonight, I hadn’t decided what my preferred Fall brew was. I think that’s changed. I’ve been on a big sheng puerh kick lately. And even when I’m not required to brew up a sheng, I find myself gravitating to it. For a month there, I thought Earl Grey would be the mainstay, but sheng took a surprise lead last month. It’s all Misty Peak Nick’s fault.
Two weeks into October, I received a sample of Misty Peak Teas’s Autumn 2015 loose sheng puerh. Seconds after receiving the package, I immediately went to brewing. Poor impulse control won out.
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