tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17582043038904257372011-11-15T16:14:36.300+01:00Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.comBlogger951100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-48810614150184665242010-04-26T11:30:00.001+02:002010-04-26T14:08:29.050+02:00

This is the second minibeeng from the Xi-Zhi Hao pu-erh tea gift set sold by Hou De. As Hou De stated, it's made from tiny pieces of mao-cha that left after sieving the spring 2009 Xi-Zhi Hao mao cha used for sheng cakes. These leftovers were then fermented by an ex-Meng Hai Factory master. The beeng looks and smells good, the smell reminded me of 2005 Menghai Golden Needle White Lotus I have.

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-41200299513989477852010-04-25T22:30:00.000+02:002010-04-26T12:17:57.348+02:00

A good sheng beeng, at last! Or, according to the small size - a good sheng sample, at last! (© by Hobbes)This is one of the two xiao (mini) beengs from the Xi Zhi Hao gift set sold by Hou De. According to the description, this is from Jing Gu area, same, as the 2007 Pu Zheng beeng. Unlike MarshalNs experience with Jing Gu teas, the Pu Zheng is one of my favorites. Expensive, yet very solid

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-40306014107218656112010-04-13T09:14:00.003+02:002010-04-13T09:53:21.939+02:00

Today I (finally!) got my parcel with Xi Zhi Hao samples from Guang. The long waiting is over. I haven't tried the teas by now, but I immediately noticed a slight change - the Xi Zhi Hao changed its logo. As Guang wrote, the original Xi (Double Happiness) character contained a drawing of an 18th century educational poster. As I heard, that made harder to sell Xi Zhi Hao pu-erh in conservative

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-50008897964595697272010-02-01T21:12:00.004+01:002010-02-01T22:07:40.855+01:00

Most tea lovers in my area become addicted in the same way. They were introduced to tea other than tea bags in tea-houses or by friends. Most of us started with simpler and cheaper teas and only gradually learned how to enjoy expensive high quality specialties.But in search of great tea the tea lover should never underestimate the cheap ones. Happens, not often, but nonetheless, that even among

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-39818850509176525212010-01-22T19:18:00.002+01:002010-02-01T23:36:11.407+01:00

After quite a some time I'm finishing the five samples Hobbes sent out to us in the Yunnan Sourcing tasting event. This is Bulang tea made of semi-aged 2006 autumn maocha harvested in Man Nong village near Ban Zhang. The leaves should be harvested from wild arbor trees.The beeng looks nice, with medium-light compressions – it separates easily into leaves. The leaves are definitely darkest of all

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-6419927123848145782010-01-08T23:02:00.005+01:002010-01-12T12:05:38.858+01:00

One of my favorite blogs is Mattcha’s Blog. I love his photos of Korean pottery – cups, pots and other teaware. Also, his description of Korean teas makes me drool like a Frankensteins monster. Unfortunately, genuine Korean tea is very hard to get, with probably none online sites where one can get few grams of these delicate tea specialties.So I was very happy, when I discovered, that not far

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-34437012243830740872009-11-08T20:41:00.004+01:002009-11-08T20:46:43.779+01:00

A very disturbing article about speculation with prices of Taiwan oolong teas can be found at TC Formosa Tea. I hope this will not become a regular activity next years and we will be able to acquire a good quality lishan tea in next years.

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-9422049098258544462009-09-25T13:07:00.007+02:002009-09-25T15:12:21.826+02:00

This is the second sample of tasting of pu-erh teas made by Yunnan Sourcing. First was one of the most expensive teas made from high altitude Yi Wu mao cha, this tea is made from spring 2009 mao cha harvested in Long Pa village of You Le Mountain. The beeng is on a looser side with nice whole leaves. The fresh scent is less powerful, than the smell of the Yi Wu sample.I liked this tea less then

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-18113138618511120402009-09-23T23:19:00.003+02:002009-09-23T23:46:12.862+02:00

This is the first of the series of cakes produced by Scott at Yunnan Sourcing LLC. The tea leaves were picked at "Gua Feng Zhai" (The Stockaded Village of Howling Wind) - according to descriptions, one of the remotest and highest regions of Yi Wu. Leaves from the same area were used by Chen Guang He Tang in his 2006 and 2007 Yi Wu beengs.This tea is very fresh. After opening the sample bag I

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-44355874305877169242009-09-16T23:34:00.004+02:002009-09-17T09:57:07.393+02:00

I had the Fo Shou (Buddha hand) oolong harvested in summer 2009 in Wen Shan area of Taiwan. I got this tea from a local vendor, Longfeng, who delivered me lots of great teas before. This particular oolong is hand harvested and home roasted.The leaves are small and even with light fruity smell. I prepared this tea “Czech tea-house style” – it is actually a gong-fu preparation in a yixing teapot,

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-43757583428919612992009-09-09T10:58:00.004+02:002009-09-09T22:44:11.303+02:00

This tea sold by Yunnan Sourcing claims to be wild arbor pu-erh made from first flush 2007 spring mao cha harvested in Bulang mountain range from 70-80 years old tea trees. I got a sample of it together with various other Hai Lang Hao samples, and I decided to give it a try, since Hobbes praised it quite high.From the sample I got I decided to use the whole part – as for most of my stone-pressed

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-52144246886193379142009-09-02T21:40:00.005+02:002009-09-09T11:26:01.657+02:00

According to information provided by Guang, the Menghai Yieh Sheng (Wild) is a beeng produced by Chen Guang He Tang in 2005 as a blend of Ban Zhan (not Lao Ban Zhang) and other Menghai wild spring leaves harvested at 2005. This is one of the more expensive young pu-erh, a standard 357g beeng costs $120. It must be an exceptional cake to justify that price – so I decided to try a sample and if it’

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-62973808308380993392009-08-30T19:59:00.004+02:002009-08-30T20:47:12.340+02:00

I use my wooden tea tray since 2003 and it serves me well since then. Unfortunately, because of its size it’s quite unhandy to use on my work desk, and since last winter I had to work quite a nights, I decided to get a smaller, ceramic tea tray.This is a celadon tea tray made by Taiwanese artist Xu De Jia I acquired from Guang at HouDeAsianArt. The tea tray is made from bluish "Chin Tzi" celadon

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-9252554700403455052009-08-24T20:56:00.008+02:002009-08-24T21:43:05.119+02:00

I spent the last week in Prague, so I took the opportunity and met with Mr. Prachař, owner of Longfeng tea shop. Even though I had extremely little time - it was the last day of our course and my colleagues were very, very eager to go home, I left them and returned an hour and half later with big bag full of teas and tea samples.Among the teas that I bought there were some Chinese red teas. I

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-76637860142581002952009-04-27T12:06:00.003+02:002009-04-27T12:10:28.237+02:00

I just wanted to let you know, that 5th issue of free internet magazine The Leaf is out.You can read about yixing, tetsubins, Weng Ming Chuan bamboo tea-tools, Ban Zhang pu-erh and more.

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-15461269468413054462009-04-04T21:47:00.006+02:002009-04-04T22:29:36.288+02:00

It’s quite a time I haven’t written anything. Probably a sort of laziness I developed in most recent times. But it caused not only stopped blogging, but also drove me to some easier ways to prepare tea, than gong fu. But spring is finally here, as you can see from pictures. Yes, it's real sunlight. And as the nature wakes up this time of year, I finally gathered enough will to continue writing

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-81486260977478063362009-01-28T12:00:00.001+01:002009-04-04T22:32:36.842+02:00

Two months after my last blog – not counting the one from Monday – Slovakia lost it’s currency, Slovak Crowns, the Euro has a new set of coins with Slovak symbols and we all try to be used to think on much, much lower scale. What was 1000 Crowns before now is 33 Euro. But we will live with it, somehow.But let’s tea! I got 50 grams of this fine tea from local vendor, LongFeng (Dragon- Phoenix)

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-52144245600340299072009-01-26T21:56:00.008+01:002009-01-27T21:15:43.441+01:00

Even though I haven’t purchased tea for some time, I still check HouDeAsianArt regularly. And few days ago I noticed a new beeng from Chen-Guang-He Tang in stock. Source: HouDeAsianArt.comI knew that wrapper, I see it somewhere before. But it took me some time to realize, that I have a beeng like this in my possession. Good beeng, by the way. I took a picture of this cake to remind you, how it

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-30865879156287534882008-11-24T00:18:00.003+01:002009-04-04T22:30:02.886+02:00

Some tea has its own story, and few stories are quite interesting. Today I drunk a five years old Jing Pin (Superb Product - 精品) by Menghai Tea Factory. It's a sheng pu-erh made from wild mao cha harvested in Bulang mountain range. The tea was sold by Hou De, and it was sold out very quick, within a day, despite the fact that it was limited to two or three beengs per customer and the price was

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-55921319580556087192008-11-21T00:00:00.000+01:002009-04-04T22:30:46.520+02:00

The tea is dead. Not all the tea, but some of my tea already deceased. Last time I drunk some powerless mao cha and I found some similarities with this 2006 Longyuan Yi Wu Aromatic beeng. Now is the time to confirm my findings.The beeng isn’t single region but is a blend of Yi Wu (third) and Jiang Cheng (two thirds) leaves. But why is it called Yi Wu Aromatic Beeng instead of Jiang Cheng Aromatic

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-5999034730217409982008-11-18T21:59:00.004+01:002009-04-04T22:30:35.341+02:00

A lot is happening today. Slovakia, the country I’m from will loose its national currency Slovak Crown by January 1st 2009 – we will switch to Euro. And because I work in a company producing and distributing enterprise-wide information systems, we have now a lot of work ahead to help all our clients to convert their systems to euro. That’s why I haven’t had too much time to blog. Yet I still

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-61192922027802705152008-09-21T17:32:00.004+02:002009-04-04T22:32:16.183+02:00

As far as I can remember, I never drank Bao Zhong oolong before. But I found a really inviting quote on Another Tea Blog about how Bao zhong tea tastes.I took a whiff and said, "Fuck me." It smelled good.That made me curious. So, when I made my last order from Guang, I also order 2oz of his Bao Zhong. Because of the small price difference between the Premium and Grade A batches, I have chosen the

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-23603433520175013522008-09-17T21:14:00.004+02:002009-04-04T22:32:16.183+02:00

I got a sample of this winter oolong from Guang. Although this batch is already sold out, on HouDeAsianArt spring 2007 and spring 2008 batches are still available. On the other hands, the spring batches could brew different tea than the winter batch. And how does the winter batch taste?I prepared this oolong in my new über-small teapot, so I used only 4 grams of leaves on 80cc teapot. Still I was

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-30228862069029300382008-09-15T18:33:00.004+02:002008-09-15T18:51:13.183+02:00

Today I threw 7 kilo of great pu-erh into trash bin. I inspected it, but there was no way to save the tea. The mould – various moulds, actually, green, white, yellow – covered entire beengs I kept in envelopes. The beengs in tong wrappers were not covered by mould but still they hade it on them, and not only at surface. So I decided to do the hard but good decision to threw it all out.But not all

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-43170116292493623442008-09-15T00:06:00.001+02:002008-09-15T00:13:02.738+02:00

By the beginning of May I decided to relocate some of my pu-erh to more humid more natural location.Yesterday I got it back home. And I saw… mould. I will write more later, including photos. Now I feel only sorrow.

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-36031906329448043072008-09-12T14:27:00.003+02:002008-09-12T14:47:15.421+02:00

Two days ago I got this large box. Finally, I was waiting three weeks! What’s inside the box?There is some 8 oz of tea. And also there’s a smaller white box. What is hidden in it?A tiny brown box. Wow, it’s like a Russian toy, matryoshka! I had one matryoshka when I was young, too. Not too much fun, but you know, russian toys.What is in the tiny box?My newest teapot! Well, it was a well packed

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-87026793993281501872008-09-09T22:03:00.007+02:002008-09-09T22:45:30.440+02:00

This is my 60’s Zhu Ni Ming Zhi Zhai Pear-shaped Xia Pin (Small) Yixing Teapot. It’s a really long name for such a short pot. I got it a year or so ago from Guang. When I opened the parcel, the pot was cleaned with no tea stains. Now I use this yixing quite often with big leaf raw pu-erh, so today the pot is seasoned quite well. On these pictures I want to demonstrate, how it changed over the

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-50602495493738496062008-09-07T16:10:00.005+02:002009-04-04T22:30:25.482+02:00

This beeng is not like other regular production. There are two big differences.1. It’s probably the most fresh pu-erh I ever had. It least I feel it like the most fresh.2. This tea is hand made by Nada (or at least supervised by Nada) during his trip to Nannuo.Limited to only 40 beengs, some of these beengs are kept by Nada and some were sold at his online tea shop. They are sold out, but I was

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-54362379755538246342008-09-04T09:45:00.007+02:002009-04-04T22:32:16.184+02:00

GABA. I like how it sounds. GABA. It could be an alien race from Star Wars. Or a 50’s Japanese monster, younger brother to Godzilla. But no, this GABA is drinkable and sold by Hou De. It’s a Taiwanese chin-shin cultivar oolong, one of the cheaper ones. According to Guang, the history of GABA oolongs is quite special. In 80’s Japanese scientist discovered, that GABA oolongs can help alleviate

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-11356575702876599662008-09-02T11:23:00.003+02:002009-04-04T22:31:19.378+02:00

This is another tea sample I got from Salsero. Originally sold by Tea Source this green tea is quite expensive being more than $15 for 2 Oz. Most interesting about this tea (maybe except its name) are the tea leaves, each one rolled in spiral form. The Tea Source claims this tea was made in Ceylon. Actually Ceylon is former name of that island, but since 1972 it's known as Sri Lanka.The tea

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-27761198248873121362008-08-30T21:20:00.001+02:002009-04-04T22:30:25.483+02:00

I’m quite a big fan of Xi Zhi Hao pu-erh. But even my infatuate eyes cannot ignore the fact that the production of San Ho Tang changes over the time. I believe, the change has two reasons.First is the increase of mao cha and pu-erh prices in late 2006 and early 2007. The increasing demand for good pu-erh leads to over harvesting of tea trees, faking and making good mao cha scare. So if a tea

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-81653777832421597612008-08-28T21:15:00.005+02:002009-04-04T22:30:11.568+02:00

Few weeks ago I received a pack of mao cha samples from Jacqueline. Thanks again! She obtained them on last Tea Expo held in May or so – the sample pack contains five different mao cha samples from different mountains.To prepare myself for tasting them I drunk today two years old mao cha from higher regions of Bulang mountain range, from remote tea plantations in Lao Ban Zhang. This mao cha was

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-69613999450991395372008-08-27T10:37:00.006+02:002009-04-04T22:31:06.107+02:00

I got a sample of this fine tea from Salsero (thank you again!) today, so when I get to office and sat down I decided not to drink oolong today, but darjeeling tea instead.This Indian tea from Darjeeling province is, according to information provided by Salsero, sold by Tea Emporium as Flowery 2nd Flush SFTGFOP Darjeeling tea from Risheehat tea estate.Second flush (second harvest, mostly in June)

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-10602519910785818292008-08-26T00:00:00.002+02:002009-04-04T22:32:16.184+02:00

I got this oolong from Hou De few weeks ago. I drunk Dong Ding oolong from Hou De last year and I liked it really much. It was very pleasant, very sweet, nearly candy like tea.The Dong Ding (literally Frozen Summit - 冻顶 or 凍頂, source: Tea Babelcarp) is a traditional medium roasted Taiwan oolong. As the site claims, the Nantou style Dong Ding oolong was produced in January 2008 in Taiwan. The

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-9270351322442480752008-08-25T10:15:00.004+02:002008-08-25T10:35:41.088+02:00

I drink tea daily, different kinds at different places. If circumstances prevent me from drinking good tea I drink not-so-good teas, but at most cases I’m trying to drink the best tea possible prepared in the way it should be prepared.I especially like the tea prepared in gong fu style – it calms me down and tunes me in to enjoy the tea. Since at office I have neither the required staidness nor

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-43077293135249949372008-08-24T01:30:00.003+02:002009-04-04T22:30:41.552+02:00

Today I felt autumn coming. It's raining all day long, the sun sets before 8 pm and the temperature decreased by 10 degrees. I decided to drink from my more than 10 years old Yi Wu beeng, I feel it is in harmony with the current weather.I purchased this beeng from HouDe two years ago. I believed that this beeng is quite expensive at $157 – and now I see how good that bargain was. Also, the

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-86430179016546710792008-08-18T22:40:00.002+02:002009-04-04T22:30:46.520+02:00

Summer is coming to its end and autumn knocks on our doors. Last Saturday I was on a concert of Jaromir Nohavica – while the concert on castle Červený Kameň was hilarious the stormy night proved really cold.Actually, the castle on this photo is Smolenice, about 20 kilometres north of Červený Kameň.As the summer ends I’m more and more time at home and so I drink more and more tea. Fortunately, I

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-35986990121855840852008-07-21T22:42:00.002+02:002009-04-04T22:30:41.552+02:00

It’s a late summer night. Monday, day after the weekend. I should go to sleep, but I cannot. So I’m just sitting, drinking tea and listening to Bonobo. The windows are wide open, the chill of night slowly drives the fiery sun out of the room.On table steam arose from the cup of tea. It’s my favorite – four years old Yi Wu pu-erh, one that just left the ferocity of youth, one that started to

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-75394656436405160602008-07-19T23:52:00.002+02:002009-04-04T22:30:35.341+02:00

This is second of the two limited production autumnal pu-erhs of Xi Zhi Hao tea factory, sold by Hou De. I liked the first one, the Da Xue Shan, although the character of that tea was very unusual. Very green and floral with sweet flowery taste. The Pu Zheng beeng is similar to Da Xue Shan – beautiful, compact but not over molded, nice piece of craftsmanship. The leaves are easy to loose; I used

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-34285487038186504892008-07-13T19:00:00.007+02:002009-04-04T22:30:46.521+02:00

It’s quite rare to see more than two or three years old beengs on sale. And if there are some at least partially aged beengs, they are either quite expensive or faked or both. One of the sources selling excellent pu-erh for, unfortunately, excellent prices is Hou De Asian Art. This is where I got this beeng, too.Marketed by CNNP - China National Native Produce – this classical recipe 8582 beeng

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-35122522561356225362008-07-11T14:51:00.016+02:002009-08-24T20:56:16.822+02:00

Two days ago I bought in Prague two tea jars. Sometimes, when I decide to drink some tea I do not have patience to break the beeng into separate leaves, so it will be nice have some favorite tea already broken. I decided to work on some lightly pressed beeng. My choise is 2007 Xi Zhi Hao Pu Zheng Yuan Cha sold by Hou De.The beeng is slightly more compact than the Da Xue Shan of the same producer

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-11825050928868757592008-07-06T16:59:00.007+02:002008-07-06T18:48:24.566+02:00

I got this teapot about a year ago from Guang. A sad story, this is a replacement for pure zhu ni teapot that cracked – maybe I poured too hot water into it in cold room, maybe the teapot was cracked before, I don’t know. But this new one serves mi fine for more than a year now. This teapot is quite unique amongst my teapots. It’s rather old, being at least twenty years old. Also, the knocking

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-80614378756542927832008-07-02T14:02:00.004+02:002008-07-02T14:32:31.973+02:00

Sometimes one have to take a route different from the usual to find something one and exciting. To see something overlooked and experience something new. Few days ago when I went to work I decided to turn left few block earlier and I noticed a building with most interesting reliefs. Reminding me of Sumerian reliefs they are nice and well hid examples of culture called Socialistic realism that

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-6990400242859740972008-06-29T20:01:00.003+02:002009-04-04T22:31:48.412+02:00

The summer finally arrived. The temperatures reach 35 degrees of Celsius, the sky is cloudless, and the sun burns as in hell. And sometimes after the sunset arrive wild thunderstorms. Just two days ago lightning hit the temple across the street – fortunately the clergy installed lightning rod instead of just pure belief, so only the lightning went out. In these hot days I still drink tea, lot of

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-79603935699913089672008-06-22T20:57:00.011+02:002009-04-04T22:30:35.342+02:00

Last week I traveled across whole Slovakia, from west to east. Since I rode a car, I had enough time to sightseeing. I took a picture of Castle of Spish, the largest medieval castle in Central Europe. Few weeks ago Australian sculptor Andrew Rogers finished a huge stone sculpture, a geoglyph depicting a “celtic horse”. Though the geoglyph is best seen from balloon or height – do you think this is

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-29923663943241216162008-06-15T20:07:00.013+02:002009-04-04T22:30:46.521+02:00

Full name of this beeng is 2007 "5th Internatiol Aged Puerh Appreciation" Memorial beeng.This pu-erh was blended by Mr. Huang Chuan-Fan of Jing Mei Tang and processed by Chang Tai Tea Factory. Same blender and same factory produced the 2006 Taipei Tea Expo Memorial Beeng. But the characters of these two teas are totally different. As seller, Guang from Hou De Asian Art states, this beeng is made

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-14875329534055230572008-06-10T16:49:00.004+02:002009-04-04T22:31:06.107+02:00

Today at work I decided to try another Darjeeling. This one is from Thurbo plantation in India. The FTGFOP acronym could mean Far Too Good For Ordinary People, but actually it is Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe. While the definition of Orange Pekore is used to identify a large leaf size characterized by long, thin, wiry leaves, the actual leaves are quite small. They are very colorful

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-8520100546601878112008-06-08T19:37:00.005+02:002009-04-04T22:30:41.553+02:00

Phyll recently restarted his Adventures in Tea & Wine after a hibernation lasting nearly one year. To celebrate it I decided to drink today sample sent to me by him.The story of this tea is quite fierce. It was posted by Guang during Big Pu-erh Price Bubble and after I made a comment about it on LJ Pu-erh Community, it was sold out within 24 hours.What do I know about this tea? It’s a

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-45637726519026222482008-06-02T20:02:00.004+02:002009-04-04T22:31:19.378+02:00

I’m not a big fan of green teas. I dislike their floral, grassy taste caused by chlorophyll. While at home I prefer kung fu cha in yixing teapots, I also believe, that green teas are best prepared in gaiwan or bigger teapot. That’s why I drink green teas mostly at my work prepared in tetsubin.But once in a while I afford a good quality green tea. Today was quite hot out there, so I wanted to end

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-13587821525340139952008-06-01T19:03:00.005+02:002009-04-04T22:30:11.569+02:00

The San Ho Tang tea factory is producing luxurious pu-erh, at least in the eyes of many pu-erh fans. Though the recent production is somewhat controversial, the first and maybe first half of second year is seen as really good.San Ho Tang produced two test runs of pu-erh – 1997 Yi Wu and 1999 Meng Sa. It started the regular production in 2005, producing Lao Ban Zhang, You Le and Nan Nuo beengs. I

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-79539344244309210212008-05-26T08:42:00.002+02:002008-05-26T08:51:45.250+02:00

Here are tea-related articles I found most interesting in last few weeks.Timing tea - thoughts about archery, tea and zen. Very good one.Kung Fu tea and Chao Zhou - article full of info about beginning of kung fu tea.Yiwu, Nannuoshan and others - Nadas journey to the land of tea.I'm very sorry for no new posts in last days - I'm admiring the ones like Hobbes or MarshallN (especially Hobbes) who

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-9996799881819882102008-05-14T21:53:00.007+02:002009-04-04T22:31:06.108+02:00

By the end of March arrives the tea that is one of the most favored in Czech Republic and Slovakia – the Darjeeling’s. This typical Indian tea is harvested from two to three times a year. While the second and third harvest – called second and third flush – are typical light black (red) teas with some floral smell, the first flush is much greener.It’s still black tea, but retains some

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-77979912880092414912008-05-11T20:27:00.005+02:002009-04-04T22:31:19.378+02:00

I do not drink green tea too often – mostly because I need a water of certain rather low but constant temperature. Also, I prepare green tea in gaiwan – but I like to use yixing teapot more.And I certainly do not like jasmine teas. The ones I tried before were just too aromatic using artificial jasmine flavor. Not my cup of tea.So when I received this jasmine tea – Dragon Pearls from Hobbes my

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-13834744436078660442008-05-08T01:01:00.003+02:002008-05-08T01:08:05.321+02:00

Last few days I'm eagerly awaiting my parcel from HouDeAsianArt – it includes the newest Art Of Tea, some XiZhiHao minibeengs, 2002 CNNP 8582 and some more. Since the parcel has a tracking number I was able to track its position.I was very surprised, when yesterday the status on the tracking site changed to Arrived Abroad To Slovenia.Slovenia is part of former Yugoslavia and is a totally

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-46587491750332154182008-05-05T23:23:00.003+02:002009-04-04T22:30:35.342+02:00

According to legend, Wu Liang was a man, who invented oolong teas by accident by neglecting to dry tea leaves promptly. But Wu Liang is also a mountain in Simao region where mao cha is harvested for producing pu-erh.This 100 gram only xiao (small) beeng is of private production using pure sun dried mao cha and traditional processing. I got a sample of this tea from owner of www.longfeng.cz – the

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-67198661648491545052008-05-04T21:30:00.002+02:002008-05-04T21:42:53.110+02:00

Since my appartment is very dry, I decided to move part of my pu-erh stash to some more rural conditions for the summer. These teas will be stored in my parents shed - the 2 feet thick solid rock walls, partly embedded in the mountain uphill with pretty high humidity may accelerate the aging process. I included some beengs I have at home, so I could compare the different aging of the same beeng

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-42910401265810286932008-04-13T21:41:00.012+02:002009-04-04T22:30:41.553+02:00

The spring is finally here! The weather is of typical April, in the morning rain falls like during monsoon and after lunch it’s sunny and warm out there. Two weeks ago with Xi Zhi Hao minibeengs shipment from HouDe I also received a sample of 2001 Chung-Hwa Yi Wu "Jin Yeh Hao". Today is the right time to try it.The tea is from Yi Wu area, it’s said to be counterpart of 2001 MengHai "Old Tree

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-79217654985550313942008-04-09T21:24:00.006+02:002009-04-04T22:31:48.412+02:00

Today was very warm and sunny out there, so I wanted to welcome the spring with adequate tea. The one I decided to try is the 2007 Winter FengHuang WuDong Old Bush DanCong "Huang Jing" brought to us by HouDe.The leaves catch the eyes first. They are totally different from standard Dan Cong oolong – colorful, huge and strong. The reminded me the sight of autumn forest - some trees still green,

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-13039446230732700932008-04-06T16:46:00.009+02:002009-04-04T22:30:35.342+02:00

Yesterday I tried the Yi Wu Cha Wang minibeeng produced by San Ho Tang Tea Factory. The tea was good, but the beeng was of poor quality. So I decided today to try a beeng, that looks much better than the last one.The Din Ji Nu Er minibeeng is said to be produced from spring raw leaves from the vicinity of ancient tea trees in Chien Jian Zhai. The beeng should be made from sun-dried mao cha by

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-75638250635150173762008-04-05T21:29:00.008+02:002009-04-04T22:30:41.553+02:00

Yesterday I received the parcel from HouDeAsianArt with three new San Ho Tang beengs, the Yi Wu Cha Wang, Xue Shan Chuen Lu and Ding Jin Nu Er. Since I really like the Xi Zhi Hao brand I decided to try each of them. This is the first. Yi Wu Cha Wang, the Yi Wu Tea Emperor.First, here are few facts about the tea. This is the fourth Yi Wu mountain tea made by Mr. Chen, previous were the test-run

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-86047551240535812052008-04-02T18:04:00.002+02:002008-04-02T18:08:55.663+02:00

Today I received a parcel from Yunnan Sourcing LLC. Not just it traveled 3 months instead of 10 days, but also it looks like some angry dwarf with big hammer knocked it out. Fortunately Scott packs his teas really carefully, so the teas were intact.

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-72429027940807530182008-04-01T20:05:00.004+02:002009-04-04T22:30:41.554+02:00

Even with the spring knocking on the door, it’s still dark outside when I come home. As I took photo of church outside my window, I noticed, that its clock isn’t adjusted. The weather was today sunny and warm, so I wanted to try some tasty tea today. So I ended up with sample of Yi Wu tea, that was produced by Ming Yuan Chung Guang Tea Factory with cooperation of 858 Da Yu Pu-erh Museum following

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-82208738354155532352008-03-29T21:15:00.005+01:002008-03-29T22:01:01.224+01:00

I made a small research after a comment in last article. I found this article stating:For Xiaguan, they registered the 'Pine & Crane' label in 1992, but it was in 1996 that Zhong Cha label was swapped for the 'Pine & Crane' label. The tuocha was the first to adopt the new logo, the iron cake changed the logo at a much later date, in early 2004..Also, Scott mentions in his 2004 Xiaguan Iron Cake

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-88991369426169934992008-03-29T15:26:00.008+01:002008-03-29T22:03:01.837+01:00

I got this tea from Scotts Yunnan Sourcing LLC more than a year and a half ago. I like the shape of iron cakes so I decided to try this tea. Unfortunately, I was able to purchase only the last piece. As I wrote, I really like the sharp edges of iron cakes, so that’s why most of the photos here is of the beeng itself. The beeng is Te Ji or best quality grade, but without silver tips. It should

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-41204803027334072992008-03-28T13:10:00.004+01:002008-03-28T13:35:46.852+01:00

The Haiwan tea factory was founded in 1999, so this beeng was produced by relatively new tea factory. This may be good, because the workers and owners may be still enthusiastic - good example is the 2005 year for San Ho Tang tea factory. And this may be bad, if the workers aren't skilled enough.Producing good pu-erh is more art than just labour.I got few of these beengs from Scott at Yunnan

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-24885531457203134392008-03-25T17:21:00.003+01:002008-03-25T17:30:20.882+01:00

Today I made some changes in my pu-erh storage. While holding the different beengs I was puzzled how different are their sizes. So I decided to compare them, from the smallest to largest. Here is the photo (as always, click to enlarge).From left to right:300 g - 2005 Chang Tai 1st SoutEast Asia Pu-erh Trade Memorial Cake 200g minibeeng - 2002 MengHai "201 Natural-Habitat BanZhan" Cake (front row

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-29732269470436157332008-03-22T21:07:00.005+01:002009-04-04T22:30:41.554+02:00

This is a tea I got as a free sample from Guang nearly a year ago (thanks Guang!). The more than generous amount of tea was marked as 93/94 uncooked sun-dried mao cha from Yi Wu mountains. I brew it few times and I liked it a lot. The leaves of this tea are fairly small, mostly brown with few yellowish tips. Unfortunately, as I kept the sample in plastic bag, some of the leaves were probably

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-40031190321333582302008-03-21T22:40:00.004+01:002009-04-04T22:30:35.343+02:00

After trying the mao cha, today I drunk pu-erh made of that mao cha. Leaves collected from Big Snow Mountain (Da Xue Shan) at Gu Hua (fall harvest) last year are stone molded into big 1 pound beengs. As I wrote in this post, the cake itself is nearly a piece of art, big beautiful leaves gently compacted in the form of rather big disc. Yes, the beeng is clearly bigger than an average 357g pu-erh

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-27414410005139208952008-03-20T08:31:00.004+01:002008-03-20T08:34:46.208+01:00

Two nice T-shirts from www.e-cajovna.net :-)

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-37348722349716657212008-03-16T08:02:00.007+01:002009-04-04T22:31:48.413+02:00

Today I wake up pretty early to watch Formula 1. The Australian race proved to be very exciting, only third of the cards was able to complete it. Fortunately, the weather is sunny, so I took few pictures from my window. I like the contrast of centuries old catholic church I see to my left and the socialistic blocks of flat which were built in the seventies to my right. Well, the builders had to

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-66451878366371731542008-03-14T10:01:00.003+01:002008-03-14T10:17:22.222+01:00

I drink tea daily, both at home and in office. Certainly, in office I do not have either the time and comfort of gong fu nor the certainly needed good quality water and tea equipment. And I refuse to drink bottled water, because of the pollution caused by plastic bottles.But I also like good quality tea. What is the solution?The selection of tea. At home I drink mostly oolongs and sheng pu-erh,

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-31171628193842918522008-03-10T22:23:00.005+01:002009-04-04T22:32:16.185+02:00

My very favorite teas are (not in any particular order):sheng pu-erhdan cong oolongswu yi oolongsanxi oolongsfirst flush darjeelingsAnd I especially love high quality teas. They are mostly much better than those of the low grade. And still, one gong fu session of very high grade tea can cost less than a bottle of so-so wine.This evening I had very high grade of Rou Gui I obtained from Guang. This

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-64167231108131663822008-03-09T18:57:00.009+01:002009-04-04T22:30:46.522+02:00

Today’s tea is one of the non-limited autumn productions of San Ho Tang factory, the Nu Er (Daughter) Cha. As Guang wrote, this tea was made of sun-dried mao cha from remote old plantations in Jing Gu blended with also Jing Gu’s unique Da Bai Cha (big white tea). Mr. Chen stressed the Da Bai Cha there was a naturally occurred cultivar in mountains, not like usually on the market they use silvery

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-9224451600793002432008-03-02T22:18:00.008+01:002008-03-02T23:15:08.441+01:00

Today at evening I decided to taste something older. Unfortunately, I learned about pu-erh in late 2006, just before the big pu-erh market madness. So I missed the opportunity to buy some good aged pu-erh. All I have are few pieces – and today I decided to drink the 1993 Phoenix from Da Li Nan-Jian Tea Factory.The tuo-cha is compressed just ok, not tight like the Xiaguan products, but still much

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-26975861299696333312008-03-01T11:06:00.007+01:002009-04-04T22:30:17.816+02:00

The 2005 Pu-Erh Trade Memorial Beeng is one of the tightest beengs I own. Originally purchased at Hou De, it's one of the beengs that is still available, although only in limited quantity.As you can see on a photo above, the beeng is hydraulic pressed, making the leaves very hard to separate from each other. It is certainly a tea that will not age well in dry environments. On the other hand, the

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-50548247340601907692008-02-24T21:25:00.002+01:002008-02-24T21:37:46.584+01:00

Since there are many very interesting blogs about tea, I decided to share some of my favourite articles.2008 tea production and priceImen, owner of Teahabitat wrote about current weather in China and how it affects tea production. I really like her enthusiasm and huge knowledge about tea, especially Dan Cong oolongs. And when she wrotes, that the tea production will be bad, I'm starting to

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-6553232058183241152008-02-24T00:37:00.009+01:002008-02-24T01:37:06.503+01:00

Slovakia, country in the very heart of Central Europe has very dry climate. And as we know, too dry climate isn't good for pu-erh. Well, it maybe does not hurt our beloved tea, but at least stops it from aging. And the concrete buildings most Slovaks live in are especially bone dry. So how can I help my pu-erh stash to age?First of all, by carefully choosing the beengs. Some are more suitable to

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-2762054040064518702008-02-19T22:14:00.003+01:002009-04-04T22:31:48.413+02:00

Two weeks passed since Imen from Teahabitat sent me the samples of Phoenix Dan Cong teas I ordered and today they finally arrived! I was pretty excited when I visited post office seeing the pretty big box - and it was really full. I would like to thank Imen for the additional samples.So this evening I decided to try the 2007 Fall Orchid Dan Cong. I was really tempted to taste the 22 years old one

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-91127267255281245712008-02-11T13:06:00.001+01:002009-04-04T22:31:48.413+02:00

When I look at my teas, most of the time I remember, when I purchased the tea, from whom and what was it name. And in the case of pu-erh I have evidence with names, producers, photos of wrapper and so, because my memory is much shorter, than my pu-erh stash.When I purchase some tea, mostly, when I’m back home I put it into corresponding jar to keep the tea fresh. And because my jars aren’t

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-91039118017054705682008-02-09T19:59:00.000+01:002008-02-09T20:48:37.464+01:00

I'm sure many tea fans have tons of yixing teapots. Some are used frequently, some are just display items. I own few yixing, too. Some is good, some is not so good. But I remember the story of each one piece.First of all - where can I get yixing? Since I never was in China or Taiwan, my only chances are local or internet vendors. Unfortunately, most pieces I can get in Slovakia is of very poor

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-35407756300912081052008-02-02T19:12:00.000+01:002009-04-04T22:32:25.975+02:00

Most of the teas, unlike pu-erh are best while fresh. Only pu-erh and some oolongs become better aged. So if you encounter some fine green tea, if it's older than 3 months, probably you already missed its peak. But what could be the freshest tea you ever tasted?Today you can try teas only a few weeks after they were made. But on my last trip to Prague I found a special tea, maybe the freshest I

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-43066823610110708202008-01-28T22:17:00.002+01:002009-04-04T22:30:46.522+02:00

Today I was pretty tired, so I decided to drink only something "normal", so I decided to drink the last pieces of my 2006 Tea Expo Memorial Minibeeng. The particular tea is still available at Hou De for relatively reasonable price.This pu-erh is medium compressed, processed and made by Changtai Tea Factory, just like the 2005 Southeast Asia Memorial Cake. But while the 2005 cake is very heavily

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-39532907791776914492008-01-27T19:30:00.000+01:002008-01-27T20:08:09.284+01:00

The 2005 Golden Needle White Lotus is maybe the most famous and most appraised shu pu-erh made by Menghai factory in last few years. It won the 2005 China Tea Industry Exposition Gold Award. So is this tea really that good?I read somewhere that this tea is of "medium compression". If that's true, what is heavy compression? I was able to cut off enough tea from the sample, but also I made a pretty

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-67815677883109030882008-01-26T20:27:00.001+01:002009-04-04T22:31:48.414+02:00

Today I decided to try something lighter, the "tasty tea". Since I'm big fan of Dan Cong oolongs and today I ordered lot of samples from Imen, the Dan Cong is the way I want to go.I got this particular tea from a local vendor, owner of Cha Dao, a tea house in Prague. I got four different Dan Cong oolongs from him, this is Yu Lang Xiang. You may also notice, that in Czech transcription the Dan

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-67257178850692110932008-01-23T20:21:00.000+01:002009-04-04T22:30:41.555+02:00

Today I tried the last 7 grams of my Yan Ching Hao sample I got from Hou De. Hou De lists three different Yan Ching Hao products - 2004 and 2005 Yi Wu and 2006 blended beeng. The 2006 blend got some mixed reviews (check out Half Dipper). Mixed reviews for mixed cake... how poetic :-)The 2004 and 2005 beengs are supposed to be pure wild arbor material from YiWu Mountains. The price of cakes

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-64376384557401638602008-01-20T21:22:00.000+01:002009-04-04T22:31:24.972+02:00

The most limited 2007 single region, autumn season San Ho Tang product, Xi Zhi Hao Da Xue Shan (Big Snow Mountain) was made from this mao cha - less than 200 kg of mao cha was available this year from that particular mountain. Available in USA only through Hou De, sold out within day or two.Since I ordered some beengs too (1% of all production :-), it will be interesting to compare the mao cha

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-2796159443266293562008-01-19T21:56:00.000+01:002009-04-04T22:32:04.801+02:00

Today I tried a sample of Nepal oolong I got from a local tea dealer. He no longer has it in stock, so I can brew this only once.Leaves were pretty, mix of greenish-whitish-brown; they remind me of Bai-Lu white tea Guang at HouDe provided. The leaves were whole and beautiful.I prepared the tea in gong-fu style; this is how I brew anything, maybe except some green and black (red) teas in my office

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-76511223135025912742008-01-03T17:58:00.001+01:002008-01-03T18:00:01.409+01:00

I just opened a 25 gram sample of Mengku Guoyan factory pu-erh. And there was a wire and 2 pieces of wood. Hm, maybe a real hand-made product?

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-75756770977230057242007-12-31T19:32:00.000+01:002008-02-24T01:37:19.291+01:00

Here is my latest stash of my belowed pu-erh.Includes :- 80's Guang Yun Gong- Menghai 8972 bricks- 1993 Da Li Nan Jian Phoenix tuocha- 1996 Menghai 7452- I just discovered, that I have 2 pcs of Dadugang YiWu Mountain Raw cake resembling the 1999 Da Du Gan Yuan Bao Chi Tse praised by Guang - have to consult this one with him- various 1997, 2005-2007 Xi Zhi Hao- 2001 Mengku Yuan Yued Xian- 2001

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-86979344902549356562007-12-31T11:31:00.000+01:002007-12-31T11:32:06.570+01:00

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-67330750454593068692007-12-30T16:32:00.000+01:002008-03-09T20:30:00.950+01:00

So the tasting of five prestigious 98~99 arbor pu-erhs began with a sixth one. This is the one that was used at 5th International Aged Pu-erh Appreciation event in Pasadena.As you can see from the pictures, the leaves are turning brown, but they are still maintaining a bit of greenish appearance. The sample is torn out from the cake, so the leaves will be chopped even if the leaves in the whole

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-80054091918532291472007-12-26T22:24:00.000+01:002009-04-04T22:30:41.555+02:00

I acquired this sample as a gift from owner of Czech teashop Longfeng.cz. Since it was approximately 9 grams, I decided to use whole sample with a slightly bigger (200 ml) yixing teapot.As the owner of the teashop claimed, this beeng was one of the first produced by Haiwan tea factory.The scent of dry leaves reminded me of 2000 Cheng Guang-He Tang "Yi Wu Yieh Sheng" brick sold by Guang. While I

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-44985564054054641382007-12-21T15:18:00.000+01:002007-12-21T15:25:14.746+01:00

Today I received a parcel with some very-very good pu-erh, like various editions of Green Big Tree. I will try it with other teas I acquired in next few days.

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-24185543294367652702007-12-15T17:06:00.002+01:002010-04-25T22:46:25.789+02:00

Oh, what a good start!For my new "tea-related online notebook" I decided to make a worthy beginning. So I cracked open my 2006 XiZhiHao 3-Year Anniversary Lao Ban Zhang. The cake itself came from Hou De - an expensive cake from a high-quality factory. Since I'm a big fan of San Ho Tang (and Hou De, of course :-) I purchased this beeng to drink.Wrapping - as a special gift cake, it came in a gift

Tuo Cha Teahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948259434826911982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758204303890425737.post-5562216313262545812007-01-01T20:30:00.010+01:002010-04-26T00:20:35.909+02:00

Last update : 24. april 20101993 Da Li Nan-Jian Phoenix Tuo Cha1997 Xi Zhi Hao Yi Wu Wild Big Tree1998 Menghai 85821999 Haiwan Yi Wu Beeng1999 Menghai Green Big Tree Black label edition2000 Haiwan Gu Hua Beeng2001 Chung-Hwa Yi Wu "Jin Yeh Hao"2001 MengHai Special-order "Yi Wu Zheng Shan"2002 CNNP Special Order 85822003 Menghai Bulang Jing Pin2003 Wu Liang Wild Arbor Xiao Beeng2003 Xiaguan Te Ji

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