Firing in June 2011

As we are potters it is not surprising: We fired again. After few weeks of working with clay followed two days of glazing, one long day of  loading and then around twenty hours of firing. Writing this the kiln is just about to be unloaded -we have put aside few bricks waiting till temperature will be safe for pieces inside the kiln. In mean time I would like to show you few pictures from the process.

Time for tea :  Wild buds 2011 -good choice for hot afternoon.  Sample from  Jiri  Melzer

Now I already fished out few pots...I hope to see more pieces like those soon. All pots you can see here are from the lower parts of the kiln where we use charcoal technique. Above there are more glazed and finer pots.

Unglazed jar -some Liu An basket tea is waitng for it...

I am going back to the kiln. After unloading the kiln there are two days of cleaning, sorting and completing in front of us. 

2003 7572

My Pots and Tea blog is still pretty new, like a fresh cake. But still, I realized one thing - even thought I drink mostly puer tea I have not posted any puer post yet. Maybe I am a little bit afraid of this. It is like a love you do not fully understand. With many cakes (touchas, bricks etc.)  I like, it is hard for me to describe what is so special about them for me. But on other hand- I like challenges! So here is the first story....

Ripe Menghai 7572 03  

I like this kind of wrapping -it looks old and traditional even when it is not

I got this cake more then year ago from my friend-customer, owner of teashop. It was part of our tea-teaware exchange. When I am thinking about it now I think it was given to me extra, as kind of added value of this exchange. Yes, I am happy man!  I remember that when I tasted it for a first time I was not fully impressed. The smell of dry leaves as well as fragrances going out from the teapot were great but I couldn't find it in the taste. I also miss body of the tea which I like to have when drinking a shu. So I putted it to my storage box...And year after, when I was digging there, looking for some Shu to enjoy I decided to try it again.

When I have a tea where the smell and look of it promised more then I find in my cup it usually (not always) means that there is something wrong on my side. I mean water, pots I used, timing, and amount of leaves and so on. After several sessions with this Menghai product I find in my cup what I was looking for. Thick syrup which fill up your mouth. There are no those muddy-musty smells and tastes of too wet storage ShuPu. Tastes of sweet walnuts and un-sweet cocoa -it goes from my mouth to my nose and back. I realized that it is better to use bigger amount of leaves -then I can play during infusions and enjoy stronger liquor with footprint of bitterness or lighter one with more nutty and slightly flowery character. 

When I find out that this cake is the Shu as I like it, I asked my friend if this tea is for a sale. But unfortunately the answer was no- he has only few of those cakes and he likes it to much to sell them. So I started to "google" and so far |I find it only at Yunnan Sourcing. But for 148usd? It is too much for me right now -especially for Shu. I find also 2003 7572 for 75usd (for example here ) but in different wrapping...what does it means? I will try to find it out. In the meantime I am going to enjoy this treasure and looking for Shu with similar qualities. 

Enjoy your day

tea time full of memories

We had visitors in our "under construction" new place. Old friends staying here for couple of days- long nights with beers and laugh. Sunny days with walks, chats and teas. One tea experience I have prepared for my friends was session with many personal memories for me. And now, few days later, sitting on my chair I am putting some pieces of those nice memories on my table. When I am looking at them now - all grows from Korea. Or being more precise from my Mungyeong experience on which  I had the opportunity to participate for three times. To make those reminiscences more interesting for you, dear reader, lets boil water, rise a camera and try to take some pictures...

 

First we have a tea bowl here. Recently it is my much-favoured matcha bowl. Here it symbolized people I met during the festival. Those people from which many of them I can call friends now. This piece was created by Elena Renker -Skilled potter from New Zeland. I love here works generally but with this one I knew from the first touch- I am going to like to prepare and drink tea from it.

Light and soft -those words are main but not only positive impresions which pop up in my mind when I am holding it. Very thin wall, sandy clay body with slim shino glaze- It is not "Japanese like" or "Korean like" but still very pleasant with whisked tea.










 Next part of the story is this Matcha...

In Korean you find word Malcha rather than Japanese Matcha. This one was made in Japan for Korean market. It contains 5% of ginseng powder. I saw using ginseng with powdered green tea many years ago here in Czech Republic. Korean tea master (and tea producer) was mixing ginseng and tea powder directly in to the bowl during his exhibition (He was invited to our country by local tea company to promote Korean way of tea) and he told us: "this is how we prepare Matcha in Korea" I was impressed! So years after, during my first visit of Korea, I was looking for this custom. I was not so successful -all Malcha we were treated to was without ginseng. And all my questions stayed without clear answers. 

Then I finally find something -Japanese matcha produced by bigger company called "greencha". It was explained to me that this is made only for Korean market so for sure the habit was not myth or custom of one Korean tea family. I was only not so lucky to meet people who prepare it this way. Anyway I brought few cans back to home and share it with tea drinkers around. If I should compare this special ginseng-matcha mixture with some good matcha I would probably use description of my friend.  He feels that "the ginseng makes it more complete." Earthy taste and energy of ginseng makes tea more "connected to ground". Your body feels good drinking it and your mind is still. Some orthodox matcha drinkers can find it to rough, without fine sweetness of high quality matcha but I like both. Unfortunately when I purchased the same product next year it was apparently made from tea of lower quality.  But as even 5% of ginseng changes it in way I like I enjoy every sip anyway.

Another piece on my table has come to our house like a present...

 
My  friend from Prague learns Korean tea ceremony from Sun Woo Park and she gave him few boxes of "tea ceremony sweets". And we were lucky to got one of them. What a nice savory before few sips of Malcha.

Made mainly from honey, dry fruits and rice - those cookies leave natural feeling in your mouth and prepare your stomach for malcha experience...


















 The things you might not forget when thinking about spring in Mungyeong are threes in blossom -cherry three, apples or rose-bay. As reminder of it I put few blossoms in to the water. In to the woodfired, porcelain bowl with flowers frozen in ash glaze on it.

It was good idea to put those memories back on my table...thank you for reading.

By virtue of dear reader, I can show you here one of 

the new Elena’s chawans. Thank you Ho Go! Pleasant picture of compelling piece...

tea testing

A couple of weeks ago, my friends arrived from their "tea education" trip to China. As guides and companions on this trip they were happy to have owners of the quite new eshop based in Kunming- Cha wang shop. So I have taken an advantage of it and asked my friends to bring me some tea. Every time I look at menu of any new teashop I am tempted to buy some new tea. But especially, when the offer looks honest and interesting it is not easy to choose. So I appreciated the opportunity offered by ChaWangShop to get samples. I asked for few and have got double of it! 

So what should I try like a first? I was feeling if I do not hold back I will open them all at once. At the end I try few readily. But can I choose from 10g of leaves if I should go for whole cake or basket? It can be tricky but I enjoyed the adventure...


First tea I have tried from this selection hit me by label - 98 Maocha from Lincang pressed in to the 400g cake in 2006. That does sounds interesting, doesn't it?  I approached to this tea without any additional informatio.

It was not easy to take picture of those leaves - dark, shiny with moderate pressing.

 

What is it? What is going on? If you were present on my tea section that day you would probably hear these questions several times. When I sniffed from the bag for a first time - dry plume aroma reminds me aged oolongs. But later I realized that there are rather raisins and walnuts. Shiny, dark leaves which crepitate between my fingers. Only from those dry leaves I knew - this is going to be something new in my cup.

 

 rom first sip of the tea I was sure this is not Puer as I know it. I cut the sample in half  - first I prepared it in porcelain wood fired teapot with less leaves and then the second part in small Ixing with less water and shorter brews. For the first time it reminded me a fancy red tea from Georgia I had years ago. Then in smaller pot I find more similarities with some oolongs. Liquor is sweet in both aroma and taste. Raisins and walnuts join herb flowers and scents of flowered devilwood. It will be nearly true that leaves were oxidized, with low or without roasting and then dry stored for many years.  


It will be nearly true that leaves were oxidized, with low or without roasting and then dry stored for many years.  
Looking at leftover leaves you don't find many buds or superfine leaves. Rather larger broken leaves with some stems. None the less I enjoyed five -six good infusions.

 And I was becoming quite sure – This tea is going to be quite difrent/exiting with  more leaves! This tea was not what I asked for and going thru ChawangShop I have not find this cake. So I send my questions to Honza (owner of the shop) and got my answers. "The Maocha is from Lincang-Burma borders and tea businessmen from Kunming found it around 2004. But "material" itself - honestly I don't know and even those discoverers don't know. For sure the tea is old, dry stored and unsorted quality. It reminds me some HeiCha. I have few samples of very expensive, old Sichuan heicha with similar character. On the other hand it is also similar to pressed Formosa TieGuaYin from 1995 I had before. I still work on to get  this tea for eshop. The price should not be too high (around 30-35usd for 400g cake)" 

And I have to say I look forward to it!