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 infusion - 35 to 40s.

Also, for thicker vessels, pour boiling water directly on clay instead of leaf, and possibly consider using slightly cooler water for first infusion that should be around 40 seconds. Second infusion should be 30.

For high quality leaves, keep rinse short using warm water, not off boiling. An easy way is to pour the water used to warm the vessel into a cup. Add leaf, and then pour back the cooler water from the cup.

From what i understand, the best gaoshan is supposed to taste fruity, floral, minerally, and a bit herbal (esp mint). Mintiness is considered a top quality attribute.

For roasted ball rolled oolong

Similar to green gaoshan but keep water boiling and pour directly on leaves. Hit leaves more and hotter if tea is older. Also second infusion should be same as first infusion since flavor dump is not as big compared to gaoshan

Comments

Uji Karigane "Otsūsan" from o-cha.com

Karigane tea from Tsuen sourced by o-cha. 2020 first flush Contains blend of sencha leaves and gyokuro stems from Uji. Medium to deep steam Brewed as follows (6 grams / 300 mL or 6 grams / 250 mL): 1. 70 C 60 s : thick brothy taste. Aroma of fresh hay 2. 80 C 30 s : lighter broth with stronger hay aroma. At times, hints of orchid flowers and mint 3. 80 C 1 min 45 s: very light broth with light grassy aroma. May benefit from longer infusion depending on taste as it develops astringency but also floweriness. 4. (Optional): up to 6 minutes 90 C. The result is a more astringent brew and less complexity. The tartness is very temperature dependent, and rises as temperature goes down. When the tea is cold, the tartness is not pleasant. The complex changes in tartness, brothiness (umami) and hay aroma as the tea cools is very interesting. Theanine and caffeine levels must be high as mood and energy are greatly elevated after second infusion. Experimentation: 23 min 5th ...

Liquid proust pu erh package

Cannot identify every tea. For both shou and sheng brewed ~ 5g / 100 mL, 2x rinse and then for sheng: flash brew until no more flavor followed by longer brews. For shou, first brew is about 30s followed by flash brews. 2019 brown sugar: white2tea makes a brown sugar. Very sweet with caramel, molasses and red bean notes. No wodui. 2019 raw man zhuang: possibly from ys. Very floral. Brew 3g/85 mL. Fruity, floral. Lively..beautiful at first...then funeral, sickly abominable. "brick shou": Not much more info than that. I suspect it is the 2018 Dragon Brick, a shou puerh brick from XiZiHao, since that is the only brick shou he sells. Tastes different from all other shous i have had: subtle balance between herbal chinese med2icine, light incense, fresh plum, strawberry jam, earthy minerality and beef bone broth. There is also a floral aroma like acacia and jasmine. The aromas and flavors shift as steepings progress. Infusions are very clear and elegant even...

2020 summer SHAN LIN XI HIGH MOUNTAIN OOLONG TEA from eco-cha

From vendor: Harvest: Hand-picked in medium batches, summer 2020. Shan Lin Xi, Nantou, Taiwan. Elevation: 1500m Farmer Chen and Zhang. Review : Dry leaf: mostly medium to small tight rolls with light to dark green yellow. Some balls are dark yellow orange. Vendor indicates leaves were slightly higher oxidized. Subtle guava, yeast and seaweed scents. Brewed 8 g / 125 mL 85-90 C Rinse / 40 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 1:00 /1:20 / 2:00 / 4:00 Early steeps were very light and flowery with clear guava and pastry flavors. There is some light honey sweetness pleasant minerality. It gave the impression of drinking very refreshing spring water in the alpines. Very uplifting and pleasant feeling down the throat. Later steeps (after 4th steep), green vegetal and herbal notes move to the fore, highlighting the thick body. Guava and sweet pastry notes still rings in the back. A fruit sweetness is present even at the 8th steep. Very refreshing and satisfying tea with good stamina.

Tea

Search This Blog