roasting pu of age or not of age

[coloradopu]

this could be fun.

has anyone roasted pu and what was it or how old and does it improve the flavor.
is sheng or shu better roasted or does it matter.

i know its sort of loaded in the Q's department because i have a start on answering some of my questions.

if you have been here for a month or two you might remember the hot tub party with the melon pu and while it was fun........i still got a lot of it and it seems to of stopped changing and has settled down from airing out. sooooooo i got this wild hair and decided to roast some.

it was a quick roast sort of a light color change and a quit distinct oder which is some what but not too close to a Oolong being roasted. once i got it to the point i thought it might burn i removed it from the fire. and proceeded to brew it.

the aroma of the brew was quite delightful and the aroma cup was the same as the un-roasted tea at the end but with a sort of toasty overtone. i quit enjoyed / enjoying it as i type ...... sip.....sip....as it cools i find the roast comes out more......might be a little over roasted for such a yong green tea.

any who i had some of the 2000 tocha which had that traditionally aged must smell and taste to it from wet storage not badly done but the stems are blue and the must is high in aroma and taste. i roasted it tooo!!! ha. well it eliminated 80 % of the must smell and seems to of brought out an addition to the ki! if you know what i mean then you will understand that i feel i need to explore this tea roasted even further.

sooo..... that brings me to were i am now. i have devised a roaster that will not require a great deal of tea to accomplish the end product. oh 8 grams at a time. so my last question's. what would you suggest if you have done this to Pu should be the next tea? i have pu that has a high smoke and some with light smoke will it work with the smoke or cause bad taste to result? i have some pu " the Göteborg's duo" sort of my tool to learn the differences in shu and sheng which might be a good candidate for a test run with both so see what roasting does to a pair of like teas .....or as alike as shu and sheng can be.

thanks and i hope all of you are open minded to try this cuz its as easy as pan frying an egg.

thanks
your egghead CPU

[pb2q]

http://ancientteahorseroad.blogspot.com ... esher.html

[iguanahey]

Hi Coloradopu!

I met you last week in Boulder at Ku Cha while you were roasting some sheng. I was visiting a relative in the area (I live between Seattle and Vancouver B.C.) and couldn't stay for more than a few minutes, but I loved the cups that you served my wife and I. Can you elaborate some more here on your experiences and results? I'm keen to try some roasting, both pu-erhs and to freshen some slightly stale Tung Ting and Da Hong Pao.

-Charles

[xuancheng]

http://ancientteahorseroad.blogspot.com ... esher.html

+1

If you are interested in the roaster that Hop is using, I believe it is this one
The Tea Roaster

You can also learn about rice cooker re-roasting on http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com and also recently Rich posted a bunch of roasting tips on his web log. This is one of many:
http://www.myteastories.com/2009/05/spo ... ethod.html

Does anyone know if Hou de still sells his mini roasters?

He sells the lin's studio refreshener
http://www.houdeasianart.com/index.php? ... cts_id=716

[coloradopu]

Thank you pb2q and xuancheng for your links. good info.

i still have a lot to learn about this and i find i am making new discoveries every time i roast a tea.

welcome iguanahey i enjoyed the tea at ku cha. i am glad our paths crossed there. i am at this time using a Hani People style tea roaster


i got the idea from Rong the wife of Chin the owner of Ku Cha. while in China Rong acquired the roaster and returned with it. i am shore i am using it in the opposite manor for which it is intended but i find a few things peculiar to its shape.

when i made it i went by the image in my mind of the one Rong had and it turned out about 1/2 the size of hers. but it still functions well.

i find that the closed shape allows for the heating of the tea and evaporation of moisture in a slow manner. "if a small heat source is used." i use an alcohol lamp with the roaster " do not know the Hani name for it....roaster " . i heat for 30 sec shake the leaf as it cools then heat again. i also find that if the leaf smokes i have gone too fare. as Wrong says all tea roasted too long tastes the same. this is the key . she has hit the nail on the head. i find that if roasted lightly at a low temp over a long time oh 30 min or so heating and cooling the tea retains its identity. but gains new attributes. or revels hidden ones.
i have found in the older teas with that must smell and taste that close to 80% of the must taste is removed and a hidden profile emerges. in the younger teas a good amount of the attributes that make good young sheng the way it is are rounded off in a way that compliments the tea.
i have yet to roast the real nasty shu from the bottom of the fish bucket but it might gain something good from it.
the one shu i did roast which is one of the few i like became smoother and richer in taste than i remember it.

as i have stated i have allot to learn and test on this and i am continuing to do so but there is so much to it that i feel it might take a long time and in the end it will be very biased to what i like and how i like it.

my only suggestion is to get a lamp and a closed form type piece of pottery and light a match. roast everything you can and then do it again slower and see what you like. it all depends on what you like.

[pb2q]

Also don't miss this:

http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2008/ ... -fire.html

A minimalist approach.

[coloradopu]

I think i might ### that guy! i caught fire!!


LOL

minimalistic - ly risky i think

i think it best to use pottery / clay vessel you only have to worry about were to set it once its hot. no fire extinguisher needed.

no matter the idea is to heat the tea for a period of time. the best way you can.

i do like the rice cooker one too.