What Oolong Are You Drinking

[Victoria]

Looks like a really enjoyable tasting @debunix thanks for sharing the process. Do you think the spicy JT: Jing Tea Shop's 'Wuyi Flowery Rou Gui' is at a grade to have with food, or sufficiently excellent to have on its own?

[debunix]

Definitely good enough on its own. Ditto the Wuyi Origin. I need to let the TeaHabitat version hang out a bit and try it again, to see if the roast is quieted and the aromas come through; the others have been hanging out for nearly a year, so were already 'rested'.

[Ethan Kurland]

... version hang out a bit and try it again, to see if the roast is quieted and the aromas come through; the others have been hanging out for nearly a year, so were already 'rested'.

Wondering what you mean by "quieted". I drink aged, roasted oolong because the aging makes for a smoother drink; yet, the the power of the roasted flavor can be much too strong for me when I don't keep the steeping time fairly quick or use too many leaves. So, can you taste other flavors and/or is a harshness not part of how the roast tastes (etc.) by letting the tea hang out?

[debunix]

In this case, it is about relative potency of roasted, really burnt note, and the delicate and subtler pleasing aromas and flavors. The roast dominates too much. Making the cup more dilute (shorter infusion, less leaf) also dilutes the parts I really like. My hope is the roast will fade relative to the other flavors with more time.

[John216]

Enjoying Fang Gourmet's Dong Ding.

[Victoria]

Sipping on a backroom Early ‘80s Wistaria DongDing that @phyllsheng very kindly shared with me a few years ago. No humidity induced plummy notes. I had placed a serving in a ceramic caddie a while ago to let the tea stretch out a bit after being cooped up for fourty years. It is so rich, complex, spicy, silky smooth and aromatic. Empty cup is thick. Just perfect . Thank you.

[debunix]

I just had a lovely session with some of Tillermans spring 2020 Shan Lin Xi, from a pouch that has been open but neglected for months: I got one perfect rich spicy well rounded infusion—can’t quite find coconut in it but i think it was what Victoria calls “buttery”. Subsequent infusions were fine, but that first was perfect.

[LeoFox]

Zheng yan rougui (2019) from lazy cat at ~1.33$/g "tiger style"

Just a few comments:

The roast is surprisingly strong. I didn't taste the underlying leaf until 4 infusions in. It has a definite charcoal character. It is not unpleasant and only slightly bitter. It is not smooth or milky. It is more "choppy" and robust - maybe true to its name.

After 4 infusions, the leaf sweetness would pop up here and there in unexpected ways, making little splashes of spicy tropical fruit flavors.

There is an interesting savory almost umami like flavor that develops. Vaguely reminds me of salted pork.

Minerality is subtle at first but in later steeps it suddenly becomes mouth coating.

Most of the action seems to happen in the aftertaste. The interplay of roast, spice, mineral and leaf sweetness continues long after each sip.

I would not say this is a "comforting" tea - it is more "activating" and I wonder if it would benefit from a bit more aging.

[Andrew S]

@LeoFox: your description reminded me somewhat of a yancha that I tried a little while ago which was very forceful and assertive in flavour (not necessarily too 'roasty' though, unlike yours).

After trying to tame it with shorter infusions, I came to find that it actually benefited from a longer and stronger brew. I think that the shorter infusions highlighted its assertiveness too much, whereas longer ones let more of the underlying flavour emerge and balance out that aspect of it to create a strong but pleasant experience.

Not sure if that is helpful, but I do think that popular opinion tends to be that bitter, astringent, or just very powerful teas should be brewed very quickly, whereas I think that it is more complicated than that.

Andrew

[LeoFox]

LeoFox: your description reminded me somewhat of a yancha that I tried a little while ago which was very forceful and assertive in flavour (not necessarily too 'roasty' though, unlike yours).

After trying to tame it with shorter infusions, I came to find that it actually benefited from a longer and stronger brew. I think that the shorter infusions highlighted its assertiveness too much, whereas longer ones let more of the underlying flavour emerge and balance out that aspect of it to create a strong but pleasant experience.

Not sure if that is helpful, but I do think that popular opinion tends to be that bitter, astringent, or just very powerful teas should be brewed very quickly, whereas I think that it is more complicated than that.

Andrew

That is very interesting and worth trying for sure! Thank you for the advice!
I brewed it with a timer (not good enough to use intuition)

Flash rinse that I drank after the 15 min brew / 8s / 15s /20s / 30s / 40s / 1 min / 1 min 30s / 2min 20s / 3 min 40s / 5 min / 8 min / 15 min / grandpa brewed multiple times

Maybe I will start with 20s immediately after the rinse next time. I used to do this to " challenge" a yancha.

This tea was by no means bad - definitely assertive as you said - and haunted me all day with its lingering drama of aftertastes.

[Ethan Kurland]

My main objective with roasted tea is to enjoy flavor(s) that the roasting creates. Other flavor(s) that sometimes might be noticeable are a bonus. For me tartness or minerals are really roast. To enjoy those, I need to avoid what Leo has discussed as assertiveness. An amount of leaves less than what I use for other teas & quick steeping may result in a cup that is weak; however, the flavor builds in my mouth. One might think he is not getting all that can come from the leaves; on the other side of that argument, one might not be letting those flavors accrue. So prolonged use of leaves for several infusions nets me the most pleasure. A strong first infusion can make me happy but just for the first round. So the subtle approach is for me. I must not drink rounds too close together; I must not steep even one round too long. I must not think about what is not there; or not there immediately.

Fewer leaves & less steeping time definitely works best as described above; yet, no wonderful experience is guaranteed. Enjoyment varies greatly. I can rely on what unroasted tea will do for me much more reliably. Nonetheless, roasted tea sessions make all of the tea drinking better. When I drink it only twice a week & have plenty of pleasure from other teas, the sessions of my favorite aged, roasted tea are often wonderful, often the best sessions of the week.

I can eat medium boiled eggs, plain by themselves everyday & always at least like them a lot & often love them. It does not matter what is going on that day, what went on. (So, no eggforum is necessary, right?)

[Bok]

Dancong afternoon…

[LeoFox]

For me tartness or minerals are really roast.
I can eat medium boiled eggs, plain by themselves everyday & always at least like them a lot & often love them. It does not matter what is going on that day, what went on. (So, no eggforum is necessary, right?)

Thanks for your comments!

It's interesting you mention that tartness and minerals are from the roast as I've tasted these aspects in all other teas before from pu to green to white though not exactly the same minerality or tartness. Based on what I've been reading about minerality in chemistry of mineral laden wine, it is likely the taste of minerality is from processing (mainly sulphur based compounds and some others) and not actual minerals from the terroir.

Your comment about egg reminded me of a way I can use my surplus of bad yancha: make tea infused eggs!

[LeoFox]

Just loving this shuixian baozhong. Seems to improve as the bag goes down..somehow.

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[debunix]

Enjoying some LiShan from Tillerman, a light roast that has been abused by being thermos-brewed, and drinking now lukewarm on day 2. It is such a lovely tea that the warm caramel and delicately spicey notes come out quite gently and pleasantly. Mmm.