What Black Are You Drinking

[joelbct]

Curious how are you steeping your Keemun? and other blacks in general, leaf/water/temp/time.

Time: 3:45s for Indian teas, and 4:15s for chinese blacks

Ratio: 1g leaf : 90g H20

Temp (measured in vessel): ~190-195F (88-93C) for FF and SF Darjeeling. ~205F (96+) for fully oxidized blacks. (measured after pour into preheated vessel)

So I preheat and set my perfectemp kettle to 200F for FF Darjeeling, and boiling for others. I used to be hesitant to brew expensive blacks at boiling, but one of Hojo's blog posts, Why do we rinse tea, encouraged me to do so:

The flavor and taste of fermented tea such as oolong and black tea are composed of substances like terpene and conjugated poly phenol. These substances are produced as a result of enzymatic oxidation. These substances have lesser affinity than poly phenol exists in non-fermented tea like green tea. Hence, it is important to get higher temperature to efficiently extract the substances when brewing fermented tea.

[Ethan Kurland]

Curious how are you steeping your Keemun? and other blacks in general, leaf/water/temp/time.

The flavor and taste of fermented tea such as oolong and black tea are composed of substances like terpene and conjugated poly phenol. These substances are produced as a result of enzymatic oxidation. These substances have lesser affinity than poly phenol exists in non-fermented tea like green tea. Hence, it is important to get higher temperature to efficiently extract the substances when brewing fermented tea.

Thanks for sharing, Joel. I am glad to read that you use significantly less leaves than I do. I often seem to be using much fewer leaves than others. (You do steep much longer than I do.)

I think many "black" darjeelings are actually oolongs (about 90% oxidized) and knowing that encourages getting the temperature for steeping lowered. It is amusing to see Hojo's scientific explanation that begins with use of the word "fermented" which here and often elsewhere is meaning "oxidized". Hojo does use "enzymatic oxidation" when getting to the science. In simpler words, I think the advice is that some flavors don't come out of the leaves unless the water is hot enough to extract them. cheers

[joelbct]

Sounds like an amazing tea, one I hope to try someday. Don’t mention Bitcoin.. I almost bought £50 worth the year after it started. I dread to think how much that would be worth

I’d be drinking a lot of Special Tribute Keemun, put it that way.

At $2.50/g, it's say ~$5 to 8/serving. I'd sooner spend $8 on a cup of this than many of the other things I spend $8 on

Whenever I mention it here, I talk myself into dipping into the stash, as I am currently:

I am glad to read that you use significantly less leaves than I do. I often seem to be using much fewer leaves than others. (You do steep much longer than I do.)

I think many "black" darjeelings are actually oolongs (about 90% oxidized) and knowing that encourages getting the temperature for steeping lowered. It is amusing to see Hojo's scientific explanation that begins with use of the word "fermented" which here and often elsewhere is meaning "oxidized". Hojo does use "enzymatic oxidation" when getting to the science. In simpler words, I think the advice is that some flavors don't come out of the leaves unless the water is hot enough to extract them. cheers

The ISO competition style, 2g:100g and 5-6 min is not bad for quality Hongcha like this. I don't see much point in multiple 1min steep times with Hongcha, though.

As you mention, decent extraction is key, and with fully oxidized black tea, I find both an initial 1min and any subsequent steeps to be inadequate.

Personal preference, though. This always gets me thinking about the significant hereditary variance of tastebuds (supertasters, etc) that might possibly account for some people's aversion to hongcha or other bitter and tannic foods.

[heichaholiday]

I drank from my sample of Natural Redhead by white2tea again. Each time it's been getting better and better so I decided to buy a bing of it. It's very sweet and chocolatey with just a bit of a bite to it. The rinse was so amazingly floral. I really need to look into black tea more but I always end up buying puerh or heicha.

[Psyck]

Curious how are you steeping your Keemun? and other blacks in general, leaf/water/temp/time.

Time: 3:45s for Indian teas, and 4:15s for chinese blacks

Ratio: 1g leaf : 90g H20

Temp (measured in vessel): ~190-195F (88-93C) for FF and SF Darjeeling. ~205F (96+) for fully oxidized blacks. (measured after pour into preheated vessel)
<...>

Thanks for sharing, Joel. I am glad to read that you use significantly less leaves than I do. I often seem to be using much fewer leaves than others. (You do steep much longer than I do.)

I think many "black" darjeelings are actually oolongs (about 90% oxidized) and knowing that encourages getting the temperature for steeping lowered. <...>

I don't understand how you could consider that to be significantly lesser leaves. Joel is basically using about 3g of leaves per mug for a single Western style steep. The norm is probably closer to 2g per Western mug, so if you are using more leaves and steeping shorter, then you are certainly not using fewer leaves than others.
Edit: There was another post in the forum than defined black darjeelings as 'Partially Oxidised Blacks" and not Oolongs due to the processing method.

[Ethan Kurland]

I don't understand how you could consider that to be significantly lesser leaves. Joel is basically using about 3g of leaves per mug for a single Western style steep. The norm is probably closer to 2g per Western mug, so if you are using more leaves and steeping shorter, then you are certainly not using fewer leaves than others.
Edit: There was another post in the forum than defined black darjeelings as 'Partially Oxidised Blacks" and not Oolongs due to the processing method.

Psych, You are right. I used to be better at arithmetic. For the most part, at tea sessions I see people using much more leaves than I would. Lately, I combine infusions so if the first is too strong or weak, I can adjust with the later infusions.

[debunix]

Another session with the incredible Hawaii Volcano Black Tea, from Silver Pot Tea in Japan. This was one of many samples my friend brought me from a Japanese Tea exposition. Because of the circuitous route by which I acquired it, I do not know much about it's origin, but the leaves are large and irregularly twisted and curled, and except for the oxidation it reminds me very much of the Hawaiian oolong that I've been hoarding/rationing, obtained from Hilo Coffee Mill. This "Volcano Black" is floral, fruity, but not remotely bitter. Amazing stuff. Gorgeous leaves, wonderfully processed.

[century]

Superior Keemun by Mei Leaf.
Easy drinking, well rounded black tea.
Maybe a little boring after a few steeps but nice when you don’t feel like being challenged.

[teaformeplease]

Today I'm drinking Kinnettle's Gold, a Scottish grown black tea sold bu Pekoe Tea. I've only got a 5g sample but I wish I had more to play around with. It was malty and sweet with a subtle fruitiness that I really enjoyed.

[mukti]

Today I'm drinking Old Ways "Old Tree Black Tea"

I forgot how much I like this tea!

[debunix]

Those leaves look just lovely!

[wildisthewind]

Today at work I brought along some Keemun Mao Feng from Tea Habitat - which is really excellent. Powerful aroma & flavor, characteristic rose/smoke/liquor profile. And absurdly cheap at around $.25/g - the one Keemun Mao Feng I prefer to this is double the price, and arguably less keemun-like. Responds well to gongfu as well as western steeping, but keep an eye on the leaf weight for the latter as the flavor is very strong.

[Ragamuffin]

2017 Jing Mai Purple Needle from Yunnan Sourcing; a very interesting black tea with strong fruity (my dad said it tasted like blueberry) and floral notes. Light oxidation, a decent number of golden buds. It share some commonalities with the yesheng purple blacks that I've had, but is also quite different. Moderately sweet, a bit of sweet potato taste. There's a good amount of astringency, but not enough to put me off. This is definitely one that I would reorder.

[John_B]

I've not been on here for awhile and I guess this subject is as good as any to check back in related to. I just tried two Georgian black teas that I picked up in Moscow on a visit there. They were nice, both a bit limited in terms of quality level related to some aspects, but still interesting and pleasant enough.

One reminded me of a Dan Cong black tea (which never seems like a valid name, but it's commonly used, and descriptive enough), and the other like a Taiwanese honey black. Per talking to a few others familiar with teas from Georgia the first one that included a bit of tartness as an aspect wasn't typical, but the smoother, richer, and more subdued second version would be. Of course that's just hearsay; different people tend to say different things about what is type-typical, and eventually someone has ideas about a higher ideal that don't necessarily match most of it.

I had some Darjeeling over the weekend but being first flush it hardly really seemed like black tea. And a Dian Hong with breakfast today, a modest priced basic from Farmerleaf (a sun-dried version) that I tend to like more than all the others I've mentioned. I'll spam you guys with a review link once I turn the notes into one, and mention a post about travel there instead too. I will say this: Russia was cool! People seemed a bit reserved, not like Japanese people, where you just get a blankness from them as public persona, a bit more actively somber instead, especially in Moscow, but very nice once you talked to them.

[John_B]

I did finish that tea review post (of two black teas from Georgia), it was just a matter of messing around with the existing draft for a couple more hours.

It includes some pictures of three different tea shops in Russia, two branches of the Moychay shops where I bought it and a couple of the Perlov shop I'll get around to saying more about in a review.

http://teaintheancientworld.blogspot.co ... orgia.html