WATER

WATER

Hi ! Tea folks,

As some of you may be aware that water is the main component of brewing the best possible tea, apart from having good quality tea. As such, we cannot afford to ignore the significant importance of water. It has two great impacts on tea in term of type of water used and at what level the water is boiled.

In today's article, I am going to focus on the latter to ease the understanding. So, the question arises here is to what level the water should boil at. To answer this question, we need to know what type of tea you are brewing. Append below I have listed down  some useful guide for the respective type of teas:-

a) about 70-80 degree C for green tea;
b) 85 degree C are good for white or lightly oxidated Oolong teas;

It is interesting to know that the ancient tea masters, prior to invention of thermometer,  used visuals or hearing to determine the correct water temperature, for steeping tea, as appended below:-

a) when you see the bubbles like small fish's eyes or crab's eyes, that translate to about 70-80 degree, suitable for green tea.

b) When the bubbles grow bigger and like the size of crystal beads or pearls, indicates to 85 degree C, suitable for white and lightly oxidated Oolong teas.

c) As the billows surge wildly in the kettle, with the size of longans, the water is nearly reaching the boiling point and perfect for for steeping black or Pu'er teas.

That's the main reason for my preference of glass kettle, which I have blogged much earlier. You may read it again at the link below.

Before I pen off, I like to take this opportunity to share a useful Chinese poem in this connection which closely associates the sound of water gurgling in the kettle with other natural sounds from the wind or water flow as belows:-

a) "wind blowing through pine leave" which translates to water boiling at 75 degree C. b) Whereas sounds resembling "spring water spurting out of the stone ' which would be 85 degree C
c) "waves crashing on the shore", translate to 91 degree C.
d) When the water reach the boiling point, there is No sound at all.

Lastly, can you guess which step makes the most noise. Scroll down for the answer.



e)  However, half-boiled water makes the most noise. This phrase I believe is the most well known phrase in life and still applicable in today's world. Here, I write to congratulate those who answered it correctly.

Trust you find the above article not only entertaining, but also enriching as the name of this blog suggests. Please feel free to let us know as how to make this more entertaining and enriching should you have any idea/suggestion. Your valuable feedback is greatly appreciated.

Hope to seeing you again,

To your success in enriching life,

James Oh

Skype me at james.oh18

CHINESE TEA EGGS

Dear friend, In Malaysia, snacks such as Chinese Tea Eggs are very commonly available in most  tea shops or some Chinese conventional medical shops especially in major cities. Now, they are also available in shopping mall especially with high number of  Chinese shoppers. The aroma is so strong that you can smell  it from far as the seller may keep heating them up.  For lunch, in addition to other light meals such as noodle apart from  tea. Tea eggs, stewed in a black tea/soy sauce/spice blend, are  ubiquitous and cheap snacks sold  in major cities around Malaysia. They're also easy to make at home. Getting the marbling effect is as simple as cracking the egg once it's partially or well cooked. You can use any black tea, or Pu'er for an earthier taste. (Green tea is too astringent to use for tea eggs.) The eggs can be simmered for 1 to 3 hours; longer simmering means a more intense flavor and color. Once the eggs are cooked, you can eat them hot or cold as a snack. Alternatively you may serve them as appetizers at a party, cut in half with caviar on top. Or even take them on your next hiking trip. Simple yet delicious and you may add this item into your meal whenever you like it. Rich in nutrition and yet delicious in taste, try it out and share  with us your experience. Thanks for your precious time to read this article and look forward to hearing from you,  Your Chief Servant, James Oh Founder and Group CEO Skype me at james.oh18 http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

PU'ER BLEND WELL WITH BONSAI

Dear valued visitors,

After a long talk on Pu'er tea, perhaps it is time for me to detour to see some green. You may just click on the title of this post. Sit back and enjoy.

You may wonder why I show you some of Bongsai trees, which I photographed from the Singapore Chinese Garden. It is because Bongsai trees blend well with art of tea drinking.

This will not only add color to the environment, but also achieve tranquility. Just imagine having tea, and facing this garden full of Bangsai trees. Lots of Bongsai tree lovers display them at their tea corner of their house. This may give you some idea for preparing your tea corner, if you desire to have one.

Look at the photos of greenery, you will feel really relaxed after taring long at your desktop.

I will take some photos in my forthcoming posts so as to give you a view of my little tea corner, with some of decorating items to enhance the atmosphere.

See you again,

James Oh

PU'ER GIVEAWAY

Hi! Valued Readers,

We are very excited to host our very first give away raw "Pu'er Tea" memorial event out of my own collection. This stock is with us for a couple of years. 

So, please forward me your particulars, via comment, so that we can forward you with such a gift and hope you enjoy this 2004 Raw Pu'er. This is a token of our appreciation for the support you have shown us as our loyal readers. 

You can see the above Pu'er is about 6 years old.

You may read its description at the link below:-

http://teaartblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/some-basic-information-on-puer-tea.html

For your information, we have recovered all my investment costs with some profit, plus some stocks. Therefore, we are fortunate to have chance to enjoy our hobby yet get paid. Today, we offer for sale some of our stocks so as to raise more funds to acquire more resources to upgrade and improve our blog facilities so as to serve you better.

As you may be aware that we are also offering USD 30.00 for the winner who can come out with the logo and theme for our main blog at http://liftyouup.blogspot.com.

WE are pleased to inform you that there are lots of initiatives in the pipeline for your reading and get paid scheme. So, stay tuned and happy reading.

If you wish, you may also click at the title of this article so as to guide you how to brew your Pu'er tea . We do it because we want you to get the best value of the tea from your own preparation. At the same time, we do hope you may acquire the skill and have lots of fun of doing it. 

Kindly let us know your taste and whether is it to your liking or not. You may email to us at jamesoh2003@yahoo.co.uk or via comment.

I hope this will help you get your feet wet and enjoy the taste and aroma of it. Have a pleasant tea session and look forward to hearing from you.

If you wish to order from us, please email us. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you need any further clarification.

Happy reading and get the rewards accordingly,

James Oh

Founder and Group CEO

http://liftyouup.blogspot.com

A GUIDE TO BREW PU'ER TEA

Hi! Everyone,

Below please find:-

A GUIDE TO BREW PU'ER TEA 

1 Prepare the necessary teaware and lay out the proper setting . If we have two guests, then tea tray, clay teapot for two, clay tea pitcher, filter, tea towel, tea utensils, two large clay cups, two coasters, kettle, tea receptacle and presentation vessel are required.

Teaware preparation

2. Take a chunk of compressed pu'er tea.
Peel off a small piece of pu'er cake

3 Break off the small piece of the compressed pu'er tea into loose leaves at the presentation vessel. If the compressed tea does not break off easily, use a knife to loosen up the tea. If the pu'er tea already comes in loose form, then scoop the loose pu'er tea from the canister and simply place the tea on the presentation vessel.

4 Take a moment to observe the appearance and to smell the aroma of the tea. Then pass the tea presentation vessel to your guests for their turn to admire the dried tea.

5 Make sure water has just reached the boiling point. Then remove the kettle and pour hot water into the teapot at least 1/3 full of tea leaves.

6. Pouring hot water from kettle
Drain hot water into pitcher completely. Alternatively you may pour boiled water from teapot into pitcher

7. By this time, the presentation vessel may probably returned from the guests back to the host. The host will opens the teapot's lid and ready to put dried tea from the tea presentation vessel into the teapot.

8. Tea presentation vessel
Left hand holds the presentation vessel and gently push the dried tea into the teapot.

9, Transfer of the tea
Top up boiled water into teapot before closing its lid. Gently shake the teapot.

10. Shaking the teapot:
Pass the teapot to guests. At this time, the teapot is warm with tea inside. The guests should know that they are to open the lid and smell the dry tea's aroma, which is very different from its previous state when it is sitting on tea presentation vessel.

11. Guest opens the lid and smells the tea's aroma
Close lid and pass to the next guest.

12: While the teapot is being passed around, the host pours water from the pitcher into the cups. If there is any water remaining inside the pitcher, then discard it into the tea receptacle. This should not happen if the host has gauged the size of the teapot and the cup correctly beforehand. But it is alright if this happens. No big deal. The rinsing of the teapot, tea pitcher and cups are meant to warm up the teaware.

13. Pour water into the cups. Discard water at tea receptacle
Fill up the teapot with boiled water. Closed lid. Wait about 5-10 seconds. Then pour out. This is known as the warm-up brew. Set aside this brew on the side. This will be discarded as shown in Step 15.

14. Pouring of the warm-up brew
Again pour water into the teapot. Close lid. Wait for 20-40 seconds.

15. Pouring hot water
Keep on pouring warm-up tea on the outside of the teapot, especially those made of unglazed Yixing clay.

16. Teapot seasoning
Pour tea into the pitcher before transfer to the cups. The purpose of the pitcher is to balance the tea evenly amongst all the guests. Remember that each infusion of tea will give you different taste. Some pitchers, depending on the sizes, may have bigger capacity than the small tea pot. To ensure even effect, it is more appropriate that everyone has tea from the pitcher, even if it is filled by different infusions from the tea pot.

17. Pour tea into the cups
Place the cup on the coaster and pass it to the guest. Tea is placed in front of the guest for his enjoyment.

Continue to infuse tea until the taste of tea has disappeared completely. The tea can usually last up to at least 8 infusions.

James Oh

Some basic information on Pu'er tea

Dear my loving readers and readers,

As promised earlier, I will dwell more details on Pu'er. To make thing simple and clearer, I let the photos do the talking as each photo tell thousands words.

Below are some of the photos together with short briefing, which can give you a better understanding of what I am talking about.





You will find 7 pieces of Pu'er cake in each pack. Each pack is wrapped by dried big leaf and the weight of each piece is usually ranges from 350 -450 grams. In short, each cartoon consists of 84 cakes.





Opened Pu'er tea cake.



The above photo shown the original pack of Pu'er, which has been removed from cartoon boxes. Each cartoon comprises of 12 packs of Pu'er. In short, each cartoon consists of 84 pieces of Pu'er cake.


The Pu'er cake will be broken in pieces by using the tools displayed below. A container will be used to put all the tools usually come in set comprises of of tea shuffle, Digger, Needle, Tongs and vase.


In short, "Cha Dao" (the Way of Tea) is a set of tools that helps out in tea brewing. Typical tools in a Cha Dao set are:




Tea Shuffle - shuffles tea leaves



Tea Digger - digs expended tea leaves from teapots



Tea Needle - prevents spout blockage




Tea Tongs - handles hot tea ware for your fingers



Vase - provides home for all tools





The above photo taken of Pu'er tea, tea cup, kettle and its accessories.


As such, no tea ceremony would be completed without all the necessary utensils and accessories.

The tea tray is an central part of any tea ceremony or tea serving activity. The tea tray contributes a very distinctive personality when preparing the tea. Each tray has its own place for any consideration when planning on preparing your favorite teas.


Trust this info is useful to you. Look forward to seeing you again.


James Oh

HOW TO BREW A GOOD PU'ER TEA

Dear our valued visitors,

Drinking Pu'er tea is more than an art. It has been part of the Chinese culture for more than a thousand years. Due to its long historical record, there are several versions of preparing good Pu'er teas amongst its passionate drinkers.

For those who have very hectic daily lives and intent to slow down. Then they may consider tea drinking their hobbies. Tea drinking may not only nurture individual patience, but also working towards balance and healthy life.

To brew a good Pu'er tea, you also need to pay attention in details. Everything counts - water, tea base, utensil.

WATER
It is one of the key deciding components in brewing good quality of the teas. Spring water is preferred because it tastes comparatively much better and convenient than other type of water.

Spring water may be safer than your drinking water. Bottled water or spring water is definitely the drink of choice especially if you live in a neighbor with lousy and unsafe tap or well water. Tap or well water could be contaminated with high levels of chemicals (lead, arsenic and benzene), micro bacteria (bacteria, viruses and parasites), and hazardous materials (glass chips and metal fragments). Imagine drinking all of those disgusting inhabitants every day. Yuck!

That's why in the ancient time, the people at that time very much preferred to collect the stream water at the mountain top because it is less contaminated. They also prefer to have tea at the place where they can find tranquility - well balance with natural beautiful scenery with birds song, sound of waterfall coupled with cozy breeze blew beyond words. You can only use your imagination to do the work.

Please take note the contaminated water will affect the taste of the tea. This is because the tea leaves find will not be dissolved well into it comparative to clean stream water. Stream water is also much softer comparative to other type of water especially those with highly contaminated.

It is advisable to heat up the water about 80-95 degree, when you begin to see the bubble rising from the bottom of the kettle. Now, you know why I recommended you to use glass kettle in the first place. Once you see lots of bubbles rising from the bottom of the kettle - well indicate that the water is over boiled. As a result, the water become comparatively harder.

When you pour the over boiled water to another tea pot with the Pu'er tea, you will realize that the tea leaves will not be able to dissolve well comparatively with the former. Naturally, it will affect not only the aroma, but its taste as well.

KETTLE HEATER
Because you are using the glass kettle, therefore you have to use the conventional mode instead of electrical heater, which is more convenient and easily available. One good side is that it will nurture your patience because it more tedious. After all this is the beauty of having such a hobby.

UTENSILS
There are a lot to deal with this topic. Therefore, I opt to discuss further in my forthcoming posts.

Thanks and trust you enjoy reading it.

See you again,

James Oh