Showing posts with label oolong tea making. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oolong tea making. Show all posts

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Taiwan Day 5 Finish Hands On Tea Making

After processing tea all night, we arrived at our hotel around 2:30 a.m. I knew we were staying around the Sun Moon Lake area, but since we had checked it so late, I had no idea we were right on the lake.  Here is the peaceful view I woke up to the next morning.  It was almost magical looking as the fog was lifting off the lake and the sun was just peaking over the mountains.  Although I could have enjoyed many cups of tea while watching the sun come up, I still had tea of my own to finish processing.

After a quick breakfast at the hotel, our group was back to TRES to finish our tea. Although I was tired, I was anxious to finish my hands-on experience in making oolong.  When we got there, a worker was already busy finishing the next step of the processing.  Each one in the group got a chance to "bag" the tea.  Below are some of my highlights.  After the tea comes out of the steamer, it is wrapped in a canvas bag.  The fragrant aroma of the freshly steamed tea leaves was lovely. 



It was fascinating to see how the tea was tied up in the canvas into a ball. You can see me tightening the tea ball above on a machine that twist the canvas bag into a tight ball. Then the canvas wrapped tea was placed on a rolling machine and allowed to roll around which is seen below. This process of steaming, bagging, and rolling happens repeatedly.


I have to admit that we cheated just a bit in our hands on tea making experience.  For sake of time, our group left the rest of the rolling and the final baking up to Tea Master Steve and his team of workers.  However, the opportunity to get to be a part of making tea with all of the steps and to work with Tea Master Steve Huang, was UNFORGETABLE. 

We bid farewell to our new friend Steve and headed out to our next learning adventures.  We were treated to a wonderful film at Lugu Farmers Association and Visitors Center.  There they also had a museum that we toured.  Inside the museum they had a typical tea farmers house.  Our host/guide Thomas Shu told us that he grew up in a house very similar to the replica at the museum. 


After a wonderful taste of their teas, we were off to the Ling Ji Tea Garden.  It was there we were introduced to this interesting way of brewing their tea through ice.  The ice is at the top and it drips down into the tea leaves which is in the second chamber.  It then is collected at the bottom and put into containers to drink.  I have never seen this before and wonder if it is done here in the US at all????



The owner of this tea shop had set up a cupping for us on the most exquisite table.  Her unique approach to tea was based on a 1-10 baking of oolongs.  The flavors were wonderful and I was enticed to buy her #8 which I thought was floral and delicious!
After a lovely dinner, we headed to a new hotel for some much needed rest.  The next day was going to be a treat as we headed to the Shan-Lin-Si Tea District and the AliShan Tea District.  The views and the tea fields were breathtaking.  I was literally "in the clouds" on top of a mountain. 

I hope you are enjoying my trip to Taiwan virtually!  Does anyone want to go to Taiwan now?  How about trying your hand at making your own tea?

Happy Sipping, Lisa

Monday, November 22, 2010

Taiwan Day 4-Organic Tea Farming & Hands On Tea Making

This was the beginning of an exciting day for me.  Our group headed out on a bus to the area in central Taiwan known as Sun Moon Lake.  It was there we were to work with Tea Master Steve Huang at the TRES/Yuchi Branch to make our very own classic Tung Ting Oolong sometimes known as Amber Oolong. TRES stands for Taiwan Research and Experiment Station.  It is a governement run agency to support the tea industry and farming in Taiwan. 

Along the way we stopped off to see some tea fields in Minjiem to learn a little more about organic tea farming practices.  The organic tea fields were beautiful and surrounded by other plants such as palm trees and pineapple. This was a first for me to see a pineapple farm!

 

Some of what we saw being used was large plastic sticky yellow cylinders to catch unwanted bugs. This helps to keep the "healthy bugs" alive. The "healthy bugs" are those that kill off the predator bugs that eat the leaves of the tea plants and in organic fields they are one of things used in lieu of pesticides. 



Another practice we saw being used is fluorescent lights used at night to keep the bugs at bay.

I learned so much on this trip about how farmers are implementing organic practices into growing tea.  I am amazed at the dedication of farmers to give us pesticide-free tea.  I had to bid farewell to these tea fields and head on to one of the most exciting adventures of the trip for me.  We were off to make tea (below).  We exchanged our large bus for three smaller vans to allow us to get around in the mountains.  As we approached our destination, we looked out the window at Sun Moon Lake (. It was beautiful and we would see it again from our hotel, but not before our long night of tea making was done.



We pulled up into the TRES which was surrounded by beautiful tea fields seen below.


Then we walked over to the tea leaves that had been plucked for us. They had already started their outdoor solar withering process.  These are the leaves that we would spend the next 14 hours working with to process them into tea. 


While the leaves were withering outdoors, we had an opportunity to visit a black tea processing plant on the same facility and eat a quick lunch.  Then it was off to tend to our tea leaves to bring them in for the indoor withering time.   



 Upon moving the teas indoors we put them on large baskets and laid them out on racks. The tea leaves would sit for a while and then we would need to go back and "hand fluff the tea" 3 times; each time with a little more intensity.










Here is our Tea Master Steve showing our group how to "fluff."

Then it was up to us to fluff our own.  You need to maneuver your basket so all the tea leaves are towards the center.  Once the tea leaves are in the middle you then go back and forth with your hands to fluff.  This was easier said than done as these baskets are quite large.  Below are some pictures of me trying to follow Tea Master Steve's fluffing instructions!




After each fluffing, the tea leaves were allowed to rest on the bamboo baskets on the racks.  I wish you could smell how wonderful the room was where we were processing our tea.  It reminded me of my days growing up in Florida and walking through orange groves when all the orange blossoms were blooming.  It was amazing to me how floral-smelling just leaves can be. 


For the fourth and fifth fluffing of the leaves, it would be done in a large bamboo tumbler pictured above.  The first time in the tumbler it would be a slower and shorter time.  Our Tea Master Steve tells us that he judges how long the tea is in the tumbler based on smell.  Then the tea goes back to the bamboo baskets for another rest.  The next time it would go into the tumbler it would be double the speed and for a longer period of time.  Steve lets us know the time is done with fluffing in the tumbler when the aroma is at its high point and the grassy smell is at its low point.  The leaves were then left to oxidize in the bamboo baskets for a time. 


In between each session of processing our tea leaves, we went back to the classroom for more training on tea processing.  It was there that we also cupped teas (professional way of tasting teas).  I felt honored to be learning from the Head Tea Master in Taiwan.  There is a five year wait for farmers to get into the training facility to learn from him!  We also were able to sneak in a quick dinner in town during one of our wait times.

During one of our learning sessions, Steve presented each of us with a gift.  It is our name written in Chinese down the center with the date to the left and in small letters to the right, "I am happy to make this for you."  I took several pictures of it and would love to make a pillow using a photo transfer to remember Steve and my time making tea!
After the tea was allowed to oxidize for about 3 hours roughly 12 1/2 hours had passed since we had begun working with the tea leaves.  It was past midnight when we started the next phase of processing which was panning and drying.  To the left is the panning machine. 
Here are the tea leaves that have come out of the panning machine and are now being rolled. The worker is twisting the lever at the top which adjusts the tension placed on the tea leaves.
After the leaves are done with pan firing they go into the dryer.  When the leaves were put into the drying machines, they were still quite clumped up.  Here I am below "unclumping" the leaves as they are on the go on the conveyor belt into the drying machine.


We were all so excited to see our leaves come out the of dryer as that meant we were finished for the night.  However, we were not finished with the tea, as we would need to come back the next morning for the next steps.   

 

After studying tea for over ten years, working hands-on to actually make oolong tea myself was an amazing experience.  Understanding all the leaf goes through physically and chemically, as well as, how much effort is put into it by the tea master, makes me appreciate what is in my cup each day so much more.  I was told that by the time a consumer makes a pot of specialty tea,
880 people have handled and put effort into getting it into your cup

As this post is going up on Thanksgiving week, I thought it would be important to express my gratitude for having the opportunity to go on this trip and for all those that helped put it together, especially Thomas Shu, Josephine Pan, and Jackson Huang. Their dedication to teaching others about tea is unwavering!  I hope my blog has helped those of you that love tea like I do, to appreciate all those who work so hard to give you something special to drink everyday. 
Did you have any idea the effort it took for you to drink good cup of tea? 

On a personal level, I am so grateful to my family, especially my husband Joe, for supporting my career.  He encouraged me to go on this trip even though it coincided with our 20-year wedding anniversary.  We just celebrated our special day last weekend-one month late, but none the less special! 

In my next couple of blogs, I will finish making the tea and then off to the Ali Shan Mountains to show you some of the most beautiful tea fields in the world! 

Happy Thanksgiving and Sipping, Lisa