Monday, April 27, 2009

Kunming Adventures part 2








I managed to chance upon a Lanmao tea market in Kunming city.  It is actually a large compound operated by Lanmao which also has their own house brand of pu erh tea.  I was asked to sample a early 1990s blue mark pu erh which they were retailing at 1900 rmb.

The videos shows the brewing of the tea.  One observation I had in all the tea houses I visited was that they do not drink the first two infusions.  Notice the time taken for the 3rd infusion (about 20 sec).  The tea demonstrator in the video told me that she judged the tea by immersing part of the gaiwan cover into the tea and then determine from the tea color, whether the tea is ready for drinking.  Many dealers in Kunming informed me that color of the tea is an important yardstick in the assessment of the tea.   Also notice the exquisite large tea table.

The second video shows the making of the 5th infusion.  She also asked whether there was a sweet sensation the the back of the mouth after drinking 2 rounds of tea.  

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