Tasting Mao Cha from Cao Bo

It is a type of tea, Mao Cha, rather than one tea in particular, that I’d like to taste with you. Most Mao Chas come from Southeast Asia, a region I love. When I drink them I feel I’m the closest I can get to the original legendary, much dreamed-of teas. They offer a sensory connection between past, present and future.

By Paul Roudez

Paul Roudez joined Palais des Thés in 2002. He was a store manager for ten years, and now enjoys creating connections between tea and the people he trains. Paul is a Master Tea Sommelier and acquired his anthropological approach to tea from his history studies. Dark teas, especially Mao Cha, are among his favourites.

Let’s go on a journey with Mao Cha 2022 from Cao Bo, produced in the far north of Vietnam, not far from the Chinese border. This is a landscape of remote valleys and jungle, typical of this small country which is still little known as a tea producer and is so close to my heart.

People

Although relatively new in our teapots, Mao Cha is an everyday tea for the people who produce it. In this mosaic of ethnic diversity, tea, with its spiritual and cultural value, is part of everyday life. If we can understand tea better by seeing it as a reflection of the people who make it, then Mao Cha teas are the best ambassadors. There is not one Mao Cha, but many!

Expertise

Producing Mao Cha consists of a series of simple steps: fixing, rolling and drying. Well, they may look simple, but looks are deceiving! The leaf must be fixed, but not fully, so it retains its oxidising potential. It must be rolled gently, so as not to break it too much. It must be dried, usually in the sun, outdoors, to let the enzymes transform the leaf. Our Mao Cha from Cao Bo perfectly illustrates this expertise with its beautiful long, elegant and evenly sized leaves with oxidised green highlights.[1] They have a powerful vegetal aroma characterised by the humidity of the region.

Venerable tea trees

In this part of northern Vietnam, tea trees are mostly left in their natural state, deep in the forest. To harvest the finest buds, pickers sometimes climb up to four or five metres off the ground. The tea trees have an essential, fundamental presence. These are the original tea trees, closer to Assamica than Sinensis: the result of hybridisation, either natural or at the hands of man.

They are the famous Shan Tuyet (“mountain snow”, a reference to their fluffy white buds) tea trees, most of which are ancient (between 150 and 300 years old) and are perfectly adapted to this environment. Considered a precious gift from the heavens by local people, the trees are highly respected, and some are classified as a national heritage. These ancient trees are the true treasures of these remote forests because they are unique! I sense this uniqueness when steeping the tea: I will need to enter into a dialogue with this out-of-the-ordinary tea in order to understand it fully. The infusion gives off a powerful bouquet of plants, animals and overripe fruit. The leaves are fully open [2] as are my senses, ready to receive. In the cup, the slightly golden infusion [3] takes my mind on a dreamy journey, with the vegetal freshness of a green tea and the heavy notes of a dark tea. The fruity aspects are pronounced and sweet, but the infusion also has an elegant astringency. Astonishing.

Singularity

Mao Chas are used to make dark teas as we know them. They can also end up as Sheng or Shu cakes (see pp. 20-25), depending on the producers’ traditions and requirements. No other types of tea have such a destiny! This tea is therefore both a yes and a maybe, a present and a future. The producers say of these teas that they unite the Spirit of Heaven and the Spirit of Earth.

To drink a Mao Cha is to accept all this and find yourself at a crossroads: wondering which the path to follow, knowing that there are no better or worse paths, and accepting that we will always be taken by surprise. Repeated infusions in the gaiwan reflect this impression: the tea evolves in subtle shifts at the risk of losing us and takes us on twists and turns in our memory and in time. It gives us a better understanding of the long evolution of tea that has made it the drink we know today. It all started in this remote region on the borders of Xishuangbanna, and it continues to develop in these parts. This is the great promise of Mao Cha from Cao Bo over repeated infusions. Every infusion becomes structured and dense around fruity notes combined with mineral freshness and subtle animal hints. It settles into a clean, direct balance. A bond is created between the tea and me. It’s almost a pact. •

Mao Cha from Cao Bo

CULTIVAR Shan Tuyet

ORIGIN Cao Bo (Vietnam)

HARVEST Spring 2022

PREPARATION

→ GonG Fu Cha (gaiwan)

FOOD PAIRING

An Ambert cheese

→ Ref. 3364 – € 22 per 100g