Tea Travels to Japan!

Spring is in full swing! Tea gardens around the world are busy with the grand task of producing some of best teas of the year, and Stone Leaf Teahouse is gearing up for another adventure to the far east! This year, we will be traveling to Japan for a two week jaunt through the jade tea fields and humble tearooms of the world’s most complex and fascinating tea culture. Our mission for this trip is to find great new teas to share with our communities at home and connect with the farmers, producers, artists, and tea lovers of Japan. Using Uji, the birthplace of Japan’s tea culture, as a home base, we will explore central Japan’s tea gardens, research new and exciting developments in tea cultivation, search for beautiful and functional teaware, and learn the secrets of brewing and tasting high quality, delicate green teas. Relationships are best built face to face over a cup of fresh tea and this trip is the best way to connect you to some great people on the other side of the world. Stay tuned for updates from the road, pictures, and tastings!

“Uji tea has a taste infused with Nature’s own essence,
a pity folks only prattle about its color and scent.”
-Baisao
The Old Tea Seller

Reduced hours May 22nd – June 5th

Because of this great adventure, the Teahouse will have slightly reduced hours. We will be closed for the next 3 Tuesdays (May 22nd, 29th and June 5th). We will continue to be open our normal hours from Wednesday through Saturday for the next three weeks (May 23rd-26th, May 30th-June 2nd, and June 6th-9th). We will continue to ship mail orders, but packages will only go out Wednesday through Saturday. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

New Taiwanese Oolongs!

In other news, fresh spring Taiwanese teas are here! We have just received a shipment of fresh spring Li Shan High Mountain Oolong, a wonderfully crisp and refreshing spring Bao Chung, and an exciting new Premium Tie Guan Yin. Stop by next week to try these great new teas!

We leave you with some ruminations on spring tea from the 18th century Japanese Zen poet and wandering tea merchant, Baisao, and we look forward to sharing a fine cup of spring tea with you soon!

A gift of “immortal buds” sent from an old friend
“first spring picking from the Ekkei fields,” he said
Opening the packet, color and fragrance filled the room,
Proud ‘banners and lances’ of outstanding quality.
Clear water dipped at the banks of the Kamo
Well boiled on the stove, just right for new tea.
The first sip revealed an incomparable taste,
Purifying sweetness refreshing the soul.
No need wasting time on ‘butterfly dreams,’
Rising up, utterly cleansed, beyond the world,
I smile, not a single word in my dried-up gut,
Just a ‘wondrous meaning’ beyond all doctrine.
I’ve been poor so long, pinched with hunger,
Now a kind gift to soothe my parched throat,
Dewdrops so sweet they put manna to shame:
The fresh breeze rises round me, lifting me upward.
It doesn’t take seven cups like Master Lu says,
My guests get old Chao-chou’s ‘one-cup tea’;
And whoever can grasp the taste in that cup
Whether stranger or friend, knows my true mind.
Sake fuels the vital spirits, works like courage,
Tea works benevolently, purifying the soul.
Courageous feats that put the world in your debt
Couldn’t match the benefit benevolence brings.
A tea unsurpassed for color, flavor, and scent,
Attributes the Buddhists like to call “dusts,”
But only through them is the true taste known,
They are the Dharma body. Primal suchness.

-Baisao
The Old Tea Seller

Stone Leaf Teahouse is proud to announce that 2012 Spring Bi Luo Chun from Taiwan has arrived!  Incredibly fresh and mouth wateringly delicious, this vibrant green tea has hints of fresh bamboo shoots, a nutty aroma, lively vegetal flavors, and a mild, lingering grassyness.  Harvested only a few weeks ago in mid March, this delicate green tea is best enjoyed while its freshness lasts.  Don’t miss this opportunity to get the freshest and best tasting tea around!

Brought to Taiwan in the mid-20th century by Chinese immagrants, the Bi Luo Chun processing style has a long and storied history.  The name literaly translates as “Green Snails of Spring” because of its appearance and spring time harvest.  It originated near lake Tai Hu in Jiangsu Province centuries ago.  One legend claims that the original name was “Scarey Fragrance”.  Supposedly, pluckers, having run out of space in their baskets, began stuffing leaves into their clothes.  As a result, the leaves, packed in and warmed by body heat, gave off a startling aroma.  The name was later changed to “Green Snails of Spring” by the Emperor in an attempt to make the tea more appealing.  Yet another legend claims that this tea was named after a girl, Bi Luo, who watered a tea tree with the tears she had shed for her slain dragon lover.  She then died under this tree, and the next spring, the tree produced a fragrant green tea which we now call Bi Luo Chun.

Freshly plucked Bi Luo Chun

Regardless of its ancient beginnings, our Bi Luo Chun is now grown and processed by master tea crafters in San Hsia District in Taipei County, Taiwan.  The leaf looks much bigger than the traditional Chinese Bi Luo Chun because the Taiwanese version is made from a different plant varietal.  However, the processing, although modernized, hasn’t changed much since the original immigrants brought their tea making know-how to Taiwan after World War II.  Grown on a family farm, using only natural and traditional agricultural practices, this tea is pure and uncontaminated by modern pesticides or chemical fertilizers.  It is hand picked and painstakingly processed on site with knowledge passed down through the generations.

A great tea to celebrate the start of spring!

You can watch more videos here on our Youtube channel.

Also, click here to purchase some of this great tea while its fresh!

Stone Leaf Teahouse’s

Tea of the Month Club

Stone Leaf Teahouse is committed to importing only the freshest and best tasting, high quality, sustainably sourced loose leaf tea. Members of our Tea of the Month Club get some of the best and freshest teas delivered to their door steps every month.  Accompanying these packages is an e-newsletter with detailed information and instructions to help members enjoy their first set of teas.   Here is a sample of the first Tea of the Month e-newsletter.  We love sharing our passion for great tea with our customers and we thank you for joining us on this journey.

After one of the more unusual winters in recent memory, spring is undeniably right around the corner. So, what teas are right for this time of year? With tea, like many other products, freshness matters (most of the time! – we’ll get into aged teas some other time). 2012 early spring harvest green and black teas are not yet on the market, so for now we have to look back to some 2011 winter harvest oolongs.

Oolong (translated as Black Dragon) is its own category of tea. It is between green and black tea. That means it has an oxidation level between 15% and 75%. It includes the widest range of teas from green and floral to dark and smokey.

Freshly Plucked Oolong Tea Leaves

Winter harvest oolong teas are some of the most prized in all of Taiwan. The short production period (around the last week of October through the first half of November) and high demand within Taiwan make these teas quite valuable and often hard to find in the west. This is especially true of the high mountain teas, grown at over 1,200 meters or almost 4,000 feet. The mountain air is cool and crisp at this time of the year, and the tea bushes push forth their last new growth before their long winter dormancy. This new growth, or flush, is essential when making high quality tea. Only the new buds and first few leaves are harvested. Full of life and packed with complex flavors, these fresh buds and leaves are immediately processed on site. If they wait to long, the leaves will loose much of their magical flavor. The process is a long one starting with a controlled withering. Then the tea leaves are rolled under gentle pressure to release some of the moisture locked within. The next step, essential to making a tightly rolled oolong tea, is an alternating between squeezing in a cloth bag and tumbling in a controlled, low heat basket similar to an over sized clothes drier. Often the processing goes throughout the night, and by the next morning, the tea is finally recognizable as Taiwanese oolong tea!

Generally, that is the process for all Taiwanese oolong teas. So what makes Li Shan and Muja Tie guan Yin different and special? Well, let’s take a closer look.

Li Shan

Li Shan (translated as Li Mountain) is one of the most revered oolong teas on the market today, partly because it is the highest elevation tea growing region in Taiwan – over 2,000 meters or 6,561 feet! The surrounding area is dominated by fruit tree orchards. Pears, apples, guavas, peaches, and tea bushes thrive at this semi-tropical high altitude. Mist and clouds surround the high mountain peaks and travel to and from the tea gardens is often long and arduous.

Li Mountain

Tea cultivation at these high altitudes is a fairly recent endeavor. Tea has been grown in Taiwan for hundreds of years, but more recently (over the last 50 years or so) farmers discovered that higher elevations helped give teas a more delicate and complex flavor. They called this style of tea “Gao Shan Cha”, literally High Mountain Tea. Land at this elevation is limited, so high mountain tea cultivation is inherently small scale. Farming plots cascade down steep mountain slopes, production is small, and flavor varies from farm to farm and mountaintop to mountaintop.

High Mountian Tea

Li Mountian Top

Tea and fruit trees

Li Shan Oolong is known for its light, delicate, crisp body and complex floral, fruity flavor. Our Winter 2011 Li Shan is no exception. Hints of the surrounding fruit orchards dance around a delicate, green herbal backbone and a floral, coconut aroma. This tea is light, refreshing, and revitalizing. A great tea for a clear, crisp day and a perfect one for welcoming the spring!

Muja Tie Guan Yin

Muja Tie Guan Yin, also a Taiwanese oolong tea, is a great contrast to the Li Shan. First, let’s dissect the name. Muja refers to the area in which this tea was grown and Tie Guan Yin is the plant varietal from which it was made.

Muja Tea Fields

Muja is a district in the foothills of Taiwan’s great central mountain range just south of Taipei, Taiwan’s biggest city. Historical records make it hard to pinpoint where tea cultivation began in Taiwan, but one fact we know is that Muja was one of the first places to gain fame for producing high quality oolong tea. Immigrants from mainland China’s Fujian Province brought tea plants with them when they settled in Northern Taiwan. They began selling this new oolong to English traders and Taiwan’s small scale tea industry went global.

Muja Tea Farmer

The Tie Guan Yin varietal is famous in mainland China for producing some of the best oolong teas. Tie, meaning iron, refers to the color of the finished tea and Guan Yin is the name of the Buddhist Goddess of Compassion. The Taiwanese cultivation and processing of this tea is similar to that laid out generations ago by the original immigrants who brought this special plant with them. The biggest difference between the Taiwanese Tie Guan Yin and the Chinese Tie Guan Yin is the final roasting step. Although Chinese Tie Guan Yin may be roasted some of the time, the Taiwanese version is almost always quite heavily roasted. After drying, the leaves are slowly roasted in a bamboo basket for several weeks or even months. You can see this immediately just by looking at the leaves. The dark brown, tightly rolled leaves give off a mild aroma of burnt sweetness similar to molasses or caramel.

Muja Tea Plucker

This Winter 2011 Tie Guan Yin gives a much darker infusion than the Li Shan. The heavy roasting gives a rich, long lasting flavor. It has a mildly sweet caramel flavor with an ever so slight smoked wood finish imparted by the bamboo roasting basket. The natural floweriness of the Tie Guan Yin varietal has mellowed with roasting, but a faint rose aroma can still be found under the many layers of flavor. Smooth and robust, this tea harkens back to a time long ago. You can taste the history and tradition of generations of artisan tea makers. A great tea to sip while savoring the last days of winter.

Brewing Instructions:

For this first installment of the Tea of the Month Club, we have made it easy – both teas can be brewed in the same way.

Basic preparation:

- Place 1 teaspoon of tea per 8 oz cup in your tea pot or brewing vessel

- Pour boiling water over the leaves

- Wait 1-2 minutes (longer for stronger brews)

- Separate the tea from the leaves (i.e. strain the tea to remove the leaves)

- Save the leaves for additional steepings (these teas can be brewed 4 or more times in one sitting!)

-For more general loose leaf tea brewing instructions, click here.

If you want to go deeper:

- You will notice that both the Li Shan and the Muja Tie Guan Yin look like little pellets. These are actually whole leaves that have been rolled into tight balls. They will open up and expand to more than 5 times their size after brewing! This means that we don’t want them to be crammed in a small tea ball or filter. Ideally, we want to give the leaves plenty of room to expand. The best way to do this is to put the tea loose into a tea pot or cup and then, after brewing, strain the liquid into a pitcher, different tea pot, or the vessels you will be drinking from. This allows the leaves to expand unimpeded and saves the leaves for additional steepings.

-Try washing the leaves before the first brew. Pour some boiling water over the leaves, wait a few seconds, and then strain and discard the liquid. This opens up the tea leaves and allows for a fuller first infusion.

-Try brewing Gong Fu style! Use more tea and a smaller brewing vessel. Wash the leaves (see above) and steep for short amounts of time (20-30 seconds each infusion). This method makes for stronger, more flavorful infusions. It also allows for more abundant infusions (you can steep the same leaves 10+ times using this method). This does take some practice to get right, so be patient.

-To watch a video demonstration of brewing oolong tea Gong Fu style in a traditional Gai Wan, click here.

To read more about brewing in a gaiwan, click here.

Good luck and happy steeping!

Stone Leaf Teahouse’s

Tea of the Month Club

Two new kinds of fresh loose leaf tea every month!

Now you can get the freshest, top quality loose leaf tea delivered directly to your doorstep!  Members of Stone Leaf Teahouse’s Tea of the Month Club will receive 25 grams of two different teas every month.  That’s 50 grams of tea every month!  All of the selections will be carefully chosen for freshness and seasonal variation.  The experts at Stone Leaf Teahouse will put together a package containing the perfect teas for that time of year, ensuring an optimal steeping experience.  This is a great way to learn about different teas and their seasonality, try new teas without the risk, and find new favorites!

Each  monthly package will be accompanied by an exclusive email newsletter containing information, pictures, and detailed brewing instructions.  This is a great opportunity to learn about some of the best teas in the world from the comfort of your own home.  Choose from a 3 month, 6 month, or 12 month plan.  All taxes and shipping are included in the price.  All packages are sent out by the 15th of each month.  For more info or to sign up, click here.

Tea of the Month Club’s

Inaugural Package

Be part of history, become one of the first to join Stone Leaf Teahouse’s Tea of the Month Club!  The first packages will be sent out by March 15th.  Straddling both winter and spring, the last two weeks of March and the first two weeks of April can be a tumultuous time.  Mud, snow, slush, new life struggling to emerge, and longer days inching towards inevitable spring.  Its hard to tell if winter will make a comeback in March or if we will easily slide into a warm, green spring so the first Tea Club package will cover all the bases with two fantastic winter harvest oolong teas from Taiwan.

Li Shan Winter 2011

Li Shan Winter 2011

This delicate and fragrant green oolong from one of Taiwan’s highest tea growing regions is a wonderful way to greet the new spring.  Light and refreshing, this prized winter harvest tea will clear away the cobwebs of a long winter and have you ready for spring frolicking in no time!

Muja Tie Guan Yin Winter 2011

Muja Tie Guan Yin Winter 2011

Named after Guan Yin, the Goddess of Compassion and Mercy, this fully roasted oolong tea from the Northern Taiwan township of Muja is a perfect companion for a snowed in afternoon next to the wood stove.  Rich caramel flavors and a hint of smoke and flowers is the perfect combination to combat the last blasts of winter.

Members will receive a more in depth description of each tea along with detailed brewing instructions around the time of the package’s arrival.  Stay tuned for news of the April/May Tea of the Month Club package!