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on 5/3/04 00:55, Ripon Zaman at wrote:

> I was trying to go down to NY to meet Michael, Lew and some other tea mailer
> friends but somehow it was not working for me. At last Michael came to visit
> me and we had a whole day long tea tasting session. It was an honor and great
> pleasure for me to meet an experience, gentle, knowledgeable tea person, such
> as- Michael. We exchanged a lot of tea information and had great time
> together. I was so impressed to see Michael's mobile tea accessory box(Sort of
> a small biological weapon career-

just kidding. We had tasted:

Believe me, the honor was all mine. We did have a delightful time. BTW, it
*was* a small biological weapon carrier before I converted it. Just kidding.
It's actually one of those Pelican camera cases with a You-Cut-It-Out-to-
Fit-The-Camera foam block insert.
>
> 1)Pi Lo chun- Michael collected from a vendor from NY, very pricy 50g $50.
> Excellent green tea. We used Gai Bei pot and had five infusion.

Yes, a most remarkable BLC. The best one I've ever seen or tasted. We used
one of Ripon's Chinese wide handleless bowls with a spout pulled out of the
clay at one spot -- does that make sense to you? -- as a cooling pot, after
the nature of the Korean cooling pots. This allowed us to bring the water
temperature down quickly without much need for a thermometer. You just feel
the side of said bowl. This tea, BTW, is almost buttery in a Gyokuro sort of
a way.
>
> 2)Wu Xi Hao cha-Very rare kind of green tea-a gift from China. I was happy to
> see, Michael enjoyed it. We had three infusion with Gai Bei pot.

This tea is exquisite. The leaves are small, whole, very hairy and fluffy .
The taste is delicate and fresh. The aroma is unagressive floral. It's not a
BLC, but a perfect complement to it.
>
> 3)Darjeeling first flush- This black tea was from a German
> vendor(Teekampagne), we just had a cup of infusion with bone China English tea
> set. I need to try couple more times to talk about this tea's quality. It was
> black Darjeeling from Ambootia tea estate 2003.

This tea probably needs experimentation to get it just right. It's
identifiable as Darjeeling, but without distinguished characteristics. It
really takes well to white bone China, though. And it's been years since
I've had tea in an English tea cup, so that was nice too.
>
> 4)Phoenix Oolong-Michael brought this Oolong plucked from 700 years old tea
> tree. A great tea, we used a Taiwanese made Yixing looking pot. We had six
> infusion. Michael told me, with this great kind of Oolong- we could have gone
> for 15 multiple infusion. I liked this Oolong a lot.

This tea is balance. You get the berry, spice, flower, resin, bitter bite,
sweet finish, and so on and on, but you get them all muted and in balance.
Further, different qualities come to the fore in different steeps, and you
can actually control for these somewhat by varying steep time and
temperature. A most remarkable tea. And, in the pot, as green as I've ever
seen a Phoenix leaf. (This is a Silk Road tea.)
>
> 5)Green processed Pu-Erh(1996):I had a long break with good Pu-erh for last
> couple of years. I really appreciate Michael again brought me back with this
> excellent aged green processed Pu-erh. It was from silk road. We really
> enjoyed this tea with our 6-7 multiple infusion. Michael was very kind to
> share some of this with me. I am so excited to try this tomorrow with his
> gift-a Yixing pot.

It was Silk Road's Green Bamboo Pu-erh 1996. Lew had originally introduced
me to it. It's my favorite so far. Light musky green florals. Extraordinary.
And, like the Phoenix, it just goes and goes. It's very forgiving too. A
semi-gungfu seems best, using a not overly high temperature. I've more or
less settled on one gram of leaf per one ounce of water. Breaking the leaf
up, but leaving small chunks too seems to allow multiple steeps to flurish,
since it takes a couple steeps to draw from the middle of the little chunks.
Or, so it seems to me.
>
> Practically the whole day, except launch-we just drank teas and talk a lot
> about tea. I always miss my tea friends from Bangladesh but meeting Michael
> was an different excitement. Michael made my week so meaningful by sharing his
> great teas and valuable time with me. Thank you Michael for coming down here
> from far away and sharing the whole wonderful Sunday with me.

Well, I couldn't think of a more pleasant way to spend my time. How valuable
my time is is arguable. Please thank Jessica again for the delicious lunch.
BTW, they have the world's most adorable little kids.

Ripon, thanks again for all the tea, especially the "white,"and the "Assam
Golden Tips." We'll try them in New York City water and see how they work.

Michael