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Some Yancha vendors describe their tea as medium, high, and heavy roasted while others don't really say anything about that...
Are there specific standards to firing/roasting level? I mean, when vendors A and B say their shuixian is medium roasted can we assume they used more or less the same roasting level? or does this simply reflect what *they* take medium roasting level to mean?
Likewise, Is there something like a default roasting level? isn't yancha in general heavily roasted?
Would be glad if someone can explain

There is great variation in roasting levels between different producers and even batches. Yancha can be almost green all the way up to scorched beyond recognition!

tealifehk wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 08, 2018 7:38 am

There is great variation in roasting levels between different producers and even batches. Yancha can be almost green all the way up to scorched beyond recognition!

I hear. But when you buy just ShuiXian you expect it to be heavily roasted right? (This is what I mean when I ask whether there is something like a “default”)
I mean medium roasted yancha is usually the exception isn’t it?

Kale wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 08, 2018 7:55 am

tealifehk wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 08, 2018 7:38 am

There is great variation in roasting levels between different producers and even batches. Yancha can be almost green all the way up to scorched beyond recognition!

I hear. But when you buy just ShuiXian you expect it to be heavily roasted right? (This is what I mean when I ask whether there is something like a “default”)
I mean medium roasted yancha is usually the exception isn’t it?

Not anymore! But I'm from Hong Kong, so it's the high end of high roast shuixian and wuyicha here. You can even get green zhangping shuixian or even medium oxidation, low roast unpressed shuixian in China nowadays. The Mainland market has an overall preference for 'greener' teas.

Vendors generally don't follow a strict set of standards or quidelines when labeling roast levels etc. X roast can be significantly different based on who you buy it from. I've had yancha labeled as high even though it had little desernable roast flavor and dark nearly burnt labeled same way.