What Oolong Are You Drinking

Semi-oxidized tea
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Fri Jul 22, 2022 11:09 am

thanks @Ethan Kurland! and no, that is not the vendor name :lol: they call it TGY Tea King, which is their highest grade.
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debunix
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Fri Jul 22, 2022 11:33 am

Today I brewed up Spring 2021 Menghaitian Oolong Black from FarmerLeaf.

Dry leaf is floral, fruity, subtle underlying herbaceous scent. I want to keep sniffing and sniffing the long, dark, twisted leaves.
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First steep is with 2.4 g leaf in a tiny fully glazed Petr Novák Nuka teapot with about 75 mL water just off the boil, about 210 degrees. I was in a hurry to try it so stopped at just 45 seconds, and it is very delicate and light--should have gone longer--yet deliciously mellow, floral, hints of malt, raisin, plums.

Second infusion is at least a minute, didn't count it out, but increased malt, raisins, and still that powerful floral note surrounding everything else, a feeling of being in the . Delicious. I am going to really enjoy this one. And I bet it will be terrific for drinking chilled too.

Because I did not have enough time to devote to tea today, I only did one more infusion, and this one I just let go for an hour or more, and it remained delicious, a little hint of astringency but no actual bitterness, still floral and interesting.
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teatray
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Fri Jul 22, 2022 2:27 pm

@debunix Looks great in that beautiful pot & sounds delicious! 40s, 60s, 3600s is a steep steep gradient.

Had a tin of 2017 Handmade Tie Luo Han today. As a bit of an experiment influenced by recent posts, I brewed all 10g in my small pot (~100ml boiling water, slightly more on first pour with unsoaked leaf) for a minute, serving two people. Result was a thick, viscous liquid that my brain immediately gave up interpreting as tea. A mysterious thick sap, tasting of prunes and dates, sweet and resinous, also a hint of bitterness and a little smoke on top of a fragrant woodiness that was very different from other yanchas I've tried, more focused & refined.

The very best first steep of my yancha exploration so far. Subsequent infusions were nice (finished #6 @ 10 minutes) but did not come close to the experience of the first, so maybe it lacked the interesting development I experienced with some other similarly-priced yancha, that had some magic happen around steep #3. Or maybe I was too numb to notice it, haha. My palate & throat feel pleasantly fresh after the session.

Steeps #3 & #6
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LeoFox
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Fri Jul 22, 2022 3:13 pm

teatray wrote:
Fri Jul 22, 2022 2:27 pm
debunix Looks great in that beautiful pot & sounds delicious! 40s, 60s, 3600s is a steep steep gradient.

Had a tin of 2017 Handmade Tie Luo Han today. As a bit of an experiment influenced by recent posts, I brewed all 10g in my small pot (~100ml boiling water, slightly more on first pour with unsoaked leaf) for a minute, serving two people. Result was a thick, viscous liquid that my brain immediately gave up interpreting as tea. A mysterious thick sap, tasting of prunes and dates, sweet and resinous, also a hint of bitterness and a little smoke on top of a fragrant woodiness that was very different from other yanchas I've tried, more focused & refined.

The very best first steep of my yancha exploration so far. Subsequent infusions were nice (finished #6 @ 10 minutes) but did not come close to the experience of the first, so maybe it lacked the interesting development I experienced with some other similarly-priced yancha, that had some magic happen around steep #3. Or maybe I was too numb to notice it, haha. My palate & throat feel pleasantly fresh after the session.

Steeps #3 & #6
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I can confirm that some brew at 1.5g/10 ml starting at 90s. As one reviewer on eot website said - brew strong and shock yourself and your friends with the possibilities of tea :D

Btw if you are brewing strong- you may want to go up much more steeply. After 1 minute- then 2 minutes- then 5 minutes, then 10- 15 minutes
GaoShan
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Fri Jul 22, 2022 5:01 pm

I'm drinking the last of some spring 2021 Alishan from Wang Family Tea before diving into my spring 2022 oolongs. One-minute steeps in my 150 ml Zhuni-Hongni pot give me orchids, honeysuckle, coconut, and a piny/herbaceous quality the website describes as "woodsiness." This Alishan is on the floral and vegetal side, which I've found to be the case with many other oolongs from this region. (Fruity Alishans are rare and wonderful treats.)
Andrew S
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Fri Jul 22, 2022 7:24 pm

LeoFox wrote:
Fri Jul 22, 2022 3:13 pm
teatray wrote:
Fri Jul 22, 2022 2:27 pm
debunix Looks great in that beautiful pot & sounds delicious! 40s, 60s, 3600s is a steep steep gradient.

Had a tin of 2017 Handmade Tie Luo Han today. As a bit of an experiment influenced by recent posts, I brewed all 10g in my small pot (~100ml boiling water, slightly more on first pour with unsoaked leaf) for a minute, serving two people. Result was a thick, viscous liquid that my brain immediately gave up interpreting as tea. A mysterious thick sap, tasting of prunes and dates, sweet and resinous, also a hint of bitterness and a little smoke on top of a fragrant woodiness that was very different from other yanchas I've tried, more focused & refined.

The very best first steep of my yancha exploration so far. Subsequent infusions were nice (finished #6 @ 10 minutes) but did not come close to the experience of the first, so maybe it lacked the interesting development I experienced with some other similarly-priced yancha, that had some magic happen around steep #3. Or maybe I was too numb to notice it, haha. My palate & throat feel pleasantly fresh after the session.
I can confirm that some brew at 1.5g/10 ml starting at 90s. As one reviewer on eot website said - brew strong and shock yourself and your friends with the possibilities of tea :D

Btw if you are brewing strong- you may want to go up much more steeply. After 1 minute- then 2 minutes- then 5 minutes, then 10- 15 minutes
Indeed: I just put 8.5g of EoT's 2020 tieluohan into my 60mL teapot for some 'espresso' yancha... Starting at one and a half minutes, but then going to a bit below one minute, then back up again. That just seems to work well for me.

I don't always brew yancha that strong, though. Sometimes the strong method doesn't work well for a particular tea. Sometimes I'll prefer a few concentrated brews, but other times I'll prefer a greater number of brews with a more gradual development of character from brew to brew. But even when I use short infusions (eg, 15 to 30 seconds for the first few), I don't go below a 1g per 10mL ratio. It works well for me for my 'standard' / non-strong method to have that ratio, and then to adjust brewing times to suit the tea and my mood. Of course, at these leaf to water ratios, things like the shape of the pot and how you layer the leaves into it become important as well.

There are probably as many ways to brew these teas as there are tea drinkers, and I'm only starting to learn my 'strong' method through trial and error. Hearing about other people's experiences here helps as well.

I might try to start a Chaozhou Gongfu page around here to see what others can contribute to the topic; sadly, it seems like the kind of thing best learnt in person from other tea drinkers, but I'm sure that there are people here who can contribute from their knowledge and experience.

Andrew
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debunix
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Fri Jul 22, 2022 10:31 pm

As anticipated....
debunix wrote:
Fri Jul 22, 2022 11:33 am
And I bet it will be terrific for drinking chilled too.

The lovely Spring 2021 Menghaitian Oolong Black from FarmerLeaf was just splendid as sparkling tea today. The wonderful rich floral flavor was just brilliant when carbonated.
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Victoria
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Sat Jul 23, 2022 1:12 pm

Unplanned heavy on the leaf/water ratio having miscalculated the size of a mayake ash glazed Shigiraki kyusu that hasn’t been used for a while, ended up usiing 12g/145ml/off boil/75sec, 75, 2.30min, 5, 15… with HYChen’s medium roast DaYuLin Pristine Primordial Wild. Using more leaf really brought out herbaceous aspects, and camphor notes. I did though ended up adding a little water for a few of the steeps.
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LeoFox
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Mon Jul 25, 2022 12:55 pm

Nice relaxing yancha session with dxjd rougui

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teatray
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Wed Jul 27, 2022 10:18 am

Li Shan Hua Guan, October 2021 (Hua Gardens, Ren'ai, >2000m) via Sazen

Good to drink gaoshan again, after some trouble sourcing it. (Chunghwa Post doesn't deliver to my country, Hojo doesn't answer my mails, a Spring 2022 haul from a non-Asian supplier was a complete failure.) This one is pretty sweet, with some nice flowery notes. Not exceptional, but ticking all the boxes, and that will do for now.
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Ethan Kurland
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Wed Jul 27, 2022 11:44 am

teatray wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 10:18 am
... after some trouble sourcing it. (Chunghwa Post doesn't deliver to my country, Hojo doesn't answer my mails, a Spring 2022 haul from a non-Asian supplier was a complete failure.)
I need to ask you for details.
What happens to packages coming to you from other countries?
Do agents at customs throw tea away? Is tea stolen? Do whole packages just not come to you?
Are problems related to rules of the EU that Bulgaria follows?
Are you, not everyone, somehow receiving packages from some countries w/o a problem while packages sent from other countries are not coming to you?
This situation seems as difficult to understand as rulings of Immigration officials.
All the best.
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teatray
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Wed Jul 27, 2022 1:41 pm

Ethan Kurland wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 11:44 am
I need to ask you for details.
What happens to packages coming to you from other countries?
Do agents at customs throw tea away? Is tea stolen? Do whole packages just not come to you?
Are problems related to rules of the EU that Bulgaria follows?
Are you, not everyone, somehow receiving packages from some countries w/o a problem while packages sent from other countries are not coming to you?
This situation seems as difficult to understand as rulings of Immigration officials.
All the best.
I have not had a tea package to BG stolen/confiscated/opened for sampling yet. Importing can be a hassle (filling forms & providing all sorts of documentation) but no denials so far. There are ways for sellers to make life easier for EU customers (including HS codes & ingredients lists in invoices, VAT prepayment via IOSS or courier brokerage, etc) but few use them and I understand that small sellers with few EU customers can't really be expected to get involved in the circus. With time, I learned the best routes requiring the least amount of effort on my part when importing food items to my country (which couriers to use, etc). I can provide more details via PM (don't want to pollute the thread).

I haven't noticed unequal treatment, but have heard of what's likely targeted harassment on shipments from mainland China to Germany & Hungary (probably doesn't apply to Taiwan).

Chunghwa Post's decision not to ship to BG is a COVID-19 restriction they haven't lifted yet, despite having done so for 22 other European countries--no idea why (probably just unimportant destination while cargo flights are still limited). Courier shipments on the other hand are very expensive from Taiwan (unless the seller gets volume discounts), and many sellers just can't be bothered to send via courier at all.
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Baisao
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Wed Jul 27, 2022 5:34 pm

@teatray, have you tried https://thetea.pl/en? They are in Poland so it should be easier for you. The handful of teas I had were maybe 75th percentile. Certainly not bad for what you can get in Europe.
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teatray
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Wed Jul 27, 2022 6:56 pm

@Baisao Haven't tried them, thanks for the rec. I should experiment more with EU suppliers, but no great finds after a few tries, and it just seems cheaper to buy from Asia. Comparing what EU shops charge for some larger Japanese brands with global availability (Horii Shichimeien, Marukyu Koyamaen, etc.) has been eye-opening. If you are buying 2-3 mid-range matcha cans, you can already save money by ordering directly from Japan (that's incl. shipping via EMS/DHL and paying full VAT).
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Baisao
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Wed Jul 27, 2022 9:06 pm

teatray wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 6:56 pm
Baisao Haven't tried them, thanks for the rec. I should experiment more with EU suppliers, but no great finds after a few tries, and it just seems cheaper to buy from Asia. Comparing what EU shops charge for some larger Japanese brands with global availability (Horii Shichimeien, Marukyu Koyamaen, etc.) has been eye-opening. If you are buying 2-3 mid-range matcha cans, you can already save money by ordering directly from Japan (that's incl. shipping via EMS/DHL and paying full VAT).
Some EU shops charge an arm and a leg for sure. Bear in mind that matcha pricing might be different because of its recent popularity as a health food in the West.
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