An Embarrassment!

This post is just to acknowledge the embarrassment of my Blog site :(
I just don't seem to have the time to write regular posts. I will try and make more of an effort in 2010. *hangs head in shame*....

7 Days In The Fire!

First new post for a goodly time! I'll be frank, I have no excuses.

I thought I'd do a little post on my new Tea cup that I've recently acquired from the good chap Stéphane Erler of Tea Masters. It's a lovely piece of pottery that's endured 7 days of fiery flames of an Anagama (Cave Kiln). It's actually the great work of potter David Louveau. What I Love about the cup is how it's completely unique and original as all the great colour, patterns and glazing is produced naturally by the fire and falling ash.

It's been recommended to me to use with Pu-erh Tea as it will help to mellow the Tea and give it a nice smooth texture. So of course I've given it a go and was very pleased with the results. Pu-erh being quite an earthy flavour anyway seems to fit with this earthenware so much it's like they belong.

I can't see myself wanting to drink Pu-erh from anything else now. I'm sure the more I use it the better it will become as it'll take on the Tea's general flavour. Which is why it's best to only use it for one type of Tea, of which I intend to do.

This to me really proves that the vessel you drink your Tea from is pretty much as important to get right as the Tea itself. Careful matching rewards generously.

So a big thanks to you Stéphane for making this available to me, and of course thanks and respect to the potter David Louveau. I'll no doubt be back for more!

Long Time No Blog! - New bits and bobs.

OK so its been a long time since I last added an entry to my blog...what can I say, i'm a busy lad. Since my last post i've really been getting into and learning more about Oolong tea, Baozhong, Pu-erh etc. All really thanks to one Mr Stéphane Erler and his great blog 'Tea Masters'.

The blog has tonnes of great info, from the production of Tea to the best way of preparing the many various different types of Tea. Taking everything into consideration, even choosing the best water and 'kettle' material (Iron (Tetsubin), clay, silver etc.) to heat the water to be used for Tea. Even adding charcoal bamboo to the water to mineralise and give it that authentic flavour.

I've just got some new Tea from him and shall be trying them out and hopefully posting my experiences here on my blog..if I'm not too busy or just plain lazy that is!

Also got some new bits and bobs from him recently too. Mainly storage jars and some more sipping cups. The photo's attached to this post show a couple of shots of some of the new stuff. I'm really loving the Yixing clay jar for storing Pu-erh. For this type of aged tea you want a material that will allow it to breathe and therefore continue to age and indeed improve. Hence we use Yixing clay rather than the airtight porcelain jars that can be seen on the opposite photo. These are storing my Oolong's and Baozhong. Great quality and lovely aesthetics. Next thing to get is a decent water heater. Trying to decide between a Tetsubin or a Alcohol fueled Clay kettle. All good fun :)

Finca Mauritania Cascara - It's Cofftea!

Cofftea! What am I on about!? Well to explain - this little gem 'Cascara' is actually made from Coffee Cherries. Put through a drying process to create a very special and rare Coffee product indeed and is the result of some hard work and talent of the owner of Finca Mauritania, Aida Batlle of El Salvador.

Thanks to Square Mile Coffee Roasters I get the chance to try this special stuff out, though how to go about this is a bit of a 'try it and see' type situation. I decided to take Square Mile's advice and brew this as Tea. I chose to use a Gaiwan which is a perfect tool for trying out a new 'Tea' for the first time, as it really reveals all the flavours on offer. Playing around with water temperature and steeping times is all part of the fun. I started with 3.5grams of Cascara and around 90c water for a 4 minute steep.

This resulted in a surprisingly sweet and fruity liquor with big plummy notes and a port like quality to it - minus the alcohol of course, but not in short supply of a good caffeine kick!

Also I found that you were left with an aftertaste reminiscent of dried figs. Interesting yes, unusual yes, yummy for sure!

So a second steep was in order, in fact I pushed it to 3 steeps in total. Each progressively calming down in flavour but revealing different layers to these special dried coffee cherries. I found the second steep to be more grapey than plummy.

I found brewing in a 150ml glass gaiwan to be a good decision as you get to see those sweet bits of coffee cherries dancing around and also judge the colour of the brew. A lovely colour it is too as seen in the photos. Also I enjoyed sipping it from my 'Singing cup' from Taiwan.

All in all an interesting and pleasant experience. One which I look forward to repeating in the days to come. Think it makes a perfect drink for those cold winter evenings sitting by a hot open fire. Yummy!

Vac Potty!!

You've got to love this form of coffee brewing. The actual brewing is near on as enjoyable as the end result itself. And as such I thought it worth posting some photos of the process. Plus it was an excuse for me to try out the new Kenyan Muchoki Peaberry that had just arrived from the wonderful and new 'Square Mile Coffee Roasters'.

Since, as stated above, the idea was to 'show' the process of vac pot brewing, I'll leave the photos do most of the talking.

As you can see I'm using a Cona Vac Pot 'B' which I feel is just the right size for 1 or 2 people. I've heard also that they perform better than the larger sized pots too.

The great bit is watching the water slowly reach the perfect temperature to then make it's journey upwards past the glass filter rod and into the waiting coffee grounds in the funnel above.

I usually allow to steep for around 3 - 4 minutes, depending on the coffee used. I also give it it all a good stir with a plastic chopstick being careful not to disturb the glass filter rod. Sounds strange but it's the perfect tool for the job. I also use one for stirring the coffee in a french press too.


Once steeping time is up, pop the glass snuffer over the lighter and watch the coffee make it's way back down to the glass bowl below. Some water is always left in the bottom while steeping takes place. You'd think this would water down the coffee, but it seems the mix creates the perfect balance.

The final drops of coffee on the way down creates a bubbling dance and signals the end of the process. Carefully twist off the funnel breaking the seal between the two glass pieces and place in the hole provided in the stand.

Clear up is the only pain in the whole process but forget that for the time being. Enjoy the coffee and forget about your troubles :) You wont find a cleaner cup anywhere else. No muddyness to be found at the bottom of your cup here!


Oh and by the way the Muchoki Peaberry was fantastic. Packed with fruit and a surprisingly big body. Highly recommended!

Li Shan High Mountain Oolong...Yum!

This wonderful Tea is renowned in Taiwan. This is the first time i've tried a good quality Oolong and i'm looking forward to trying more. There's many types from different places with different roast levels too, classic light, medium and high.

This Oolong from mount Li has almost a buttery flavour after a few steeps with a slightly fruityness and sweetness to it. There are vegetal notes there too..but in a good way.

I've learnt not to oversteep with these teas. 1 gram of tea per 30ml of water. For this particular rolled tea an initial rinse of the leaves to help unfurl them and then around 30 seconds for first steep. Allowing more time for further steeps of which I got around 6 from this particular batch. As can be seen from the photo when unfurled the leaves are in perfect shape and condition. Great stuff! ...Next! :)

An Excellent Cup from Honduras!

Currently really enjoying a wonderful coffee from Honduras...a winning lot from the 2007 Cup Of Excellence awards. The coffee from Finca La Fortuna in San Juan, Intibuca, farmed by Dionicio Sanchez Ramos makes a fantastic thick gloupy honey-like espresso! Sweet and smooth and really forgiving in the espresso machine. ie. it's such good quality you'd have to seriously mess up to mess it up..if you know what I mean. Of course the end result also has a lot to do with the quality of the roast...and 'fortunately' (excuse the pun) I had mine roasted by the very talented mr Hasbean :)