Giddapahar Exotic Darjeeling Black Tea First Flush 2020 from vahdam

The dry leaf has very flowery aromas. As expected of a first flush Darjeeling, the leaves display heterogeneous oxidation in terms of color and also picking / rolling quality in terms of size and shape. Many leaves look green, some white and some brown. They appear to be mostly very tender buds with some stems. The leaves appear a bit fragmented at parts.

I brewed this both gongfu method and western method.

Gongfu method:

5 grams in 125 mL pot with 90-95C water

20 sec / 30 sec/ / 40 sec / 1 min / 2 min / 4 min

Color of brew was consistently pale to dark gold

Aromas remained very flowery, with lots of rose.

First steep was light with fresh corn sweetness reminiscent of a white tea.

Second steep was more robust. There is some green tea grassiness, black tea fruitiness and continuation of white tea sweetness. Astringency arrives in the back of the throat.

Third steep is similar to second steep but slightly gentler. Some muscatel notes arrive.

Fourth and fifth steeps are milder versions of third steep with some additional astringency.

Western brew:

4 grams

400 mL
90-95C
Steep 1: 3-4 min
Steep 2: 7- 10min

Muscatel scent and taste
Rose and other oily flower aromas
Overall very mellow
Light vegetal character
Some astringency
Long after taste of flowery and muscatel notes

In general, western brewing is more satisfying, as all the characteristics from different cups of gongfu are present in a very balanced way.

Comments

Glenburn king single estate first flush 2019 from vahdam

Leaves are small and bud like. There are many broken leaves as well and leaves with holes indicating insect bite. This could explain some of the Muscatel. 1.8 teaspoon 350 mL water 90 C water Steep 1: 4 min Steep 2: 8 min Steep 3: indefinite time Light, flowery, herbal Some muscatel in nose Muscatel, herb, flowery hops, light wood notes in taste Lingering herbal, fresh hop and cooling mint I am told mint is often a sign of Assamica tea but these are supposed to be chinary.

2020 Competition Grade Jin Jun Mei Black Tea from Yunnan Sourcing

From vendor: Late March Harvest Tong Mu Guan Village (Fujian) Review: Strong yeast and honey suckle aroma from dry leaf. Lots of orange yellow powder from the small, tight buds. A small holed filter is necessary. Brew parameter: 4 g / 100 mL 90 C in porcelain Rinse / 10s / 10s / 15s / 35s / 1 min / 2 min / 5 min Strong honey and milk chocolate notes. Smooth and thick with stone fruit (peach) aromas and sweet yam flavors. Some vegetal notes develop in later steepings. Early steepings are quick and strong but drops off after 3rd steeping. Strangely, a pu-erh like wet pile funk is faintly present. This is not particularly pleasant. Western brewing is also acceptable at 1 g /100 mL for 3:30. However, the chocolate notes are much more mild when brewed in this way.

Brewing Taiwanese oolong

Bao Zhong: After some experimentation, I found it works best in this way: ~7.3-7.5 g/125 mL. Basically a little less than yancha. Boiling hot water No rinse 30s /35s/45s/1 min etc Keeping it at 6.5 g but longer time makes the later steeps less balanced for me. Going higher to yancha ratios overwhelms me with qi. Oriental Beauty This tea can behave like hong cha and white tea hybrid with some oolong notes. for natural clean stuff - 4.5-5.5g / 100 ml - start at 15s and slowly go up increasing by 5-10s. Allow the cup to cool each time- treating it evenly And gently but also with strength (boiling water) like a fine lady results on full appreciation of aromatic journey For green gao shan Ive learned it depends a lot on the nature of the leaves and the brewing vessel. When using thin porcelain, 6 grams/100 mL, doing Rinse/45s/35s/45s is a good starting point When using a thicker vessel like kobiwako clay, a similar ratio can be appropriate, but maybe a slightly faster first infus...

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