What Green Are You Drinking

Non-oxidized tea
olivierd
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Tue May 18, 2021 6:46 am

Thanks LeoFox, but with all due respect to that pot, yours is of another kind...
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LeoFox
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Tue May 18, 2021 6:56 am

olivierd wrote:
Tue May 18, 2021 6:46 am
Thanks LeoFox, but with all due respect to that pot, yours is of another kind...
:oops:
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LeoFox
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Tue May 18, 2021 7:12 pm

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.
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LeoFox
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Wed May 19, 2021 1:04 pm

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"
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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
During 2nd infusion
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During 5th infusion
During 5th infusion
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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.
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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.
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debunix
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Wed May 19, 2021 10:34 pm

Sounds fabulous
olivierd
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Thu May 20, 2021 3:59 am

Almost looking and sounding like a delicate white tea. Beautiful leaves.
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LeoFox
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Thu May 20, 2021 5:02 am

olivierd wrote:
Thu May 20, 2021 3:59 am
Almost looking and sounding like a delicate white tea. Beautiful leaves.
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
olivierd
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Thu May 20, 2021 10:33 am

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 :lol:
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debunix
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Fri May 21, 2021 11:12 am

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.
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Victoria
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Fri May 21, 2021 5:11 pm

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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LeoFox
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Fri May 21, 2021 5:56 pm

Stunning teapot! Reminds me a little of yayoi
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Victoria
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Fri May 21, 2021 7:39 pm

LeoFox wrote:
Fri May 21, 2021 5:56 pm
Stunning teapot! Reminds me a little of yayoi
Image
Haha that’s funny. Sometime ago I shared with Taisuke this image of a girl with freckles.

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debunix
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Sun May 23, 2021 12:06 am

That little pot just oozes perky personality like a spunky readhead.
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mbanu
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Mon May 24, 2021 1:10 am

mbanu wrote:
Sun May 16, 2021 5:43 pm
Even 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.
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.
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Victoria
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Mon May 24, 2021 1:37 pm

mbanu wrote:
Mon May 24, 2021 1:10 am
mbanu wrote:
Sun May 16, 2021 5:43 pm
Even 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.
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.
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.
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