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I stumbled across this on the webz...

https://www.teaguardian.com/quality-var ... g-dancong/

...just as I was considering to fire up some Xingren Xiang for the afternoon session today...

...and I was going to Grandpa the tea, acquired from Hojo, again, it's @OCTO's fault, the acquisition that is, not the Grandpa...

...but I did find this paragraph intriguing and resonant:

Popularisation of the poor practice of extremely short infusion time ( in the name of gongfu cha ) helps to disguise poor quality. This coupled with the flooding of the market with under-trained tasters, over-certified so-called tea sommeliers, and the alternative reality manufactured through the internet, it is unsure how large a proportion of Xingren Xiang in the market is poorly baked

It's been timely as for the past few days I have been diligently drinking Traditional TGY, various aged Oolongs and have grandpa'd most of them... I don't think the blog had specified any ratios or techniques foer this 5 minute brew, but I'd be inclined to go with competition style ratios of 3g to 150ml...

StoneLadle wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 02, 2020 12:55 am

...and I was going to Grandpa the tea, acquired from Hojo, again, it's OCTO's fault, the acquisition that is, not the Grandpa...

@StoneLadle

Very interesting article. But I think the author knows a lot more about tea than his understanding of gong fu brewing and it’s background...

I do agree with that high quality tea is not afraid of long steeps. Nothing stops anyone to use gong fu steeps and five minutes infusions... flash brews are not ingrained in gongfu method.

But the brew generated from more leaf in smaller pot and relatively shorter steeping times will yield vastly different results to less leaf to water and longer infusions. Not really better or worse just a different outcome according to personal taste preferences.

Lower quality material will indeed profit from flash brewing, that is the point of it. At least for me, I consciously do that when the tea is subpar and might even need a slightly muting teapot. Good teas one can brew carelessly without regards for heat and steeping time...

@Bok what about specifically with Xinreng Xiang?... less leaf more water more time?... i'm stuck on my TGY now and am looking at the can of XX longingly...

StoneLadle wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 02, 2020 3:30 am

Bok what about specifically with Xinreng Xiang?... less leaf more water more time?... i'm stuck on my TGY now and am looking at the can of XX longingly...

Don’t know why Xinrenxiang would be a special case... I treat all Dancong roughly the same.

As for less leaf more time, that’s a personal decision. I prefer a stuffed pot and shorter infusions.

I find myself grandpa'ing a lot more teas these days, especially gaoshan. Gong fu is such a hassle. I noticed that I really enjoy grandpa. It brings out things in the tea that I never get with GF. There is definitely more bitterness. You have to be careful with how much leaf you add.

When I go hiking, I'll fill a 1Liter thermos with 2 spoon fulls of tea (6-8 grams, maybe) and boiling water. I get some really amazing spicy, herbal flavors like cinnamon and clove. Not sure if it comes from the stems or what, but I definitely dont get it with GF. This a medium grade 2020 spring Alishan, btw.

Sheng is still gong fu for me.

Rickpatbrown wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 24, 2020 11:40 pm

When I go hiking, I'll fill a 1Liter thermos with 2 spoon fulls of tea (6-8 grams, maybe) and boiling water

I do something similar: thermos shu. 5g of loose-leaf "daily drinker" in my half-liter thermos. With a quick rinse. Delicious!