WHY are we spending SO MUCH MONEY on LIGHT TASTING TEA?!

Hey teaheads. This is Don from Mei Leaf. Today I want to talk to you about the concept of lightness in tea. Oftentimes, when I'm doing tea tastings with relative beginners in the tea game I will hear phrases such as, "... it's a bit too light", or, "... I'm used to stronger tastes". Things like that. But what does this say about the tea, or what does it say about the person? What's the difference between a gloriously light and delicate tea, and a bland and tasteless brew? Let's dive in, and I'll give you my thoughts. It is an interesting observation that some of the most expensive teas on the planet are also some of the most light in color and delicate in flavor. This is especially true for green teas. Often, the absolute pinnacle batches brew up to be merely colorless, and have an exquisitely gentle flavor. But when these teas are brewed and drunk without the requisite attention focused on the tea they can seem lightweight and forgettable. So are they actually worth the high prices? Why are we paying so much for teas that don't have bags of bold flavor? What is all of this delicacy and lightness nonsense all about? Sellers like myself will use words like, "... elegant", "... delicate", "... nuanced", or "... subtle". But are these just like marketing ways to describe teas that are bland and watery? Well, the answer is no. There is a huge difference between lower quality, lightweight teas, and top-shelf teas, which may be light, but are also full of character. Think of people. You may know some people who are generally quiet, but there is a huge difference between a quiet person who is relatively empty in character, with not much to say, and those whose quietness carries with it an intensity, an intrigue, where every word spoken has more potency precisely because it has been given more silent space to have impact, and is therefore more considered and elegant. These people can carry much more confidence and charisma than the loud extroverts who fill the space with less consideration, and can actually make the conversation feel like noisy, but essentially empty. You can also use the analogy of art. A rich and colorful painting, or a loud, up-front, in-your-face piece of music may easily grab attention, and have a memorable impact, but how do they compare to those more minimal pieces of art, or music, where there is a delicacy and elegance, and every single element of the art is necessarily there without embellishment? Where the empty spaces actually make the artwork richer by giving context and power to every single shape, color, and texture, or sound left by the artist. The greatest art does not just include what needs to be there, but also removes everything that does not need to be there, and oftentimes less is indeed more. So what defines if a piece of art is too minimal, or too simple, too simplistic? As always, it comes down to taste, but we all know that some of the most prized art, or the most cherished music, is often simple and minimal, and that its power lies in this elegance, and this use of space to create richness. Oftentimes, to appreciate this art requires a little bit more attention and focus. You've got to spend some time with it in order to witness its power, but once revealed it can never be unseen, or unheard, and will always be a source of depth and intrigue. In tea the same is true. There are teas which are upfront extroverts, brash, noisy, and potentially graceless, and those which are bold in flavor, but carry this boldness with restraint, coherence, nuance, and a very clear character. There are also teas which are bland, feeble, empty, and those which are minimal, light, elegant, and so very rich precisely because of this delicacy, if you just pay enough attention to its charms. The tea in front of me is precisely one of those teas. Expensive, and highly prized, yet at first taste, and without sufficient attention, may seem too light, or too simple. So let's taste this tea together, and I'll give you my thoughts on why these teas are so sought-after amongst tea aficionados. I have in front of me Fir Peak Supreme, Huang Shan Mao Feng. Huang Shan Mao Feng is one of the most famous green teas in China, and we have a Fir Peak, but when I sampled this batch this had to go to Fir Peak Supreme. It's a supreme, supreme batch. So we'll quickly scope it so that you understand why it falls into that supreme category of the super, super-high, tiny-batch echelons of tea. Season. This is early spring peak. This is 5th of April, 2024. Now that is early for Huang Shan Mao Feng. A lot of teas are picked earlier than that, but Huang Shan Mao Feng, 5th of April, is generally the month to pick Huang Shan Mao Feng. Cultivar. This is from the heirloom Chun Ti Zhong variety from Huang Shan. All that means is that these varieties are seed-grown, they are heirloom, they are indigenous from this terroir. Very importantly, the age on these tea bushes are around 115 years old. So these, in the world of Huang Shan Mao Feng, that is Gu Shu. That's very, very, very old. I know that in Yunnan we call Gu Shu, ancient tree, anything over 200 years old. But in the world of tea bushes, 115 years old is extremely old. So this is ancient bush, heirloom cultivar tea. You can see the look of the leaves. They sort of have this sort of straggly appearance to them. I mean, they are beautiful pickings. The picking on this is a bud and one leaf, so very delicate pickings. But they have a sort of wilder look to them compared with a lot of the high-ticket teas out there. I will forever give you the warning that a lot of high-ticket teas are priced and produced because of their looks. Got to focus your selection on taste and not looks. This is a beautiful tea, but it has a wild, sort of gnarly quality to it as well. So the picking and processing of bud and leaf. Let's go back. The origin, this is from Guang Ming village in Fuxi, in Huang Shan in China. So this is really from the heart of the Yellow Mountain. If you've ever seen Huang Shan in the pictures, or if you've ever been lucky enough to visit Huang Shan like I have, Wow! It is like a mythical place. The mountain is just beautiful. The shapes, the rocks. It's just like this beautiful combination of lush vegetation, and these expansive rocks jutting out in crazy, beautiful, sort of caricature shapes that is just so beguiling, so amazing to witness. I highly, highly recommend, if you get a chance, to go to Huang Shan. Go check it out. The terroir for this tea is just magical. As I said, lots of rocks, always a good thing with tea, and lush vegetation, not too hot. So a good, cool temperature for slow growth. All the things that will add, usually, to being more likely to produce better tea. Elevation on this is about 565 meters, I believe. So that's probably about a third of the way up the mountain. I think the mountain is about 1,800 meters to the peak, I'm thinking. So it's about a third of the way up the mountain, where the vegetation can still grow. You know, too high up and it starts to become... you'd have to pick much later. But this is the heirloom, 115. You see, these are original, original, old, old, ancient bushes. Right. As I said, we do have a Huang Shan Mao Feng in stock. It's called Fir Peak. But when I sampled this from a new supplier... Yeah, it happened again. I fell in love with it, and I thought, Ah! I need to get it in. But I did think, at the time, you know what? I'm not sure... I need to... I don't need to. I want to try to give you all out there some indication of what the differences are between those simple, but sort of a bit like, yeah, fine, the tastes are all okay, but it's a bit weak, a bit empty, those teas, versus the ones that are super delicate, super light, super sort of understated, and you've got to focus on it. But when you focus on it it gives you such a rich experience that you understand why it commands such a high price. Right. Let's smell the dry leaf, I should say. Here we go. Oh, okay. So the first thing that hits my nose is a creaminess. I'm going to say biscuits, butter biscuits. So buttery and warm. But I'm also getting meadow flowers. I say meadow flowers I mean it's hard for me to pinpoint a fragrance like rose, or like orchid, or like lotus, or magnolia, or gardenia. It's those small flowers that have a light fragrance, almost peppery and spicy in their lightness, sort of mixed in with the sweet herbaceousness of the herbs and grasses growing around it, and the complexity and completeness of that meadow, with all of the variations in those light, flowery fragrances, and the herbaceous sweetness of it. I sort of mix together, and I just call it meadow flowers. I am getting some rocks. I'll throw in slate. I'm getting that warmth from the butter biscuits is moving into Nougat, with hazelnuts. Hazelnuts, Nougat, even some milk. So I've got the creamy butter biscuits, milk, Nougat, moving into the nutty and warm hazelnuts, and then it's being overlaid with these meadow flowers, and this sort of rockiness. All right, let's give it a rinse. We are going to be getting these Gai Wans in at some point, if you're wondering. You might be watching it soon after this is released, and it won't be in stock, but if you're watching this in the future go check it out. I'll see if I can stick a link. Otherwise, just go to our website and you can find it. I've finally found a glass Gai Wan that doesn't burn my fingers, and is a beautiful, beautiful size and shape. Anyway, I digress. Okay, so now we've gone more savory. I'm getting edamame, like steamed edamame. Go to a Japanese restaurant and you get those edamame. Minus the salt, just that green nuttiness. You could also put it into green acorn, but edamame has got that starchy quality to it. I'm getting vegetable broth, but a very clean, simple vegetable broth. Not got that much umami like a Japanese green tea, with sort of more of a meaty quality to it. This is vegetable broth, spring vegetables. It's fresh, it's meadowy, it's herbaceous. I'm getting a twang of cannabis. I'm getting... The first thing that pops into my head is leeks. The onion leeks, right? But not the oniony note. Imagine you've braised leeks for a long, long time, so they're soft and they're sweet. It's that sweet, soft, slow-cooked leek smell that I'm getting. But the edamame and the vegetable broth is up front, and then the spiky notes of cannabis, a little bit of dill, those herbaceous notes, and a touch of green melon, as well, is in there. Okay. So you can see, lots of aromatics, and it is quite in your face. At this point, not so delicate. I mean, it's elegant and light, compared with a lot of like if I compare that to, say, a Japanese green tea, which would be in your face, or some of those teas with very strong aromas. This is a green tea, so it has a bit more of an understated, more natural quality to it, but it's rich on the smell. Very rich on the smell. Okay. Now we're going to brew it up, and we're going to brew it up fairly long. I'm going to brew this up for about 45 seconds, I would say. Let me actually stick the timer on, since I have one, if you're going to work. Nope, you're not going to work. All right. The kettle decided not to play ball with me, but I'll just sort of guess it, and we will see what the color of the liquor is going to be, because my expectation is that it's going to be light. I have said this before in some live shows, that oftentimes the most expensive teas are very, very light in color, especially in China. In Japan they have more focus on the color of the liquor. In China it's less of a concern. The main focus is on taste, although, as I said, they do spend a lot of time focused on what the look of the leaf is. But less so much on the color of the liquor, and I can already tell that this is an extremely light liquor. I've brewed that for probably over 45 seconds, and it's full of activity. Lots of trichome action. If you've not seen my video about trichomes and thickness in tea I'll put a link in the description below. But you can see it is light. It's a very, very light brew, and you can see that again, hopefully, in this cup. Beautiful citrine-yellow color, as you can see. All right. Let's focus on the texture. The first thing to note when you're drinking these high-end teas is what's the mouthfeel like. Thick, thin, coating, not coating, rough, smooth. We've talked about that in the previous video, which as I said I'll put a link in the description below. But there is just a feeling of luxury that comes from really well-made, high-ticket teas, that is sort of intangible, but so noticeable when you focus your attention on it. It's thick. It's slightly oily. It's velvety, but it has nuance. There's touches of little dry pulling here and there, but then it moves to sort of a sweet juiciness in my mouth that seems to flood from the backsides of my tongue. There's a lot of action happening, albeit in a very gentle movement in the mouth. Yeah. It's just hard to describe that luxury. It's like a soup, like a veloute. It's just got a lightness about it, and yet a thickness about it. It's hard to pinpoint, but it's so, so there. All right. Let's focus on taste now as that little leaf rolls around in my cup, and I'm going to eat it, no problem. Right. I'll put him back. So here is the point now. If I was tasting this without any attention, and I was just drinking, and I was focusing on other things, it would be a forgettable tea. I mean, I say that with the caveat that because I've been tasting teas for over 20 years, like if I tasted... If someone gave me that, and I was working on something, and I'd drink it, I'd probably go, oh... because I'm sort of tuned in to, oh, there's something special about that tea. But if you weren't sort of trained in that way, and you hadn't tasted a lot of high-ticket teas before, you might drink this tea, and go, ah, yeah, it's all right, but it's a bit light, and you would just move on. That is the thing that I've noticed a lot when I do sampling with high, high-ticket teas, is that I find it hard. I find it frustrating, because I feel like I need to show them this video. The minimal nature of it, and the delicateness of it, is what gives it its strength and its richness. It's all about tuning in to it, understanding how this piece of art, the emptiness, is what gives everything in it so much context. So what I mean by that is, when I taste this, I'm transported. I'm transported up, up, up in the clouds. I'm transported into the ionized air of high-mountain aroma. This reminds me of a high-mountain Taiwanese tea. I taste the clouds. I taste the rocks in this mountain. It's not warm. It's kind of a cold weather. There's mist in the air. You're up so high that it is just naturally cold, and naturally misty, because you're in the clouds. I'm getting the rocks. I'm getting the clouds. You know, when we talk about tea as being one of the hallmarks of a great tea is that it tastes like the essence of a mountain, and this tastes like the essence of Huang Sheng for me. Of course, if you've not been there you're going to have to take my word for it, but that cold weather, the mist, the ionized air, the rocks, it's all here. Then I'm sitting on top of that mountain, and I'm smelling the beginnings of spring. I'm smelling the mountain herbs, and the mountain flowers, those meadow flowers. Again, I can't pick out one. It's that slightly peppery... If you've ever had white chrysanthemum you'll know it's got like a little bit of a peppery quality to that floral fragrance. So you might put that in there, but generally I just throw it under meadow flowers and meadow herbs. I talked about dill. I talked about cannabis. There is lots and lots of slate. There is that petrichor taste, that wet rock, or the earth and the rocks reacting to incoming rain. That petrichor smell that is so alluring, and so sort of like it brings back memories for a lot of people. So that's there as well. But then, and this is where it like... when you dive deeper this magic happens. Then I'm getting the creaminess. It's like I'm sitting on top of this mountain, and I'm having like a bowl of whipped cream. A little bit of like not biscuit, maybe cake, like a very light... In China they have these very light sponge cakes that you can get if you go to a Dim Sum restaurant, or you go to a Chinese bakery. These very, very light sponge cakes. So imagine like you're having a sponge cake dipped in some very light, airy, airy whipped cream, and maybe that floral note. I would say you could throw in a little bit of like orange blossom or rose water, but only a little bit into it, because I know how overpowering it can be. A tiny bit in that whipped cream. So light, airy, very lightly laced rose water whipped cream with a sponge cake, sitting on top of this mountain with the rocks, and the clouds, and the vegetation, and the petrichor, and the herbs, and the flowers. It is transportive, and it paints a scene that when you focus your attention on this tea it just paints that scene for me. But I really recognize that a lot of people, if they don't focus their attention, just like if you walk past that minimal piece of artwork in an art gallery because it's like... it doesn't catch you, because it's just a bit more... what's that? Oh, there's not much going on there. When you stare at it then you see it. You see why stuff is being left out. You see how it brings context and connection between the parts that are there, and as I said before, once you see it you can't unsee it. It's something that is... and that's what I mean. Like, if I tasted this tea, even if I was doing something, I couldn't untaste that quality. Now let me have a sniff of this. Oh! Rich, rich, rich. I'll come back to it, but I'm getting a little bit of a childhood memory of plasticine, in a very light way. But lots of, again, scones, whipped cream, but that whipped cream has now got some very sweet, fruity, but also caramelized... it's like fruit and caramel. I want to say sweet orange. Like, imagine if you had like orange... you know how you have lemon curd? So that's lemon, and lots of sugar, and it's made into this spreadable curd. Imagine orange curd. So sweet orange curd, cream, scones, however you want to call them, and as I said, a little bit of a sort of plasticine. That's a brand name, but yeah, things that you play... modeling play. They're very, very light. All right. The finish. Again, always remember that the finish is one of the most important markers for quality in tea. More important than taste? Definitely up there. Definitely pretty much the same. Some people would say more. The finish on this. Dry. Moving to a cooling, powdered sugar sweetness. Now if you've ever had like those glucose tablets, you know when you take those powdered sugar, powdered glucose tablets, and you take them, they have this cooling sensation in the mouth. I don't know why, but they do. Maybe someone out there can write in the comments why. But they make your mouth feel cooler. That's exactly the same here. As if I've just eaten one of those powdered sugar glucose tablets. Cooling, and sweet. Getting more fruit. That green melon is coming through now. Another key... Oh, and the texture. So luxurious. It seems to encapsulate everything. It's thick, but then it feels like airy and light. It's hydrating, and yet it still feels smooth. It seems to combine a lot. What was I saying? I've forgotten. Oh yeah. Another important quality marker for these kinds of teas is how many infusions they'll give you. Oh, I was going to pour that back in there. You can brew this grandpa style, so just keep topping up with water. If you don't know about grandpa style I'll put a link in the description below. But basically, it's constantly in water, and it will give you lots of infusions. Obviously, not as much as a darker tea, but definitely five good infusions. Green gauge. You can dive into this tea. It will feel, when you first sip it, like it's a pleasant, light, easy-drinking tea. But as you dive into it it just reveals itself. But it requires attention, and in a way that's what makes these teas so special. You pay the price for the amount of love, dedication, and delicacy that they put into the picking, and the processing, and for these 115 year old tea trees, but ultimately it needs to be worthwhile in the experience. Of course, the experience is made up with the aroma, the taste, the mouthfeel, the finish, you know, everything like that, and the number of infusions. But part of the experience is also that it draws your attention, that it requires your attention, that it requires your focus, because that, as we know, contributes so much to the positive aspects of tea. It centers you. It brings you to the place that you are at. It brings you to the majesty of the moment, and that is fundamental as well. Last sip of this tea for me, Fir Peak Supreme. A perfect example of a delicate, elegant, subtle tea, that when I use those words I do not mean simplistic, lightweight, bland, and tasteless, and watery. I mean it's rich precisely because of its minimalism, and I absolutely adore it. That's it teaheads. Check out our other videos, taste our teas wherever you are in the world by browsing Mei Leaf.com, and come visit us if you're ever in London. Other than that, I'm Don from Mei Leaf. Thank you for being part of the revelation of true tea. Stay away from those tea bags, keep drinking the supreme stuff, and spread the word, because nobody deserves bad tea. Bye.