Maybe it is all in my head. I've been analyzing too many validation studiesfaj wrote: ↑Mon Jan 04, 2021 7:22 pmWhereas Ethan Kurland was trying to make me sound more funny than I am, LeoFox tries to make me sound more sophisticated than I am. If these terms are layman terms, then call me a layman, because they are the ones that came to my mind, and were not the simplified version of any deeper concepts I was contemplating...Ethan Kurland wrote: ↑Mon Jan 04, 2021 12:37 pmI did not realize that you technical & scientific people were being so considerate, giving us laymen a chance to comprehend! Thanks for that. This is a pleasure & educational.
What Oolong Are You Drinking
@Ethan Kurland's 2020 spring DYL. Exhilarating aromatics! The leaves say it all! Thick, glossy full leaves that can steep out all day. Some even appear bug bitten! A sweet aftertaste that lingers on and on! The leaves themselves taste so good in the end: nutty and sweet! Am i crazy to eat them?
- Attachments
-
- 20210105_102217.jpg (394.9 KiB) Viewed 7420 times
-
- 20210105_102042.jpg (443.97 KiB) Viewed 7420 times
-
- 20210105_101936.jpg (388.35 KiB) Viewed 7420 times
Last edited by LeoFox on Tue Jan 05, 2021 7:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
W2T No.2 Rougui! Intense cassia aroma and sweet aftertaste.
Brewing in a 60 ml jianshui pot. I've had good results so far with yancha in jianshui pots ; they seem to give body but not mute much, and most of them have a really fast pouring time.
Cheers!
Brewing in a 60 ml jianshui pot. I've had good results so far with yancha in jianshui pots ; they seem to give body but not mute much, and most of them have a really fast pouring time.
Cheers!
- Attachments
-
- IMG_2622.jpg (162.58 KiB) Viewed 7394 times
-
- IMG_2654.jpg (88.14 KiB) Viewed 7394 times
Just had the same tea but in kobiwako clay instead of porcelain. Once again, the difference is shocking!LeoFox wrote: ↑Tue Jan 05, 2021 10:35 amEthan Kurland's 2020 spring DYL. Exhilarating aromatics! The leaves say it all! Thick, glossy full leaves that can steep out all day. Some even appear bug bitten! A sweet aftertaste that lingers on and on! The leaves themselves taste so good in the end: nutty and sweet! Am i crazy to eat them?
The tantalizing bouquet of aromas is now gone! Where did it go?? One whiff of the clay lid and the clay body reveals the truth: the clay sucked up all the aroma! Wow! The clay lid smells delicious...almost want to take a bite, and the cookie like texture of the clay strengthens this bizarre desire..
But something else happened. There is now a distinct umami and oily texture in the brew. The taste is now deep and more full. In later infusions, some of the aroma actually return, but transformed: more fruity than floral.
What is better here then, porcelain or kobiwako clay? This time, it seems almost a shame to lose the exquisite aromas, so labor intensively cultivated in the oxygen poor heights of the taiwanese alpine - sacrificing them to the evil thirsty clay whose origins is the murky bottoms of lake biwa, or so we are told by master Hojo... but the rebounded taste is so much better!
In the end i simply take the cup in one hand and, and clay lid in the other, sniffing the clay and drinking the tea at the same time! My wife watches, puzzled.
- Attachments
-
- IMG_20210108_083658_998.jpg (170.3 KiB) Viewed 7245 times
-
- IMG_20210108_083444_915.jpg (196.69 KiB) Viewed 7245 times
Last edited by LeoFox on Fri Jan 08, 2021 7:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
Ethan Kurland
- Vendor
- Posts: 1057
- Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:01 am
- Location: Boston
- Contact:
Dayuling & Longfengxia etc.:
So nice to see people enjoying that dayuling from Spring 2020. I also love it but never thought about eating the leaves. I still have a few packs of that DYL fortunately; (the DYL of this season did not seem as good as Spring's was.)
For this season I chose to buy longfengxia rather than DYL. For LFX I have used a porcelain teapot, porcelain bowl, & a teapot from Taiwan that is glazed outside & unglazed inside. I'll comment on the differences of brews from them though differences are not greatly pronounced for my palate. The unglazed inside of one pot does mute aromatics somewhat while highlighting other qualities a bit compared to porcelain vessels. The open bowl allows me to enjoy the whole process more, my nose being pleased for the short time leaves steep. I stack the infusions when I use the bowl; so several infusions only take a couple of minutes at most to prepare.
The DYL (of Spring 2020) does vary in taste more from round to round than the LFX. The 2 oolongs are different yet to me = in quality (as an objective assessment) while I prefer the flavor of the LFX & its lower price.
Overall if teas were rated on a chart, from last Spring DYL went down as LFX went up. This is another example of how leaves from the same farmers & producers cannot always have the best tea in a category every season.
Note: I did not buy Shanlinxi (grown about 500 yards down from the LFX) of this season. SLX of Spring 2020 was good enough to enjoy without wishing I was drinking something better. (Fortunately, I still have some.) SLX of this season could be enjoyed but I'd be wishing I was drinking something better.
Advice: Some people may think that overall this season is not especially a good one & decide to wait for Spring 2021 to buy gaoshan. There is no guarantee good tea will come in Spring 2021 & sometimes a season's tea is not available as quickly as usual. (So have enough good tea on hand to last a while.)
So nice to see people enjoying that dayuling from Spring 2020. I also love it but never thought about eating the leaves. I still have a few packs of that DYL fortunately; (the DYL of this season did not seem as good as Spring's was.)
For this season I chose to buy longfengxia rather than DYL. For LFX I have used a porcelain teapot, porcelain bowl, & a teapot from Taiwan that is glazed outside & unglazed inside. I'll comment on the differences of brews from them though differences are not greatly pronounced for my palate. The unglazed inside of one pot does mute aromatics somewhat while highlighting other qualities a bit compared to porcelain vessels. The open bowl allows me to enjoy the whole process more, my nose being pleased for the short time leaves steep. I stack the infusions when I use the bowl; so several infusions only take a couple of minutes at most to prepare.
The DYL (of Spring 2020) does vary in taste more from round to round than the LFX. The 2 oolongs are different yet to me = in quality (as an objective assessment) while I prefer the flavor of the LFX & its lower price.
Overall if teas were rated on a chart, from last Spring DYL went down as LFX went up. This is another example of how leaves from the same farmers & producers cannot always have the best tea in a category every season.
Note: I did not buy Shanlinxi (grown about 500 yards down from the LFX) of this season. SLX of Spring 2020 was good enough to enjoy without wishing I was drinking something better. (Fortunately, I still have some.) SLX of this season could be enjoyed but I'd be wishing I was drinking something better.
Advice: Some people may think that overall this season is not especially a good one & decide to wait for Spring 2021 to buy gaoshan. There is no guarantee good tea will come in Spring 2021 & sometimes a season's tea is not available as quickly as usual. (So have enough good tea on hand to last a while.)
During another excellent session with @Ethan Kurland's dyl, I noticed a nice surprise: a tea flower that floated up and attached itself to the bottom of my gaiwan lid.
- Attachments
-
- IMG_20210110_185942_666.jpg (81.32 KiB) Viewed 7224 times
Last edited by LeoFox on Sun Jan 10, 2021 9:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
Ethan Kurland
- Vendor
- Posts: 1057
- Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:01 am
- Location: Boston
- Contact:
-
Rickpatbrown
- Posts: 171
- Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2018 11:10 pm
- Location: State College, PA
If it is wrong to fill up my mug this much ... I dont want to be right.
Have to be careful on the first steep not to go too long, or it gets bitter. But after that, it can go 30 minutes and be thick and sweet and delicious.
2020 spring Alishan
Have to be careful on the first steep not to go too long, or it gets bitter. But after that, it can go 30 minutes and be thick and sweet and delicious.
2020 spring Alishan
- 20210111_151055.jpg (206.93 KiB) Viewed 7192 times
I am drinking some Floating Leaves' Charcoal Dong Ding this evening. I prepared a large thermos full for afternoon clinic, since we have so many people now who are sharing a break for tea during clinic, but was so busy that it has sat untouched in the thermos for about 8 hours. And....it is wonderful. A little peachy, a little spicy, just a strong enough hint of earthy for the other flavors to stand out against it. Very, very, very fine. MMMMM.
Japanese qingxin oolong from thés-du-japon. Quite good and really interesting to see this cultivar grown in Japan! It's got some of the grassiness of lower elevation baozhongs, but also a intense spiceness which I hadn't encountered before with this cultivar, something in the lines of cinnamon and allspice. I often find japanese oolongs disappointing, but this is a good one.
- Attachments
-
- IMG_2711.JPG (90.54 KiB) Viewed 7076 times
nice... reminds me of Moroccan Mint Tea!.. ahahaha....Rickpatbrown wrote: ↑Mon Jan 11, 2021 2:15 pmIf it is wrong to fill up my mug this much ... I dont want to be right.
Have to be careful on the first steep not to go too long, or it gets bitter. But after that, it can go 30 minutes and be thick and sweet and delicious.
2020 spring Alishan