茶笔 Chá Bǐ – The Tea Pen

  • What Happened to Tsc Tempest Photography?

    Nothing. We’re still here. Quietly working on a major project which produces almost daily updates. That Project? “Today’s Tea” is the working title.

    Tsc Tempest Photography took off in a major way when I started freelancing in Hanoi, Vietnam. After 4 years in Hanoi, I and my family relocated to Hamburg, Germany. Hamburg is a tough, competitive place for photographers – at that time there were over 3000 “Togs” bidding for work, its even more difficult if you’re an unknown foreigner who doesn’t speak the language.

    I did get a couple of gigs but nothing to write home about and certainly nothing sustainable.So, I drifted back to my defaults state: Street and Travel Photography, and started on, an as yet unfinished, project: A 40 year retrospective on my work reproduced as transfer prints onto hard media.

    My family’s move to Shanghai, kinda put the kaibosh on that project due to the difficulty in obtaining some of the materials needed to make the prints: namely Sulky Paper Solvy, and Foto Potch. Depressed with my circumstances I decided to try and revisit my (well Mike Ware’s) Cyanotype Process and got myself an A4 laser printer, but same deal as in Germany – purchasing chemicals is bloody difficult, and getting moreso every day.

    Stumped! I needed a project, something “doable” and so I started drinking tea until I let the whole idea drop. Then I started to research the tea I was drinking, and writing about its, and taking photos of the tea that I drank. Very quickly it became an almost daily task, not quite but almost, and much of the time I spent with this tea project was, “setting up the shot.”

    Today’s Tea was not just an exploration into the world of Chinese Tea, it was not a happy snap with the phone camera and damn, its done. The imagery involved using and modifying light, using mixed light sources including natural daylight, setting up the stage, the background, props, product, hero points – just like in any still life, food, or product photography shoot. Sometimes with very short time shoot options such as splash and water drop capture, 10-50 second brew times, stills and video.

    Add to this content research, image and video editing, posting to social media, and uploading to this site; redesigning the look of the site due to changes in Web Design and User interface needs, plus responsive formats… its all been busy – this little black duck appears calm on the surface, but has been paddling like a demon under the water.

    As such, I haven’t given much attention to technical discussion and posts about the photography in this project, and to be honest, I don’t really feel there is much of a need for it. The Today’s Tea Project stands on its own as a work in itself. The photography is a big part of the project and has evolved since the beginning, and so has the videography. So, enjoy. There will be more talk, specific to photography, and imagery from my travels. I have a huge backlog of images that need stories put to them which will be incrementally added to this site.

    For today, that’s what in my

    Line of Sight.

  • Lǎo Bái (Chá Bīng), 老白(茶饼), Old White (Tea Cake)

    C. sinensis var. Dabai; high mountain tea, Fuding City, Fujian Province; Spring, 2017, bud & 1-2 leaves, shoumei, aged, 100g pressed tea cake; . #TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá, #Tea, #茶, #Chá.

    brown to black pressed dry leaves with a hint of faded sage green and silvery buds. The smell mildly aromatic with vague hints of cinnamon, and a suggestion of mint. The wet leaves retain their dry coloured have a rich, dank aroma, along with hints of dried raisins, and prunes.

    3-4g of dried leaves were broken off the tea cake and infused in 150ml of water for 25-30sec@95deg. C. The brewed tea liquor is a pale brassy colour, with aromatic hints of sultanas, currants, and lychee. In the mouth it is creamy, moderately thick, milky, smooth, mildly spicy and stimulating with a mildly malty sweet, spicy, cinnamon, & nutmeg, slightly nutty taste, with an underlying, lingering minerality, and fresh finish.

    I’ve drunk this tea before and found it most enjoyable. Afterwards I took one cake and broke it up into a ceramic tea caddy and let it age, air, gas off in the caddy. The prune-like character of the wet leaves was even stronger and sweetly richer. The first steep was longer to basically to open the leaves, Whilst I drank it, I didn’t focus on it. With subsequent infusions I had the opportunity to relax and enjoy the tea for what it is.

  • Mò Lì Huā Lóng Zhū Bái Chá, 茉莉花龙珠白茶, Jasmine Flower Dragon Pearl White Tea

    C. sinensis var.da bai hao, & Jasminum polyanthum; Fuding County, Ningde City, & Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, >750m; Spring 2021, bud and two leaves, ball rolled, baimudan white tea, infused o/n 6-9 times with late Summer harvest Jasmine flowers; #TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá, #Tea, #茶, #Chá.

    Dry leaf: dark green and silver balls (pearls) of dry leaf with intently aromatic and floral aroma;
    Wet leaf: uniformly green which smell intensely aromatic, and floral, with an undertone of sweet stone fruit;
    Infusion: 3g of dry leaf (approx. 25 pearls) in 150ml of water for 20-30sec. @85-85deg. C
    Liquor: pale yellow with a noticeable floral scent;
    Mouthfeel: creamy, moderately thick, stimulating, lingering, light bitterness on the tip of the tongue;
    Taste: florist shop green, and peppery, strongly floral, and slightly soapy, ;

    This tea is intensely floral from the infusion with Jasmine blossoms. Even using 5 balls of dry leaf in a gaiwan, I find the tea to be aggressively and intensely florally dominant so much so that the base tea flavour is lost. Back in Australia, as a teenager I discovered “Jasmine” Green Tea at our local Chinese Restaurant. I was so enamoured of it that is was the first thing I’d order whenever we went there. It was the cheap stuff, and was never as intensely floral as this tea. Now, is that intensity a bad thing? I honestly don’t know. It is certainly fair to say, that as a concept, this tea? I just don’t get it… and the aroma gives me a headache. Seriously, it makes my sinuses throb.

  • Zá Jiāo Bái Chá, 杂交白茶, Hybridized White Tea

    C. sinensis var. hybridized sub-varietals; Yunnan Natural Agri Tech Co., Menglian County, Yunnan Province, 1400-1800m; Autumn, 2020, EU Organic, bud and 1-2 leaves, white tea process; #TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá, #Tea, #茶, #Chá.

    Sage green to brown dry leaves, and hairy silvery buds, with a spicy, sweet melon, fragrance. When wet, the leaves take on a more variegated brown colour with a sweet, palm sugar, vanilla, and pleasentaroma.

    3g of dry leaves were steeped in 150ml of water for 20-30sec@85-95 deg. C. The brewed tea liquor is a crystal clear, pale amber with a soft, loquat scent. in the mouth it is creamy, thick, peppery, stimulating, with a moderately thick finish and mildly fresh, bitter aftertaste. It tastes like dried tangerine peel, pomello, and ginger, with a hint of star-anise/licorice, and very soft honey sweetness in the finish.

    I like this tea but I find that the mid infusions tend to leave me with an uncomfortable feeling of acidity in the stomach.

  • Shí Hào Bái Chá, 十号白茶, #10 White Tea

    C. sinensis var. blended sub-varietals; Agri Tech Co., Menglian, Yunnan, 1400-1800m; Autumn, 2020, EU Organic, bud and 1-2 leaves, White tea process; #TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá, #Tea, #茶, #Chá.

    Pale to dark brown, loose, dry leaves with silvery grey buds, and aroma that is spicy, with hints of ginger, cinnamon, dried citrus, dried apricot, and an undertone hint of molasses. The leaves change to a sage green, and brown colour when wet, and have a slightly acrid, sharp aroma, with spicy hints of liquorice, galangal, and loquat.

    3g of dry leaf was steeped in 150ml of water for 20-30sec@85deg. C. The brewed tea liquor is a pale, yellow-amber in colour, with a faint, honey and slightly soapy, scent. in the mouth it feels thick, creamy, mildly stimulating, with pleasant bitterness, fresh feel, and a watery, drooling finish, whilst it tastes spicy, like ginger, and pomelo peel, with a pleasant honey sweetness.

  • Fó Xiāng Bái Chá, 佛香白茶, Buddhist Incense (Buddha’s Essence) White Tea

    C. sinensis var.blended sub-varietals; Menglian County, Pu’er City, Yunnan Province, 1400-1800m; Autumn, 2020, 1 leaf & 1 bud, EU Organic, White tea process;; #TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá#Tea, #茶, #Chá.

    The dry leaves are well represented by both leaf and bud and appear to be evenly distributed. The buds are a furry grey colour and the leaves in various shades, from brown to black. their aroma is sharp, with a touch of apricot, and molasses, with an undertone of licorice. The wet leaves, both leaf and bud appear to be a uniform brown colour, and smell at first sharp & pungent, then sweet & honey-like.

    3g of dry leaf in 150-180ml water, were infused for 30-50sec @85-950deg. C followed by a 10sec pour. The brewed liquor is a dull amber, with a honey-like aroma. In the mouth it is thick-viscous-syrupy, stimulating-tingling-mouthwatering, astringent-spicy-savory, which softened into sweetness, with a late onset of minerality (metallic) in the finish. The taste hints of tangerine, licorice, & lychee, with a mild, honeydew melon-like finish.

    Over time this tea has subtly changed in character. The honey-like character has become more pronounced and rounded, and on longer infusions the viscosity becomes creamy, and the liquorice, and lingering minerality, become more pronounced. It really is an intriguing and engaging tea that demands to be paid attention to and focused on.

  • Minerality in Tea: A taste of rock?

    “Minerality’ is such an interesting word. Most Word Processors will automatically correct it to, “mineralogy” or flag it as spelt wrong, until you add the word to your Dictionary. But, what is it? What does it mean? And, in particular, what does it mean in the context of tasting tea?

    Before we take a deeper dive, this musing over a word, was brought to you by my frequent use of it in describing a particular mouthfeel when drinking tea, but more on that later.

    “Minerality,” has long been used by Wine Sommeliers to describe a mouthfeel or taste sensation that has subsequently been associated with, “terroir,” or characteristic of a wine growing region.

    According to Dwight Farrow, over at Edible Arts:

    “Minerality” is a general term we use to describe wines that exude aromas such as flint, crushed rock, wet stone, or sea breeze or that have textures of chalk, hard stone, gravel or a kind of electrical snap on the finish.

    He further goes on to state that scientists have ruled out that mineral characteristics of soil transfer to the grapes that are grown in it.

    But we are here to talk about about tea. According to David Duckler over at Verdant Tea, who claims that, “Minerality is not just the taste of rock…” builds the argument that:

    Minerality is our way of understanding a unique texture and physical sensation on the palate that is tingling and precise while being soft at the same time, like the lightest carbonation you could imagine. This texture creates a sense of contrast that makes aftertastes even sweeter and allows them to build up over time, separate from the aroma. In tea, minerality is a textural complexity that does require rocky terroir to come forward, but it isn’t exactly the sensation of drinking rocks or even necessarily dissolved mineral solids. It is a bit more complicated.

    So, all this seems clear enough, don’t you think? How does that manifest itself in the mouth? For me, “minerality” is a characteristic associated with a metallic taste, coupled with a tingling sensation on the tip of the tongue and deep into the cheeks.

    Unlike natural mineral waters resplendent in iron or sulphur, the iron manifests like blood, and the sulphur, well… smells, this metallic taste is not robust and dominant. It is subtle, and late, building up over time and subsequent mouthfuls. In a sense it does contrast with sweetness, but sweetness is a much more dominant and present mouthfeel.

    Now, we do have a problem to consider. If this is a metallic taste, who do we differentiate it as coming from the tea and not from the water we brew with or the buildup in the kettle we boil with? Simple, if the water is always the same, it creates a baseline against which different teas can be contrasted. Now, if your water is tasting metallic, it might be a good idea to get it tested or change it out for a softer water source.

    Previously we mentioned that scientists claim as fact, that soil characteristics are not transferred to grapes. Presumably this is also the case with tea. However, David Duckler reports that according to, “Li Xiaoping” of Dragon Well that:

    …minerality in the terroir of Shi Feng (Lion’s Peak) refers to both the direct intake of minerals and their flavor as well as the effect of rocky soil in encouraging deeper healthier roots and slow growth…

    ‘And that this has a direct and noticeable impact on the flavour characteristics of the tea: a somewhat contrary point of view to those of the Wine Scientists. With a moment’s thought it is easy to understand this, and communicate it simply.

    Organisms respond to what they are fed. Their flesh takes on certain sensory characteristics that can be distinguished based on where they are grown. We see this in Cattle, Sheep, Fish, Fruit, Vegetables, Herbs, and Spices. We see this also in the way they are grown, such as GMO, high intensity farming, low density farming, organic, etc. It follows then that it is reasonable to expect that tea, (and grapes,) will demonstrate equally similar, notable characteristics.

    Are these characteristics quantifiable? Perhaps not in some gas chromatograph in some lab, but certainly by sensory analysis. However, sensory analysis depends on a vocabulary that not all are in agreement with, an imprecise, “metaphor,” as Dwight Farrow puts it, to describe sensations and ephemeral memories and feelings as a result of sensations felt in the mouth.

    “Minerality,” is one of those words that we circle around, skirt around, try on for size and either get it, or don’t. For me, it is a characteristic associated with a metallic taste, coupled with a tingling sensation on the tip of the tongue, and deep into the cheeks. It can be harsh, but more often than not, is a soft, subtle experience which can linger for a lengthy period of time after drinking tea.

    Word of the Day – “minerality.” Try it out.

  • Flavoured Tea

    A little bit of comedy in action, with Mr. Jimmy Doherty. However, the underlying point is about flavouring teas and how it is done in some cases. If you have a video to share about how other flavourings are added to tea, I’d love to see them. #TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá, #Tea, #茶, #Chá.

  • Yǐ Shēng Gǔ Shù Bái Chá, 野生古树白茶, Wild Ancient Tree White Tea

    C. sinensis var. wild tea trees, 300+ y.o; Dayao Shan, Lingcan, Yunnan, 1800+ m; post-Spring Festival, 2017, very young juvenile buds, sun dried, minimally processed White Tea; #TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá, #Tea, #茶, #Chá.

    3g of tea steeped in 150ml water for 50-60sec.@90-100deg. C

    Thick, downy, grey-brown buds present an apricot flavor in the middle back of the tongue with hints of passionfruit, and fruit salad plant (Monstera deliciosa) in a clear golden liquor. It really is a delightful and fruity tea.

    Today, I went to watch my son play tennis, so I packed a travel kit for making tea and drank this tea from the sidelines whilst watching my son play. Forgive me for not rendering a more complete evaluation of this tea.

    Special thanks to Yunnan Ancient Moon Tea House, in Shanghai for the tea.

  • A Yuè Guāng Bái Chá, A月光白茶, “A”-Type Moonlight White Tea

    C. sinensis var. blended varieties; Menglian County, Pu’er City, Yunnan Province, 1400-1800m; Autumn, 2020, bud and 1 leaf, EU Organic, White tea process, unfixed; #TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá, #Tea, #茶, #Chá.

    Large, dry two tone leaves, a high concentration of furry silver buds, with a noticeable aroma suggestive of juicy, semi-dried apricots.
    The spongy wet leaves are aromatic, spicy, and vegetal, with an undertone of vanilla, and are a good mix of sage green and brown in colour.

    3-4g of dry leaves were steeped in 150ml of water for 30-50sec@80-90deg. C. The brewed liquor is a light golden colour, with faint, indistinct aroma, and late suggestion of sweetness. In the mouth it is creamy, smooth, minty fresh, stimulating, sweet, and tastes pleasant, sweet, and floral, with a spicy fresh finish.