How would you describe the difference between sencha from Shizuoka and sencha from Kagoshima, for instance?

I also have found some sources, like Wikipedia (which I do not trust because their article on this type of tea is largely unsourced) which says that it can be either pan-fired or steamed.

I'm wondering if anyone knows about this type of tea, and can verify (a source that I could trust would be great) that they're just different names for the same thing, or if not, explain the distinction...and also, explain...can this type of tea really be either pan-fired or steamed...and is it still called the same name in both cases?

Guessing would be 90s, and seems similar to this tea [no - I did not pay that price for it]:
http://store.thechineseteashop.com/Prod … =LA-92-001

[click for larger image]

Thought I'd post it here, for everyone's edification, as well as to spark some discussion. I'd love to hear more information about the liubao production process.

They [liu'an and liubao] are made in different areas, and I believe, made with different raw materials and different production methods. However, they are fairly similar; people with a lot of experience can probably usually tell them apart, though I've heard that, while liu'an had a gap in production, liubao in liu'an size baskets was sometimes sold as liu'an. Both can have some medicinal / herbal tastes, and both are said to aid in digestion and help with constipation. From what I can gather, liu'an basket tea may be considered "cooling" [information based on article mentioned below], however, whereas liubao may be "warming" [numerous internet sources, but nothing super reliable].

The liu'an that I've experienced is usually in a 500g basket. Liubao baskets are often, but not always, much, much larger (up to 20 kilos for a single basket). Liubao is also more recently sometimes pressed into cakes which resemble pu'er cakes.

According to the article described here in issue 5 of Art of Tea [pp10-15], liu'an has two production techniques. Both start with kill-green, like green tea or pu'er. For the first method (I guess you would say more like sheng pu'er), the tea is put into bamboo leaves and then baskets, and roasted in the basket to dry them. For the second method, the tea leaves are withered in the sun, kill-greened, and then rested for about half a year. Then, water is added, and the tea is wrapped / packed in the bamboo leaves and basket. The tea "ferments" like this, and then the baskets are dried.

The article also says that the tea is made in Qimen (祁门) in the south part of Anhui；same Qimen as Qimen (Keemun) red tea), but doesn't have a conclusive explanation as to why it's not produced in Liu'an (六安), which is in the west. My understanding from the article is that it likely does not use the same type of tea leaf as liuan guapian, and that further, that liu'an basket tea has been produced for a longer time than liuan guapian.

The inside is bamboo leaf, not bamboo bark (of the sort used for pu'er tongs). It's customary to brew a small piece of the bamboo leaf along with the tea. In my experience, the "raw" variety can be pretty bitter when young.

There is also liuan guapian, which is a famous green tea, also from Anhui.

Liubao is made in Guangxi. I don't know much about the manufacturing process; I believe it is similar in a lot of ways to liu'an.  I don't know how accurate this description is, but this article claims that liubao is partially oxidized after kill-green. I can believe that it's partly oxidized, but not sure whether bruising will work after kill-green.
See also:
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=2675
http://teadrunk.org/post/141/#p141

Two other articles in the same issue [pp 4-9, pp 16-26] are a bit more specific on the dates where there was a gap in production of Liu'an basket tea. The gap seems to have been from about 1943, until demand from HK and SE Asia caused production to be re-started in the mid-80s. So, be skeptical of any Liu'an that's supposed to have been produced in between those times.

This other article also mentions a couple of other interesting teas sold by HK tea merchants which might be confused with Liu'an basket tea [let me know if I've got any of the information, characters, or translations wrong]:

"Nice [read fragrant] Liu-an" (香六安): The article says that this is loose-leaf pu'er [so, not liu'an at all] blended with Aglaia odorata (米仔兰, I believe) flowers, and, in some cases, black or green tea leaves [I don't know whether they mean "red" or "black" in Chinese terms, but assume red]. Cloud's article [pp 16-26] suggests that this actually originated from a practice used to improve the taste of Liu'an green tea that had to travel a great distance.

Liu-an Stems (六安骨): [骨 is literally "bone", I believe, but correct me if I'm wrong] Apparently oolong stems, which are then roasted. No relation to actual liu'an teas. These are not on the market anymore for the most part, because oolongs now have the stems removed before being sent to HK, rather than being shipped there with the stems on, to have them removed before sale.

Also some mention of these last two at
http://www.discuss.com.hk/viewthread.php?tid=12878484 [in Chinese only]

A co-worker of mine, after reading the LA Times article, asked me about some pu'er cakes (not an intact stack, but about 5-6 of them) that have been in her in-laws family for quite some time. They purchased them in the 1960s in Vancouver, and the cakes were apparently somewhat aged already at that time.  The original wrapper was removed, and replaced by a card from a HK tea business called 鸿昌泰. This was common back then when exporting tea -- I have some tea from the 60s which has the same kind of card from a different exporter. The tea has been stored in North America since then, and I believe has been in cellophane or plastic packaging since that time. You can see a bit of staining on the neifei, but I would assume the storage of this tea has been pretty dry since it arrived in N. America.

The card from 鸿昌泰 appears to just have a company name, address, and phone number, so I don't think we can determine much about the tea itself from the card.

Based on the following pictures, what can we exclude / include? I am assuming that since the neifei says 'Menghai Tea Factory' and features the zhongcha logo, we can assume that
1. The tea is from after 1953, and also, must be from before whatever date it was purchased. So conservatively, the tea was probably produced between 1955 and 1970.
2. While I don't have a picture of the back side yet, based on the leaf size and compression style, it does not appear to be a discus cake.

[edited out some inaccurate details about hongyin / lanyin neifei - wby] Most of the hongyin and lanyin (whether discus or not) I can find pictures of (see below, and notes in second comment) seems to have a square-shaped neifei without text. If memory serves, there were also some less "distinguished" teas produced during this time period as well?
http://www.ynchaye.com/whch/puerjs/200701/1440.html

I will try to taste the tea, and to take some better photos, when I'm able.

[click for larger image]

I didn't find much about that company online - but I think this may be the same firm:
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_6730429e0100i83c.html

However, I recently found Norbu Tea offering Xiao Hong Pao and on their page they say:

Xiao Hong Pao (小红袍, English: Little Red Robe) is a tea varietal which is known as one of the many Ming Cong (名丛, English: Famous Bush) that originally come from the Wuyi tea growing region of NW Fujian Province.  Contrary to the common story that keeps getting re-told in Western tea circles, Xiao Hong Pao is actually its own separate varietal, not "Da Hong Pao" varietal plants that are a certain number of generations away from the original DHP bushes.  It is entirely possible that some tea wholesalers misleadingly (either intentionally or unintentionally because of lack of knowledge) market some blend of several different Wuyi cultivars as "Xiao Hong Pao," but this just creates huge amounts of confusion with small tea sellers and consumers alike.  According to our supplier, this Xiao Hong Pao was produced from Xiao Hong Pao cultivar tea plants only.

Is this correct?  This is the first time I've encountered this information or this sort of claim.  I'd be interested in sorting this out and clarifying this issue.  If it is correct, this would be a pretty major piece of misinformation that is circulating very widely.  But I'm cautious here, as this is the first time I've encountered the idea that Xiao Hong Pao is really a distinct cultivar.

A thread on TeaChat also brings this up (I found this after searching) and several people whose knowledge I trust, including Ginkgo Seto of Life in Teacup, verify that this is actually a distinct cultivar.  I currently am unable to find anything that I would consider a reliable published source stating either way.  However, in the absence of clear sources either way, I'd be inclined to trust Gingko Seto and Norbu Tea.

Well, I actually can't even figure out how to post up pictures but on jas-etea.com, it's the Ben Shan Green Clay Xi Shi teapot.

There are still some language packs installed, but a few possible issues:
* The language packs are for a slightly older version of the forum software
* There is no longer a way to select forum language via a top right dropdown. If I can get that working again, I will, but for now, to use the forum in another language, you must create an account, and set the language in your preferences.

If you were subscribing to the RSS feed via the old URL, you may need to update it to use:
http://teadrunk.org/feed/rss/

The pot itself. It is pictured against the lid of its case:

Inside the pot:

The base of the pot:

The base of the cup:

Saucer base:

Any and all help greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Ruarigh

I was just given a couple of beengs of Pu by my father. He had picked them up in China but was not clear about where he got them. Can anyone help me with what they are? I would also be grateful if you could tell me something more about what all the writing on the box means. I am assuming that the writing on the lid is a story of tea but have been known to be wrong before! Anyway, I hope these pics are not too large. I can change them if need be.

thanks!
Heidi

I've only ever tried one moonlight white, 2010, a loose-leaf tea (not compressed) sold through Life in Teacup, and I loved it, and found it fascinating and unusual, and I have wanted to try more of this style.

I saw a compressed cake for sale on Rishi tea's site, produced in 2009, and it was out of stock and, according to them (I asked), possibly not going to be re-stocked even in future vintages.  I also saw some references on TeaChat to a similar tea of older vintage, sold through Yunnan Sourcing.  I just found this tea intriguing and I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on it.

However, I've seen other sources which refer to congou as being a specific type or grade of Chinese red tea.  Some sources on the net, which I would not necessarily trust as reliable, say it refers to a specific grade of tea produced by only the fifth leaf from the top of a shoot of the tea plant.

Then, I see specific teas such as Panyang Congou as well, and I've found conflicting information about them...including claims that Panyang Congou is always a tea that does not contain tips, and then other sources selling tea labelled by this name that clearly is a tippy tea.  Again, according to Babelcarp, I found that Panyang refers to Tanyang(坦洋), in Ningde county in Fujian.  But...not much more detail and no authoritative sources to clear this up.

Any clarifying information would be greatly appreciated.

I can tell a very dark-roasted oolong, as it has a more flaky appearance, due to losing water in the roast, and a more overtly roasted/toasty aroma.  However, I'm not convinced that I'm able to tell a low-oxidized, heavily roasted oolong from one that is both highly oxidized and heavily roasted.

And I can tell when oolongs are both low-oxidation and very light roast, as they have a very green color and a strongly vegetal character.

But with more intermediate oolongs, I have trouble assessing either of these...I tend to just see them as "darker" vs. "lighter", and I'd like to get better at distinguishing between / separating the qualities of level of roast and level of oxidation.

Any advice about how to do this...what qualities / characteristics to look for?