20 April, 2015

Simulated Anneiling

Hoho, a pun to do with numerical optimisation.  Is there anything funnier than numerical optimisation?  If so, I don't think I've encountered it.

Today's article is about, you guessed it, tea from NEIL.  I.e., tea from Teaclassico.  Thx, Neil.  I have written extensively about "TC" before, and how Neil, simulated or otherwise, has a unique talent for separating me from the contents of my wallet.




At the time of writing, we have just had a partial lunar eclipse.  Being able to see two celestial bodies moving past one another, actually moving while one watches, is quite something.  Naturally, it has a strange effect on the psyche, and there have been outbreaks of lycanthropy, but otherwise we're all fine.

After shaving my palms, I settle down with some "1990s Fu Lu Gong".  I couldn't find this for sale on the Teaclassico web-site, but I am not a clever man and may have missed it.




Most striking is the loose compression, which is clearly "hand compressed".  I think it really means that someone put a large stone on the leaves and then, usually, stood on it, so perhaps it should be "foot compressed".  Such things don't impress me, ever since I was in a restaurant that claimed their salad included "hand-torn lettuce".  My brains have been in a liquefied state ever since, so I am no longer about to judge the hand/foot compression of a tea and its virtues thereupon.




As ever with older teas, I pack my little teapot to the brim, based on the principle that it is almost impossible to overbrew these old fellows.  The result is unexpected: there is absolutely no aroma, and the soup (while richly-coloured, as pictured above) really has very little flavour.

I know, I know: people who hope for flavour from their tea are such newbs.  We should be content with the feeling of the all-consuming CHAQI that surrounds us and penetrates us and which binds the galaxy together.  Hoping for some character to enjoy in the mouth immediately marks us out as a dilettante.

Nonetheless, this is thin and watery tea.  It ramps up (just a little) in the second infusion, to give the scent of heavy plums (the fruits, not the genitals).  Happily, it begins to smell just like an English country garden in summertime.  It is almost the precise simulacrum of my grandmother's old farmhouse garden, in fact, and this immediately makes me happy.  That said, there is not much going on in the flavour, still, nor anything in the throat.  It is cooling on the breath, and active on the lips and tongue, and is, perhaps, therefore more of a "sensations" tea. 



The night (morning) is young, and so I ditch the Fu Lu Gong and head into 1999 YIWU OLD TREE territory.

I miss those days, when every cake was YIWUZHENGSHANLAOSHUCHAWANG, but they are gone forever.  We can revisit them, though, with tea sessions such as this.




Once again, due to my innate dimness, I fail to find this tea on the Teaclassico web-site.  Once again I hope you will, Gentle Reader, take pity on us miserable offenders and point out my inevitable mistake.




The photograph above makes me thirsty, again, and I have just consumed nine pints of tea.  Such is the power of good leaves.  We can see large fragments - these have a sweet scent that already trumps that of the Fu Lu Gong.




The smooth, woody stability of this tea reminds me of brewing up an old table.  The colour, pictured above, is as satisfying in its heaviness as is the (for want of a better word) CHAQI.  While the mystical forces of the cosmos surge through my body, leaving my shakras and dantian trembling, I conclude that this sweet, sharp little tea is most welcome on a cold morning in March.  It is simple, it is a touch thin, but its woody sweetness just keeps on giving.





Young Boy's Sweets





young boy's sweets
rolling towards the back seats
ready for take-off

13 comments:

plutov.by said...

Hi, really good post, do you wanna to add some your posts here? http://tea-weekly.com

Scott said...

Found this blog recently and have enjoyed my time here -- especially watching that table of yours age. It looks like great construction. I was wondering if you'd offer the manufacturer or supplier.

Apologies if the answer lies in one of your posts. I did my best to read through the ones I could find.

S-

Scott said...

Ah, I found it. Not that the blog post solves my dilemma. The hunt for the perfect tray goes on.

Hobbes said...

Dear Scott,

It is a good old tray! There were a few like it sold by Dragon Teahouse, back in the day - I'm sure similar vendors, perhaps even DTH itself, will oblige!


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Hobbes said...

Addendum: Dragon Teahouse still sells those trays - they're made by the same manufacturer as that of my own tray, and very similar - they are the models without "side panels", however. I found such panels to be useful, as they hold the various chadao, chahe, etc., but I'm sure the other trays will be just as good.

I bought mine in Chengdu, from a supplier who stocked the DTH trays + a few others.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Hobbes said...

The haiku in this article is a lot of fun, representing that moment at take-off when everything that has been dropped onto the floor begins its inevitable journey to the back of the aeroplane. Which boy has not suffered the ignominy of having his sweets running away from him at take-off?

The image is from a trip to China. Those clouds are the first sign, to me, that I am "away". Usually, the longing to return home has not yet set in at such a moment in the voyage. The sweets on the floor have probably stabilised (temporarily) at this point in the flight.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Scott said...

Hobbes

Yeah, I want those side panels. I'm working with a tiny tray now and nothing is worse than knocking over a pitcher on your way to pick up a gaiwan lid, twice. I pulled the trigger on a 60 cm wenge model that should be here in 2-3 weeks. I pray it holds up to my expectations, and becomes a permanent fixture in my dining room.

Hobbes said...

The panels are worth their weight in rosewood (!), for exactly the reason that you describe. Do you have a link to the table you chose?

I have a similar teatable waiting to be installed for use in my lab, but that one doesn't have side panels. I hope to avoid pitcher-knocking carnage!


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Scott said...

Wow. It showed up considerably more quickly than I expected. Here's one better than a link: a picture of the table in its natural environment. All I need is to work my way through a few thousand sessions and it may look half as good as yours.

Thanks for your help!

http://imgur.com/D2U3onH

Hobbes said...

A handsome table!

Daniil Korolev said...

Dear Hobbes,

did you get hacked on Twitter? Some weird tweets are there...

Hobbes said...

Hi, Daniil,

I don't have a Twitter account as far as I know. :)


All the best,

Hobbes

Hobbes said...

P.s. A quick Google search reveals a user called Hobbes using the same image from Calvin and Hobbes as I use for my avatar, but it is an extremely popular cartoon. :)