Blending Russian Caravan Tea

In the last pages of my favorite travelogue- Tent Life in Siberia, George Keenan writes his team's progress was much hindered for about 1000 miles as the road was clogged by endless horse caravans quarter of mile to a mile long carrying hundreds of hide-bound boxes of tea.  The China tea had journeyed across the Gobi- he writes such tea caravans left Irkutsk daily for Nizhni Novgorod.

"Russian Caravan" is a historic blend that was delivered by and named after such tea caravans from China to czarist Russia. The often cited camel caravans must have been for the segment of the journey across Mongolia - that would be the double humped Bactrian camel if you need a visual aid.  I had my first cup of Russian Caravan from a blue Twinings bag in college.  Only recently at work, I've gotten into the habit of blending my own Russian Caravan in the mornings. Drinking straight up Lapsang Souchong daily has dulled my palate and one needs variety. 

Commercially available Russian Caravan is not as consistent as Earl Grey and blends vary wildly by vendor.  Most often I've seen Lapsang Souchong added to other hongcha- often Keemun or Yunnan Gold and even Assam.  Although the maltiness of Assam pairs well with LS, it's the least authentic of the recipes as the Caravan teas were historically Chinese in origin.  Sometimes even oolong is added.  I've also seen blends where even LS is left out.  

As you well know, it's never a good idea to drink any LS - blend or otherwise- from a teabag or from any commercially mass available source.  The tar smoke will kill you.  You'd have to make own your blend if you wanted quality Zhengshan Xiaozhong in your Russian Caravan. The joy of pinching together a blend right before brewing allows one to match the blend to the exact mood.  Cold dark mornings- you can go for more maltier blend with lower grade LS and dian hong.  In the afternoons, I tend to add more oolong for a lighter sweeter taste to finer grade AA+ LS with quality Darjeeling. On the spot blending is super fun.

On the Northern California coast, you can visit the remnants of a Russian Settlement at Fort Ross.  The Russians were here to hunt otter- one of the few goods the Chinese coveted.  In order for Russians to trade for Chinese teas, porcelain and silk, the Pacific Northwest otter population was wiped out and still today you won't see otters north of Monterrey Bay.  It's sad but if you've ever touched an otter pelt, you will know why.  Even-though the idea of an otter pelt is evil as otters are an endangered species and impossibly cuddly- after caressing the sample pelt at the museum, I instantly wanted such a luxurious scrap of fur for myself.

Lapsang Souchong Finale

Some genres of a tea have a taste ceiling after you reach certain level of quality.  I've found that with dianhong- the world's best dianhong and pretty good imperial dianhong are not that far apart so paying more than a 1.5x premium is not really worth my while.  But with teas like puerh and oolong, even a 10x+ premium might be warranted. So what is the case with Lapsang Souchong.

There is leaf quality and then processing.  Xiaozhong is a smaller leaf Wuyi varietal which can be grown in Wuyi outside the designated region at similar altitudes of 1000-2000m. The cold winters which supposedly allow for a deeper rest also is not limited to Tongmu village.  Then to the smoking- despite the claim of ancient secrets handed down generations and such, smoldering pine wood appears not to be rocket science as I've tasted better done smoking in a Waishan than some Zhengshans.

The most pricey LS in our line up is Jin Jun Mei(golden eyebrow) and if you haven't gotten swept up in the jin jun mei craze last decade, no need to rush.   Xiaozhong jin jun mei is the thinnest rolled leaf I've encountered ever.  It brews up delicate and refined- with a fleeting lingering aftertaste. It's worth trying once at least.  For those who drink Yiwus- this kind of delicate aftertaste is rather frail and such a drinker might irately mutter to themselves "Is this it? Come on! This is $40 per 100g."  But if you've never had a lingering aftertaste with black tea- you might get a short-lived thrill.

So on the Zhengshan vs Waishan debate, I'll say it's not important for me.  Given the market, I prefer a quality AA+ Waishan($9/100g) at over a middle grade Zhengshan($20+/100g) that is twice as expensive and not even half as good.  The JKTeashop Zhengshan Imperial grade was too obviously smoky and pooped out quite early after a few brews.  You can see how thick and chopped the leaves are from yesterday's post and in the above drawing. I'm dubious this can be counted as imperial grade which requires more golden bud and no chop.  The 2012 AA Zhengshan I had from Chawang Shop is the best LS I've had(beside the JJM) as it had the dried fruit high notes and subtle smoke for which I'll gladly pay $20 (although the cost was much much less).

Since the Zhengshan LS supply is limited, you have a high chance of getting lower quality leaf for top dollar.  I didn't purchase any more Zhengshan for this tasting because I could see the from the leaf  size and chop from other vendor photos that their commanding price was too high(~$30/100g) making the jin jun mei at $40/100g a bargain.


More Reading If You Are Inclined:

• Jakub beautifully diagrammed the desirable smoke vs dried fruit taste in an LS. 
• http://teaseek.blogspot.com/2012/05/why-authentic-lapsang-souchong-is.html
• http://hojotea.com/item_e/b02e.htm

Tale of Ten Lapsang Souchongs Part I

Ever since Jakub turned me onto good LS, I have ditched Yunnan dianhong for the charms of that wonderfully subtly smoked tea from Fujian. Although lapsang souchong was once an elevated drink for European royals and their court, I'm a lucky commoner to enjoy it almost daily with my pork laden breakfast.  I normally keep at least two leaf grades at home- a higher grade leaf for guests and for chocolate pairings and a more robust leaf for casual and mindless morning brewing.

I'm quite happy with Chawangshop's offerings but Honza often sells out of his AA+ and he doesn't carry Zhengshan Xiaozhong currently. I kick myself for not hoarding a few kilos of his fabulous ZX then as LS is good for at least three years. Chawangshop holds the sweet spot of quality vs price, but a girl can look around from time to time... Can't she?

Top on my mind- is it worth the extra premium to buy the original Zhengshan LS from Tongmu village or is the surrounding regions(Waishan meaning outer mountain) produce tea just as good? Are two or three year old LS better than current year LS? If your LS is vacuum sealed, can you age LS for longer?  Lastly, what are reasonable prices for a quality LS? To solve some of these riddles,  I assembled a Zhengshan vs Waishan standoff:

From Chawang Shop

2012 Zhengshan Xiaozhong AA $12(? cannot remember)/100g tin (shown right)

2012 Fujian Waishan Xiaozhong AA  $8/100g
2013 Late Spring Fujian Waishan Xiaozhong AA+ $9/100g
2014 Fujian Lapsang Souchong AA $10/100g 

From jkteashop - all Zhengshan/Tongmu

2014 Spring Mingqian Jin Jun Mei  15g/$6.50 or $40/100g tin

2014 Spring Organic Imperial Traditional 100g/tin $20.00 (shown center)
2014 Spring Organic Premium Traditional 15g/US$2.40 or $16/100g tin

The above photo lineup is incomplete- three other samples I excluded for the following reasons:

1. Organic "authentic" LS from an American vendor was so shockingly smoky and undrinkable,  I've banished the offending tea from the house.  I would probably advise tea drinkers to skip buying LS stateside. 
2. LS from ebay advertised as LS but the tea was clearly just another type of hongcha. It was a decent hong cha that guests have enjoyed but not the LS I crave.
3. Vicony's LS via Hobbes- I want to buy more from them as they have a diverse selection of LS including laozong or leaves from older bushes. However they are a wholesale outfit and  I'm not quite ready to buy a kilo as a minimum order.

I normally eschew formal tea tastings because a lack of discipline on my part. Also the tea drinking becomes too much like homework.  My tastebuds get fatigued easily so I rarely do more than three teas at one sitting so today I picked a Waishan and two Zhengshans.  

Before the big reveal, I thought I would leave the reader with some guessing.  In the three types of leaf below (1. Top left, 2. bottom left, and 3. right ), can you guess

• for each- which leaf grade is it - Jinjunmei, Imperial, AA+, AA, Premium? 
• for each, is it Zhengshan or Waishan? 

Fujian Zhengshan Xiaozhong

When I had abandoned hope for anything exciting happening to me this rather dreary winter afternoon, a box from Kunming arrived an hour ago.  I had hastily ordered some tea right before the New Year in case I was going to stop buying tea in 2013. I think not.

But the real driver for this happy purchase from Chawangshop was Jakub's review of the Fujian Waishan Xiaozhong. His tempting words exactly-

"tears of happiness appear in my eyes (almost)."

I am certainly a sucker for such emotion inducing tea. I ordered both the Waishan Xiaozhong(外山小种) as well as the premium Zhengshan Xiaozhong(正山小种).  XiaoZhong(=Souchong) indicates a smaller leaf variety of tea bush. The Waishan designation indicates that it was produced outside the traditional LS producing TongMu village while Zhengshan indicates genuine TongMu origin. The vendor description seemed to indicate that this Zhengshan had yet even smaller leaves and more buds although both were labeled as being grade AA.

You can read the full history and naming clarification from hojotea who also adds  that sipping whiskey alongside LS is a flavor party in your mouth not to be missed. Whether or not Sir Winston Churchill really did mix his LS with scotch, I'll have to try the said blend myself. I even found a vendor who ages LS in rye whisky barrels.  Due to the smoking process, LS can be aged up to a point which tickles my hoarding impulses.

Yes! Yes! Both are delicious teas worth drinking and sharing. No one need fear offending anyone with these two mellow Xiaozhongs. This Zhengshan does not disappoint as a refined delicate tea and I'm exceedingly happy that I can at least taste something of that dark dried Turkish apricot over my sore throat.  I cannot attest to the famed dried longan flavor since I've not had the pleasure of dried longan, only fresh.

Both teas leave a lingering sweetness on the front half of the tongue; the smokiness is so subtle that one would not know this tea was any relation to the grossly smoked LS one is commonly assaulted with.

The Waishan Xiaozhong provides a more vigorous fuller maltier beany cacao taste. I'm beaming over the juiciness of this tea and at $8 per 100g and even with added shipping, it's a treasure.  I immediately declare Xiaozhongs to be the official house hongcha. But my husband just lets that fly as there are almost weekly such announcements. Last week I declared Himalayan salt to be the official house salt for 2013.   I'll be giving dianhongs a rest as I've gotten tired and even slightly contemptuous of their reliable smooth taste.   I believe myself to be cured or at least granted a reprieve by Xiaozhong of all teas.

(After dinner, I realize of course it should be Xiazhong which has penetrated my current veil of tea fog.  In my diminished state- only such a strong smoky tea would get through.  )

Tea Commemorative Military Style

After a long red eyeflight to the East Coast, I needed a sturdy tea to revive. But at my parent's house, tea pretty much means either boiled roasted barley tea, ginseng extract tea, ginger granule tea, or job's tears tea in a bag. There are literally hundreds of pieces of china in my mother's multiple china cabinets but the only practical brewing option ended up being this Republic of Korea Army tea set.

Growing up in a military family has it's benefits.   My second fondest childhood memory involving such military perks was being taken to inspect one of the secret tunnels (a.k.a. "tunnels of aggression")  North Koreans had excavated near the 38th parallel.  My father used to teach economics at the National Defense University and his students used to bring endless gifts of Castella jelly roll which was my favorite perk.   But even now,  my parents receive a steady supply of army gifts for which I am often the happy recipient. The commemorative ROK Defense Department deluxe gold plated nail clipper kit is my husband's all-time favorite along with a 50-year armistice anniversary leather belt.  

The loose leaf in the strainer is a Vicony Tea's Lapsang Souchong sent via Hobbes. I haven't had LS in such a long time but my palate memory reminded me the initial smokiness is quite light in this tea compared against the tar-smoke LS I used to avoid.  I snuck in a few cookies I found hanging about,  Trader Joe's "Highbrow Chocolate Chip Cookie" to round it all off.

Almost Tea on a Shark Boat

Certain humans will pay an immoderate sum of money to be put into an underwater steel cage to look at great white sharks in their natural habitat.  In the Bay Area- the stiff premium is $875 per person for the privilege of spending twenty minutes dunked in the frigid waters surrounding the Farallon Islands. Whilst people like me won't spend money that way (that's a lot of tea!), my husband and I found ourselves as volunteer galley slaves on a shark boat through a friend.

I had confidently packed the roasted oolong Su had sent me as my official shark boat tea but alas nothing was meant to be either for the tea or for the thrill seekers. The seas tossed our tiny boat about in 8 to 10 foot swells. I had to hold on with both hands for dear life while trying to keep my breakfast down. The idea of boiling water was simply out of the question. The crew decided to turn back as the risk of capsizing had become not impossible.  Even the crabbers did not take out their boats today even though the price of Dungeness crabs are at an all time high. When the crabbers refuse to make money- you know you're a fool to be in the water at all.

When we returned home, I just wanted deep warming tea.  I read Jakub's post on Lapsang Souchong and immediately wanted some. I had received Jakub's box of teas last week which included many interesting puerhs but no LS.  So I brought out the only Lapsang Souchong in the house-  novel looking pressed coins that Emmet sent me from Tea Habitat. This tea while composed of powdered tea holds it's shape during brewing.  With a smoky savoury flavor which is subtle for an LS with an underying sweetness,  this tea has restorative powers after a harrowing day at sea. I'm grateful to be drinking hot tea on stable ground.

I actually thought the icy waters would be therapeutic for my ailing arm and legs so I have to find another opportunity to get wet.