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I also prefer the previous system. Seems easier to do more things and at least the typing window was better. I hope the people in Tea Guardian can use that system again. Like Chawang, I also prefer my own personal image better.
Sheng cha can be very cold to the stomach, like green style tieguanyin. Find old sheng cha if you really want it, but still not too much. I had very bad experience before knowing this.
The best in Zhenghe style is called Mudan Wang, the best in Fuding style is called Yesheng Cha. Yesheng means wild. I doubt it really is that, but that’s the name anyway. Some others say Tezhong, meaning special type. What Leo and Chawang said is very true, some shops just give you whatever they want to call it.
I often go to China because of my job. Never really listen to those sales ladies. Like Leo said, most of them don’t know what they are selling. You have to trust your own senses. I believe the more you carefully taste, the more you will learn from the tea itself. Leo has this very nice article that you should read:
I read it again from time to time
There is a very famous novel but I could not find out whether it has an English translation. The name is 南方有嘉木. It is a beautiful title. I translate it as “A Beautiful Tree In The South”. It refers to tea tree. It is a story about a tea farmer family between Ching Dynasty and the first Republic. They were in Hangzhou and a lot of the times the tea were Long Jing and Jiu Qu Hong Mei ( the red tea that Leo calls Red Plum Classic ). Of course the story itself is more about love and hate and politics than tea. But interesting to read about how they used to drink tea and all the people in tea houses and tea business. I remember when the main character had a crush for a song girl, and when she felt sick, he sprinkled some long jing leaves on top of the water in a gaiwan for her. He had a bad relationship with his arranged-marriage wife, but always enjoyed great sex with this song girl whom he attracted with tea.
I read the novel many years ago after seeing a TV series inspired by it. The book was much better than the TV
I have not read Good Earth, but I remember seeing some footage of a movie of the same name played by some Americans as Chinese. That was many years ago, I think the movie was made before 1949. It felt not real. I am not sure if ordinary tea was so precious in the old days, because there has always been the expression “粗茶淡飯” (meaning poor tea plain rice) to describe the humble life of lower class people. My grandfather used to say that.
I actually tried doing that after reading this two days ago, comparing with my experience and a very nice stronger tea ceremony grade matcha which I have at home. I think perhaps Hokusai is comparing Luan Guapian with the thinner version of ceremonial matcha and not with denser and more traditional quality matcha. I think Luan Guapian is thinner and not as flavorful. Yet it is many times less costly so I think it is very good for its price. I think it also has a taste that defines itself as Luan Guapian and not matcha or tencha. I think this is exactly what is great about your idea, many other high quality green tea can be made into powder and become a different kind of matcha!
I agree with you pancakes. Many raw puer selections I have tried were quite unbearable in taste. However, I think CHAWANG is right too, I did go around sampling fresh raw puer of higher qualities and the taste can be delightful. However, I have to warn those who want to try that, especially women with not so strong stomachs, as also in my case, to drink with restrain. The headache and stomach upset can last two to three days if over-drunk.
Shu puer does have that problem for me. In my experience, “golden” tips etc do not always mean better taste. I do find the taste in smaller leaf size depletes a bit faster than larger ones, given the same level of quality. Some good quality selections from “famous mountains” can be very good, but not always. I think some are too much over priced. Famous mountain shu puer types do look loosely twisted, but I have found that how twisted or neat looking the are has nothing to do with taste. Same for small leaf types. I guess there are many things working together to result in quality.I have to also mention that the sheng puer “raw reserve” in Tea Hong is a great shu kind of raw tea. It has the complexity of raw puer and the milder character and darker color of shu tea and at low price. It is an exception in my experience.
