Norbu Tea

The notes from Norbu identify this tea as a varietal “usually processed into a mildly fragrant oolong tea”, but what this one reminded me of was an Alishan oolong, but without the oolong—if that makes sense. There is a strongly floral undertone here that reminds me of the Alishan teas, more than a typical mainland green tea. And, like the Alishan teas, this one steeped and steeped—my first brewing was informal (i.e., did not weigh the leaves, sorry), and with enough balls of leaf to lightly cover the bottom of the gaiwan, water 160-170 degrees, my friend and I were able to enjoy probably 8 infusions before we were done, with the first one maybe 15 second and later infusions up to a minute. Sweet, vegetal, occasional hints of astringency, but no bitterness, and that floral/haylike undertone that was so nice, over and over.

The best TGY from this past year I tried. Diamond, indeed.

A nice traditional roast Wuyi Yancha from Norbu, the spring 2009 harvest.

Brewed this one up several times, water 185-195 degrees, 1-2 grams of leaf per 1 ounce/30mL, infusions at 30-60 seconds apiece, in a small gaiwan. I can infuse it 8-10 times and still enjoy all of them.

It starts spicy/sweet, moves on to more earthy/fruity, and is delightful all the way.

I have too many good oolongs in the cupboard to have room for one more right now, but I’ll keep this in mind for the future. It’s not as strongly spiced as the one Rou Gui I’ve had, but the flavor goes longer than the Rou Gui too.

First brewing in a long time of this favorite, in a tiny yixing pot, drinking from a new gorgeous little tea cup, and the jewel-like glaze on the cup matched the delicate floral/camphor loveliness of the tea perfectly. Mmmmm…. Flash rinse after flash rinse, and lots more left in the leaves to enjoy this evening.

This lovely tea continues to make friends and influence people. Today Lisa said, “this is the first time I haven’t added anything—no honey or lemon or sugar—to my tea!”

And this was a cup from an admittedly inferior brewing—fit in around some crazy fast-paced work that went right through lunch—a 30 minute first infusion (not a typo, yes, 30 MINUTES!), several more almost as insane infusions, mixed in the thermos, and the end result was not only drinkable, but charmed someone new to my teas. Good job, dear puerh!

coming back to a dear friend, after romancing a lot of sweet young things…..or rather, somewhat bitter young things…..

So, after having drunk some 2010 white buds* that are basically the same tea, uncompressed, the parallels are so clear, and the tea is so nice, that I am, naturally, falling in love all over again with this tea, as I do every few months. I’m drinking it very dilute, as this is the end of the day and I don’t want to be buzzed all night, which may amplify the similarities with the uncompressed young tea.

A moment of overconfidence and overlong brewing was a clear reminder that this is PUERH, and not to be taken for granted, yet it gave only momentary pause, not oops-dump-and-start-next-infusion-over response. Even when it’s bad it’s good.

*http://www.norbutea.com/2010_Spring_YongDeBaiYa

I have just finished off my second thermos full of the 2007 White Bud Sheng Puerh from Norbu (a private production cake which is now sold out). This was a typical thermos brewing—working with the kamjove ‘gongfu art’ brewing thingie, flash rinse, starting brewing with water even before it quite hit boiling, having to stop and start several times over an hour and half as other work kept pulling me out of the office, and finally ending up with a brilliant thermos of tea, subtly smoky, sweet, with a warm background of caramel. Just soothing and calming and oh so good. And as is usual for this tea, a little went a long way—maybe 5 grams-8 grams for a 1 quart thermos full, then resteeped for a second full batch. Fortunately, I have several more beengs of this in reserve. Heh.

I love this one: smoky, sweet, earthy, and if I keep my infusions short enough, not bitter.

1 gram of leaf per ounce water just off the boil, in gaiwan or small yixing, flash rinse, then short steeps, 10", 10", 15", 15", 20", 20", and so forth. I have continued to enjoy 20+ infusions from this tea. It also does nicely bulk brewed: a good wedge of tea, toss it into the kamjove, flash rinse, then steep a minute or so, pour several more volumes of water through it quickly, and add all to the thermos for a long afternoon’s work or meeting or drive.

Another one I love so much that I have one beeng at work, one at the new satellite office, and gave one to a good tea buddy who also loves it, and now I need to bring another chunk home because I have run out here, and that is not a good thing!

This is a very buttery and mild green tea. It’s utterly delicious, however. The liquid is medium yellow and the taste is vegetal but not as strongly so as some green teas. Overall, I think that this would make a great introduction to green teas for those who hesitate: it’s got some veggie but not too much; it’s got quite a bit of butter, and it’s not at all fishy. Overall, it’s delicate and discreet, but not a simpering wallflower.

I would most certainly consider this to be a go-to green tea and will invest in a larger size.

Another day, another lovely thermos of Yi Wu. It deserves better, perhaps, than my bulk brewing and drinking, but it is so good even so, and not many other puerhs can touch it for class under abusive conditions. Mmm.

A lovely tea put through a tea torture test today: Fill kettle with water. Pour some (cold) over chunk of tea in kamjove. Let sit a few seconds, pour off rinse water. Add more water, now slightly warm. Let sit while doing things in another room for 45 minutes. Return, pour off first cold infusion into thermos, add boiling water, leave for a 1 hour meeting. Return, pour off the long steep into the thermos, and pour hot water through the leaves several times while tossing papers together for afternoon clinic on another floor. Thermos filled with water, all of which has touched the leaves, at least. How can it possibly be good? And it is!

Gotta love this stuff.

I brewed up a fabulous batch of this tea a few days ago—thick bodied, rich, sweet, earthy, spicy, with that deep caramel undertone that is so silky smooth—and it was so well received by everyone else in the clinic workroom that I didn’t get enough of it. I’d hoped that maybe I had enough life left in the leaves to do a few more brewings when I got back to the quiet of my office that evening, but while I did get a little more tea, it was not the same.

This was a bulk brewed batch, 2 pieces of the tea cylinder, about one and a half inches long, brief flash rinse, infusion water 195-212 degrees (started as the kettle was still heating up, and kept up as it cooled down a little), total infusion volume just over one quart (filled my thermos and I got a bonus cuppa). Wow. This infusion was pretty close to perfect.

Another lovely thermos full of this tea today. I shared it with a coworker who said it was just ‘creamy’ and so nice, and I agree. Sweet, caramel, just a hint of earthy and enough sense of something herbaceous and bitter lurking nearby to add an interesting depth and roundness to the flavor, but never enough to be in any way unpleasant.

So very very good.

This is a mellow, sweet, gentle young puerh. It is perfect for introducing new tea drinkers to puerh, because it is not only mellow and a little earthy, but the sweetness draws them in. I keep a pouch of this one at home, at work, and at the satellite office.

First time logging, not first time drinking. This is a lovely, mellow, forgiving tea that steeps and steeps. I have infused a few grams of tightly furled balls and filled up my 1 quart thermos today, and there is still more to get from these leaves. Sweet, floral, haylike, beautiful.

Can’t give grams or ounces or exact temps today, because I’m brewing in the office with a kamjove and the other tools are elsewhere. But it is giving wonderful results even without that specificity. A good general starting point for me is about 1 gram per ounce, so 2 grams for a small 2 ounce gaiwan, and the wetted leaves will fill the cup.

Finally finished off my stash of this, the last package gone. It was rich with a quality that I am having trouble describing—a bit like cantaloupe, perhaps, almost a hint of umami, not just floral and sweet nor caramel warmth, but rich and fruity. Sigh. Are the jassids biting this year?

Drank some of this for the first time in a while, and it was terrific, rich, spicy, sweet, delightful.

Can’t believe I never wrote this one up. It’s awfully good stuff. I’m not sure my taste buds are up to distinguishing the specialness of the jassid-bite effects, but it is terrific.

For those who are interested, I should point out that more is available, on end of harvest sale, vacuum sealed and still lovely, from Norbu.

Once again, it delivers superbly. Today, just a tiny amount of leaf, maybe a teaspoon at best, infused up two full quarts of delicious tea. Just amazing. Almost done with it and then it will be time to break out the 2010.