Happy Valentine's Day, My Gongfu Baby!

Kids...they imitate everything :)
I caught our 18-month old daugther playing with my Wuyi Yixing and the pot brush for the first time! (Elmo was on TV)

SNL The Mad Tea Party

Guest starring: Steve Buscemi as The Mad Hatter

Invitation To an Online Tasting: Darjeeling Oolongs

Come join an online tasting event that is being organized by T Ching.

Update: due to limited amount of samples, the list is now closed.

What: An online tasting of 3 to 4 teas, mainly oolong teas from Darjeeling, India

When: The teas are en route from India. Exact date TBD

Who: Samples from Ankit Lochan, organized by T Ching, with me helping out

Where: online, by submitting your tasting notes to T Ching

Why: It seems to me that several South Asian countries are starting to produce more of partially fermented teas (aka: oolong) these days, and Darjeeling is perhaps the best-known area that is actively researching and reviving this style. Let's find out what Darjeeling's terroir and the industry's know-how can offer to a category that has long been (and still is) dominated by China and Taiwan.

If you are able to join, this will make the tasting more fun and lend credence to the collective opinion. I have been asked by Michelle and Sandy of T Ching to help coordinate the event. Ankit Lochan of Lochan Tea Limited in India is generously providing the samples. Supply of the samples is limited, however, so please sign up at your earliest convenience by letting me know or, if you prefer, contact Michelle and Sandy with your mailing information.

Please don't hesitate to let me/Michelle/Sandy know if you have any questions.

More details of the tasting here.

Tea With Ginger As a Cold Remedy

I obtained some fresh gingers from a Chinese supermarket, and I used several slices with Liu Bao tea. A piping hot tea mixed with this "root" often replaces my need for over-the-counter cold suppressant.

My approach is as simple as it gets. I thinly slice or julienne enough ginger depending on the level of warmth/spiciness I seek. I usually use about 10 to 15 round slices in a ~250ml teacup for a lot of warmth. Employing a simple, everyday porcelain teacup, I place the ginger slices on the bottom of the cup while the tea leaves go into the strainer. After getting the desired brew, I remove the strainer and let the tea stand for about 3 minutes to let the ginger release its essence.

I prefer to use a black, a red, or a highly roasted oolong tea for the simple reason that they don't get stewed easily in boiling water. The hotter the water is, the more potent the ginger taste becomes. Earl Grey tea is also a personal favorite for this purpose as the bergamot oil gives an added soothing effect.

After finishing a cup, it is time for a Pig in a Blanket. I cover myself (the pig) with a thick blanket and go to sleep to sweat out the cold.

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Sandy Bushberg, the publisher of T Ching who is also a qualified herbalist, suggested these natural remedies for cold to me:

"In addition to drinking a lot of tea, you might want to consider an alcohol tincture of echinacea and elderberry. A teaspoon 4 times a day can help. Also, eyebright and osha are excellent as well for helping to deal with the congestion. In addition, every night before bed, you can cut up a few garlic cloves into swallowable sizes, coat them with olive oil or honey, and swallow them raw."

Thanks Sandy!

Winter Cold & 2000 Guangxi Liu Bao Tea

I am having a nasty cold. I thought all the tea and wine I've drunk is supposed to have given me an added immunity. Isn't that what they say? I never even added milk into my cuppa. By now, I should already be like Popeye after gulping a can of untainted spinach. What gives?

I feel miserable and I yearn for a tea that soothes. This usually calls for a good dose of decent cooked pu'er. However and fortunately, a package of 6 to 7-year old Liu Bao tea from Jing Tea Shop just arrived and I opted for this instead. The following is in no way a fair assessment of the tea, as I enjoyed it with a muted sense of smell and taste.

With my nose blocked and my throat itchy, I prepared the Liu Bao tea in a 120ml gaiwan, using about 10+ grams of dry leaves and just-boiled spring water. The small, dry leaves appeared reddish-black-brown and it smells like -- nope, my nose was too blocked to smell anything. The resulting liquor from the brew was dark brown and opaque. Pretty intimidating looking. It looked like a very bitter Chinese medicine that my parents told me to drink -- with dire consequences if I refused -- when I was a snotty kid.

I slurped the dark water carefully. Mmmm...smooth! It tasted like a clean-tasting cooked pu'er. It's got a thick milky texture, and it effortlessly slid down my throat. Curiously, the taste of this tea reminded me of milk! The aftertaste was clean but did not linger for long.

This tea was what I needed. It warmed and soothed my body. At a time like this, I rarely want any aromatic oolong or green tea. I'm going to brew this Liu Bao again later considerably more diluted and I'll add ginger to the brew.

*cough, sniffle, a-choo!*
agony of winter cold
this tea tastes like milk
~ Phyll in his pajama next to a big cuppa

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Image: "Sick Puppy" from www.cartooncomedyclub.com

T Ching Store Opens Its Cyber Door

Congratulations and best wishes to Michelle Rabin and Sandy Bushberg on the opening of their online tea store! I sincerely hope that their hard work and dedication to bringing quality teas and wares -- not to mention the knowledge-sharing site that is T Ching -- will be successful and rewarding in many ways. (click on the logo above to visit the store)

As I understood from my communication with Michelle and Sandy, more teas and wares of all types will be added to the selection as they become available and pass the quality threshold.

Kindly note that as a guest contributor to the T Ching blog, I maintain my independence from T Ching's for-profit endeavor(s). My sole interest in T Ching remains in the bona fide sharing and querying of tea-related knowledge. I am fortunate to be able to regard Michelle and Sandy as friends in the quest for tea knowledge and experience.

2003 Silver Dayi (Menghai) Pu'er

Thanks to Mr. Chan Kam Pong (Managing Editor of The Art of Tea magazine) for sending a 10gr sample of this tea to many people worldwide, including me. The organized online tasting was, I think, a success.

Parameter: Boiling filtered water, 5-10s rinse, 10s rest, then 10s, 10s, 10s, 10s, 15s, 15s, 20s, 45s, 1m…

Dry leaves: Dark brown-green with downy silver buds strewed sparsely. The sample that I received was quite broken up. In a warmed gaiwan, the dry leaves gave off a pleasant floral whiff and sweet-sour plum note. A bit of smoke came through, though it was not unpleasant. Excellent nose overall.

Wet leaves: Smokey, plummy, woody, and floral. Bright and uplifting. Smoke was quite dominant.

Liquor: Amber-brown color with varying intensity, depending on the steeping time given. Clarity was decent, though not crystal clear throughout all infusions. The first brew came off fruity – it mostly reminded me of yellow plums and ripe, sweet apricots – and also a bit of smoke. The brews thereafter were assertive and intense, with bitter gourd-like taste. The caffeine buzz hit me pretty hard at around the 4th infusion. On the 6th brew, the camphor/woody aroma showed up, as if it had been hiding behind the intensity and bitterness all along. Brewed nicely for 9 infusions before going downhill.

Medium bodied. Good, wholesome mouthfeel. Went down quite smoothly, leaving a mouth-coating dusty tannin and a cooling effect, which was then followed with a bitter-sweet aftertaste that turned sweet on the back of the tongue and far down the throat for a long time. Pretty impressive.

An excellent tea all around, though it is still too primary and brutish for immediate enjoyment. I can imagine it being a good candidate for long term aging.

More about this tea (warning: a long post with many pictures...slow download)

The Art of Tea Magazine

The Art of Tea magazine debuted last month. For English speakers who are interested in Chinese teas and its culture but have found a general lack of in-depth printed information, The Art of Tea fills this near-void. It is being published by the publisher of Pu-Erh Tea Pot, a popular Chinese language periodical that is mainly sold in Asia.

Being an English-written descendant of a pu-erh-centric publication, the first issue has its fair share of articles on pu-erh. However, it also strives to be a Jack of all trades with comprehensive pieces on oolongs, Yixing pots, history, farming, arts, travel, philosophy, cooking (with tea), as well as the Japanese art of flower arrangement (Ikebana). The first issue is 192-pages thick and printed on high quality paper.

Contributors are mainly tea industry insiders, published authors, as well as passionate enthusiasts. As such, the magazine offers insight beyond the generic information commonly available online or within the blogosphere. Most of the articles are translated directly from the Chinese language, and it shows. Typos and awkward translation appear frequently, though in my humble opinion they do not alter substance.

I personally think that – despite the available room for improvements – The Art of Tea is a boon for Chinese tea enthusiasts who have found language to be a barrier to industry news, trend and general understanding.

The publication is seasonal. Subscription and individual magazine are available from Houde Fine Asian Art and Yunnan Sourcing LLC . My understanding is that the publisher is currently working with a US-based publication house to make The Art of Tea available at newsstands nationwide.

Happy New Year 2007!

Happy New Year everyone!

Since I last updated this blog, I enjoyed some excellent as well as not so satisfying teas and wines.

1997 Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve, Napa Valley ($100)
It seemed like this wine had gone over the hill -- though still palatable -- like the previous 2 bottles I opened in 2005. It was oaky and only a shadow of the fruits remained. I was quite dissapointed, again. Either this wine was improperly stored by the supplier, by Costco -- where I got 3 bottles from in 2004 -- or that this particular vintage and bottling was short-lived by nature or by craft, despite coming from a very good year. 1-2 stars.

2004 Seghesio Old Vines Zinfandel, Sonoma County ($26)
Nice. Lively acidity with good flavor intensity of red/black fruits and that classic zinfandel's peppery finish. It's still a bit too primary (young) and the tannins was tight. In 2 years or so this wine should sing better. I think its 2001 and 2003 siblings were slightly better, but the 2004 was delicious, too. 3.5 stars.

N/V Billecart-Salmon Rosé Champagne ($55)
As always, a delicious and classy rosé Champagne. When in the mood for a good and [relatively] affordable rosé bubbly, you can't go wrong with this baby. Yum! 4 stars.

Magnum of N/V Dampierre Cuvee de Ambassadeur, Champagne ($75/magnum)
Also a good bubbly that had a talcum-like taste and texture. Fine mousse and bubbles. 3 stars.

I had these excellent teas:

Anji Baicha
Despite the word “Bai” (白: white) in its name, I've been told that it is technically a roasted green tea. Anji Bai Cha hails from the Anji county in Zhejiang province.

I love this tea! The thin grass-like leaves are full of life and health. Its bright green color is almost luminous and lend it a delicious appearance. Surprisingly, it manages to not smell grassy. This tea is vibrant with aromas of white flowers, sweet almonds and a hint of basil undertones. The aroma of the brewed liquor reflects fairly the aroma of the dry leaves. Its excellent mouthfeel is subtle, yet round, supple and mouth watering. Finishes with an impressive sweet aftertaste that lingers on. 4 stars (vg)

Parameter: 165 – 175 F spring water. About ¼ full of dry leaves in a gaiwan. Start with 30 seconds then adjust to taste.

Anji Baicha (a slightly higher grade than the one above)

Dry leaves are of medium to dark green with some yellow tint. When steeped, each shoot opens to reveal a one-bud-one-leaf or one-bud-two-leaves system. The liquor gives a sweet taste and a pleasant floral, peanut, honey, and fresh cut grass aromas. This tea somehow reminds me of a fragrant rice / mealy concoction. It finishes sweet in the back of the throat with a long lasting hui gan. The rice-y character becomes more pronounced with each subsequent brew up until the 4th or 5th, when the leaves are spent. Medium bodied with a smooth and sweet finish. 3.5 stars (g – vg).

Parameter: 165 – 175 F spring water. About ¼ full of dry leaves in a gaiwan. Start with 30 seconds then adjust to taste.

Zhenpin Lu Xue Ya

The dry leaves look very appealing and are similarly shaped to the bamboo tea leaves of Mount Emei (aka: Emei-shan Zhuyeqing), except that the leaves of this Lu Xue Ya are slightly larger, darker and meatier. Some are coated neatly with white down. This tea’s mealy characteristic along with bamboo, oatmeal, honey, hay, and sweet floral aromas is wonderful! The soymilk-like texture of the liquor and its wholesomeness add to the complex beauty of this tea. A pleasure to drink! 5 stars (outstanding).

Parameter: 165 – 175 F spring water. About ¼ full of dry leaves in a gaiwan. Start with 30 seconds then adjust to taste.

And a tea that I wished I could enjoy:

1989 Menghai #7542
aka: "88-Ching Beeng" #7542
10gr sample from Houde Asian Art

The 1989 "88-Ching Beeng" pu'er is regarded as a benchmark of excellence among quality "older" pu'er that have been stored under the so called "dry storage" environment. The story goes that Mr. Chan of Best Tea House in Hong Kong was offered a boatload of this tea at an affordable price, he took them and store them in a dry-condition warehouse (read more). At US$450 per 357gr, I expected it to live up to its reputed good taste. Unfortunately, however, I didn't find it enjoyable. Whether it was due to my personal taste or other reasons, my 2 attempts to brew this tea -- each time with a different parameter and water -- did not produce something that I could regard as enjoyable.

For my first attempt, I used Glacier filtered water and the following parameter: boiling water, approx. 5 grams of dry leaves in a 100ml gaiwan, 10 sec rinse, 30 sec rest, then 15s, 10s, 15s, 15s, 30s, 1m, 2m.

The wet leaves were pleasantly and vividly woody with some white pepper aroma. Exceptional liquid clarity. Taste wise, there was some of mustiness that dissipated by the 3rd brew. The aroma of tobacco / cigarette smoke and a slight metallic taste was quite offputting. They were mostly gone by the 6th brew. By that time, however, it was already rather difficult to enjoy or think positively of the tea. The overall body was between thin to medium. The aftertaste was generally that of cigarette smoke / tobacco. Tannins, though present considerably, was more sateeny than dusty.

For my second attempt, I used Volvic spring water and approx. 5gr of dry leaves in a 100ml gaiwan. 10s sec rinse, 30 sec rest, then 5s, 8s, 8s, 15s, 30s, 30s, 1m, 2m.


As in my first attempt, the smell of the wet leaves was appealingly woody and peppery. My tasting note from this session was mostly consistent with the note from the first session, except that (1) Volvic water provided a slightly better mouthfeel and body and (2) by the 6th brew, when the aromas that I didn't enjoy had mostly dissipated, the tea gave a hint of sweet aftertaste.

Overall, however, I felt uneasy and unsatisfied throughout the 2 sessions with this tea.

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PS: I have shortened the title of this blog. Though the intended meaning might have changed somewhat, I thought the shortened title sounds more concise and it still retains the gist and focus of this blog.

Happy Hanukkah!

Happy Hanukkah to all dear readers who celebrate the Festival of Lights!

We went over to my wife's parents' home to open the first day of Hanukkah with a traditional meal of latkes (potato pancakes fried in vegetable oil) and other sumptuous delicacies. It is said that every Jewish household has its own recipe for making latkes, but I didn't ask my mom-in-law how she made hers. I've always found them to be quite delicious, especially when eaten with a very thick Russian sour cream. For this occasion, I brought over 2 Israeli kosher red wines that I thought might be right for the celebration.

2001 Galil Mountain Winery, Yiron, Galilee, Israel ($20)
78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot
A very dry Bordeaux blend. Quite fruit forward with a spicy hit in the finish. Dark plums and oaky vanilla are the prominent tastes. Soft, ripe tannin. Quite delicious.

And...

2002 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon, Galilee, Israel ($22)
Old-world style cabernet. Very Bordeaux-like in taste (St. Julien?). Oak and cedar hit the nose first, followed by tart blackcurrant. Quite tannic and tight (I'm enjoying this wine as I am writing this post. It's on its second day in the bottle and the tannins has not relented). A balanced wine with ample acidity and ripeness level. The label on the back of the bottle says that this wine "should age gracefully over the next decade." I am leaning towards believing this statement. But what do I know about Israeli wines at this point?

Of the two wines, I think I prefer the Yiron for now...in the long term however, the Yarden may well outlive the Yiron. It's my speculation.

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Also tasted during the weekend:

2004 Marquis-Philips Shiraz, South Australia ($12, 15.5%)

This brand was a popular project by Dan Philips, the American wine importer, with Sarah and Sparky Marquis, the Australian wife-and-husband winemaking team. The partnership has since been disbanded in 2006.

The 2004 of their generic bottling is a HUGE, multilayered wine. I could sense its viscosity from the moment it poured out of the bottle. Very focused and concentrated nose of casis, currant and sweet chocolate. You can taste the sweetness of the glycerin. Full bodied with tastes that explodes like a grenade in your mouth. Finishes long and spicy with dark chocolate. Very good balance considering the 15.5% alcohol (though it showed a bit hot in its finish). Elegant? Maybe not. Fun and delicious? Hell, yeah!

Spring 2006 Qimen Hong, Top Grade

The sample being tasted here is a "top grade" Qimen Hong (Red Keemun) from Anhui Province (available from Jing Tea Shop). It has all the classic red tea characteristics. Dry leaves appear small, rolled, and in broken pieces, a common appearance of Qimen Hong. I placed 1/5 full of dry leaves into my gaiwan, which when brewed the steeped leaves filled 1/2 of the gaiwan.

Off-boiling spring water was used; flash rinse once, followed by 10s, 5s, 5s, 5s, 5s, 10s...

The liquor has an earthy-red color with an orange "bao guang" (halo). I botched the 1st brew by steeping the tea for too long (10 secs). Although the nose was inviting, the tea was bitter. For the 2nd brew, I reduced the time by ~5 secs, and the tea came out much better with distinct aromas of flowers, sweet fruits and salty plums. The smell and color of the wet leaves reminded me somewhat of Oriental Beauty oolong. Subsequent few infusions saw the tea improved in taste and aroma, but the mouthfeel became more tannic. Fine dusty tannin coated the entire mouth. I can see how a touch of milk would tame the tannins.

The finish was quite deceptive, which is a classic red tea behaviour. Though it seemed as if the finish was short, it actually lingered for a while after I drank the last cup. The one thing that bothered me about this tea was the harsh after effect on my throat...I felt as if I had a mild sore throat.

A good quality Qimen Hong, though not to my personal taste.

1970's Guangyun Gong Sheng Pu'er

A Brief Background
Guangyun Gong, or Guangdong – Yunnan Tribute tea, is the name given to this production to commemorate the trade relationship between the two provinces. Produced by the China Tea Co.’s Guangdong branch (中茶), the first batch of Guangyun Gong was released in 1958. Up until the end of the 1960’s, only raw Yunnan arbor leaves made up the series. Starting in the 1970’s, however, tea leaves from other provinces such as Sichuan, Guizhou and Guangdong, among others, were used in the production of Guangyun Gong. This was due to changes in the inter-province tea distribution structure in the 1970's when the Yunnan tea industry was given the rights to distribute their own teas and, as such, they were no longer required to send raw materials to the central distribution hub in Guangdong. Consequently, Yunnan arbor tea leaves became harder to obtain in Guangdong, so China Tea Co. began mixing raw materials from other abovementioned provinces.

Per Mr. Chan Kam Pong, Executive Editor of the Art of Tea publication, the 1970’s version is referred to as “Guangyun Tea Cake” and it is regarded as inferior to the highly sought after 1960’s “Guangyun Royal Tea Cake”.

(Photo: Houde Asian Fine Art)

(Source of background: Houde Asian Fine Art, Mr. Chan Kam Pong, and various tea fora, especially the LJ Puerh Tea Community)

I do not know how the 1960’s Guangyun Gong tastes like compared with the 1970’s version, which I thought was an interesting education piece. I wonder whether Yunnan arbor leaves really are/were superior to leaves from other provinces (I mean the leaves used in Guangyun Gong), or if it is merely a puristic perception.

Tasting Note
Dry leaves: dark red-black. A patch of white mold and many tiny white dots are visible (click here for a higher resolution picture).

Brewing parameter: 3 sec rinse, repeat rinse, 10s, 10s, 10s, 15s, 15s, 20s, 20s, 20s, 25s, 25s, 40s, 45s, 1m, 2m (total 14 drunk infusions)

Color: medium brown at 1st and 2nd infusions, then becomes darker brown until the 8th infusions, when its color descends to become lighter. “Bao guang” (yellow halo surrounding the red-brown liquor) is present throughout.

Exceptional clarity from the first to the last infusion. This, I believe, is one of the characteristics that sets an aged sheng pu’er apart from a shu pu’er. As dark as the liquor becomes, it retains its crystal clear clarity, whereas a shu pu’er tends to get opaque and/or cloudy.

A whiff of Chinese herbs…ginseng being the most recognizable. This is accompanied with an earthy, mushroom-y, and toffee-like nose. A subtle sweet sensation is well integrated and felt on the side and back of the tongue. This is not the same kind of sweetness that a decent shu pu’er gives, which tends to be more obvious. Nor this is the sweetness that one gets from a black tea, which tends to be bitter at first then turning to a sweet finish. A hint of metallic taste (iron?) is present. This tea doesn't turn bitter even with prolonged brewing. Medium body at first, and later infusions are fuller (as the color of the liquor became darker). This tea is very smooth with tannins that is almost non-existent.

There is an obvious cooling sensation in the mouth and throat. A soothing feeling also goes down to the stomach and lasts for a few hours.

I felt a blanket of warmth by the 4th infusion, and the sensation grew warmer especially on my back, shoulders and neck. By the 8th infusion, my body felt sufficiently hot. It’s a very relaxing and calming experience. I’d attribute this sensation to good cha qi.

This tea may be a turn off to those who dislike the smell and taste of Chinese herbs/medicine, but I mean it in a pleasant way. I generally dislike the taste of Chinese medicine, too. However, the herbal / medicinal quality of this tea is inviting and soothing. An excellent tea all around.

The 1970's Guangyun Gong is available at Houde Fine Asian Art.

Thank you, BBB, for the sample!

T Ching

There is a new community dedicated to the discussion of tea. T Ching is supported by various professionals within the tea, health, arts, and media industries, as well as by individuals who partake the noble beverage in their everyday lifestyle. The wide ranging backgrounds of the contributors make T Ching a unique and dynamic community.

Published by two veteran psychologists, Michelle Rabin and Sandy M. Bushberg, T Ching’s primary mission is to “improve the state of declining health in this country” through the sharing of knowledge on the wonderful health benefits of tea. Having been in the health care field for 25 plus years, they recognize the growing epidemic of obesity and type II diabetes – in youths and in adults – and they have taken tea as the central ingredient in this fight.

In addition to the health aspects, the various contributors also discuss history, art, design, preparation techniques, poems, and other engaging topics related to tea. Currently, on every Tuesday James Norwood Pratt, a widely published author, shares his insightful writings on the history of Japanese tea practices.

I am honored and humbled to have been asked by Michelle to contribute to her excellent site and cause…a cause that I have a personal connection with. My mother and grandmother succumbed to complications due to long term effects of diabetes. I sincerely hope that my ongoing pursuit of tea (and wine) knowledge and my passion for enjoying them is going to make a positive contribution.

I encourage you to visit T Ching and to participate in the discussions.

www.tching.com

Thanksgiving & Picnic

The day after we returned from San Diego, my mom-in-law cooked a sumptuous [belated] Thanksgiving dinner. She is an excellent cook! (No, I don't think she reads my blog, so it's an honest opinion). We gathered at my wife's parents' home, joined by my bro-in-law, his wife and my 5-month old nephew, Anton. It was fun. So much so I forgot to take any picture of the foods she made until after we were finished. I brought two wines for the occasion, and the in-laws chipped in a bottle of an Australian Merlot by Jacob's Creek, which I didn’t enjoy, actually.

2004 Domaine Henri Bourgeois, Grande Reserve, Sancerre ($20)
Light yellow and straw green. Crisp and lithe with ample acidity and citrus taste. A nice and light aperitif to warm up the appetite.

2004 Turley Old Vines Zinfandel, California ($30)
Deep, dark ruby. The nose is very shy and subdued, which is unexpected for the usually upfront style that is Turley. In the mouth, however, it exploded with raspberry, cherry, coffee, and chocolate. A very ripe and high-octane wine (15.5% alcohol), which shows its hotness in the back of the throat. Any wine that is hot in the back is out of balance. Not the best showing of Turley Old Vines compared with the last 4 vintages (including the '04), though it still managed to be an intriguing wine at the table.

2005 Jacob's Creek Merlot, Australia
Tart and jammy. That's all I could remember. Had a few sips and gave up.

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The next day, Sunday, we had a BBQ picnic with 10 of our best friends and their kids at the Will Rogers Park on Sunset Boulevard (nearby UCLA). The weather fortunately cooperated and gave us the whole afternoon of sunshine and low wind. It was a good day, overall. As usual, we hid the beer bottles from the authorities (not that they were around, but just in case) in our ice box and we drank from plastic cups.

Towards late afternoon, when the temperature began to drop, I took out 6 gaiwans, my Bodum glass teapot, and the jasmine tea balls that my cousin sent me from Shanghai. Everyone loved the tea, especially the ladies! There is something good to be said about enjoying tea in the great outdoors with friends and loved ones.

[Front: 2 jasmine tea balls in full bloom, Underberg: a spicy tasting German herbal liquor that my friend brought back from Germany. Back: My bro-in-law with my nephew, Anton, and behind him are our friend and her baby girl. Merely 2 years ago, our crowd clubbed and bar hopped until the wee hours...but not anymore]

Note to guys: impress your lady friends and girlfriends with jasmine tea balls in a large transparent pot. A vessel that fully shows the leaves and the flowers bloom is best.

Trip to San Diego

Sorry for the recent lack of update. The blogger beta just went nuts on me for the past few days and it still is. The formatting feature is gone, somehow, so I'm posting this using html, which requires a bit of a learning curve on my part.

The family (me, my wife, baby girl, and wife's parents) spent the Thanksgiving week in San Diego, which was nice. The weather is slightly cooler this time of the year in SD, but it could still pass as beach weather all the same. It was a casual trip with no preconceived mission for wine / tea drinking or any serious tasting notes.

On the way to our hotel in Pacific beach (next to the famous La Jolla beach), we stopped by Carlsbad to lunch at the Bellefleur Winery and Brasserie. The restaurant is also a bonded winery that makes wines under their own label. Since I was driving, I didn't order or bothered to buy any of their wine to go. The restaurant/winery was serving their Sunday Champagne brunch buffet, so they poured for us refill after refill of semi sweet (oxymoron alert!) Californian Champagne. Technically, it was a Sunday Californian sparkling wine brunch, but that doesn't sound as catchy, does it? At first I didn't get why the waiter poured the "Champagne" only halfway the flute, until the unannounced orange juice came. Aha...Mimosa! Go on ladies and gentlemen, load up on sugar and alcohol before you head to the buffet tables! The buffet selections were wide and varied. At $20/head I thought it was quite a good deal...a buffet like this in Las Vegas would probably have cost more.

We rented 2 cottages at the historic Crystal Pier Hotel where we literally slept above the lapping waves. The view from our private patio was just amazing, especially at sunrise and at sunset! The cottages are nice, too. Everything is clean and feel newly renovated with a comfortable large bed. The feature we liked best as young parents traveling with a kid is the full size kitchen. We could make food for our daughter in the comforts of our cottage before heading out to tour the city. And did I mention the view was great?

(Click to enlarge picture of the view from our patio. My baby and dad-in-law.)

I decided not to pack my tea set with me but just bring along 3 types of tea in stainless steel canisters: the Hong Shui oolong from Houde, the Spring 2006 Da Hong Pao from Teaspring, and the jasmine dragon pearls that my wife so loves. Since I brought with us a few bottles of wine in an ice box, and that we are not light travellers, the tea set had to give way, unfortunately. I should probably buy a small travelling set. It wasn't ideal, but I was able to improvise and managed to get decent cuppa every time.

On one cool, foggy night we dined at a Thai restaurant called Karinya nearby our hotel. The food was good and the spices was just what we needed to warm up our bodies. Every dish had a touch of homemade feel to it, which I appreciated. The price is a tad high since they are located in a high rent district (on Garnett Street, which is the main retail and commercial vein leading to the Crystal Pier). I forgo ordering from the wine list, though the Ch. Ste. Michelle Gewurztraminer would be a good match for the dishes we had. Instead I just asked for a large pot of hot water for brewing the Hong Shui oolong that I brought along in my backpack.

For breakfasts in our cottage, I brewed mostly the Da Hong Pao in the hotel's coffee pot. As long as I was careful not to overbrew it, the tea was quite good. Everybody liked it and I thought the tea went quite well with the eggs, cheese, sausage, bread, jam and tvorak (a sort of Russian cottage cheese). Fellow tea purists, please don't crucify me for brewing DHP in such a way and for drinking it with food. :)

After coming back from the zoo, the Sea World, and what not (yes, this trip was about entertaining and showing our baby "the world"...not really for the adults) we usually spent the rest of the day at the beach below our hotel or just hang out in our private patio with a glass of wine (or two or three). I'm glad to have brought the wines myself because we do spend a fair amount of our time in our cottage, with the little one's nap and meal schedule. I just didn't have time to look for a proper wine store in the area. Some of the wines I brought and opened:

N/V Billecart-Salmon Brut Champagne
($40) Fine mousse and bubbles. The nose is of sharp citrus and grapefruit. A little tight and needed decanting to soften it a bit, but I didn't have any workable decanter with me. The taste reflects the nose plus a hint of green apple. It's a mezzo-soprano of a Champagne. The finish is rather swift.








2004 Bodega Norton Reserva Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina
($15) We opened this one night while watching The Da Vinci Code on DVD in our cottage. Both the movie and the wine came up short. This Malbec bottling was mellow and rounded but lacked acidity, so it tasted flabby. An overall earthy wine with a somber note of blackberry. Rather depressing, actually, despite that it came highly recommended by some Winexilers.





2003 Joh Jos Christoffel Riesling Spatlese, Urziger Wurzgarten, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany
($25) Simply lovely! All the characters of a balanced Mosel Riesling in play: yellow fruits, rocky slate minerality, acidity and sweetness. A polished, detailed, juicy and delicious wine. The sweetness is a bit high for a Spatlese, which is a typical character of the hot weather in 2003.















On the way home to LA, we lunched at an upscale looking white-linen restaurant called The CrabCatcher. The restaurant looked very nice and expensive, and it came complete with a snobbish lady maitre'd (perhaps because I had a little baby with me...a sign of potential mess and noise, which exactly what happened). Anyways, we were sorely disappointed with the quality of the food given the price, location and the manicured look of the restaurant. We ordered the crispy calamari as an appetizer, and for the entree we had the shrimp scampi, a $10 burger, the fish of the day (sea bass) cooked with a spicy salsa-like sauce ($24) and the Cioppino. The premium pricing was expected given the ambience and location of the venue...too bad the food didn't live up to the expectation that they themselves created, however. The service was gracious, I should note, so I still at least left them a generous tip at the end of our meal.

Their wine list was OK...they seem to have chosen their CA Pinot Noir and CA Cabernet Sauvignon selections with the recent trend in mind (Williams Selyem, Sea Smoke were 2 PNs I remember seeing on their list). The Champagne choices were good, too. Everything else other than those three wine categories felt like they are there only for the sake of having something on their wine list...not particularly exciting. As on the way to San Diego, I didn't order any wine again since I was the driver (I really wanted to order the Sea Smoke Pinot Noir, but nobody felt like having wine with their lunches, and it didn't come by the glass). So I just had two glasses of Anchor Steam beer, which was nice. After the dissapointing lunch, we walked around La Jolla a bit until the alcohol effect subsided before we headed back home; a journey that involved an excruciating 7 hours of heavy traffic.

To be continued...Thanksgiving dinner and a picnic with friends.