Puer Tea Tasting Class - the video

Here is a video made by Sam Roderick Roxas-Chua.  Find more of Sam's work here: http://samroderick.com/


Here is what Sam said about the class:
J-Tea International Tea House | 2778 Friendly Street. Eugene | Puer Class 10AM-12PM | Menu: Man Nuo '09, Chang Shou '07, Chen Yi Hao '08, Meng Hai 8582 '87, Xia Guan 8653 '87, Meng Hai Xi Shuang Ba Na 7572 '76 | If you haven't taken a tea tasting class. It's a must!


Thanks Sam!

Meet the eight treasures…

In an attempt to shape and create tea culture in the U.S., I often borrow tea terms from one culture and apply them to another culture. One example of this is a series of teas that we refer to as “the eight treasures.” This is a line of eight teas that I put together that would be available on a consistent basis: Green Oolong, Charcoal Roasted Oolong, Second Flush Oolong, Yunnan Gold Tips, Aged Puer Tea, Jasmine Pearls, Wu Yi Oolong, and Iron Goddess.
Eight treasures is a subset of any eight derived from a longer list of one hundred treasures. The term “eight treasures” is used to describe an abundance of variety when used with food items, such as eight treasure rice or eight treasure tea. Eight treasure tea is consumed throughout China. I’ve always seen it as a small plastic bag containing eight different bits that are steeped together to make an interesting and enjoyable infusion. Items that might be found in eight treasure tea include chrysanthemum flower, rock sugar, oolong tea, green tea, Wolfberry, red date, jobes tears, stellaria, tremella mushroom, dried citrus peel, ginseng, and so on.
Five of the eight are shown above. More to come soon...

Puer Event Revisited

The Puer Class is Back!

Once again we will travel back in time to discover the taste of history.

Saturday, March 12th from 10 AM to 12 PM at the teahouse, J-TEA will be serving aged puer tea. This event will be enjoyable and educational. Seating is limited to 8 people so please call to reserve a space if you are interested. The fee is $49 per person.

Six rare puer teas will be featured: three young and three aged. These teas are all high quality, raw and very rare. Puer starts as a green tea and at that stage can sometimes be very harsh. However, as it ages, puer transforms into an earthy soothing gentle tea. These older teas are considered by some to be priceless due to their unique qualities and limited quantity.

We will begin by tasting three of the younger, or new puer teas, to get an understanding of the origin of this type and how it starts its journey through time. Next we will delve into the older teas, some of which are over 30 years old.

Everyone's experience is undoubtedly different, but when I drink these teas, I am amazed that it is much more than a pleasant taste. I experience both a physiological as well as a psychological shift. I hope you will join this journey through time as we examine the history and transformation of puer teas.

To attend, RSVP by calling Josh at 541-285-8997. Space is limited so don't delay.

The last time we held this event it was very well received.  Guests were greatly influenced by the tea and impressed with the overall effect it created.  I remember one guest commenting, "Are you going to call us a cab?  I am not sure how I will get home."  

I only took small sips of the tea and after the event could do nothing but walk the neighborhood taking pictures of flowers in bloom.  This time promises to be even better as we have since received another very rare aged puer tea.  Also, the green puer that we will be enjoying is of even higher quality than those of the previous event.  If this class fills up, and there is still a demand, we might hold the same event the following weekend. 

Pre-event photos from the old teahouse.

The old tea bar.

Post event: the greens.  The aged stuff is taking a long steep.

Post puer bliss inspired photos.

      

Local poets inspired by tea

The Invention of Tea

Here

chew on this,

I can’t stop

talking.

***

I found these leaves

in my coat pocket

all dried & forgotten

probably from last autumn

maybe if

I soak them

in hot water

they’ll be easier

to swallow.

***

Ah,

that warms

me to the core,

I think I’ll have

some more.

Contributed by:

Rick McMonagle

zrickmcmonagle@gmail.com