I got a request to help someone decide how to start out with Tea Habitat's Dan Cong teas. I remember that first visit to her store, enjoying a tasting with her and she advised me to start with some of her 'commercial' Phoenix Oolongs--fine teas but distnguished by 'Phoenix oolong' on the label, not the 'single-tree' offerings--before working my way up to the single-tree that she labeled as 'Dan Cong'. And she suggested some of the milder/easier teas to start with.
My first purchases were
Honey Orchid commercial version
Ba Xian commercial version
Po Tuo ginger flower fragrance Dan Cong
Wu Ye dark leaf Dan Cong
I did start out with the Ba Xian and the Honey Orchid, and when I felt ready, started the Po Tuo and loved them all.
I've since had her Ba Xian Dan Cong, but the first time I infused it, my first infusion was too strong. I realized after a few more infusions that I'd used infusion parameters from the 'commerical' version and the 'Dan Cong' version was quite a bit more intense.
All that said, after reviewing her current offerings (and I'm down to 3 bags left, might be time for an order.....), that particular path is no longer available, because she does not carry the 'commercial' teas anymore. I'd start with her 2019 tasting set of multiple DCs.
I'd pull out two very small thin-walled brewing vessels....this is where I'd bring out one of my glazed porcelain mini-gaiwans and my 50mL 'made by someone who once saw a yixing pot' pot, and infuse 2 grams in each one (the long elegant twisty leaves will need to be gently teased into the vessels as they are wetted, practice with lesser teas so you can do this quickly), and prep several quick/flash infusions to drink side by side and sip them quickly to keep the fragrance, and compare which you prefer.
I infuse these teas as fast as I can pour and drink them at first, and keep going for a dozen or more infusions--another reason for the small vessels.
I usually prep my DCs in small vessels, sometimes I want all the fragrance and use glazed, sometimes I want a little mellow and I use the Chao Zhou or the 'yixing' that is now exclusively for these, and I never stuff them. So the small vessels are both practical because very pricey teas, and practical because you want small volumes you can drink while hot hot hot and fast because so good.
Editing to add: you might also ask Imen for suggestions--she'd probably be quite happy to curate a set of starter DC teas for you.
How I got started with Dan Cong
Nice thread! I’ve been experimenting with brewing parameters with some affordable dancongs recently. I feel they are really finicky... Flash steeps has given the most consistent results, but often I feel I could’ve gotten more out of the teas if o did something different. (Seems easy to oversteep too. I’ve made some spine chillingly bitter brews by mistake haha)
Will follow this thread with great interest
Will follow this thread with great interest
Aside from the number of different teas, is there a difference between the 2020 sampler set, and the 2019? It seems to me the 2020 set comes out at a lower average price per gram, although the individual teas from the 2019 set seem less expensive at a cursory glance.
Those are the key words here. While I agree that DC is often not easy to brew(to me it's the most tricky to brew), there is a correlation of increased difficulty with decreased price. The cheaper ones are markedly, easier to get wrong than the more expensive ones.Rmt wrote: ↑Sun Apr 04, 2021 12:25 pmNice thread! I’ve been experimenting with brewing parameters with some affordable dancongs recently. I feel they are really finicky... Flash steeps has given the most consistent results, but often I feel I could’ve gotten more out of the teas if o did something different. (Seems easy to oversteep too. I’ve made some spine chillingly bitter brews by mistake haha)
My standard advice is: get the most expensive grade you can afford/are comfortable with. Bargain Dancong is not something that exists I think, same as for Yancha.
Personally I go for stuffed small pot(60-90ml max), and relatively fast infusions. Not quite flash-like, but not contemplating over the moon while brewing either. For the the good quality Zhuni or a high fired Qinghuini, for the lower grades Chaozhou clay.
I haven't had any for a long time, so I went back to scratch, and got some Lazy Cat samples.
I tried the easiest which is Rou gui 2020 ("simple" version).
The pot is filled 2/3, 60ml 60s, first brews were semi-flash, and it turned quite well, full flavor, consistent body, no overwhelming roast taste, I thought the balance was quite spot on. Lot of spices, hot brown sugar and kind of cedar wood. Some surprising "cistrus" note popping up after 3-4 brews, but not too sure that is citrus, might be confusing with lemongrass, it's a kind of in-between.
I don't post tea reviews, but I thought those guys are doing a good job with this offering, so I wanted let know if that's is worth.
I tried the easiest which is Rou gui 2020 ("simple" version).
- rou gui 1.jpg (30.53 KiB) Viewed 12369 times
I don't post tea reviews, but I thought those guys are doing a good job with this offering, so I wanted let know if that's is worth.
Maybe this should be moved to oolong since this is yancha and not dan cong.olivierd wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 3:34 amI haven't had any for a long time, so I went back to scratch, and got some Lazy Cat samples.
I tried the easiest which is Rou gui 2020 ("simple" version).
The pot is filled 2/3, 60ml 60s, first brews were semi-flash, and it turned quite well, full flavor, consistent body, no overwhelming roast taste, I thought the balance was quite spot on. Lot of spices, hot brown sugar and kind of cedar wood. Some surprising "cistrus" note popping up after 3-4 brews, but not too sure that is citrus, might be confusing with lemongrass, it's a kind of in-between.
I don't post tea reviews, but I thought those guys are doing a good job with this offering, so I wanted let know if that's is worth.
Haha sorry - not trying to be thread police. Just your post confused me. Reading it initially, I thought you got some dan cong from lazy cat which I thought they didnt sell.
Am curious what kind of pot you used. For the 2019 lazy cat rougui I found it becomes unbalanced and acrid if steeped longer than 10s early on using a clay pot. Seems okay in a thin gaiwan for that long though.
Well, I'm the one sorry : you're right the post shouldn't be here, I hope it'll be moved. I was kind of reading and jumped somehow unexpectedly in the discussion 
.
I used a 60ml from 60s. I steeped flash the first brew, and thought I could push it to a 5s+ brew and that went fairly well. The pot is not stuffed to the top. I was rather surprised by the balance. First brew I thought would be thin, but it wasn't. Second one I was also doubtful and thought it was ambitious because that pot it a bit of a slow pour, but it came out very well, fragrant and full. I have not yet tried with a small gaiwan, I steeped that lazy cat the lazy way.
Keep going on the dan cong discussion, it's very interesting. Cheers.
.I used a 60ml from 60s. I steeped flash the first brew, and thought I could push it to a 5s+ brew and that went fairly well. The pot is not stuffed to the top. I was rather surprised by the balance. First brew I thought would be thin, but it wasn't. Second one I was also doubtful and thought it was ambitious because that pot it a bit of a slow pour, but it came out very well, fragrant and full. I have not yet tried with a small gaiwan, I steeped that lazy cat the lazy way.
Keep going on the dan cong discussion, it's very interesting. Cheers.
olivierd wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 6:09 amWell, I'm the one sorry : you're right the post shouldn't be here, I hope it'll be moved. I was kind of reading and jumped somehow unexpectedly in the discussion
I used a 60ml from 60s. I steeped flash the first brew, and thought I could push it to a 5s+ brew and that went fairly well. The pot is not stuffed to the top. I was rather surprised by the balance. First brew I thought would be thin, but it wasn't. Second one I was also doubtful and thought it was ambitious because that pot it a bit of a slow pour, but it came out very well, fragrant and full. I have not yet tried with a small gaiwan, I steeped that lazy cat the lazy way.
Keep going on the dan cong discussion, it's very interesting. Cheers.
Sorry just for clarification, do you mean you did 60s long brew for first brewing? Then you went down to 5s?
Sorry, I was unclear. I did for the first brew flash then 5s+ (I don't count) in a yixing 60ml from the 60s. The pour is not very fast so you have to add some seconds to that vs a gaiwan.