What Oolong Are You Drinking

Semi-oxidized tea
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pantry
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Tue Jun 30, 2020 8:48 pm

Finally tried the space cat rougui today. Subtle, smooth, and very forgiving. It's not the most in-your-face rougui I've had, but my body felt comfortable afterwards (some Yancha made me want to lie down). Very forgiving to brew (was running a meeting while making tea). Are these signs of high quality Yancha? I won't mind another cup :lol:
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Bok
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Tue Jun 30, 2020 9:32 pm

pantry wrote:
Tue Jun 30, 2020 8:48 pm
Finally tried the space cat rougui today. Subtle, smooth, and very forgiving. It's not the most in-your-face rougui I've had, but my body felt comfortable afterwards (some Yancha made me want to lie down). Very forgiving to brew (was running a meeting while making tea). Are these signs of high quality Yancha? I won't mind another cup :lol:
In-your-face-Rougui would usually be a bad sign. Good Yancha is subtle, not in your face. In general, the better the tea, the easier to brew it is.
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d.manuk
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Wed Jul 01, 2020 9:58 am

I’m nearing the bottom of my Organic Baozhong packet from Tea Masters. I’ve found that using more leaf than normal brings out the floral flavor I like in this tea. Using boiling water like I do for most of his teas. I actually might buy it again, especially if semi-wild Baozhong doesn’t come back. :)
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Bok
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Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:33 am

Shine Magical wrote:
Wed Jul 01, 2020 9:58 am
I’m nearing the bottom of my Organic Baozhong packet from Tea Masters. I’ve found that using more leaf than normal brings out the floral flavor I like in this tea. Using boiling water like I do for most of his teas. I actually might buy it again, especially if semi-wild Baozhong doesn’t come back. :)
I also find I like Baozhong best with a high leaf ratio and high heat. Otherwise it’s getting too light for me.

Those semi wild teas are really small batches and getting very popular among local tea people. So I’d except the availability to go down rather than up.
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pantry
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Fri Jul 03, 2020 9:58 pm

Had Wuyi Origin’s Jin Mao Hou from last year...it was all right.
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Victoria
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Wed Jul 08, 2020 6:16 pm

I've been enjoying steeping results using cooler water/more steeping time with Tillerman’s winter ‘18 Wenshan BaoZhong, but I thought I’d also try vendor recommendations, and hotter off-boil temperature a few TF members said they prefer.

7g/100ml/185f/1.20min in 110ml Konishi Yohei. Aroma and liquor is like a bouquet of flowers in a cup. Rich, layered, viscous, sweet. Wow
7g/100ml/195f/65sec in porcelain gaiwan, Tillerman’s temp. Started at 25sec was too weak for me, put back into pot. Better.
7g/100ml/208f/35sec in 110ml Konishi Yohei. Rich, floral, slightly tannic though, maybe I over steeped. Aromatic floral bouquet.

Not a side by side tasting, but rather sampled over three days. I prefered the cooler 185f/1.30min steep, although 208f/35sec was rich as well, but some tannic notes came through. The 195f/65sec didn’t impress me one way or the other, maybe I was distracted though. The sweet floral bouquet seemed more layered and complex using lower temperature/more time, but I also think skillful steeping using hotter water/less time will be very good, just resulting in a slightly different profile. This BaoZhong is so floral I think I’ll reserve it for special afternoon sessions, don’t want to be serenaded into blissful distraction early in the morning 🍃.

Steeped in KONISHI Yohei youhen kyusu, decanted into SHIRAIWA Taisuke sand speckled cup.

BaoZhong '18 Konishi Yohei Taisuke Shiraiwa_DSC1502_sm.jpg
BaoZhong '18 Konishi Yohei Taisuke Shiraiwa_DSC1502_sm.jpg (347.68 KiB) Viewed 5387 times

BaoZhong '18 Konishi Yohei Taisuke Shiraiwa_DSC1467_sm.jpg
BaoZhong '18 Konishi Yohei Taisuke Shiraiwa_DSC1467_sm.jpg (391.27 KiB) Viewed 5387 times


Originally posted this BaoZhong under Green Tea, then realized it’s really an oolong, even though it’s just slightly oxidized and lightly roasted.
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Bok
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Wed Jul 08, 2020 8:32 pm

@Victoria lovely pot! I have a weak spot for his works, a lot of skillful variations in his work.

Baozhong is a really weird tea (for me), it can be atrociously boring if brewed too light, but I have also found it difficult to over-brew.
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Victoria
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Wed Jul 08, 2020 9:53 pm

Bok wrote:
Wed Jul 08, 2020 8:32 pm
Victoria lovely pot! I have a weak spot for his works, a lot of skillful variations in his work.

Baozhong is a really weird tea (for me), it can be atrociously boring if brewed too light, but I have also found it difficult to over-brew.
Try using more time at lower temperatures, definitely not boring at all, will depend on leaf though.
When I first got my Konishi kyusu, I was perplexed how to pair them (they are pretty thin and dense) so just observed for months admiring their form. Now, I use these with certain lighter roasted Oolong and Darjeeling.
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Bok
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Wed Jul 08, 2020 10:18 pm

Victoria wrote:
Wed Jul 08, 2020 9:53 pm
Try using more time at lower temperatures, definitely not boring at all, will depend on leaf though.
When I first got my Konishi kyusu, I was perplexed how to pair them (they are pretty thin and dense) so just observed for months admiring form. Now, I use these with certain lighter roasted Oolong and Darjeeling.
I tried when first brewing those teas, but it would need a very extended brewing time to extract enough... when I had them first at my sources' place, we were cupping them, basically leaving it in a bowl for at least 30min. Those teas were all such high quality that the bitterness was almost not noticeable and definitely not of the unpleasant variety. We kept serving a spoonful in our cups over the course of the evening (a good dozen were cupped).

At home I found that in order to get that mouth-invading flavour coating goodness, I need to push them hard. But of course it depends on the individual tea. For the ones I had, this has held true and I also prefer my tea hot, rather than lukewarm. But I could imagine BZ being very good as cold brew.
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Thu Jul 09, 2020 4:34 pm

I enjoy reading these posts about boazhong. Bok's experience is similar to mine most of the time. One BZ that I liked a lot at first, did not store well. I will probably not buy one again despite positive comments about floral flavor that seem good for me.

Victora, you mentioned that you did not seek "blissful distraction" early in the morning. I'll take it anytime I can get it, especially from something as easy as a tea session. :D

Cheers
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debunix
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Thu Jul 09, 2020 8:44 pm

My first Baozhong was a revelation, because it was my first lightly oxidized oolong, and that was a WOW! moment. It was delicious cold.
faj
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Fri Jul 10, 2020 12:27 pm

Victoria wrote:
Wed Jul 08, 2020 6:16 pm
7g/100ml/195f/65sec in porcelain gaiwan, Tillerman’s temp. Started at 25sec was too weak for me, put back into pot. Better.
On the day @Victoria posted this, I had just received an order from Tillerman that included this tea.

I got around to trying it. I went with the water temperature and duration recommended by the vendor, but less leaf : 4g in 95ml teapot. I found it very pleasant, powerfully aromatic. I got many infusions out of it. I will play around with parameters, but did not feel anything that needed to be "fixed", the result felt well balanced. I have not tried many Bao Zhong teas in the past, so I cannot express an opinion as to whether this is "good Bao Zhong", but I certainly liked it and look forward to future sessions.
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Dresden
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Sat Jul 11, 2020 4:26 am

Just finishing up some Summer 2016 Bai Hao that I got from from Tillerman last year. Twas some really nice stuff. Sad to see it go.
thommes
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Wed Jul 15, 2020 8:49 am

snowflake dancong... first oolong in a long time
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Victoria
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Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:35 pm

Sipping on an oxidized Alishan with a very light roast. I purchased this oolong a year and a half ago and let it age. It is very good right now, but can also see letting it rest a while longer. Luckily my tea cabinet is well stocked with oolong 🍃.
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