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

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Sanxia Premium Mi Xiang Qing Xin Black Tea, Lot 944, spring 2020 from taiwan tea crafts

From vendor: STYLE OF TEA Formosa Black Tea PICKING DATE April 2020 OXYDATION LEVEL High BAKING LEVEL None TERROIR Sanxia ADMINISTRATIVE REGION New Taipei City PICKING STYLE Hand Picked CULTIVAR(S) USED Qing Xin Gan Zhi GARDEN ELEVATION 500 m ________________ Steeped 5 grams in 125 ml pot using 90 to 95 C water. 20 sec / 20 sec / 25 sec / 40 sec / 1 min / 2 min /4 min Wonderful honey and blueberry taste and aromas. Mild muscat notes reminiscent of second flush insect bitten darjeeling. Slight astringency at back of throat. As liquid cools, there is more acidity. Acidity is tempered using lower temp water. Body is relatively light. May benefit from clay. Leaves: more than 1/3 appear broken, possibly during rolling process. Very little evidence of insect bites, which are required for this genre of tea. Had very good flavor for 5 steepings before tapering off.

Longfengxia High Mountain Spring Oolong Tea, Day 5, Lot 948, 2020 taiwan tea craft

From vendor: PICKING DATE May 2020 OXYDATION LEVEL Low BAKING LEVEL None TERROIR Shanlinxi ADMINISTRATIVE REGION Nantou County PICKING STYLE Hand Picked CULTIVAR(S) USED Qing Xin GARDEN ELEVATION 1750 m Review: Dry lead is intensely flowery with prominent yellow stems Brewed 5 to 7 grams/100 mL boiling water in kobiwako. Lower leaf is okay due to intensity of flavor but higher leaf has stronger sweetness in later steeps. For 5 g: Rinse / 55 s / 45 s / 55 s / 1:10 / 1:30 /2:30 Brewed leaves have strong pastry and tropical fruit Steeps 1-2: Taste of green mango, citrus, and baked pineapple pastry. Clean minerality and medium to thick mouthfeel. There is strong perfume of oily flowers, mainly rose and some lavender. At higher leaf to water (7 g per 100 mL) there is some slight green astringency. Steep 3-5: fruit notes are much more mild but still present and long lasting. Much more buttery. There is slight green brandy like astringency. At higher leaf to water ratio, frui...

2020 Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea from teavivre

From vendor: Origin: Qiandao Lake, Chun'an County, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China Season: Spring Tea Harvest Date: March 25, 2020 Tea Bush: C. sinensis cv. Jiukeng Tea Garden: Qiandao Lake Organic Tea Garden Review: Brewed 5.2 g in 170 mL 75-80 C water No rinse / 30 s / 30 s / 40 s / 55 s / 1 m 30 s /2 m 30s Dry leaf: pale green and slightly yellow, suggesting lighter oxidation than standard. Small leaves, consistent with earlier harvest. Plenty of white fluff in bag and on leaves. 1 bud 1 leaf > 1 bud > 1 bud 2 leaves. Mild scent of nuts. Wet leaf has strong scent of sweet freshly blanched green beans or corn. In the mouth, persistent vegetal sweetness mostly of asparagus and corn mixed with milder aromas of raw nuts. Good minerality gives this all a nice structure and a "crisp hardness" like small bell ringing. Long aftertaste of sweet vegetal notes, butteriness and minerality. Astringency is very controlled. Overall, aroma is a bit too mild.

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