14 August, 2009

1998 Kunming Tiebing

Kunming is an old factory. It's the '1' in the factory coding, to the '2' of Menghai and the '3' of Xiaguan.

Muchas gracias to Dr. Kim for this sample - it has a highly traditional blend of small leaves, which are darkening nicely. The tips are gaining a little rusty colour, on their journey into old age.


1998 Kunming Tiebing


Long, sweet, and thick scents herald a flavour of sweet woodiness. Vibrancy, and a pronounced cooling sensation make me breathe slowly. Superb tea.

A slightly smoky aftertaste makes it really rather meaty.

This fat, chubby flavour, packed with contents and that meatiness fit my mood, bringing me back to life after an evening spent punting in the cold summer air.


Onion Flowers


Wouldn't it be nice if our cakes turned into teas like this? I hope we're not in for some unpleasant surprises!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess I can imagine what a "meaty" tea might taste like, but I'd like to sample a "chubby" or "fat" flavor. That's a bit more abstract but piques my curiosity. --Jason

Hobbes said...

Chubby, beefy, "big", bold, sweaty, challenging. Lots of get your teeth into. That kind of thing. :)


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Hobbes said...

Related: one of my favourite lines from Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels:

"You're not funny, Tom. You're fat, and look as if you should be, but you're not."

Anonymous said...

That is funny. It occurs to me that a lot of people read these blogs if your offer filled up within several hours. And I guess a lot of people are going to sink their teeth into some fat (phat) teas now. --Jason

Hobbes said...

It did fill up quickly, that's true. I should add that if anyone wishes to join the discussion after buying the samples themselves, they're more than welcome to do so - I bought mine, in fact.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

sp1key said...

Banzhang is fat! haha
I was given a session of the new 09chang tai banzhang to be released around Oct (will blog it up by this weekend along with HK Tea Fair)

and this kun tie is great! Hows the storage condition like?

Hobbes said...

I'm looking forward to reading abuot it, sp1key!

The storage on this Kunming cake was nice and dry.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

sp1key said...

Thats great! most that I've come across have a certain degree of wet storage.

speakfreely said...

Punting, eh? Was it my photos that inspired you to get out on the water? (hopefully) :-)

Hobbes said...

Dear CB,

Heh. Thankfully, punting isn't quite "The Perfect Storm" territory with which you're more familiar. :)

Think drifting along a river at 0.01 mph in the company of friends and a few jugs of Pimms!


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

speakfreely said...

That sounds quite pleasant, actually!