It's Good to Sample

 

A collection of samples from a time when I was exploring some online offerings.

Samples can be used to serve many purposes with the most common function being to judge the quality of a tea for determining a purchase. To take this further, for puerh enthusiasts who are interested in the study and exploration of puerh tea sampling provides a cost effective and logistically astute way to widen your experiences and scout the vast puerh landscape. Sampling allows the avid tea drinker to probe the different categories of puerh tea and survey how the landscape can change over time without having to allocate substantial investment to acquire tea in a larger quantity.

Food Pairings – Lotus Seed Mooncake w/ Shui Hsien Tea

The packaging of Chinese mooncake gets more surreal with each passing year as the business becomes more and more competitive and each brand competes to standout. The above is from the Shangri La Restaurant, a remaining pack from last month’s Mooncake Festival.

Natural Fermentation – Amla in a Tea Brine Solution Part 2

 

Cured meat with pickled Amla and some crackers.

I am happy and relieved to report that the outcome of the pickled Amla did not go down the drain. The process of natural fermentation progressed very smoothly without any UFOs (unidentified floating objects) appearing and igniting my imagination for the worst. The jarringly sour, bitter and astringent character present in the fresh fruit has been totally transformed. These little pickled fruits remind me a lot of traditional salted olives and this is how I have been eating them.

A Comparative Pictorial of Multi-Year EOT Bulang (2009-2012) - Part 2/2

Measuring out 2g of tea in preparation for a comparative tasting. From left to right EOT Bulangs 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009. The teas are arranged from the youngest to the oldest so that the tastings can best capture the journey of age.

A Comparative Pictorial of Multi-Year EOT Bulang (2009-2012) - Part 1/2

The range of EOT Bulangs from 2009 to 2012. From left to right is a progression of the oldest to the youngest teacake.

Taking the opportunity to reconnect with a few Essence of Tea (EOT) teacakes in my collection, the popular range of EOT Bulang from 2009 to 2012 needs little introduction for the seasoned tea drinker. The annual pressing of EOT Bulang is perhaps the most discussed and reviewed tea on the Internet to come out from this premium vendor. A lot have been written about the EOT Bulang from multi years and for those looking to dig deeper I will leave you in the good hands of Google.

2009 Essence of Tea Bulang (Repost)

Looking back over your previous notes before proceeding to revisit a tea allows you to make a more comprehensive comparison. It is an approach that I personally find has helped me advance my education on the development and journey of puerh tea as it evolves. Coincidentally the last time I enjoyed a session with the 2009 Essence of Tea (EOT) Bulang also happened to be at a time I posted my experience on Teachat. Below is an entry I dug up from Teachat at the beginning of the year for a repost. I share my notes here as a prelude to the next entry on “A Comparative Pictorial of Multi-Year Essence of Tea Bulang”.

Repost from Teachat (January 2015)

Introduction to Puerh Tea

With much general information on puerh tea already available on the Internet it does not motivate me to provide more repetitive content. However seeing that my humble blog attracts newcomers as well as the seasoned drinker, I realized that a short introduction is in order. At the very least my dear readers who have started to look upon a puerh teacake with new eyes whilst licking their lips deserve to know what they are getting themselves into. >> Introduction