Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 7:08 pm
That’s a really nice photo @LeoFox, looks super relaxing!
Thanks!
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Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 7:54 pm
Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 1:02 pm
Hi @Ethan Kurland thanks for the invite. Likewise, if you’re in Annapolis or LA you’re invited. Are you preparing oolong in an open porcelain bowl, or a gaiwan? After each use I always pour boiling water into my teapots to clean them out, this removes most residual tea oils, especially with glazed porcelain, so no real cross over with flavors or aromas occurs. I agree about letting oolong rest a few months, @Tillerman’s Winter ‘21 Lishan is very rich, it’s emerald green leaves, golden liquor and silky stone fruit notes is just perfect for this sunny time of year. Third steep is very good. My stash will go fastEthan Kurland wrote: ↑Sat Jun 04, 2022 6:12 pmMaybe it is a good challenge: a time to compare teas that all prepared in the same teaware which can show you how much (which includes how little) difference there is in how tea tastes between favorite pairings of teaware w/ teas to the taste of the teas prepared in glazed porcelain.
I prepare teas mostly in a porcelain bowl while enjoying looking at teapots that are closer to being special; &, a lot of sessions I drink from a glass while looking at pretty handmade cups & saucers. (Thus keeping tasting & seeing separate while enjoying them simultaneously.)
I recently wrote that I have come to believe that a lot of teas become better some months after they came to market. I think last Winter's oolong is at its peak now. (As smooth & flavorful as they could be.)
While at the East Coast, if coming to Boston, you know you are welcome for a session.
.Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 6:49 pm
I am using an open bowl. It is oblong w/ a handle, easy to use.
Yes, it is good practice to rinse teaware well after every session (IMHO). I usually use water a bit under boiling temperature.
More likely meeting place might be Brooklyn at the teashop you like that is owned by an Argentinian. Next year perhaps.
Cheers, Victoria.
Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 8:51 pm
I've fallen very slightly diseased, no doubt thanks to one of the many anonymous people who have been sneezing and wheezing around me lately, so I have gone back to my standard comfort tea of old puer to make everything better.
Today, it's Yee On's 1994 cooked tuocha chunks for some nice relaxing calmness.
Andrew
Today, it's Yee On's 1994 cooked tuocha chunks for some nice relaxing calmness.
Andrew
Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 7:41 pm
My tea day started with a fine grandpa style brewing of Ti Guan Yin from Tea Habitat….densely sweet and floral , enjoyed while contemplating this beautiful and remarkable compressed Heicha brick from a group buy orchestrated by Balthazar:
It has a remarkably smoky scent to it and clearly need some time to settle down. I am glad I tried the tea shears Previously recommended in another post. Otherwise, I think I would have to get out a hacksaw or maybe the bandsaw to cut into this one!
They continued with an excellent thermos session shared with many work colleagues of Wenshan Bao Zhong, from Tillerman. It was Floral and Rich and quite appreciated by the group.
Now warming up and perking up For this late afternoon with aged Ancient Heights Oolong from Wistaria tea house. MMM. One or two more infusions and I’ll be able to face the walk to drop my ballot in the box.
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They continued with an excellent thermos session shared with many work colleagues of Wenshan Bao Zhong, from Tillerman. It was Floral and Rich and quite appreciated by the group.
Now warming up and perking up For this late afternoon with aged Ancient Heights Oolong from Wistaria tea house. MMM. One or two more infusions and I’ll be able to face the walk to drop my ballot in the box.
Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 12:27 pm
Having a 2005 Changtai Yun Pu Zhi Dian puerh this morning. This tea came in 4 versions that was named after the seasons represented by plants (the plum blossom for winter, the orchid for spring, the bamboo for summer, and the chrysanthemum for autumn). This is the chrysanthemum version which the leaves seem much better than the bamboo version. Has anyone tried other version who would like to provide feedback?
Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 10:59 pm
This silver replacement lid is getting a rather wonderful patina… brewing some nice Baozhong.
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Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 11:07 pm
Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2022 3:42 am
Currently away for what will be this year's only vacation. Want to make the most of the time spent with family, so only brought along two teas that are both good "office style porcelain mug grandpa brewing" performers.
One is Farmer Leaf's 2019 spring Jingmai sun-dried hongcha. I've found FL's hongchas very reliable and excellent for the price, but wasn't thrilled by this one when I first bought it. Three years down the line I'm finding it great. It's got just the right amount of astringency, good body and deep, lasting flavors.
Shai hongs are probably the king of office mug brewing for me. Excellent mix of qualities, almost impossible to brew totally wrong. Comfortable for the body in the all the year's seasons. And not as heat-greedy as some other teas I think do well grandpa brewed in bigger and lidded mugs but no so much in normal office size ones.
One is Farmer Leaf's 2019 spring Jingmai sun-dried hongcha. I've found FL's hongchas very reliable and excellent for the price, but wasn't thrilled by this one when I first bought it. Three years down the line I'm finding it great. It's got just the right amount of astringency, good body and deep, lasting flavors.
Shai hongs are probably the king of office mug brewing for me. Excellent mix of qualities, almost impossible to brew totally wrong. Comfortable for the body in the all the year's seasons. And not as heat-greedy as some other teas I think do well grandpa brewed in bigger and lidded mugs but no so much in normal office size ones.
Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2022 9:36 am
I had to look up shai hong tea.....but surprisingly searching for that term brought up no other TeaForum post. It sounds very intriguing. I will contemplate it while enjoying my morning green....
Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2022 9:54 am
Farmer-leaf's description (from their hongcha section)
Black tea is withered, rolled, oxidized and dried. There are two kinds of black teas in Yunnan: Dian Hong and Shai Hong.
Dian Hong is dried quickly with hot air, this process gives the leaves a light roast and the final tea has chocolatey or malty notes. This tea is at its best a couple of weeks after its production and can be properly enjoyed for two years.
Shai Hong is sun-dried, just like Pu-erh tea. It is not at its best right after production, months of aging will reveal its fragrance. Shai Hong tends to have a thicker mouthfeel than Dian Hong, the range of aromas it features is different. You could consider this tea a halfway between classical black tea and Pu-erh tea. It can be stored for over five years, its profile will change over time.
Different varietals are used when making Yunnan black tea. Dian Hong is often made of dedicated clonal varietals which will feature a specific fragrance, while Shai Hong is more often made of non-clonal varietals, typically the ones used to make Pu-erh tea.
Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2022 3:17 pm
Thanks, it’s always great to learn about a new kind of tea, especially one that I think I will like!
Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2022 8:59 pm
Enjoying some fresh jin xuan
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Re: Your day in tea
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2022 10:12 pm
@LeoFox: the texture and colour on the body of that pot evokes a sense of freshness that seems appropriate for your tea.
Every now and then, drinking a fresh high mountain tea makes me think about pure mountain streams flowing over rocks and such, even though I admit that I've never tried drinking water from a mountain stream (at least, not without a healthy dose of iodine during school camps...).
Google tells me that we're in for at least seven days and seven nights of unrelenting rain down here, so I've had some aged green tea, then some slightly less-aged yancha, and an occasional continuation of some aged cooked puer from yesterday's session.
There's a little bag of aged Baozhong that keeps looking at me, though, so I might continue on this aged tea trend for the rest of this dark, wet, windy day as I watch lorikeets getting thrown around by the wind outside my window.
Andrew
Every now and then, drinking a fresh high mountain tea makes me think about pure mountain streams flowing over rocks and such, even though I admit that I've never tried drinking water from a mountain stream (at least, not without a healthy dose of iodine during school camps...).
Google tells me that we're in for at least seven days and seven nights of unrelenting rain down here, so I've had some aged green tea, then some slightly less-aged yancha, and an occasional continuation of some aged cooked puer from yesterday's session.
There's a little bag of aged Baozhong that keeps looking at me, though, so I might continue on this aged tea trend for the rest of this dark, wet, windy day as I watch lorikeets getting thrown around by the wind outside my window.
Andrew