What Oolong Are You Drinking

[Bok]

Then with aging re-roasting would be necessary, but not possible if high fired. What are your thoughts on methods of resting versus aging of roasted oolong?

In my experience the HK traditional roasted teas are over-roasted, which means re-roasting is probably not advisable, maybe a slow waking up as done for Yancha sometimes: Before the tea session the leaves are gentle warmed on a paper over a source of heat.

You can tell when teas are not oxidised sufficiently and then heavily roasted by looking at the brewed leaves. There should still be some green and red tones come out. Most HK stuff I had was deep brown, almost black. What could help with this kind of tea are clay jars, wax sealed, which might take of some of the edge, porcelain will probably accentuate it.

[Rickpatbrown]

Then with aging re-roasting would be necessary, but not possible if high fired. What are your thoughts on methods of resting versus aging of roasted oolong?

Why can't you reroast high (is this synonymous with heavy?) roast? Is it that there is no room left for roasting? It would be over-roasted at that point?

I was researching this the other week with my recent FL dong ding purchase. Shiuwen recommends "resting", since it was roasted last winter. I wanted to try right away, so I opened the bag and put it in a glazed stoneware container with silicon gasket. I assumed resting meant months -year or two. And aging was decades. I'd love to know more about aging light-heavy roasted oolongs.

[Rickpatbrown]

Lol. Bok. Beat me with the quote.

[Bok]

Why can't you reroast high (is this synonymous with heavy?) roast? Is it that there is no room left for roasting? It would be over-roasted at that point?

Pretty much. You still can re-roast, but probably need to be more careful. Good storage is the better option for aging.

I assumed resting meant months -year or two. And aging was decades. I'd love to know more about aging light-heavy roasted oolongs.

Resting can mean exactly that. Mostly because the "fire" is still too present, can cause a not very nice sensation (also with greener Oolongs by the way!). Dancong and Yancha are all mostly sold a year after the harvest for exactly that reason (if not processed lighter than the norm). The higher the roast, the longer the rest should be. Some smart people buy those un-rested teas for a cheaper price and take the resting time upon them The farmer/tea merchant will add storage time to the price.

It is also advised by some to let this kind of teas "open up" before brewing. Storing it in a, preferably porcelain, jar for a couple of hours-days.

[pedant]

i had 'one last session' with some 2016 laocong shuixian from wuyiorigin. a couple of years ago, i got 500g of it, and i've gone through almost 150g. i'm noticing that it doesn't taste quite as good as before, and so i've decided to seal away the remaining 350g. i plan to not open it until at least 2030. hopefully it will have acquired some aged character by then.

i re-impulse sealed the paper/foil bag it came in, and then i sealed that bag in a 4 mil (clear) polyethylene bag. then i put it in a cardboard box and taped it up. i don't want to do the re-roasting thing, so hopefully sealing it up like that will give a reasonable result.

2016 LCSX sealed up for tomorrow.jpg (29.3 KiB) Viewed 5897 times

[Bok]

re-impulse sealed the paper/foil bag it came in, and then i sealed that bag in a 4 mil (clear) polyethylene bag. then i put it in a cardboard box and taped it up.

Good plan!

Not sure if cardboard box is a good idea, it poses more of a risk to add unwanted smells to the tea. I would put the bag into another container, preferably some sort of odor free clay, or porcelain.

[Ethan Kurland]

Pedant, As a senior citizen who is occasionally unable to remember what was previously planned for items put in a cupboard etc., I appreciate your note to yourself printed in black in large writing. We older folks also add a note for others in case we no longer walk this earth or do so in senility, such as "Delicious tea, open and read instructions inside." 14 years is a long time. Cheers

[d.manuk]

The minimalist in me could not handle having a box in my apartment that I wouldn’t use for 11 years

[Bok]

The minimalist in me could not handle having a box in my apartment that I wouldn’t use for 11 years

Just have to imagine something is happening inside in all that time

[Tillerman]

The minimalist in me could not handle having a box in my apartment that I wouldn’t use for 11 years

Just have to imagine something is happening inside in all that time

But when you open it is the cat alive or dead?

[Victoria]

Haha too funny.

Floating Leaves just had a live ‘Roasted DongDing’ broadcast. She does them monthly I think, casual live streaming. I asked her if a roast is a little too charcoal fresh how does she recommend ‘resting’ it, in the air tight package it came in, or loose in a ceramic or a porcelain canister? My take away from her reply;

• If you are in a hurry - remove however much you plan on drinking for the next few days, and place in porcelain container leaving +-1/3 air space on top, just enough to open up leaves slightly. Air will speed up the resting period. But air will also ruin your oolong if left too long in a canister with air space on top, so a balance needs to be reached. Let rest just a few days with air space in canister.

• If you plan on waiting for roast to settle - leave contents in mylar package you received tea in, roll down to remove air space, seal and wait.

For aging roasted oolong she mentioned using thick unglazed ceramic canisters that are used in Taiwan, filling to the top with tea, sealing the lid and waiting.

She said something about Japanese canisters being good as well but was difficult to hear, audio isn’t great. I’m going to assume she likes them for teas that will be consumed within a few days, but can’t be sure. In my experience each canister is a little different depending on how airtight the double lid seal is with pewter, tin or stainless canisters more or less air will be present inside.

Her main advice with tea is “trust your senses” .

[Rickpatbrown]

When you guys say "open up" are you speaking physically of the rolled oolong? Or are you referring to flavor?

[Bok]

When you guys say "open up" are you speaking physically of the rolled oolong? Or are you referring to flavor?

Flavour

[Rickpatbrown]

Does anyone know what is going on with the tea to make them open up?

When I hear about letting a tea rest because the roast is still strong, it seems counterintuitive that we would seal them up in a bag.

And opening up seems like a different process to letting the roast ease up. Arr they related? Or do some teas need to rest for different reasons.

Sorry for so many questions. I have a lot to learn.

[Bok]

@Rickpatbrown You want let the roast/fire dissipate, yet do not want to air out original tea flavour - if that makes sense. I do not know the exact science behind this, but my personal test confirm its value. That is letting the tea rest, settle down from the roasting process.

Opening up is (possibly) airing out some of the original packaging smells and more importantly the interaction with Oxygen seems to be beneficial to expand the flavour profile (too long and it will result in the tea going flat, how long depends on the local climate). Humidity seems to play a role as well, in mid Taiwan, opening up can be a matter of hours or days. In drier, colder climate it might nor work at all. Teamasters did a lot of tests and blog entries about this in the past. You can look them up.

Porcelain on the other hand seems to enhance the aromatics.
Again, my personal test results, confirmed by others, yet I do not have the scientific explanation.