Sunday, January 18, 2009

Oily Seas

One of the first pu-erh teas I ever fell in love with was the 2006 Six Famous Tea Mountains Yi Wu Millenial Tea Tree. Wild arbor, big leafy facing, thick soup, lots of minty camphor goodness. Above all, oily as can be! I can recollect numerous times after handling the beeng rolling my thumb and fingers around for a couple of minutes, impressed by the amount of oil that sits on a dry leaf. I'm not sure why, but it wasn't until the past six months that I ever paid attention to the amount of oil that sits atop the chahai after pouring an infusion. My only guess is that I don't think I ever really saw it until I started drinking aged and shu, which both generally carry a darker, amber/red shade. Now that it's something I look for whenever I'm drinking tea, I tend to notice it more frequently and last night was no exception. However, I noticed it was actually dancing in the chahai.




Not too shabby for a 3-month old shu. Delicious. One of the small joys this world has to offer.

4 comments:

Bret said...

Jeez, I havnt seen an oil slick like that since Thanksgiving dinner. Almost looks like gravy.

Salsero said...

Wow, that tuo sounded familiar so I rummaged through my toy box and found what I think are 4 tuos ... I don't even have tasting notes about this tea, but apparently one has been consumed.

Is this the same stuff you have?

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u320/salsero_de_te/Teachat%20linked/SFTM-Millenial-Wild-Arbor-1-LGE.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u320/salsero_de_te/Tea/SFTM-Millenial-Wild-Arbor-2006-2-LG.jpg

Jamus said...

Bret, every year at Thanksgiving my mother makes the most delicious homemade gravy. Every time I see that oil, it's very likely going to make me hungry. If you start seeing words normally associated with turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy turning up in future tasting notes you have every right to take full credit for it. ^__^

Sal, I picked up one of the tuochas you are referring to. I enjoyed them, and wouldn't mind having a few more in my stash but the one I was actually referring to is a large beeng. I've got one of them that is torn to shreds, and three more untouched. Hard to come by these days. Care for a sample? I could send you some of the HLH Jing Mai as well.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2329/2227590371_d9548f6f42.jpg

jamus~

Anonymous said...

Jeez, I havnt seen an oil slick like that since Thanksgiving dinner.