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Thank you to Joe at Happy Lucky’s Tea House for this taste!

Today I went for my regular Sunday Tea. Almost immediately after perching myself on a high barstool, a special bag of tea was whipped out from behind the bar by my grinning tea professional, Joe.

“Here it is, the 1982 Wenshan Baozhong I told you about,” said Joe.
“Heh, chimed in Eric, none of us were born when this was produced.”
(Which made me groan!)
“Really? Thanks!” I said, pretty excited to try a tea that old!

Instead of me bringing a tea for my friends to try, they had a special tea to share with me! An Oolong 30 years old from Taiwan!

Joe made sure that I was presented with the tea in a formal way for viewing at every stage of the process.
First, I looked at the long dark twisty leaves, some with a little green on the edges. I smelled them but they had little fragrance since they were so very old and dry, but they were lovely.

Next the tea was brewed in a Gaiwan and then poured into cups and the leaves placed in front of me so that I could smell the aroma. Whiskey, apple, tobacco, honey.
The fragrance of the wet leaves was unbelievable. Everything about the leaves was a symphony of shifting melodies.

The flavor was so delicate that as soon as I decided on one flavor it was gone and another took it’s place. Again another one was also elusive and gone. The flavor’s were moving around like sheets of silk on a breeze.

Plum, light colored jujube, honeysuckle, apricot, yellow delicious apple, yellow raisin, and always back to a mystery flavor or flavors that I could not figure out at all.

Oh my.

My friends had as much of a laugh at my delight in drinking this special tea as I have when I bring one to them.

This is what hospitality is truly all about!

Thank you Joe! http://flic.kr/p/d8Zvvs (Here’s Joe!)