Out of curiosity, where did you get your long jing?mbanu wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 7:57 pmI've been trying to drink down my tea-collection, which has mostly been a success -- drinking through the traditional oolongs was a pleasure (I guess I've been lucky here) so I'm down to a few white teas, a few pu'ers, the ingredients for Hong Kong milk tea (which has temporarily replaced my Assam blends), and a tired green Tieguanyin for when I feel like messing around with my cheap Yixing teapot. I did finally grit my teeth and toss a few perfectly good longjings, though. I found I was no longer looking forward to drinking them, no matter how I fiddled with the brewing. If I was unlucky in my brewing, I would end up with tea that gave me a headache, and if I was lucky, the best I could hope for was, "That was OK, and it sure does look nice in its glass..." Took a bit of effort on my part, as the other part of my brain kept unhelpfully suggesting, "So have you tried making Moroccan tea out of it yet? Or what about cooking, maybe you could use it for tea eggs..."I won't refuse longjing if a friend offers me a cup, but I think I will stick to sencha and gunpowder in the future for my own tea purchases.
Your day in tea
Having tea with a guest, very relaxed with some conversation. The high mountain hong cha put us both in a relaxed state so we stopped talking and savored the tea more 
There's something about dark, wet, cool days that makes old tea feel appropriate (in this case, a little bit of 70s SSHC liu bao).
There's also something soothing about those swirling and changing patterns that appear on the tea...
Andrew
There's also something soothing about those swirling and changing patterns that appear on the tea...
Andrew
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Heat wave = time for sparkling tea, tea started hot here in gaiwans, then added to bottles of water, chilled, and carbonated before drinking. Like thermos brewing, this limits the teas used because it works best with vegetal, floral and fruity flavors. Earthy dark roast oolongs and Puer just don’t work very well.
Today, it’s going to be hot, so starting up a bunch with a single heating of the tea kettle:
Left to right,
Red Alishan from Norbu
Jean Jae Yeun’s Haimonicha Balhyocha from Morning Crane
Bai Mu Dan from Yunnan Sourcing
Ti Guan Yin from Bird Pick
Five Penny green tea from Hatvala
Today, it’s going to be hot, so starting up a bunch with a single heating of the tea kettle:
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Red Alishan from Norbu
Jean Jae Yeun’s Haimonicha Balhyocha from Morning Crane
Bai Mu Dan from Yunnan Sourcing
Ti Guan Yin from Bird Pick
Five Penny green tea from Hatvala
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Ethan Kurland
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Wow! You will buy tea from anybody & anywhere!
I've never tasted it but have read many times that Norbu's Red Alishan is special. I'm surprised you would use it for a sparkling cold drink. Fun way to stay cool. Cheers
Norbu was the first place I ordered from online, and he carried a lot of different teas, so he broadened my tea palate.
The Morning Crane connection started when I moved to LA and checked out local brick and mortar shops, and found a Korean tea shop that sold some lovely Balhyocha from Hankook. But when they closed their shop, and I didn't find anything like that Balhyocha in the Korean groceries in town, I was quite sad. Then a thread on Korean teaware on the old TeaChat led to Morning Crane, and I've participated in a few of Arthur Park's Tea Buy Korea deals--I placed an order for this year too because I'm down to one unopened pack of Balhyocha after this one.
I've mostly bought puerh from Yunnan Sourcing, but I have nearly always added a bit of something else to those orders.
And several people here discussing some teas from Vietnam plus this post about Hatvala's Forest Genie dark tea prompted an order from them. And, as with YS and the Bai Mu Dan, if I'm ordering from so far away, may as well try one or two of their other teas. This Five Penny is nice but not so much my thing; and it does nicely sparkling.
I don't travel that much but I do like to explore a bit through tea.
It is a treat and delightful at any temperature, but so good hot that I am sparing with it cold--to enjoy one sparkling session with it, I have to drink 4 others at least before I can do it again.Ethan Kurland wrote: ↑Sat Jul 10, 2021 2:09 pmI've never tasted it but have read many times that Norbu's Red Alishan is special. I'm surprised you would use it for a sparkling cold drink.
I don’t think there is a dedicated space for Korean teas so I will post it here, unless @pedant knows of a more appropriate location for balhyocha (it doesn’t fit into the traditional classes of Chinese teas).
I have been enjoying Jeong Jae Yeon’s “Grandmother Tea”, a 2020 balhyocha purchased from The Steeping Room.
Having never brewed a balhyocha before I decided to brew it intuitively using 6 grams of leaf to 100 ml of off boil water. The mumyoi pot I used is 130 ml so there is some room left in the top. This seemed to work well enough. It does not seem to need to be steeped at a lower temperature.
This balhyocha looks remarkably close to dried hijiki with its leaves forming a nest of thin filaments. This is much more apparent in person than in photos. When dry, it has an unexpectedly vinegary aroma, like a fruit vinegar. It’s very bright. Fortunately, the liquor is not vinegary at all.
The tea is full of flavor yet the body is a wee bit thin. It’s hard to describe but it feels like the flavor does not match the body, resulting in a tea that presents as thin. I suspect that this aspect varies year to year.
The aroma profile is a lot like the heavily oxidized shancha I have had in the past: malty with macerated blue-purple berries dominating, yet some very small bit of vanilla binding the aromas together. The flavor is bright but with a little twang, followed by macerated berries, some mild astringency on the fore palate, then sweetness. There’s a tart, jammy flavor that lingers on the lips minutes after drinking it.
The body load is mildly energizing but the mental aspect is relaxing.
It’s a nice tea. I have nothing to compare it too within its class but I will say it compares favorably to some of the shancha I mentioned above, just not with gobsmackingly strong chaqi.
The finished leaves are 1-1.5” long, very narrow, with lateral veins 45° to the midrib.
It’s an interesting tea that’s quite nice despite it’s modest origins.
I have been enjoying Jeong Jae Yeon’s “Grandmother Tea”, a 2020 balhyocha purchased from The Steeping Room.
Having never brewed a balhyocha before I decided to brew it intuitively using 6 grams of leaf to 100 ml of off boil water. The mumyoi pot I used is 130 ml so there is some room left in the top. This seemed to work well enough. It does not seem to need to be steeped at a lower temperature.
This balhyocha looks remarkably close to dried hijiki with its leaves forming a nest of thin filaments. This is much more apparent in person than in photos. When dry, it has an unexpectedly vinegary aroma, like a fruit vinegar. It’s very bright. Fortunately, the liquor is not vinegary at all.
The tea is full of flavor yet the body is a wee bit thin. It’s hard to describe but it feels like the flavor does not match the body, resulting in a tea that presents as thin. I suspect that this aspect varies year to year.
The aroma profile is a lot like the heavily oxidized shancha I have had in the past: malty with macerated blue-purple berries dominating, yet some very small bit of vanilla binding the aromas together. The flavor is bright but with a little twang, followed by macerated berries, some mild astringency on the fore palate, then sweetness. There’s a tart, jammy flavor that lingers on the lips minutes after drinking it.
The body load is mildly energizing but the mental aspect is relaxing.
It’s a nice tea. I have nothing to compare it too within its class but I will say it compares favorably to some of the shancha I mentioned above, just not with gobsmackingly strong chaqi.
The finished leaves are 1-1.5” long, very narrow, with lateral veins 45° to the midrib.
It’s an interesting tea that’s quite nice despite it’s modest origins.
- Dried leaves
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- Liquor
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- Finished leaves
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From descriptions alone, it sounds a bit like what I experienced in some white teas from Taiwan. Is the liquid a bit towards reddish in tone?Baisao wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:19 pmThe aroma profile is a lot like the heavily oxidized shancha I have had in the past: malty with macerated blue-purple berries dominating, yet some very small bit of vanilla binding the aromas together. The flavor is bright but with a little twang, followed by macerated berries, some mild astringency on the fore palate, then sweetness. There’s a tart, jammy flavor that lingers on the lips minutes after drinking it.
I usually post about Balhyocha in the Oolong topic, because it so resembles a fruitier, deeply oxidized oolong like Red Alishan or Oriental Beauty. I agree the body is often less thick than a Taiwanese oolong, but i find them remarkable teas. I am loving working my way through a good-sized bag with of the same maker’s Haimonicha.