Flash-brewed this evening. Very good; however, prefer what Western style preparation yields. Interesting that much more leaf used for flash-brewing does increase cost per cup since it provides so many more rounds of tea.
(I have been handling gaiwans well lately: no breakage, terrible spills, etc. but flash-brewing one round after another with a small gaiwan did burn my fingers.)
Anyway, Bok is right again. The roasted oolong flash-brewed well. Cheers
What Oolong Are You Drinking
-
Ethan Kurland
- Vendor
- Posts: 1027
- Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:01 am
- Location: Boston
- Contact:
Hi Ethan, Nice to hear from you. By western style -how much leaf/to volume of water/time steeped? When I think western style I’m thinking 3.5minutes steep, 2 Tablespoons to 300ml +- depending.... and I only use that for certain blacks from India.Ethan Kurland wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2019 9:05 pmFlash-brewed this evening. Very good; however, prefer what Western style preparation yields. Interesting that much more leaf used for flash-brewing does increase cost per cup since it provides so many more rounds of tea.
(I have been handling gaiwans well lately: no breakage, terrible spills, etc. but flash-brewing one round after another with a small gaiwan did burn my fingers.)
Anyway, Bok is right again. The roasted oolong flash-brewed well. Cheers
-
Ethan Kurland
- Vendor
- Posts: 1027
- Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:01 am
- Location: Boston
- Contact:
Victoria, I am probably using the term too broadly. Mostly I mean not gongfu style nor flash-brewing. So, not a whole lot of tea leaves steeped longer than very quickly = Western style for lack of a better word coming to my mind. (I am not steeping less than 20 seconds nor more than 60.) I now have a ratio that always satisfies me: 1 gram of tea for 60 ml of water.
For 2 weeks I have been weighing tea used for every session. This routine showed me: 1.5 grams of tea for 110 ml of water was enough usually; sometimes it was not. 20% more tea, 0.3 grams (1.8 for 110ml) is always enough tea. (1.8 for 110 = about 1 for 60ml).
If I estimate weight, I am almost always significantly off. Extra leaves do not add more flavor only more cost; while too few leaves disappoint; so, while at home I will continue to use my scale. Teaspoons of tea vary in weight considerably.
Western style I use 3g in 300ml for 5 minutes for taiwanese oolong or tgy...
Alishan Qing xin from spring harvest... still really fresh taste!
It’s interesting to read how broad a spectrum of steeping styles are on this forum for oolong, from @luchayi‘s 3gr/75ml/95c/60,35,70, @Ethan Kurland’s 1.5gr/110ml/98c?/20-60sec, to my 6gr/100ml/98c/55-73sec. Then there is @Bok -I think you use even more leaf, filling up the pot and flash brewing? Less leaf / more time, more leaf / less time. Then there is the component of personal preferences from lighter to richer stronger brews.Ethan Kurland wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:54 pmVictoria, I am probably using the term too broadly. Mostly I mean not gongfu style nor flash-brewing. So, not a whole lot of tea leaves steeped longer than very quickly = Western style for lack of a better word coming to my mind. (I am not steeping less than 20 seconds nor more than 60.) I now have a ratio that always satisfies me: 1 gram of tea for 60 ml of water.
For 2 weeks I have been weighing tea used for every session. This routine showed me: 1.5 grams of tea for 110 ml of water was enough usually; sometimes it was not. 20% more tea, 0.3 grams (1.8 for 110ml) is always enough tea. (1.8 for 110 = about 1 for 60ml).
If I estimate weight, I am almost always significantly off. Extra leaves do not add more flavor only more cost; while too few leaves disappoint; so, while at home I will continue to use my scale. Teaspoons of tea vary in weight considerably.
You are right, this is a general rule... but the climate conditions and the altitude can sometimes contribute to have a later spring harvest to the early days of June.
Today a 2016 Mei Zhan yancha with really beautiful leaves...!
That sounds really good. Do you have a link to the vendor?
I’m sipping on HY Chen’s light roasted DongDing. My ability to really taste and appreciate oolong seems to be coming back, now that I’m back home.
It's sold out but is from https://www.eastcottandburgess.co.uk/online-tea-store.
Tie luo han and xin ren xiang are really good. Also jin jun mei...
Tie luo han and xin ren xiang are really good. Also jin jun mei...
A day steeped in quality teas; after Okabe Shizuoka Gyokuro and top shelf Sencha from Hon.yama, Tamakawa, Tôbettô in the morning, I craved roasted sencha this afternoon, but have none so went for HY Chen’s Charcoal Roasted LiShan Primitive Wild Forest. It actually has hints of what I remember liking about the Kagoshima roasted sencha I had; sweet warming chestnut notes, but with added evergreen notes and camphor like expansiveness in the mouth.
speaking of Dongding – I have been spending the last few weeks evenings sipping away on my stash of Dongding style roasted Lishans (as a high mountain is not a real DD by definition, DD is only mid to high roasted Oolong from Lugu, Qingxin cultivar).
Been brewing it in my ROC Zini with very good results, although it doesn’t really matter, the tea comes out equally good in 60s Hongni or Zhuni. Good tea is good tea.
I’ve been storing this tea in a clay jar and that has improved its taste considerably. In the beginning it had notes of bug-bitten tea as it is organic, a taste that I actually detest. Now it is a lovely tea, which has lots of dimensions as to at what temperature you drink it. For me that has become another sign of high quality tea: How does it taste if I let a cup sit for a few hours until completely cooled down and further oxidised?
Been brewing it in my ROC Zini with very good results, although it doesn’t really matter, the tea comes out equally good in 60s Hongni or Zhuni. Good tea is good tea.
I’ve been storing this tea in a clay jar and that has improved its taste considerably. In the beginning it had notes of bug-bitten tea as it is organic, a taste that I actually detest. Now it is a lovely tea, which has lots of dimensions as to at what temperature you drink it. For me that has become another sign of high quality tea: How does it taste if I let a cup sit for a few hours until completely cooled down and further oxidised?
- Attachments
-
- IMG_8693.jpg (96.84 KiB) Viewed 6382 times
-
Ethan Kurland
- Vendor
- Posts: 1027
- Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:01 am
- Location: Boston
- Contact:
Never thought of a tea's range of drinking temperatures as a measure of quality, but now that you have stimulated me to do so; it seems as quite a positive attribute for a tea to be able to provide pleasure from hot to cool.
Also, have not thought of a drink (the prepared liquid) oxidizing. Interesting!
Today, I have been cupping, slurping, swallowing, and spitting out Oriental Beauties. Although I could be happy with my stock of teas without O.B. in my cupboard, I do miss it sometimes. Also, when entertaining, O.B. usually makes a mix of guests very happy.
A decision was easy and fortunately the one tea clearly best was not the most expensive. Order made, $ paid, and now I pray that my trust in someone who has never shipped to me before, is efficient and honorable.
After not drinking tea for several hours following my "tea work", I drank Himalayan Orange (HOR) that I have described as a black tea. After so much O.B. today, I feel the HOR is more oolong than black; especially since now I steep it no longer than 20 seconds. However, darjeeling type is in a category of their own despite some flavors being found in O.B. and the HOR that are the same. (After a day of O.B., some astringency & no sweetness was welcome in the night's libation...