Teas best suited for grandpa style

[LuckyMe]

debunix by strip oolong I mean unrolled oolongs such as baozhong and yancha. One exception to this is dan cong...this kind of tea works best gongfu.

You don’t think Yancha is suited for gongfu??? Seems a lot of the subtleties of a good Yancha would be lost and wasted if prepared grandpa style.

It depends on the yancha. I find some of them too roasty when gongfued.

[Chadrinkincat]

debunix by strip oolong I mean unrolled oolongs such as baozhong and yancha. One exception to this is dan cong...this kind of tea works best gongfu.

You don’t think Yancha is suited for gongfu??? Seems a lot of the subtleties of a good Yancha would be lost and wasted if prepared grandpa style.

It depends on the yancha. I find some of them too roasty when gongfued.

For me those super roasted yancha are best aged/rested for at least 5yrs or consumed Chaozhou style in a 40ml yixing.

[LuckyMe]

You don’t think Yancha is suited for gongfu??? Seems a lot of the subtleties of a good Yancha would be lost and wasted if prepared grandpa style.

It depends on the yancha. I find some of them too roasty when gongfued.

For me those super roasted yancha are best aged/rested for at least 5yrs or consumed Chaozhou style in a 40ml yixing.

Wow, 5 years is a long time to wait for Da Hong Pao. That's getting into puerh territory. From my experience, the more aggressive ones seem to mellow out after 6 months or so. I've been seeking out milder varieties but so far, the Qilan I tried from Verdant Tea recently wasn't all that impressive. The last good one I had was YS's Wild Da Hong Pao. Are there any light wuyi oolongs that you would recommend?

[Baisao]

Wow, 5 years is a long time to wait for Da Hong Pao. That's getting into puerh territory. From my experience, the more aggressive ones seem to mellow out after 6 months or so. I've been seeking out milder varieties but so far, the Qilan I tried from Verdant Tea recently wasn't all that impressive. The last good one I had was YS's Wild Da Hong Pao. Are there any light wuyi oolongs that you would recommend?

Five years is not much and is nowhere close to sheng territory. I have sheng from the late 80s that I find to be too astringent and need to age much longer. White teas are commonly rested for a minimum of 7 years. I test my Rou Gui and other heavier yancha for 7-10 years minimum. Da Hong Pao will need the longest rest. Stronger yancha do get better after a 6-12 month rest but then go into an “adolescent” phase at around 18 months, in my experience, and need to age out of that.

For lighter yancha, I suggest White Cockscomb and Sparrow’s Tongue. I am sure others can add to that list but those two are good places to start.

[LuckyMe]

@Baisao thanks, this is good information. I'll be sure to check out the two that you recommended. I wish vendors would offer more aged yancha than the newest harvests which aren't ready for drinking right away.

[Chadrinkincat]

It depends on the yancha. I find some of them too roasty when gongfued.

For me those super roasted yancha are best aged/rested for at least 5yrs or consumed Chaozhou style in a 40ml yixing.

Wow, 5 years is a long time to wait for Da Hong Pao. That's getting into puerh territory. From my experience, the more aggressive ones seem to mellow out after 6 months or so. I've been seeking out milder varieties but so far, the Qilan I tried from Verdant Tea recently wasn't all that impressive. The last good one I had was YS's Wild Da Hong Pao. Are there any light wuyi oolongs that you would recommend?

5yrs is nothing for yancha and isn’t even close enough for puerh which can easily take 20yrs or more. For me 5yrs old puerh is still undrinkable 98% of the time.

Wuyiorigin And lazycat offer some mellower ones.

[leth]

I was under the impressions that 10 years is pretty standard for yancha.

But I drink a lot of "cheaper" Liu Bao grandpa style. It's nice, especially when the weather is a bit colder.

[Baisao]

I was under the impressions that 10 years is pretty standard for yancha.

I agree. By that time it is well over its adolescent phase where it tastes twangy and has unpleasant chaqi. And longer for yancha can be better. I've had Taiwanese "yancha" from the 1970s that was exceptional.

[Baisao]

Baisao thanks, this is good information. I'll be sure to check out the two that you recommended. I wish vendors would offer more aged yancha than the newest harvests which aren't ready for drinking right away.

I think you may like them as they are typically low roasted compared to Rou Gui and Da Hong Pao.

While some resting may attenuate too strong roasting flavors, more resting is needed for the compounds in the leaves to reach equilibrium. As mentioned above, twanginess and unpleasant chaqi are things I have notices with yancha in that adolescent phase, and it takes time to get past that. It's not undrinkable but it will taste better with some time, just like sheng does, but like sheng you can't make a purse from a sow's ear.

I think it is difficult for sellers to buy tea in bulk and sit on it for a decade. It's an expensive investment and while aged teas are fashionable now, people are fickle and they may not be fashionable in a decade. I've been around long enough to see tastes (and pet theories) change back and forth. I like aged tea so I am all in. Therefore, if I find a yancha I particularly like-- and can afford it-- I'll buy a jin of it and put the bag away to rest.

[Chadrinkincat]

Baisao thanks, this is good information. I'll be sure to check out the two that you recommended. I wish vendors would offer more aged yancha than the newest harvests which aren't ready for drinking right away.

2009 TLH is a really nice older yancha and it’s not that expensive.

https://www.wuyiorigin.com/collections/aged-wuyi-wulong

[Bok]

Baisao thanks, this is good information. I'll be sure to check out the two that you recommended. I wish vendors would offer more aged yancha than the newest harvests which aren't ready for drinking right away.

Careful what you wish for... you pay a heavy surplus for aged tea! Better and more economic to age it yourself.

And I agree with the above, the more roast the tea has, the better chances you have to control that with gongfu, which will be next to impossible with grandpa. The better Yancha, although heavy roast, will not show the roast in the brew anyways, those are the lower grade ones.

Seems to me that a lot of the unpleasant properties that may be encountered in younger Yancha are also due not to Yancha in general, but the quality of the tea itself. I’ve only noticed that in mid-low grade Yancha. The better Yancha I had did never expose any unpleasantness in their fresh stage (after the rest period from the roast of course).

P.S. DHP is if course never real DHP (you’d notice with the price tag)

[LuckyMe]

Baisao thanks, this is good information. I'll be sure to check out the two that you recommended. I wish vendors would offer more aged yancha than the newest harvests which aren't ready for drinking right away.

Careful what you wish for... you pay a heavy surplus for aged tea! Better and more economic to age it yourself.

That's true, but requires a certain level of patience and faith that the tea you're buying is worth the wait. I usually buy my yanchas from Yunnan Sourcing where the quality has ranged from good to okay. I think I may need to seek out vendors selling the higher grade ones. I've been seeing a lot of buzz on IG and on Steepster about Wuyi Origin so I'll check them out.

Regarding aging tea, I heard that oolong needs to be taken out periodically and re-roasted in order to age successfully. Any truth to this?

[Baisao]

Regarding aging tea, I heard that oolong needs to be taken out periodically and re-roasted in order to age successfully. Any truth to this?

Yes and no. I’ve had good results aging without periodic roasting (it’s not like I can go down the street and find an expert roaster who will roast the tea to my specifications!).

I have had aged tea that was re-roasted to spec and while it put more “fire” back into the tea I preferred it without the additional roasting.

It seems to me, based upon tricks used by tea masters, that the periodic roasting is done to drive moisture out of the leaves. This may be more of an issue in places where tea is not stored in arid, climate controlled environments like the typical air conditioned home in the US.

You can buy electric tea roasting setups but I think it’s 1) not completely necessary here and 2) best left to a master who can do it over charcoal.

[Bok]

It just so happens that I was advised by the tea maker where I buy tea to age, to just roast it a bit over low flame in a cooking wok every couple of years, if there too much humidity, haha!

I also had teas that haven’t been re roasted since the 80s and one Japanese green from 1940s that has never been roasted at all, so there is a lot of possibilities and no strict yes or no.

[Baisao]

It just so happens that I was advised by the tea maker where I buy tea to age, to just roast it a bit over low flame in a cooking wok every couple of years, if there too much humidity, haha!

Was he talking about waking the tea or something on par with genuine roasting?

I have a ceramic pot with a hollow handle that is used for waking tea in Korea. It holds no more than enough loose tea to make a couple of pots; indeed, it is ideal for roasting enough tea for one pot at a time. People say it is for roasting tea but I think that is vernacular for something more modest.