What Green Are You Drinking
Same tea, different pot, different story.
A bit speechless how this zairai is improved in this pot.
I may have to shift this pot towards Chinese greens in addition to zairai...greens that demand higher temperature.
A bit speechless how this zairai is improved in this pot.
I may have to shift this pot towards Chinese greens in addition to zairai...greens that demand higher temperature.
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- IMG_20210518_195928_165.jpg (131.5 KiB) Viewed 10532 times
Bai mao hou (aka white monkey paw) 2021 early harvest - from pinling taiwan.
This is a very special tea gifted by a connoisseur.
The dry leaf has a mild scent of grapes and melon. Note the white tipped "monkey paws"
Brewed 2g in 85 mL boiling water:
1 min /1min10s/ 1min20s / 1min 30 / 2min / 5 min / steeped out many times in GDB
The tea has zero bitterness.
The soup starts off mild but as steeps progress builds up in subtle fresh fruit flavors (grape and melon), powerful minerality and a kind of aftertaste that reminds me of gao shan or oolong that has "cong wei". The mouthfeel is thick and expansive. The very surprising thing about this tea is the strong "qi". Wow!
A wonderful tea.
The aftertaste seems endless.
Update:
Check this post out for a description of a 30 year aged version of this tea:
viewtopic.php?p=38149#p38149
This is a very special tea gifted by a connoisseur.
The dry leaf has a mild scent of grapes and melon. Note the white tipped "monkey paws"
- IMG_20210519_133809_723.jpg (96.94 KiB) Viewed 10488 times
Brewed 2g in 85 mL boiling water:
1 min /1min10s/ 1min20s / 1min 30 / 2min / 5 min / steeped out many times in GDB
- During 2nd infusion
- IMG_20210519_134554_556.jpg (79.3 KiB) Viewed 10488 times
- During 5th infusion
- IMG_20210519_143227_239.jpg (74.42 KiB) Viewed 10468 times
The soup starts off mild but as steeps progress builds up in subtle fresh fruit flavors (grape and melon), powerful minerality and a kind of aftertaste that reminds me of gao shan or oolong that has "cong wei". The mouthfeel is thick and expansive. The very surprising thing about this tea is the strong "qi". Wow!
A wonderful tea.
The aftertaste seems endless.
- IMG_20210519_134442_593.jpg (75.46 KiB) Viewed 10488 times
- IMG_20210519_142255_725.jpg (69.12 KiB) Viewed 10474 times
- IMG_20210519_135237_741.jpg (89.68 KiB) Viewed 10488 times
Update:
Check this post out for a description of a 30 year aged version of this tea:
viewtopic.php?p=38149#p38149
Last edited by LeoFox on Sun Jul 18, 2021 1:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Yes, this type of green tea is often mistaken as white, according to wiki.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baimao_Hou
in fact, for me it is hard to place as very fresh and clean sheng or very green oolong or green or white.
Ultimately it doesn't matter when the tea is great I guess! The trouble comes when thinking about how to pair this with clay. Maybe I'll stick to porcelain.
One thing is clear: brewing this with anything cooler than off boiling would be a waste
A gaiwan test is always my first choice when unsure... and might turn to be the final one.
I'm curious about steeping time even though I'm not much into chronometering.
You access things I never see this side f the ocean, I sometimes feel I should stick to a good bottle of wine
I'm curious about steeping time even though I'm not much into chronometering.
You access things I never see this side f the ocean, I sometimes feel I should stick to a good bottle of wine
Asahi gyokuro from Obubu: they say 'a deeper steaming has uncovered more depth an strength to the aroma and flavor'. I say: very small/fine pieces of deep green leaf with rich fruity aroma while dry, so fine that even sasame filter doesn't keep all of it in the pot. The first infusion is deep, a bit more umami than usual, but not so much as to be soupy in the way I sometimes find unpleasant--just rich enough to keep it pleasantly vegetal. Yummy.
I also enjoyed back-to-back gyokuro sessions today; O-Cha’s Tsuen‘s Uji Gyokuro Fujitsubo that is a blend of Saemidori and Yabukita, and later Uji Gyokuro Suigyoku a 1st place winner in the Uji Tea Festival. Going through open gyokuro packs in advance of upcoming shincha sessions. Also, inaugurating Yohei Konishi freckled 110ml hakudei kyusu paired with Taisuke Shiraiwa’s undulating cup. The Konishi kyusu uses white clay from Shigaraki and has manganese dioxide chips mixed in, while Shiraiwa added sand from his hometown of Hokkaido to white clay from Tokoname. A serendipitous pairing made years apart by student and teacher.
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Gave it a go with a bottled mineral water and some shifeng and meijawu longjing. In both cases it transformed the teas into agreeable but somewhat forgettable teas. (With soft water the teas are less agreeable but more memorable.) I think I will be forced to conclude that I just don't really enjoy longing, at least not in the "brew it in a glass, drink off the top" variety. For the remaining stash, I suppose the next step will be to see if teapot brewing will coax it into something more personally enjoyable.mbanu wrote: ↑Sun May 16, 2021 5:43 pmEven though it's young hyson season, I don't have any at the moment. My green tea drinking as of late has mostly been fussing with longjing while wishing I was drinking sencha.One thing I haven't tried but am thinking about is brewing it up with a mineral water. My standard water is fairly soft, so I wonder if maybe a harder water might be the ticket.
On recommendation, I’ve always used low mineral count water with LongJing, and off-boil water. The flavor profile is very delicate to my taste, and more about mouth feel, so unless my palate is super clean I struggle to taste and really enjoy this tea. Yesterday, a friend recommended I try Anji Baicha that has umami notes, have you tried this tea? I haven’t yet.mbanu wrote: ↑Mon May 24, 2021 1:10 amGave it a go with a bottled mineral water and some shifeng and meijawu longjing. In both cases it transformed the teas into agreeable but somewhat forgettable teas. (With soft water the teas are less agreeable but more memorable.) I think I will be forced to conclude that I just don't really enjoy longing, at least not in the "brew it in a glass, drink off the top" variety. For the remaining stash, I suppose the next step will be to see if teapot brewing will coax it into something more personally enjoyable.mbanu wrote: ↑Sun May 16, 2021 5:43 pmEven though it's young hyson season, I don't have any at the moment. My green tea drinking as of late has mostly been fussing with longjing while wishing I was drinking sencha.