Focused Friday for April, 2019

Events, Focused Fridays
🏮 Focused Friday for April, 2019: 四大紅袍 (4 Dà Hóng Páo Wuyi Wulong)

  • Date & Time: 2019-04-12, 1:00 p.m.
  • Duration: About 2 & 1/2 Hours

Ticket Prices (What’s this?)

Important: After registration closes, I’ll send your ticket and your tasting info to the email address you submit using the form below.
I do this personally; it is not an automated process. I will not use any information you submit for other purposes, unless you give me permission to do so in the form. Thank you!

Things To Know:

  • The intent of Focused Fridays is to provide a quiet environment where we can all learn by giving our full attention to the tea.
  • For every PDX TEA event, please keep yourself as free as possible from any fragrances, including “natural” fragrances. :)
  • To keep your palate clear, I suggest avoiding dairy the day of the event.
  • I also suggest avoiding any toothpaste containing SLS — sodium laurel/laureth sulfate. (SLS can temporarily suppress your ability to perceive sweetness.)
  • I’ll provide a special place for you to put your cell phone during the event. (You’re welcome to take notes on paper, and pictures before and after.)
  • The PDX TEA Room is a shoes-off environment.

Registration Terms:

I create PDX TEA events with great love and attention, through many hours of research, practice, and preparation; procurement of tea, production of materials, printing of handouts, planning of dog care, and so on. The following guidelines help me maintain the high standard of your experience, and the sustainability of my organization:

  1. All events are pre-registration only. (No at-the-door ticket sales.)
  2. Registration ends 48 hours before the event’s start time.
  3. Each event has a maximum of 7 guests, and a minimum of 3 guests.
  4. If an event does not have 3 guests registered by the time registration ends, I may choose to reschedule or cancel the event. (If I cancel it, I will promptly refund you your money via PayPal.)
  5. If you want to register, but the cutoff time has passed, please contact me directly by text message, as soon as possible, at (971) 258-2832. (Yes, that’s 971 Club Tea. :)
Thank you so much for understanding the importance of these considerations!

 

About Focused Fridays

Friday turned out to be a surprisingly popular time to have events, so this year, I’m going to use it to do tastings and classes that fall somewhere in-between the Talkin’ Tea Tuesday vibe and the Silent Saturday vibe. We’ll often explore comparisons — weather of teas, techniques, ideas, or practices — that will help you get the feel for important aspects of tea.

We may talk, but mostly we’ll observe.

For April’s Focused Friday, we’ll be sampling four 大紅袍 (Dà Hóng Páo). Dà Hóng Páo is the most famous of the (roughly) 6 famous varieties of 岩茶 (yán chá — cliff tea). Yán chá is the distinctive, heavily oxidized, deeply roasted wulong style of the Wuyi Mountain area of Fujian Province. Dà Hóng Páo means “Big Red Robe,” and is a much-storied, much-coveted, and rarely authentic tea. We’ll explore what that means during the event.

Talkin’ Tea Tuesday for April, 2019

Events, Talkin' Tea Tuesdays
🏮 Talkin’ Tea Tuesday for April, 2019: 三肉桂 (3 Ròuguì Wuyi Wulong)

  • Date & Time: 2019-04-09, 1:00 p.m.
  • Duration: About 2 & 1/2 Hours

Ticket Prices (What’s this?)

Important: After registration closes, I’ll send your ticket and your tasting info to the email address you submit using the form below.
I do this personally; it is not an automated process. I will not use any information you submit for other purposes, unless you give me permission to do so in the form. Thank you!


 
Things To Know:

  • Talkin’ Tea Tuesdays are casual and fun, but please do respect the tea, and other participants’ experience.
  • For every PDX TEA event, please keep yourself as free as possible from any fragrances, including “natural” fragrances. :)
  • To keep your palate clear, I suggest avoiding dairy the day of the event.
  • I also suggest avoiding any toothpaste containing SLS — sodium laurel/laureth sulfate. (SLS can temporarily suppress your ability to perceive sweetness.)
  • I’ll provide a special place for you to put your cell phone during the event. (You’re welcome to take notes on paper, and pictures before and after.)
  • The PDX TEA Room is a shoes-off environment.

 
Registration Terms:

I create PDX TEA events with great love and attention, through many hours of research, practice, and preparation; procurement of tea, production of materials, printing of handouts, planning of dog care, and so on. The following guidelines help me maintain the high standard of your experience, and the sustainability of my organization:

  1. All events are pre-registration only. (No at-the-door ticket sales.)
  2. Registration ends 48 hours before the event’s start time.
  3. Each event has a maximum of 7 guests, and a minimum of 3 guests.
  4. If an event does not have 3 guests registered by the time registration ends, I may choose to reschedule or cancel the event. (If I cancel it, I will promptly refund you your money via PayPal.)
  5. If you want to register, but the cutoff time has passed, please contact me directly by text message, as soon as possible, at (971) 258-2832. (Yes, that’s 971 Club Tea. :)
Thank you so much for understanding the importance of these considerations!

 

About Talkin’ Tea Tuesdays

Tuesdays’ events have been consistently fun gatherings, anchored by a lovely, sociable group of regulars. Rather than always using these to highlight monthly featured teas, as I did last year, I’m going to change it up a bit, month to month. Featured teas will still make appearances, but we’ll also do tastings that are just for fun, just for learning, or along other lines as appropriate to the group, season, et cetera.

We’ll taste, discuss, and enjoy several teas in a convivial atmosphere.

For April’s Talkin’ Tea Tuesday, we’ll be sampling three 肉桂 (Ròuguì). Ròuguì is one of the (roughly) 6 famous varieties of 岩茶 (yán chá — cliff tea). Yán chá is the distinctive, heavily oxidized, deeply roasted wulong style of the Wuyi Mountain area of Fujian Province. Ròuguì means “cinnamon,” or “cassia,” and has a characteristic cinnamon-like fragrance, flavor, and texture in the mouth.

2018-11: Yěshēng Cuìfēng Gāoshān & Tài Zhuān Shúchá

Featured Teas
🏮 Saturday Tasting:

  • 2018-11-10, 1:00 p.m.
  • $9.00*

Important: Registration closes 12 hours before the event’s start time. I’ll send your ticket and tasting info to the email address associated with your PayPal account. If it’s not an active address, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page. Thank you!

 

🏮 Tuesday Tasting:

  • 2018-11-13, 1:00 p.m.
  • $9.00*

Important: Registration closes 12 hours before the event’s start time. I’ll send your ticket and tasting info to the email address associated with your PayPal account. If it’s not an active address, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page. Thank you!

 

🏮 Thursday Tasting:

  • 2018-11-15, 1:00 p.m.
  • $9.00*

Important: Registration closes 12 hours before the event’s start time. I’ll send your ticket and tasting info to the email address associated with your PayPal account. If it’s not an active address, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page. Thank you!

 

🏮 Friday Tasting:

  • 2018-11-16, 1:00 p.m.
  • $9.00*

Important: Registration closes 12 hours before the event’s start time. I’ll send your ticket and tasting info to the email address associated with your PayPal account. If it’s not an active address, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page. Thank you!

 

About The Teas

* Lucky Bags are here! Starting now (and continuing until they’re all gone), everyone who comes to a PDX TEA class or tasting can get Lucky Bags (福袋)! Find out more here: pdxtea.org/blog/lucky-bags

2018 Yěshēng Cuìfēng Gāoshān

野生翠峰高山 — Wild Grown Jade Peak High Mountain

I’ve got something a little unusual, and more than a little special to me: it’s a wild-grown gāoshān (high mountain wulong) that Casey’s (my partner) dad hand-carried for us from Taiwan. And, it is lovely! It’s thick & sweet, and it tastes, smells, and — perhaps most of all — feels much gentler than your average gāoshānchá. I’m really looking forward to sharing it with you.

c. 2003 Tài Zhuān (Shúchá)

泰砖熟茶 — Thailand Storage Ripe Brick

I bought these very pleasant, very affordable shúchá bricks from a tea producer based in Northern Thailand when my friends Chloé, Ana, and I met him back in 2015. With over 10 years of storage close to the southern border of Yunnan (along with another few in Portland), this tea brews up dark, sweet, clear, and potent.
 

IMPORTANT:

If the email address associated with your PayPal account is not active, you will not receive your ticket, and other information necessary for your participation in this event.

If you need to receive this information at a different address, please submit the form below.  Thank you!

2018-10-21: Book Group Meeting!

free events

2018-10-21
(Third Sunday Of Each Month)
1:00 p.m. — 3:30 p.m.
PDX TEA: 5328 Northeast Cleveland Avenue (map)

🏮 Look for the red lanterns! 🏮

Free! Registration Required. (Find out why here.)

 
Every 3rd Sunday of the month, we meet to discuss a tea book we’re reading as a group, and — of course — drink tea!

You can find general information about the book group here: pdxtea.org/events/books

Our first selection is Okakura Kakuzō’s The Book of Tea. For our meeting on October 21st, we’re reading through the end of the book.

You can learn more about this wonderful book-length essay here: pdxtea.org/2018/07/07/okakura-kakuzo-the-book-of-tea

TO REGISTER:
Use the contact form below, and we’ll get you going.

PLEASE REMEMBER: If you don’t submit either a cell number or email address, we won’t be able to contact you! :)

2018-10: Qimen Hongcha & Muzha Tie Guanyin

Featured Teas
🏮 Tuesday Tasting:

  • 2018-10-09, 1:00 p.m.
  • $10.00*

Important: You’ll receive your ticket and tasting info at the email address associated with your PayPal account. If it’s not an active address, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page. Thank you!

 

🏮 Saturday Tasting:

  • 2018-10-13, 1:00 p.m.
  • $10.00*

Important: You’ll receive your ticket and tasting info at the email address associated with your PayPal account. If it’s not an active address, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page. Thank you!

* Your ticket also entitles you to a 5% discount on purchase of featured teas!
 

About The Teas

In the Japanese tea calendar, October is considered the most wabi month. This month often marks Portland’s transition to a chill and withered feeling as well.

It’s been a bit of a journey for me to learn to truly appreciate this season: my associations with it have not always been the best. But, I can say without hyperbole that teas like these two are part of why my heart now thrills at the first crisps of autumn in the air.

2018 Qímén Hóngchá

祁門紅茶 — Qimen (Keemun) Red (Black) Tea

Qimen is one of those massive names in Chinese tea: so famous that everyone wants a piece of the action. While it can be said of just about every style that the vast majority of examples are, frankly, pretty bad, it’s especially true of these super-famous ones.

This is not the best Qimen (I’m working on that for next year :), but it’s really good, and really affordable. And, it may help you understand why you can’t assume you know a style after trying just one or two instances of it.

2004 Mùzhà Tǐe Guānyīn

木柵鐵觀音 — Tie Guan Yin Wulong of Muzha, Taiwan

This Tie Guan Yin is wonderfully typical of the Muzha style, with incredibly deep, soft roast. It’s also somewhat atypical, in that its wettish storage has given it a hint of almost pu’er-like 陳味 (chén wèi — aged taste).

張先生 (Mr. Zhāng), who made and aged this tea, is a great grower/producer. He operates his small farm, production, and roasting operations with skill, care, and attention. (You may be familiar with some of his other teas through Shiuwen Tai [floatingleaves.com], who introduced me to him.)

I strongly encourage you to sample his craft!
 

IMPORTANT:

If the email address associated with your PayPal account is not active, you will not receive your ticket, and other information necessary for your participation in this event.

If you need to receive this information at a different address, please submit the form below.  Thank you!

2018-09-16: Book Group Meeting!

free events

2018-09-16
(Third Sunday Of Each Month)
1:00 p.m. — 3:30 p.m.
PDX TEA: 5328 Northeast Cleveland Avenue (map)

🏮 Look for the red lanterns! 🏮

Free! Registration Required. (Find out why here.)

 
Every 3rd Sunday of the month, we meet to discuss a tea book we’re reading as a group, and — of course — drink tea!

You can find general information about the book group here: pdxtea.org/events/books

Our first selection is Okakura Kakuzō’s The Book of Tea. For our meeting on September 16th, we’re reading through the end of Chapter 4.

You can learn more about this wonderful book-length essay here: pdxtea.org/2018/07/07/okakura-kakuzo-the-book-of-tea

TO REGISTER:
Use the contact form below, and we’ll get you going.

PLEASE REMEMBER: If you don’t submit either a cell number or email address, we won’t be able to contact you! :)

2018-09: Mogan Huang Ya & Xiaguan “Song He”

Featured Teas
🏮 Tuesday Tasting:

  • 2018-09-11
  • 1:00 p.m.
  • $10.00*
  • Important: You’ll receive your ticket and tasting info at your PayPal email address — please be sure it’s an active address!

 

🏮 Saturday Tasting:

  • 2018-09-15
  • 2:30 p.m.
  • $10.00*
  • Important: You’ll receive your ticket and tasting info at your PayPal email address — please be sure it’s an active address!

 
* Your ticket also entitles you to a 5% discount on purchase of featured teas!
 

About The Teas

September is such a beautiful month in Portland: a certain thrill of change in the morning air’s chill; perhaps a touch of melancholy in the afternoon sun’s long, lazy slant.

2018 Mògàn Huáng Yá
(莫幹黃芽 — Mt. Mogan Yellow Bud)

With its fragrance of sweet hay, its shining, golden sparkle, and its thick, warming soup, 2018’s Mògàn Huáng Yá reflects all of that, and is a perfect way to welcome these transitional months.

This yellow tea (黃茶 — huángchá) also has a very interesting herstory, as it’s production has become a sort of matrilineal heritage in the family that makes it.

2002 Xiàguān Tuóchá “Sōng Hè”
(“松鹤” — “Pine & Crane”)

When I revisited the 2002 Sōng Hè Tuó from Xiàguān to see if it was the right tea for September, I almost decided to just keep them all for myself.  It’s really a wonderful tea.

I regularly warn people to be very choosy with ripe pu’er (熟茶 — shúchá), as it often isn’t great.  But, after an additional 15+ years of storage…

Well, I’ll just let it speak to you directly at the tasting.  I think you’ll find this is a perfect tea for cool Autumn mornings, and long Autumn afternoons.

2018-08-11: 普洱課 :-: Pǔ’ěr Class

classes

2018-08-11
Saturday
12:30 p.m. — 3:30 p.m.
PDX TEA: 5328 Northeast Cleveland Avenue (map)

🏮 Look for the red lanterns! 🏮

Tickets Required.

 

 

Beyond The Basics Class: Pǔ’ěr (普洱)

Pǔ’ěr is a vast, and a truly wonderful category of tea. These teas can be at once profoundly magical, and profoundly down-to-earth. It also remains one of the categories which is most poorly understood by Western tea drinkers.

With this class, I hope to give you a framework on which to begin building your own understanding of pǔ’ěr. We’ll look at how these teas are produced, stored, prepared, and consumed, as well as how pǔ’ěr fits into the broader world of tea. And, perhaps more importantly, we’ll drink some really nice ones!

The slides, handouts, and discussion will begin to familiarize you with the unique place pǔ’ěr occupies in tea cultures, histories, and economies within China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Overseas Chinese communities.

We’ll also discuss — and start to observe — several factors of quality, including regional and processing differences, tree age, leaf age, finished tea age, and storage style.

The hands-on elements will introduce you to a few of the nearly unlimited possibilities within the world of pǔ’ěr, and make use of some helpful vocabulary to guide our focus towards the textures, flavors, fragrances, and sensations which make pǔ’ěr so special.

Your ticket includes tastings of young and aged shúchá (熟茶 — “ripe” pu’er), young and aged shēngchá (生茶 — “raw” pu’er), your informational handout, and a 10% discount if you’d like to buy any of the teas we sample during this class.

My intention is that, after attending the class, you’ll feel better equipped to explore this wonderful category of tea on your own, as well as more comfortable conversing with, and learning from, people who grew up with pǔ’ěr teas and tea cultures.

 

2018-08-19: PDX TEA’s First Book Group Meeting!

free events

2018-08-19
(Third Sunday Of Each Month, Beginning August 19th)
1:00 p.m. — 3:30 p.m.
PDX TEA: 5328 Northeast Cleveland Avenue (map)

🏮 Look for the red lanterns! 🏮

Free! Registration Required. (Find out why here.)

Every 3rd Sunday of the month, we meet to discuss a tea book we’re reading as a group, and — of course — drink tea!

You can find general information about the book group here: pdxtea.org/events/books

Our first selection is Okakura Kakuzō’s The Book of Tea.  You can learn more about that wonderful book-length essay here: pdxtea.org/2018/07/07/okakura-kakuzo-the-book-of-tea

TO REGISTER:
Use the contact form below, and we’ll get you going.

PLEASE REMEMBER: If you don’t submit either a cell number or email address, we won’t be able to contact you! :)