Learning is half the fun for us that obsess too much about tea
What Oolong Are You Drinking
Tea learning comes in waves for me. Right now I’m deep into learning about Pu’erh...plus I’ve bought some new books that I’m reading. This will last at most another 1-2 months then I’ll focus elsewhere...but I’ll be back!
Another round with the glorious Hawaiian oolong.....such a few leaves with such powerful and lasting floral and fruity and warm deep flavor. So worth the ridiculous cost for the occasional magnificent session like this.
No idea about that vendor. I'm enjoying an overnight infusion of Hehuan Shan gaoshan from the Floating Leaves tasting set. It was late last night and I wanted some proper tea, but not much caffeine. So I put just a few little balls of tea into a medium sized Petr Novak cup, and did some grandpa style infusions, with a little hot water, a few minutes to steep, and then a lot of cool water to dilute to lukewarm and drink it up. It worked perfectly: all the tea flavor I could want, enough liquid for my thirst, but not a lot of caffeine, and on an evening that was still pretty warm, much nicer than the alternative of Hojicha, which I just can't enjoy as much unless there is a real chill in the air.
And this morning I have a few quite intact leaves floating in a cup of light lovely floral and golden tea, very nice after warming up with some Obubu kabuse sencha.
This will be it for these leaves, four excellent infusions. I am very pleased with this Hehuan Shan, my first time with a tea from that area, as with all the teas from this tasting. And I'm looking forward to opening the other teas I ordered at the same time, but can't have too many open at once, so those have to wait a bit.
And this morning I have a few quite intact leaves floating in a cup of light lovely floral and golden tea, very nice after warming up with some Obubu kabuse sencha.
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jason19870313
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Dayuling tea 95k 2100 meter
Here is sharing dayuling tea
Here is sharing dayuling tea
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jason19870313
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Dayuling tea 95k 2100 meter
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jason19870313
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Today I drank jing teashops Da hong pao grade A. I was surprised to see how much lively and opened up this tea is. This was the first that I drank after I got the shipment around two months ago. It definitely was not this nice back then. I now kind of actually wonder if I had the same problem with the three stamps, it simply hadn't had time to breathe. The change that had happened in both teas is similar. The tastes feel more lively, deep and expansive. Even though the tastes are same, they're rendered so much better.
Deep grounded flavors, long lasting aftertaste and mouth salivating livelyness. There is a citrus like taste that I find in other DHP. Woody, resin and natural sweet body/base. Hint of a charcoal like note. Not much minerality. Brewed for 8 or so steeps.
Fairly interesting to see how tea changes with roasting levels. I have the "fruity" version as well, which is medium roasted, while this is medium-high. I prefer this level of roasting as it has nice balance.
One thing that I love about good yancha is how "healing" it feels. Some kind of elixer. Then again there is that story about the scholar and what not.
And I guess I should also add to the endless array of brewing parameters:
I tend to use 50% filled teapot, this ends up being something around 5-5,3 grams in a 85ml hongni shuiping. I used to fill 75% or to the top, but I nowadays prefer less tea. Using less tea allows you generally to brew longer, getting a more rich and deep cup. It naturally comes out somewhat weaker, but more easy and comfortable to drink. I think I am also somewhat caffeine sensitive so that helps too.
Usually flash the first brew, and depending on that I brew 5-45 seconds. Yes I actually have that much variance in how long I brew. I simply go by feel each day. I don't count or anything as the minor variance between steep times session to session don't matter that much and just keep things refreshing.
Greener teas generally go with a longer steep, as darker/more roasted ones steep faster.
Deep grounded flavors, long lasting aftertaste and mouth salivating livelyness. There is a citrus like taste that I find in other DHP. Woody, resin and natural sweet body/base. Hint of a charcoal like note. Not much minerality. Brewed for 8 or so steeps.
Fairly interesting to see how tea changes with roasting levels. I have the "fruity" version as well, which is medium roasted, while this is medium-high. I prefer this level of roasting as it has nice balance.
One thing that I love about good yancha is how "healing" it feels. Some kind of elixer. Then again there is that story about the scholar and what not.
And I guess I should also add to the endless array of brewing parameters:
I tend to use 50% filled teapot, this ends up being something around 5-5,3 grams in a 85ml hongni shuiping. I used to fill 75% or to the top, but I nowadays prefer less tea. Using less tea allows you generally to brew longer, getting a more rich and deep cup. It naturally comes out somewhat weaker, but more easy and comfortable to drink. I think I am also somewhat caffeine sensitive so that helps too.
Usually flash the first brew, and depending on that I brew 5-45 seconds. Yes I actually have that much variance in how long I brew. I simply go by feel each day. I don't count or anything as the minor variance between steep times session to session don't matter that much and just keep things refreshing.
Greener teas generally go with a longer steep, as darker/more roasted ones steep faster.
I've drank 100g of Da Yu Ling in the past 2 weeks.
One from Tea Masters - DYL 98k, the other is Ethan Kurland's DYL. Both are very good and it just boils down to what kind of session you want to have.
Tea Masters' 98K DYL is light, airy, and has a basil flavor. It is rather easy drinking and its simple to enjoy all that it offers.
Ethan's DYL is more savory, I think the flavor is more like egg noodles, though it still has a basil flavor note but it is in the background as a secondary flavor. Thus it is more complex and not as easy to drink since it requires more concentration to observe the flavors. I think it would be possible to enjoy 1 additional steep of it over the Tea Master's DYL because the complexity can offer more longevity.
One from Tea Masters - DYL 98k, the other is Ethan Kurland's DYL. Both are very good and it just boils down to what kind of session you want to have.
Tea Masters' 98K DYL is light, airy, and has a basil flavor. It is rather easy drinking and its simple to enjoy all that it offers.
Ethan's DYL is more savory, I think the flavor is more like egg noodles, though it still has a basil flavor note but it is in the background as a secondary flavor. Thus it is more complex and not as easy to drink since it requires more concentration to observe the flavors. I think it would be possible to enjoy 1 additional steep of it over the Tea Master's DYL because the complexity can offer more longevity.
Those sound so delicious @Shine Magical. Just a few days ago I opened a 2017 small DaYuLing vacu-pack from HY Chen. It has been a few years since I had any DYL, and I was really pleased that it was still so fresh, with buttery savory effervescent minerality. I’ll order some soon; all these DYL reviews are inspiring, plus I forgot how very special a good DaYuLing is. Wow.
Last year I had DYL from both of these vendors too and I had different tasting notes. I don't think I tasted basil in either last year. I remember last year's spring harvest from Ethan tastes like mango or cherimoya to me. It's interesting seeing the yearly changes in teas that you become well acquainted with.