I'm very interested in trying some Sichuan Teas. I have a particularly
delicious Sichuan Gong Fu Quality Black Tea from Teaspring; but, I am
wondering if there's more variety available and from
whom................? Greens? (The prices for greens from Sichuan
Province are all over the map, so to speak.). Has anyone had
experience with these greens?
Thanks much!
Happy Sips!
Shen (drinking ITC's luscious Hao Ya)

On Jun 28, 6:36 am, Shen > wrote:
> I'm very interested in trying some Sichuan Teas. I have a particularly
> delicious Sichuan Gong Fu Quality Black Tea from Teaspring; but, I am
> wondering if there's more variety available and from
> whom................? Greens? (The prices for greens from Sichuan
> Province are all over the map, so to speak.). Has anyone had
> experience with these greens?
> Thanks much!
> Happy Sips!
> Shen (drinking ITC's luscious Hao Ya)

The only place I found real sichuan green tea was when I lived there
or when I return there. The rest is riff-raff. Prices are pretty
cheap, though, that's the good news. Gong Fu Black Tea from Sichuan?
That hardly seems accurate...I didn't even see Gongfu Cha until I came
to the South of China.

On Jun 28, 6:36 am, Shen > wrote:
> I'm very interested in trying some Sichuan Teas. I have a particularly
> delicious Sichuan Gong Fu Quality Black Tea from Teaspring;

Mydnight > replied:
>Gong Fu Black Tea from Sichuan?
>That hardly seems accurate...I didn't even see Gongfu Cha until I came
>to the South of China.

Don't Chinese refer to shu Pu Erh as black, and fully fermented tea as red?
And don't lots of people, all over China, gongfu pu erh, even shu?

Best,

Rick.

Dear Shen,

Do please let us all know if you find some more good "sichuan
gongfu" hongcha out there. The best I've had was a very cheap one
from Chengdu itself, which has since all been consumed, and I'm
looking to resupply with something tasty.

Sichuan greens: have you found a good Internet-available Emeishan
Zhuyeqing? Similarly, I'd love to know if so.


Kind regards, and toodlepip,

Hobbes

(Richard Chappell) writes:

> On Jun 28, 6:36 am, Shen > wrote:
> > I'm very interested in trying some Sichuan Teas. I have a particularly
> > delicious Sichuan Gong Fu Quality Black Tea from Teaspring;
>
> Mydnight > replied:
> >Gong Fu Black Tea from Sichuan?
> >That hardly seems accurate...I didn't even see Gongfu Cha until I came
> >to the South of China.
>
> Don't Chinese refer to shu Pu Erh as black, and fully fermented tea as red?
> And don't lots of people, all over China, gongfu pu erh, even shu?

Not only that, but gongfu has more than one meaning. It doesn't only
refer to a brewing method, it also gets used to refer to red tea
itself, or at least, decent red tea. You sometimes see that
transliterated as Congou. I suspect the vendor is using Gongfu in
that sense, or maybe they're saying the tea is good enough ("Gong Fu
*Quality*") for multiple steeps.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

Mydnight wrote:
> The only place I found real sichuan green tea was when I lived there
> or when I return there. The rest is riff-raff. Prices are pretty
> cheap, though, that's the good news. Gong Fu Black Tea from Sichuan?
> That hardly seems accurate...I didn't even see Gongfu Cha until I came
> to the South of China.
>

Mydnight, how do Sichuan people drink their tea? Gaiwan, teapot, or...?

On Jun 28, 5:43 pm, Lewis Perin > wrote:
> (Richard Chappell) writes:
> > On Jun 28, 6:36 am, Shen > wrote:
> > > I'm very interested in trying some Sichuan Teas. I have a particularly
> > > delicious Sichuan Gong Fu Quality Black Tea from Teaspring;
>
> > Mydnight > replied:
> > >Gong Fu Black Tea from Sichuan?
> > >That hardly seems accurate...I didn't even see Gongfu Cha until I came
> > >to the South of China.
>
> > Don't Chinese refer to shu Pu Erh as black, and fully fermented tea as red?
> > And don't lots of people, all over China, gongfu pu erh, even shu?
>
> Not only that, but gongfu has more than one meaning. It doesn't only
> refer to a brewing method, it also gets used to refer to red tea
> itself, or at least, decent red tea. You sometimes see that
> transliterated as Congou. I suspect the vendor is using Gongfu in
> that sense, or maybe they're saying the tea is good enough ("Gong Fu
> *Quality*") for multiple steeps.
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin /

It seems that, in many cases, it means, a superior tea that is good
enough to be served to esteemed guests and, as you said, holds up.
Shen

On Jun 28, 3:04 pm, HobbesOxon > wrote:
> Dear Shen,
>
> Do please let us all know if you find some more good "Sichuan
> gongfu" hongcha out there. The best I've had was a very cheap one
> from Chengdu itself, which has since all been consumed, and I'm
> looking to resupply with something tasty.
>
> Sichuan greens: have you found a good Internet-available Emeishan
> Zhuyeqing? Similarly, I'd love to know if so.
>
> Kind regards, and toodlepip,
>
> Hobbes

Hello Hobbes,
In terms of the black tea, I can honestly say that I am very pleased
with Teaspring's Sichuan Gong Fu Black (I wrote this in another couple
of posts which seems to have been lost en route to the group). It is
rich and dark, very malty with pronounced unsweetened chocolate
overtones. (My thoughts very close to Teaspring's description) One of
my favourites right now!
They even suggest serving it with milk which apparently enhances the
cocoa flavours. They imply it is similar to a blend of Keemun and
Yunnan Golden tips and refer to it as a "very fine Hao Ya".
I did find an Emi Shan green from Sichuan at Golden Teahouse and I
ordered some. I will let you know my (very subjective) opinion when it
arrives. Here's the link: http://www.goldenteahouse.com/Premiu...amboo-Leaf.htm.
You may be able to find similar in your neck of the woods searching
for "Green Bamboo Leaf".
Regards,
Shen

On Jun 29, 11:42 pm, teaholic > wrote:
> Mydnight wrote:
> > The only place I found real sichuan green tea was when I lived there
> > or when I return there. The rest is riff-raff. Prices are pretty
> > cheap, though, that's the good news. Gong Fu Black Tea from Sichuan?
> > That hardly seems accurate...I didn't even see Gongfu Cha until I came
> > to the South of China.
>
> Mydnight, how do Sichuan people drink their tea? Gaiwan, teapot, or...?

About 90 percent of Sichuan people put their pretty green tea in tall
glasses and drink it that way. Not much of a brewing method per say,
but they do fill the cup halfway to let the tea steep a bit before
filling the rest of the glass. Some people use a metal pot or one of
those restaurant-style pots but those are few and far between. Like I
said, I never heard of Gongfu tea in Sichuan and I lived there for
about 8 months.

I also haven't heard Gongfu and red tea in the same sentence before.
The Chinese refer to red tea as red tea and black tea as black tea. I
still get confused about the English terminology for Chinese tea most
of the time though, so forgive me.

Zhu Ye Qing isn't everyone's cup of tea to be honest. Unless you get
a better grade of it, it really can come out rather grassy and
astrigent. The higher grades and the "qie she" grade of the tea can
be wonderful.

Mydnight > writes:

> [...]
> Zhu Ye Qing isn't everyone's cup of tea to be honest. Unless you get
> a better grade of it, it really can come out rather grassy and
> astrigent. The higher grades and the "qie she" grade of the tea can
> be wonderful.

Are you sure you don't mean Que She (sparrow's tongue)?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

> Are you sure you don't mean Que She (sparrow's tongue)?
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin /

Sorry, I left out an "I"? ..


But anyway, that green is really nice. I especially like the "green
bean" flavor...lu dou. It's just a really clean, sweet, and crisp
green tea.

Mydnight wrote:
> But anyway, that green is really nice. I especially like the "green
> bean" flavor...lu dou. It's just a really clean, sweet, and crisp
> green tea.
>

Are you visiting Sichuan anytime soon?

On Jun 30, 11:31 am, teaholic > wrote:
> Mydnight wrote:
> > But anyway, that green is really nice. I especially like the "green
> > bean" flavor...lu dou. It's just a really clean, sweet, and crisp
> > green tea.
>
> Are you visiting Sichuan anytime soon?

Yep, in about 2 weeks. Unfortunately most of the spring tea has
probably been consumed by now, though. Summer tea is pretty low in
quality but still a nice stock tea to have for consumption.

"Shen" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> On Jun 28, 5:43 pm, Lewis Perin > wrote:
>> (Richard Chappell) writes:
>> > On Jun 28, 6:36 am, Shen > wrote:
>> > > I'm very interested in trying some Sichuan Teas. I have a
>> > > particularly
>> > > delicious Sichuan Gong Fu Quality Black Tea from Teaspring;
>>
>> > Mydnight > replied:
>> > >Gong Fu Black Tea from Sichuan?
>> > >That hardly seems accurate...I didn't even see Gongfu Cha until I came
>> > >to the South of China.
>>
>> > Don't Chinese refer to shu Pu Erh as black, and fully fermented tea as
>> > red?
>> > And don't lots of people, all over China, gongfu pu erh, even shu?
>>
>> Not only that, but gongfu has more than one meaning. It doesn't only
>> refer to a brewing method, it also gets used to refer to red tea
>> itself, or at least, decent red tea. You sometimes see that
>> transliterated as Congou. I suspect the vendor is using Gongfu in
>> that sense, or maybe they're saying the tea is good enough ("Gong Fu
>> *Quality*") for multiple steeps.
>>
>> /Lew
>> ---
>> Lew Perin /
>
> It seems that, in many cases, it means, a superior tea that is good
> enough to be served to esteemed guests and, as you said, holds up.
> Shen
>

Upton has a Sichuan Zao Bei Jian listed in their Chinese black tea section
under "Other Congou". I haven't had any for probably a year and a half, but
enjoyed it very much the several times I purchased it. I remember it being
similar to how you described the tea from Teaspring.

Blues