TeaForum.org

An Ji Bai Cha from Jing Tea Shop. Mmmm mellow smooth delicate...so nice, even from Kamjove and camp cup.

Shi Feng Long Jing from Hojo. This is one phenomenal Long Jing (the best of all the Long Jing I have tried). 7 infusions + 1 cold overnight brew. Still trying to decide if I should go with Akitsu oxidation or Carbonized reduction clay (both are superior than a neutral vessel in bringing out the complex body and prolonging the aftertaste).

I've been drinking Ippodo's Obukucha (genmaicha) recently - one of my favorite everyday teas for the colder months. I typically put a bit more than the recommended amount of leaf, and brew at just below 212F for 30sec.

debunix wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:38 am

An Ji Bai Cha from Jing Tea Shop. Mmmm mellow smooth delicate...so nice, even from Kamjove and camp cup.

Do you mind sharing your brewing parameters?

I had a great experience with 2016 harvest but this year’s is disappointing. I suspect it’s mostly me and not the tea.

I brew it different ways at different times, and one of the things I like about it is that it accomodates anything from water just off the boil in a plastic Kamjove device--a small quantity of tea for the size of the infusion chamber, almost flash infused--to a larger quantity with cooler water in an unglazed 5 oz iron-rich clay Kyusu from Petr Novak.

Most often--when the tea and I are together with a temp control kettle--I do a quick infusion with water about 175-180 for maybe 20 seconds to 'wake' the leaves, then drop temp and extend time for the next infusion--160 for maybe a minute, and then gradually ramp up time and temp--90 seconds 175, 2 minutes 190, 3 minutes off boil--adjusting for taste as I go. I often cover the leaves with cold water at the end for a last cool-brew cup in the evening after work or the morning after an evening session.

And I'm working through a package from 2016, but not opened until 2-3 months ago.

Thanks debunix for the info. I’ve been using much lower temperatures and I think I need to remember that my Japanese greens and Chinese greens can have very different brewing needs. Maybe my Chinese greens have been disappointing because if at first I don’t succeed in brewing a good cup I lower the temp. That usually works for my favorite Japanese greens, but probably for the Chinese greens I should try higher temps.

For most of the Chinese greens, I find that 'hot start' first flash infusion can help, but the An Ji Bai Cha is unusual in my experience in not being prone to developing an overcooked-peas flavor, or just becoming bitter, when hit with very hot water several infusions in a row.

Green trilogy this morning:
- San bai ye (Mengding shan, Sichuan)
- Musashi kaori, fukamushi sencha
- Taiping houkui

A delicious looking session!

I was drinking a puerh earlier, but I didn't like it very much and switched back to a plain ippodo sencha. Nothing special, but I definitely used too much leaf

mukti wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 17, 2017 2:54 pm

I was drinking a puerh earlier, but I didn't like it very much and switched back to a plain ippodo sencha. Nothing special, but I definitely used too much leaf

Too much leaf? ... I did not know that was possible for sencha.

In my recent explorations of the Kabusecha from Ububu I have had both too much and too little leaf, as I played with different brewing vessels and conditions. I had thought with a little too little leaf I could always increase brewing time to make up for it, but surprisingly there was a point where that didn't work. And: too much leaf is when there is too little room for water to actually infuse.....

Chip wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 19, 2017 9:47 am

Too much leaf? ... I did not know that was possible for sencha.

I filled the gaiwan so much that the leaves had no room to expand

I keep drinking genmaicha at work... But I need to remember to clean my filter at the end of the day.... Scraping dried tea leaves out of the filter every morning is such a pain x_x

Drinking Okinawan green jasmine from 2014! This tea is about as good as the last time I tried it and is still a flavor and caffeine bomb! I don't know why it's as strong as it is, but it always gives me a gaoshan-style kick. It's delicious stuff and quite different from the Chinese jasmine tea that is also consumed on Okinawa!

Purple beauty green tea from YS. A very interesting green tea, not much like any other green I've had. Also the soup was purple greyish which was interesting. It was delicious.