My tea journey is about your way it self, maybe not the location. I don’t understand in which I’m going precisely but I’m sure that every cup of tea, whether shared with some body or liked alone, every encounter and conversation over tea, every tasting note and photo We take are worth my undivided attention. Imaginative procedure and pleasure are more valuable than overanalyzing and perfectionism. To be able to feel great, i must take action, innovative action, and tea is the Thing that fuels it.

Therefore here i will be, amplifying my sensory connection with tea by drinking tea, two teas, side by side, in wine eyeglasses. Pure bliss. My senses tend to be aware, my mind is not spread, I’m here now and I also don’t desire to be any place else at any other point in time.

the notion of utilizing wine glasses for tea tasting is notably novel in my experience. We usually would opt for a tiny tea glass but I was stuck with your two teas, two yancha stone oolongs from the Old Techniques Tea Club, exact same cultivar, same garden, different harvest many years. Then I remembered witnessing my friend, fine dining chef and fellow tea lover Christian Nicita, use wine cups through a gongfu cha setup and that’s what inspired me to try it out.

We brewed the teas inside a gaiwan, decanted the alcohol in a fairness pitcher and poured it into wine eyeglasses.

‘The biggest difference is within the first three steeps, your wine glass truly brings forth those aroma and aroma records which wouldn’t be therefore prominent when tasting tea coming from a glass. After high number 3, on average, there isn’t much difference between the 2 vessels nevertheless very first three steeps in a wine glass are dramatically different,’ explains Christian.

The shape of a wine glass was designed to swirl wine to produce volatile compounds

‘and creates a vortex in the centre for the glass towards which these substances tend to be drawn. If the drinker then leaves their particular nostrils in glass following the swirl, they sniff within a concentrated quantity of the aromas straight out from the glass. This Enables for even probably the most nuanced of aromas to be detected.’ (The Science Behind Wine Glass Shapes)

i must admit, though, I happened to be a little hesitant to start with. I possibly couldn’t cover my mind all over notion of sipping hot liquid out-of a wine glass, but after trying it out, We noticed how much of a distinction it produced in my perception of tasting records and significantly improved the feeling.

My tasting notes

Tea title: Jin Xuan (milk oolong cultivar developed in Taiwan, grown and prepared in the Wuyi hills, Fujian province, as being a stone oolong)
Tea kind: oolong
Harvest: springtime 2021
Brew strategy: gaiwan (multiple brief steeps, 4 gr tea / 150 ml liquid at 212 F or 100 C)

Dry leaf look: dark gray / brownish long leaves loosely twisted lengthwise, some hints of rust shade, one stem

Dry leaf aroma: woodsy but fruity (guava) and toasty in warmed-up gaiwan

Wet leaf look: darkish

Wet leaf aroma: nice, records of camphor, woodsy

Style: mineral-forward, mouth-watering, woodsy, some toasty records in later infusions. Medium human body. Floral, mineral, clean aftertaste.

Overall rating: 7/10

Tea title: Jin Xuan (milk oolong cultivar developed in Taiwan, grown and processed inside Wuyi hills, Fujian province, like a rock oolong)
Tea kind: oolong
Harvest: springtime 2022
Brew technique: gaiwan (several quick steeps, 4 gr tea / 150 ml liquid at 212 F or 100 C)

Dry leaf look: dark-gray / dark brown long leaves loosely twisted lengthwise, some tips of rust shade, one stem. Keep are smaller than 2021 harvest and also some suggestions of green 

Dry leaf aroma: flowery. In warmed up gaiwan, nice like stewed apricots, flowery with suggestions of orchid, jasmine, frangipani and honeysuckle, nice, honey-like notes

Damp leaf look: dark green / dark brown with rust color colors

Damp leaf aroma: sweet, fresh and fruity, records of honeysuckle on gaiwan top, buttery notes from tea liquor when you look at the third and 4th infusion

Style: flowery, honeysuckle records, nice and toasty. Complete human body. Floral, mineral aftertaste.

Overall score: 8.5/10 (much more balanced plus complex than 2021 harvest)

This beautiful piece of content is brought to you by our partners at The Tea Squirrel and re-rewitten by our team at Tea Bazaar.

Peter Billings

See all posts