Tuesday's Tea with TwoDog
When an old Tea Whore like me catches up with a Tea Pimp, I get a bit of old tyme religion. For a whole day in advance I take a personal inventory of all the bad tea I've been drinking, along with nursing a desire to confess. Then I need to get my storage checked, and administer any needed remedies to the dry climate of Wisconsin. But mostly, how lucky I am to sit down with TwoDog of white2tea and Companion for an afternoon of amazing tea.
When I got word that TwoDog is hosting two tea tastings in Madison this week, and that he could be in town early for a tea session with Old Cwyn, what do you think I'm gonna do? Not difficult to guess.
Of course, I had to offer the trip to my mother-in-law who is looking rather antsy lately about getting out of my house and back home in the MadCity. So when I suggested to her we might take a trip to meet up with TwoDog back at her house, and she could thereby get home 6 days early, why she was so positively happy to be rid of the likes of me she actually drank a cup of my own celebratory sheng last night.
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| Stove by Mirka Randova |
So today we hosted tea on the back deck at her house, and I brought along my kettle warmer and teaware. You all won't see a photo of TwoDog here, and some might say "pic or it didn't happen," but we are all notoriously shy of selfies, because someplace in Wisconsin a beatdown surely exists for souls oversharing on social media. Nevertheless, I have a photo to offer of a teacake that isn't out yet on white2tea.com.
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| As yet unreleased 2015, white2tea.com |
We start with this yet-unannounced new 2015 tea. This tea has a citrus top note, and long huigan, very strong in the mouth. We all get a decent tea drunk on and mostly steep out the tea, I lost count but at least 8-10 steeps. I really don't think it is steeped out yet, and I got to save the leaves which I plan to brew again tomorrow. This tea is apparently one to put away for just a few years because it will sweeten up in a short time. I got a lucky bit to take home in addition to the steeped leaves. We can all watch for it to appear on the site.
From there we move on to Lao Ban Zhang leaf, which smelled rather like incense, and TwoDog thought maybe "baby powder." He had stored the tea is this teapot for two years in Wisconsin. Bring it on and I get even drunker.
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| TwoDog's Pot with Lao Ban Zhang |
Finally the big treat, an aged puerh that is almost as old as Old Cwyn. At this point my ex MIL makes an appearance to deliver her remarks on drinking teabags. This just now as we've been drinking LBZ and about to drink what TwoDog refers to as "mortgage puerh." He very patiently talks to my MIL about fannings and pesticides, a delightful effort which I can see will go nowhere with her. He invites her to taste the mortgage puerh and she turns him down, thankfully. I would have bit back an objection to aged pu on a teabag lady when Old Cwyn isn't on the ground yet.
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| Full spread |
The aged tea produces a profound silence with three people staring off into the trees. I'm definitely wasted now. But never done. What a relaxing afternoon in the cooler weather we have!
Blessings on TwoDog and friend for safe travels...
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| Left, white2tea cake, in Jian Shui aged, old Pu |
And finally, I confess I drank up the rinse after you left. All two inches of it in the tea table.
Requiescat in Pace.
Wondering if you often use that japanese shiboridashi for puerh? Do you use it only for certain types of puerh, or just when you want to have a closer look at the leaves?
ReplyDeleteI brought it because it has a protective pouch bag and I could keep it in my purse, confident it wouldn't get broken on the way to Madison.
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