It’s very obvious, I have exhausted my readership with reports from World Tea Expo 2012.
I promise this is the last one and I truly saved the best for last. I took the opportunity to attend a presentation given by Thomas Shu “Ambassador of Taiwan Teas” at ABC Teas’ booth.
In addition to general interest, I was sent with regards to Mr. Shu from Michael Coffey, Tea Geek.
Michael the wonderful host of the Sunday evening “Tea Salon” had also announced that the ascribed tea for our meeting would be a Taiwanese Black Tea, so I had to search for one. I felt it would be unacceptable of me to come back home from, as iheartteas aptly described WTE as “wandering through streets of candy” the candy streets of tea, without the proper tea for the Sunday meeting.
When I mentioned Mr. Coffey, Mr.Shu’s eyes lit up and said very nice Mr. Coffey from Washington, yes? I confirmed that this was indeed the Mr. Coffey that was sending regards.
I sauntered over to a table in the “Teas From Taiwan” section and located a booth which had black and oolong offerings. The proprietor was more interested in discussing the oolongs with the potential buyers although I noticed he only had three cans of black tea remaining.
By the way when I opened the can the aroma was mesmerizing and the leaves large and full “score’!
I purchased a can and took my seat for the presentation.
This presentation was to be truly special as one of my “friends in the leaf” was also participating. I never, whenever possible, pass up an opportunity to show support for my dear friends.
The combination presentation styles of both Mr. Huang and Mr. Shu was relaxed, lighthearted and captivating, such ease, I could have listened for a much longer time and was saddened when it came to an end.
The panel presenting “Green Teas From Taiwan” was hosted by Mr. Shu and included panelists Tea Master; Jackson Huang, Julia Matson; Bingley’s Teas and Darlene Meyers-Perry; The Tea Enhusiast’s Scrapbook/Tea Lover’s Archives.
Both Julia and Darlene were brewing the tea while both Mr. Shu and Mr. Huang gave an overview of the cultivation and processing of the tea.
The first tea we sampled was Pi Luo Chun, a China style green with hints of Japanese sencha and light oolong. The strong aroma was reminiscent of a baked smell and a scent of freshly cut grass, the flavor was mild, sweet, not overly green.
Second to the cup was Taiwan Dragonwell, Mr. Shu told the legend of how Dragon well was named. I found a variation on Wikipedia ”
“Longjing, which literally translates as “dragon well,” is said to have named after a well that contains relatively dense water, and after rain the lighter rainwater floating on its surface sometimes exhibits a sinuous and twisting boundary with the well water, which is supposed to resemble the movement of a Chinese dragon.”
This Dragonwell style tea sampling had a distinct nutty flavor, reminiscent of chestnut, pine nuts and green leaf. We were told it can endure multiple steeps.
Lastly we sampled a powdered green tea Micro-Green Tea 300. This green is from the same cultivar as oolong and is very mild and different from Matcha. It is said to be a superior high quality powder green tea which has been steam fired.
For preparing and enjoying suggestions, we were encouraged to mix this green in a wine glass. Darlene prepared it well.
I have also included a video demonstrating the preparation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zo0S1DKjGk
In addition for more information on this tea you can check this website PonFonCha
At the end of the most enjoyable presentation the ladies were given gifts for their participation, lovely.
Well I think this does it for my World Tea Expo reports, although you can never tell as it was a world wind trip I may have something in my bag that once sampled I may choose to report. I’m also thinking of doing a possible review of micro-green 300 and matcha but believe me that is far in the future.
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A black tea but you drank green ones?
It seems that the World Tea Expo is such a fascinating adventure.
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The presentation was focused on green teas. I took the black tea home and am drinking some now.
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Oh, you haven’t exhausted us at all with your lovely posts Jo! Yours and @iheartteas‘ accounts make fun reading. Wonder if anyone else on here sauntered over to “Teas from Taiwan” or the presentation? @teapages? @joysteaspoon? In any case Taiwanese Oolongs are among my favorites.
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I’m so glad you got to experience this. Thomas Shu is truly a gift to the world. What a magnificent soul. And I completely missed Darlene this trip. I was so disappointed when I noticed a picture of her on Thomas’s page and realized we’d been just one aisle away from each other!
I did not get to attend any of Thomas’s many, MANY presentations but since our booth was so near I did get to hear him sing and caught bits and pieces of several of the talks. I am amazed with the richness and expansiveness of what he was able to offer.
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@Jopj You can never exhaust me. There was just so much to see, so much to experience at the Expo that personally it was a touch overwhelming to put down on paper. So for me it will come in stages. Though everytime I read your posts I notice how the two of us at the same place at the same time can still have such different experiences. Especially considering we spent a pretty good amount of time together. I wish I had stopped over to the ABC Teas booth. I remember you told to head over there and just say Michael Coffey sent me. I imagine at just the mear mention of his name music plays and a secret door leading to the most amazing teas opens in front of you with a stream of bright sunlight and red carpet rolls out immediately. Next, time I’ll be sure to make it a point. Reading your posts just makes me think, with all those people there how each of their experiences varied so greatly from mine and some even shared. So please keep the stories coming there is still much more “candy” we haven’t even talked about.
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Thank you for sharing Jo. I certainly echo Katrina’s sentiment about Thomas Shu. He is certainly a generous chap with time, knowledge and energy. He symbolises all that should be in the tea world. He is a very humble chap and I learned a lot from the small chat I had with him earlier this year and I feel truly privileged to have spoken with him. I really enjoyed reading this post, Jo, thank you for taking the time to writing it. I love learning about countries producing teas not normally associated with that country, and I can’t wait for the opportuni-tea to taste them too. Pi Luo Chun, Dragonwell from Taiwan – they sound so appealing! Thanks again.