What Oolong Are You Drinking

[debunix]

Wow, that’s tinier than my little one that holds closer to 25 ML. It has room for about two large leaves once they’re fully wetted and unfurled.

[polezaivsani]

With such a nice little fellow, I imagine @Andrew S won't be stumped with a question whether to break the huge yancha leaves or not. To address the startled looks of the other member of the party one can tell something to the point of special and rare teas all while rolling up the remaining half of the leaf and stowing it away in tiny tea caddy (made of walnut shell maybe). Such a setup might work nice for a traveling wise man or woman.

Imagine when the guest(s) remain speechless after being enchanted after one little sip. Seriously fun tea time here!

[Andrew S]

I'd need to find some even smaller cups if I wanted to use a 20mL pot like that... And I'd have to develop a bit more dexterity in my fingers before I'd trust myself not to break it. And yes, I'd have to persuade people that it isn't a toy...

But of course, the fact that these teapots were made a century ago with just as much care and skill as bigger pots suggests to me that they certainly weren't treated as toys by at least some tea drinkers back then.

At the moment, I think that 50-60mL is my 'sweet spot' for yancha drinking, but I guess it all depends. I started today with 10g in a 75mL pot because those leaves were bigger than others I've been having recently, but I brewed it fairly quickly for a fair few infusions. And I certainly no longer feel any sympathy for crushing up any leaves that don't quite fit into a smaller pot if I want some small strong brews.

Slightly bigger pots seem to be better for brewing yancha less strong, whereas slightly stronger pots seem to encourage me to brew quite hard. As I mentioned before, there's a big difference between drinking something very concentrated in a 20mL cup, and drinking the same concentrated tea in an 80mL cup filled to the top. The latter just seems unpleasant to me.

Andrew

Edit: oops, slightly "smaller", not "stronger", pots... I don't want to suggest that I knock them about when I brew "quite hard"...

[DigitalSparks]

I have been drinking some Oolongs from Taiwan Sourcing lately,



"Ray of Sapphire" was included as a free sample which is also a very nice Oolong.

[nightowl]

Drank some Phoenix Ooolong Tea today from DavidsTea

[LeoFox]

Lazycat 2020 mount lion shuixian. Remarkable difference when brewed in Porcelain gaiwan versus old zini

[Andrew S]

Lazycat 2020 mount lion shuixian. Remarkable difference when brewed in Porcelain gaiwan versus old zini

I used to try new teas in gaiwans, but I stopped doing that a little while ago because, realistically, I now drink most of my usual teas (like yancha, old puer etc) in teapots, and I don't feel a need to try the tea in its more 'neutral' form. I suppose that's one of the things that makes recommending tea difficult; different brewing styles and methods will produce different results (or different 'presentations' of the same tea, as I like to say).

These days, my gaiwans only get used for teas that I don't drink often (such as green tea), occasionally for unroasted high mountain tea (when I want a different presentation to what I get from teapot)s, and on the rare occasions when I want to test a tea, rather than taste it. I think someone mentioned elsewhere on this forum that they assumed that many people here don't use gaiwans; I think that the truth is that they simply don't get shown very often, but they're there in the background as a useful tool for many of us.

Today's morning involved a Huang Sheng Liang rou gui from Rui Quan tea factory; part of an EoT samples pack that I still haven't finished... Brewed with lots of leaves, but for only moderately long infusions; nice tea, nice feeling. Not quite my preferred style, but it is pleasant. Rui Quan teas seem to focus on a full and even style of oxidation, with a mild and unobtrusive roast (but not too light or 'green'), at least from the few that I've tried so far, and subject to my very limited knowledge of tea-making.

Andrew

[LeoFox]

Full roast rogui from daxue Jia dao.

Full roast chocolate as someone mentioned above? I think the leaf still has a lot to say in this one- and in all the other full roast yancha I've tried from dxjd. Personally, I feel it is much superior to the hui chun tea from eot of similar price, not to say those teas are bad

[Andrew S]

A very nice session today with a fully-roasted and oxidised baijiguan, which seems to be quite a rare style.

It's a good start when just the aroma of the dry leaves is enough to make you happy. Lovely tropical fruits and things, with a minty cool finish and a long aftertaste, as well as lasting lots of infusions despite being brewed somewhat hard. Very different to the barely-roasted green baijiguan types that I've tried before; this one is much more my style.

I also played with the same DXJD laocong shuixian that I had had earlier in the week, but in a different teapot; quite a different experience, and another reminder of how hard it can be to talk about a tea when we all brew them differently, even from day to day. It tasted like the same tea, but presented rather differently.

Andrew

[Victoria]

@Andrew S really nice pot there. Lishan Primitive Wild for me today. Super herbaceous, hazelnutty, aromatic and silky smooth. This expertly roasted Lishan by HY Chen elevates my day every time

[Andrew S]

Full roast rogui from daxue Jia dao.

Full roast chocolate as someone mentioned above? I think the leaf still has a lot to say in this one- and in all the other full roast yancha I've tried from dxjd. Personally, I feel it is much superior to the hui chun tea from eot of similar price, not to say those teas are bad

You inspired me, so I've been trying DXJD's 2015 full roast rougui recently; quite a different profile to the ZHC ones, and a bit different to the other full roast teas from DXJD.

I was a little bit confused by it at first, because I assumed that it would work well brewed extra-strong (like many other full roast teas from DXJD), but for some reason it seems to prefer a more moderate approach (only 6g in a 60mL pot today, for not particularly long brews). That moderate approach gives a good differentiation between flavours but doesn't push the tea too hard.

Andrew

[Teafortea]

Tian Chi Li Shan Cha- Hojo Tea

I love this oolong but the new mumyoi teapot brought it to a new level. So much floral taste and body. It's my first time that i drink an oolong in a kyusu, in my head these teapots are for japanese teas...
Anyway happy with my choice for today.

[LeoFox]

Tian Chi Li Shan Cha- Hojo Tea

I love this oolong but the new mumyoi teapot brought it to a new level. So much floral taste and body. It's my first time that i drink an oolong in a kyusu, in my head these teapots are for japanese teas...
Anyway happy with my choice for today.

Try that one also in Porcelain and see if there is a difference

[Teafortea]

Tian Chi Li Shan Cha- Hojo Tea

I love this oolong but the new mumyoi teapot brought it to a new level. So much floral taste and body. It's my first time that i drink an oolong in a kyusu, in my head these teapots are for japanese teas...
Anyway happy with my choice for today.

Try that one also in Porcelain and see if there is a difference

Ok will do. I just received a custom teapot from Inge, will see how that works. Is porcelain supposed to enhance more of the flavor?

Somedays I just want a teapot and some tea and stop over analyzing

[Teafortea]

Way more floral and more sweet, less aftertaste ...
Very interesting

Thx for the tip!