What Oolong Are You Drinking

[LeoFox]

Enjoying another gift tea - a 2016 rougui from Teance. Very strong energy on this one!

[mbanu]

Some "Brandy Oolong" from Mark T. Wendell -- a polite name for a pleasant tea. If they were using older tea-terms, the accurate one would probably be "Winey Oriental Beauty", but without tea-context that seems like a name that wouldn't go over well...

[LeoFox]

Drinking a 2007 aged yancha brick from lazy cat

https://www.lazycattea.com/product/old- ... rick-2007/

[Thundercleese]

Tea Habitat's Jin Mu Dan Yancha.

I got an ounce of it for free with a teapot a while back and decided to give it a shot tonight in said teapot. I've brewed a few teas in it before to get a feel for it, so tonight seemed like the best time for the good stuff.

8g tea for a 140mL Chaozhou pot, 20 second first infusion with 210 degree water, 30 seconds for the second and 190 for 40 seconds for the third.

This is my first ever Yancha, so I have literally nothing to compare it to. But it's tasty as hell. Never tried Dancong either but some's on the way.

The first infusion has aromatic notes of toasted barley and a touch of camphor on a firm backbone of earthy tilled soil. There's a slight floral note in the background. that's somewhat similar to snow chrysanthemum and also vaguely reminiscent of orchids. Texturally it's very smooth, with the tannins displaying a mild textural astringency but zero bitterness.

The second infusion has much of the same, but with more pronounced floral notes and the aroma of dried dates starting to appear. The tannins are starting to be a bit more grippy and round, not dissimilar to a good Cru Beaujolais, and the there's a backbone of minerality that wasn't there on the first steep. I can't help but think that this would be outstanding with raw seafood. The very last sip had a touch of green almond-esque bitterness at the end.

The third infusion is very similar to the second but it seems that the notes are more harmonious, if that makes sense. Orchid is definitely the flower note that has started to dominate, and the tilled earth has evolved to a wet slate-esque minerality. It's still very smooth flavorwise, with no bitterness while it's still hot.

It could have gone one or two more infusions, but there's a significant relaxing effect that seems to be taking hold and sleep seems to be a higher priority...

[LeoFox]

Yes had a similar experience with teahabitat's da hong pao. Relatively strong roast upfront, with some floral and vegetal/medicinal bitterness as steeps progress.

Very Glad you had a decent example of yancha as your first experience. These are expensive teas- and a lot of them are absolutely horrible.

[Thundercleese]

Yes had a similar experience with teahabitat's da hong pao. Relatively strong roast upfront, with some floral and vegetal/medicinal bitterness as steeps progress.

Very Glad you had a decent example of yancha as your first experience. These are expensive teas- and a lot of them are absolutely horrible.

Me too! Thanks for confirming it was at least a decent one. Falling asleep directly after was a new experience with tea, but I don't mind it at all.

I was originally planning on doing the Chaozhou style https://pathofcha.com/blogs/all-about-t ... 0utensils. outlined on Path of Cha until I saw that it called for 1 gram of tea per 10 mL, which I didn't want to do for fear of bitterness and because it would be literally half of the bag.

Love DC, btw. Lived there for a while. Drink some tea in the Hirschhorn for me.

[LeoFox]

Yes had a similar experience with teahabitat's da hong pao. Relatively strong roast upfront, with some floral and vegetal/medicinal bitterness as steeps progress.

Very Glad you had a decent example of yancha as your first experience. These are expensive teas- and a lot of them are absolutely horrible.

Me too! Thanks for confirming it was at least a decent one. Falling asleep directly after was a new experience with tea, but I don't mind it at all.

I was originally planning on doing the Chaozhou style https://pathofcha.com/blogs/all-about-t ... 0utensils. outlined on Path of Cha until I saw that it called for 1 gram of tea per 10 mL, which I didn't want to do for fear of bitterness and because it would be literally half of the bag.

Love DC, btw. Lived there for a while. Drink some tea in the Hirschhorn for me.

Might find this useful

viewtopic.php?p=43930#p43930

[Thundercleese]

Yes had a similar experience with teahabitat's da hong pao. Relatively strong roast upfront, with some floral and vegetal/medicinal bitterness as steeps progress.

Very Glad you had a decent example of yancha as your first experience. These are expensive teas- and a lot of them are absolutely horrible.

Me too! Thanks for confirming it was at least a decent one. Falling asleep directly after was a new experience with tea, but I don't mind it at all.

I was originally planning on doing the Chaozhou style https://pathofcha.com/blogs/all-about-t ... 0utensils. outlined on Path of Cha until I saw that it called for 1 gram of tea per 10 mL, which I didn't want to do for fear of bitterness and because it would be literally half of the bag.

Love DC, btw. Lived there for a while. Drink some tea in the Hirschhorn for me.

Might find this useful

viewtopic.php?p=43930#p43930

That is useful. Thanks!

[GaoShan]

Yes had a similar experience with teahabitat's da hong pao. Relatively strong roast upfront, with some floral and vegetal/medicinal bitterness as steeps progress.

Very Glad you had a decent example of yancha as your first experience. These are expensive teas- and a lot of them are absolutely horrible.

Agreed, bad yancha can be very bad indeed. As I avoid heavy and even medium roasts in most cases, this will probably never be my favourite tea type, but the few inexpensive yancha I tried when I was getting into tea made me reluctant to try any more. I've since found a few yancha I can appreciate, mainly from Wuyi Origin, though I haven't tried any of the very expensive ones from DaXue JiaDao or other specialized vendors.

[Bok]

I was originally planning on doing the Chaozhou style https://pathofcha.com/blogs/all-about-t ... 0utensils. outlined on Path of Cha until I saw that it called for 1 gram of tea per 10 mL, which I didn't want to do for fear of bitterness and because it would be literally half of the bag.

I recomend to try at least once, it is a totally differend result. It will only be bitter if the tea is subpar. If you don't wait too long and drink it fast afterwards, bitterness should not be an issue when the tea is good. That said, DC is one of the more challenging teas to brew.

For an even nicer experience, try finding a vintage Chaozhou pot, or one of the better modern ones, Chen Zhijian, 蔡煜坚 Cai Yujian etc. The run-off the mill Taobao ones are not really Chaozhou clay anymore and have none of the properties that would add anything to the tea, might as well use some decent porcelain from Chaozhou (they got some very nice small gaiwans and cups).

[Thundercleese]

I was originally planning on doing the Chaozhou style https://pathofcha.com/blogs/all-about-t ... 0utensils. outlined on Path of Cha until I saw that it called for 1 gram of tea per 10 mL, which I didn't want to do for fear of bitterness and because it would be literally half of the bag.

I recomend to try at least once, it is a totally differend result. It will only be bitter if the tea is subpar. If you don't wait too long and drink it fast afterwards, bitterness should not be an issue when the tea is good. That said, DC is one of the more challenging teas to brew.

For an even nicer experience, try finding a vintage Chaozhou pot, or one of the better modern ones, Chen Zhijian, 蔡煜坚 Cai Yujian etc. The run-off the mill Taobao ones are not really Chaozhou clay anymore and have none of the properties that would add anything to the tea, might as well use some decent porcelain from Chaozhou (they got some very nice small gaiwans and cups).

Thanks Bok!! I'll give it a shot when the next batch of Yancha lands so the illusion of scarcity is less.

This is the exact teapot.

https://teahabitat.com/collections/teap ... 30-ml-1801

I'm not sure where TH gets their pots, but they seem to have a more extensive Chaozhou collection than most. What are the indicators of quality that I should be looking for? Where should I look for the ones you mentioned? Thanks in advance for the input.

[Bok]

I'm not sure where TH gets their pots

It's been know for some time that they are from Taobao...

What are the indicators of quality that I should be looking for? Where should I look for the ones you mentioned? Thanks in advance for the input.

This is one of them: https://www.instagram.com/yujian_cai/
Zoey is representing the other: https://www.instagram.com/zoeyfortea/

The original Chaozhou ore is more orange-ish than deep red, from what I know/have seen. Other than that, Chaozhou is very hard to get any information... old or new.

[Thundercleese]

I'm not sure where TH gets their pots

It's been know for some time that they are from Taobao...

What are the indicators of quality that I should be looking for? Where should I look for the ones you mentioned? Thanks in advance for the input.

This is one of them: https://www.instagram.com/yujian_cai/
Zoey is representing the other: https://www.instagram.com/zoeyfortea/

The original Chaozhou ore is more orange-ish than deep red, from what I know/have seen. Other than that, Chaozhou is very hard to get any information... old or new.

Great! They'll both go on the list to buy from in the future. Do you know of a source for vintage Chaozhou pots?

[Thundercleese]

Also while we're talking Oolong, I feel like I should mention one of my favorite tea discoveries in a while. What-Cha's Thai "Sticky Rice" Jin Xuan Oolong, flavored not by actual sticky rice, but by a plant called Semnostachya Menglaensis, or Nuo Mi Xiang.

So sometimes there's a dish or a drink that just hammers the nostalgia button. When i was growing up, one of the few treats that my parents would buy were jellybeans, and my favorite were always the buttered popcorn flavor.

With milk and sugar (heresy, I know), this tastes so similar to a buttered popcorn jellybeans that I just can't resist adding both. There are enough tannins that it doesn't become cloying, and it's just something that I primally want inside my face.

[Victoria]

I'm not sure where TH gets their pots

It's been know for some time that they are from Taobao...

How do you know they are from Taobao? I know Imen sources her teas every year in person directly. Don’t know about her teaware but it would make sense for teaware as well. I can ask her, but am curious as to your source of reference. Thanks.