A Tea Addict's Journal

It’s Saturday, which means I go to Maliandao.

These days I don’t have as much adventure spirit as when I first started going there. I think I’ve come to realize that most stores sell similar things. Once in a while, I’ll see something interesting and sit down and try, like the Bulang that became sample 1. Most of the time, however, I don’t really feel like it anymore, as most of the cakes look rather…. mediocre.

So my frequent destination is L’s store in Beijing, co-owned by the very friendly Xiaomei. She said she wanted to try some Guafeng Zhai tea from Yiwu area, so I brought along the Chen Guang He Tang Yiwu Chawang, which is supposedly Guafeng Zhai, for her to try.

The tea actually turned out better than the last two times I’ve had it. It’s smoother today, for some reason. Perhaps we used a little less leaves. It’s a little weak in the aftertaste, although she thought the huigan is nice. I’m glad she liked the tea, although she didn’t like the price so much. Understandable, as that’s a price that automatically builds a lot of shipping charges into it, on top of the tea itself. Hard to be impressed when shipping costs almost nothing in China.

Then some folks came along, and she opened up a Jingmai cake, took out a very beautiful teapot, and brewed it. She got this teapot from L’s financial backer in Shanghai, who deals in the ceramics/pottery business. I have to say I would buy this pot in a heartbeat.

Sorry about the slightly blurry picture in the last one. I especially like the contrast of yellow and blue, and also the little ring around the handle on the lid is a nice touch. The ugly lighter is there for scale. I apologize for the ugliness.

The Jingmai is very nice, although I felt it was a little weak, but the amount of tea used probably had something to do with it. Regardless, it was a nice sight seeing the pot in action.

There are some beautiful leaves in the Jingmai as well.

I had originally planned to go find some Keemun red tea shop to do some studying, so I went around the tea market that Xiaomei’s store is in to find one. No such thing. As it was getting late and all the other tea markets closed, I went to Chayuan. Again…. not a single Keemun store in sight. I think I have to go to the more retail oriented ones to find a good Keemun store for me to do my studying. Oh well, next time.